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Post by georgeb on Aug 23, 2011 20:45:55 GMT -5
This was a big big miss, and my favourite song ever by Glenn Campbell: 1972 "I Will Never Pass This Way Again" #61 on Billboard. Listen to this one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=apX2JIrnJts
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Post by georgeb on Aug 23, 2011 23:41:47 GMT -5
Howzat - Sherbet - this song was a huge hit in other parts of the world, but not in the good ole USA - peaked at #61 in the fall of '76. On The Border - Al Stewart - stalled at #42 in May of '77 - couldn't figure this one out, especially after it had jumped from #60 to #47 the week before. .. Problem for Sherbet is that they don't play cricket in the US, as they do in Australia and New Zealand. .. Agree with your assessment of On the Border. It merited higher rating. Alan Parsons produced a beautiful album and this is a great track.
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Post by georgeb on Aug 24, 2011 1:27:58 GMT -5
2 for me were: Play The Game by Queen (#42 and in between number one hits) I Want You So Bad by Heart (#50 in 1987) Life & Breath by Climax (#52 in mid 1972) I would pick Life and Breath by Climax from this list - it should have been a reasonably successful follow up to Precious and Few. 1972 was a very good year by the way. In the world of techno, Heart could have done better with this one - but to me it is no classic as a song. Ditto with Queen - not one of their very best but surprising it did not get a placing at some stage. Quite a strange disjointed song however - a bit album a bit single - but no Bohemian Rhapsody here.
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Post by georgeb on Aug 24, 2011 1:39:57 GMT -5
I remember Clouds by David Gates getting very heavy airplay on the TM Rock format (the big reels). Also Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters by Elton John, and that City Suite thing by those guys who worked with Jim Croce. Clouds by David Gates, and American City Suite by Cashman and West, are two fantastic singles. American City Suite did appear on American Top 40: www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=14870Either would have made great #1s for me! Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters was not released as an Elton John single as far as I know, so rather hard to see it in AT40 singles chart. Elton had the problem that he had too many good songs - he was rated #1 of all acts in Billboard for the 1970s. If we dig we soon find more Elton John singles that should have done better.
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Post by bestmusicexpert on Aug 24, 2011 7:32:35 GMT -5
Heres one I found while researching my country crossover countdown...
How did a song that opened and closed a movie, was featured throughout and by one of the stars of the movie.... a HUGE movie, not even make the hot 100 let alone the 40?
Eastbound & Down by Jerry Reed from Smokey & The Bandit.....
Now this I just do not get!
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Post by dukelightning on Aug 24, 2011 8:27:15 GMT -5
This was a big big miss, and my favourite song ever by Glenn Campbell: 1972 "I Will Never Pass This Way Again" #61 on Billboard. Listen to this one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=apX2JIrnJtsThanks for sharing that great song. Glen Campbell had a lot of resistance at radio I am assuming between his top 10 hits "It's Only Make Believe" in 1970 and "Rhinestone Cowboy" in 1975. Something tells me this is not the only one of those stiff singles that should have done better. Surprising when you consider that there was a fair amount of country crossover hits in the early 70s.
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Post by georgeb on Aug 24, 2011 18:28:14 GMT -5
I was grumpy about Neil Sedaka in 1970/1971 too. These ARE my favourite Sedaka songs, sample them on You Tube and DO look at the comments. It is clear that others share my opinion: 1970 "Wheeling, West Virginia" Hit in Australia (#20); www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf_-aEC0Lno1971 "I'm a Song (Sing Me)" This single, along with the next four singles, were released on the RCA Victor label, marking a short-lived reunion by Sedaka with RCA; b/w "Silent Movies" www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe2d-7AdKmQ1971 "Superbird" b/w "Rosemary Blue" www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcPaBrmlRvIThis was a time when singer/songwriters were in vogue, and ballads were in vogue as well. Here in NZ we heard these songs as in Australia, and I think the great album "Emergence" did better here too. Songs like "God Bless Joanna", "One More Mountain to Climb" ... The problem was that NEIL SEDAKA was evidently not in vogue at the time. Look at what the AT40 fans missed out on! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Sedaka_discography
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Post by georgeb on Aug 24, 2011 18:36:51 GMT -5
This was a big big miss, and my favourite song ever by Glenn Campbell: 1972 "I Will Never Pass This Way Again" #61 on Billboard. Listen to this one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=apX2JIrnJtsThanks for sharing that great song. Glen Campbell had a lot of resistance at radio I am assuming between his top 10 hits "It's Only Make Believe" in 1970 and "Rhinestone Cowboy" in 1975. Something tells me this is not the only one of those stiff singles that should have done better. Surprising when you consider that there was a fair amount of country crossover hits in the early 70s. I am pleased you enjoyed this song. "Its Only Make Believe" was a remake of Conway Twitty's hit of course as we can see here: www.secondhandsongs.com/performance/164416(A useful site that one, have you seen it?) I don't think this was a particularly distinguished effort from Glen Campbell - when compared with the majesty of "I'll Never Pass This Way Again" which deserved to become his anthem - a bit like "From A Distance" for Bette Midler.
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Post by georgeb on Aug 24, 2011 18:44:38 GMT -5
Here's one that got away for the DOOBIE BROTHERS. I rate this as their best single. It has absolutely everything, including some exciting high vocals (toward the end), vocal harmonies, lead guitar, synthesiser - and the extra usual Doobie rhythms - and it strikes me as very original: "Echoes of Love" #66 on Billboard 1977. www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Lj2iZzqRkPatrick and co could even perform this live with Michael McDonald missing on backing vocals. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoDhNWAHyzEThe PERFECT single. How could it miss when so few other Doobie singles missed? Really? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doobie_Brothers_discography
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Post by mkarns on Aug 24, 2011 19:31:03 GMT -5
2 for me were: Play The Game by Queen (#42 and in between number one hits) Ditto with Queen - not one of their very best but surprising it did not get a placing at some stage. Quite a strange disjointed song however - a bit album a bit single - but no Bohemian Rhapsody here. And then, the fourth single from the same album, there was "Need Your Loving Tonight", a great song which despite following up a #1 hit stalled at #44. I guess radio stations preferred to run "Another One Bites the Dust" even further into the ground? Someone mentioned "Now That We Found Love"; that one later got a partial hit when Heavy D & the Boyz used its title, melody, and chorus with new verses and hit #11 in 1991.
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Post by georgeb on Aug 24, 2011 19:50:46 GMT -5
Despite my favoritism towards the 70s, two of my favorite songs that missed the 40 came out in the 80s. One was "Minimum Love" by Mac McAnally (way, way better than his lone top 40 hit from '77, "It's A Crazy World"), and "You Came" by Kim Wilde. I will never understand how both of these songs missed the 40. That they both peaked at 41 makes it even more frustrating. I have just come across Mac McAnally. You will see him on backing vocals and rhythm guitar alongside Jimmy Buffett in the Coral Reefer Band - in this entertaining concert with a great mood: www.wolfgangsvault.com/jimmy-buffett/video/changes-in-latitudes-changes-in-attitudes_2146595857.html | "Minimum Love" has some nice touches although I would have some reservations about Mac as a lead singer. He does not sound as natural on this as I would like and a bit more contrast here and there would have drawn more attention to it.
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Post by georgeb on Aug 24, 2011 19:59:33 GMT -5
Why was Burton Cummings formerly of Guess Who so patchy on AT40? Great voice, great songs, great keyboards. He had it all. So many misses after his first hit. My big complaint would be I'm Scared. Exciting song. "I'm Scared" #61 on Billboard. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxa1jggv1RIHere is one theory. I think his first hit was a bit overrated and overplayed. "Stand Tall" reached #10, but many of his other songs were stronger. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burton_Cummings
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Post by bestmusicexpert on Aug 24, 2011 20:17:06 GMT -5
My personal favorite Doobie tunes that missed were: Wheels Of Fortune & Eyes Of Silver. In addition... Another Park Another Sunday deserved better. It was miles better than Black Water (Its original B-Side) and better than most of their repetitive chorus tunes before it!
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Post by georgeb on Aug 24, 2011 23:00:20 GMT -5
bigal, I remember watching this one climb the Hot 100 after its debut at #61. It seemed to be a sure shot for AT40, but stopped cold at #41. WDHF-FM (the AT40 station in Chicago at the time) played it for a week or two but must've pulled it from the playlist once it lost its chart momentum. I vaguely remember hearing it -- it seemed to have all the elements (strong vocal, production, etc.) to become a great chart hit. So what happened to it? We may never know. Pete, I remember the same feeling watching a 1976 Diana Ross song do something similar. "I Thought It Took A Little Time" came onto the Hot 100 pretty high as I recall(don't have the chart in front of me at the moment). It stayed on the Hot 100 for 7 weeks, peaking at #47. I thought it was a sure-shot to hit the 40. I believe the problem with this song was that radio bailed on this one and picked up on "Love Hangover" which of course was a major #1 hit... Steve When I listen to the chorus of "I Thought It Took A Little Time" I have to be thinking of "You are Everything" by the Stylistics and in fact it sounds more Philadelphia than Motown. As singles go it may not have had quite enough hook to go to the top. On the other hand "Love Hangover" was quite an early example of the emerging Disco era. The Motown gurus must have seen more commercial potential in this one but I am not about to rave.
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Post by bigal on Aug 25, 2011 2:38:43 GMT -5
THROUGH THE EYES OF LOVE (love theme from ICE CASTLES), this sitll gets airplay and I am amazed it didnt even hi the top 50!
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