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Post by chrislc on Nov 16, 2015 0:04:52 GMT -5
Totally subjective here - it's not (necessarily) about Rafferty or Foreigner or Journey etc. -
In your opinion, which #2 hits of the 70s and 80s were most unfairly kept out of #1 by inferior hits?
My pet peeve in this category is Neither One Of Us (The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia).
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Post by mkarns on Nov 16, 2015 1:19:59 GMT -5
"Baker Street" stands out; "Shadow Dancing" isn't bad, but the quid pro quo chart chicanery (Andy Gibb won't perform at a Billboard disco showcase unless it stays at #1, said RSO Records) described in keeping it at on top was egregious, if true.
Rick Springfield's "Don't Talk To Strangers" is another, blocked by the well meaning but sappy "Ebony and Ivory", which IMO was a classic case of name rec carrying a weak song.
Paul McCartney was on the losing side of this as well with "Live and Let Die", which got stuck at #2 for three weeks behind three different songs, all of which are inferior to it IMO.
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Post by at40nut on Nov 16, 2015 4:26:49 GMT -5
Speaking of James Bond Songs being shafted out of #!, how about Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better" from the movie "The Spy Who Loved Me" The infamous Debbie Boone song "You Light Up My Life" kept Carly out of #1 for 3 weeks out of 10 weeks that it was on top back in 1977.
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Post by 1finemrg on Nov 16, 2015 5:58:43 GMT -5
Vehicle - Ides Of March (American Woman). "American Woman" is a great song; just liked "Vehicle" better.
Waiting For A Girl Like You - Foreigner (Physical)
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Post by bestmusicexpert on Nov 16, 2015 6:05:04 GMT -5
These unfair "kept off the top" tracks get their chance to shine in late February. I'll be doing the all time #2 hits countdown.
Upset that my favorite didnt make it in: Come Back To Me by Janet Jackson.
Worst case:
Bohemian Rhapsody in 1992 to the VASTLY inferior Jump by Kris Kross.
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Post by dukelightning on Nov 16, 2015 8:02:42 GMT -5
I am going to go in a different direction here. Instead of picking the songs that I most wanted to be #1 or that were the victims of chicanery and such, I will list the 3 songs during those decades that made the biggest climbs to #2 without hitting the top. Both "Ramblin' Man" and "Do it Til You're Satisfied" made 7 to 2 moves in the 70s and "Shattered Dreams" made an 8-2 move in the 80s. Of course none of those artists hit #1 with any other releases either.
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Post by djjoe1960 on Nov 16, 2015 11:02:48 GMT -5
One of my favorite Elton John songs from the '70's is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, which stalled at #2 in Billboard, but made it to the top in both Cash Box and Record World. It sat at #2 for three weeks and Charlie Rich's 'Most Beautiful Girl' jumped over it during its second week at #2.
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Post by briguy52748 on Nov 16, 2015 12:36:35 GMT -5
Over on the country side, not to diss any No. 2 song blocked out by an inferior No. 1 - except if it were on the traditional Hot Country Songs (NOT Airplay) and you were one of the unfortunate songs to be blocked out by Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" in 2013 - but some longer-running examples:
* 15 weeks: "Making Believe" by Kitty Wells, blocked out by "In the Jailhouse Now" by Webb Pierce in 1955.
* 11 weeks: "Temptation (Tim-Tayshun)" by Red Ingle and His Magnificent Seven, blocked out by several songs in 1947.
* 10 weeks: "Sioux City Sue" by Zeke Manners. Several other songs held out Zeke in 1946.
* 9 weeks: "I Ain't Never" by Webb Pierce, blocked out by "The Three Bells" by The Browns in 1959.
* 8 weeks: "One More Time" by Ray Price, blocked out by "He'll Have to Go" by Jim Reeves in 1960; "Foolin' Around" by Buck Owens, blocked out by "Wings of a Dove" by Ferlin Huskey and "North to Alaska" by Johnny Horton in 1961.
* 7 weeks: "Just Call Me Lonesome" by Eddy Arnold, blocked out by Webb Pierce's "I Don't Care" in 1955; "Yes, I Know Why" by Webb Pierce," kept out by "Sixteen Tons" by Tenneessee Ernie Ford" and "I Forgot To Remember to Forget" by Elvis Presley in early 1956; "Lesson in Leavin'" by Jo Dee Messina in the summer of 1999, kept out by "Amazed" by Lonestar ("Amazed" and George Strait's "Write This Down" also kept out "Whatever You Say" by Martina McBride in June and July 1999); and "I Go Back" by Kenny Chesney, which was denied by good buddy Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying" and Reba McEntire's "Somebody" in the summer of 2004. If the traditional Hot Country Songs chart only is considered, then Blake Shelton's "Boys Round Here" from the summer of 2013 is among the several songs kept out by FGL's "Cruise" (Blake and the Pistol Annies did go No. 1 on the Airplay chart.)
The 1970s champ for most weeks at No. 1 was the Statler Brothers' nostalgic ode "Do You Remember These?" from the spring of 1972. Kept out by Jerry Lee Lewis' "Chantilly Lace" and Merle Haggard's "Grandma Harp."
Also notable: In March and April 1972, just a few weeks earlier, Freddie Hart's "My Hang-Up Is You" spent six weeks at No. 1, denying at least three songs from reaching the top: "Only Love Can Break a Heart" by Sonny James (would have been 17 chart toppers in a row for Hart's labelmate at Capitol Records, two weeks in the runner-up spot); "A Thing Called Love" by Johnny Cash with the Temple Evangel Choir (one week at No. 2); and "All His Children" by Charley Pride with Henry Mancini (two weeks); Jerry Lee was at No. 2 during "Hang-Up's" sixth week and finally pushed it aside.
During the 1980s, three songs spent three weeks at No. 2, the longest of any that I can think of:
* "A Country Boy Can Survive" by Hank Williams Jr. in April 1982. Three No. 1 hits rotated in and out: "The Clown" by Conway Twitty; "Crying My Heart Out Over You" by Ricky Skaggs; and "Mountain Music" by Alabama. * "I Don't Know Where To Start" by Eddie Rabbitt in June 1982. Appears to be "For All the Wrong Reasons" by The Bellamy Brothers and "Slow Hand" by Conway Twitty. * "She's My Rock" by George Jones. In December 1984 and January 1985, "Why Not Me" by The Judds and "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind" by George Strait denied the Possum from his 14th No. 1 hit.
Brian
P.S.: I know AT40 never did one, but American Country Countdown, early in its history (believe it was the April 1975 special), had a No. 2 hits special, where then-host Don Bowman simply played back songs that reached No. 2 but never got any higher. Wonder why AT40 never did one ... would have a gold mine of great music here.
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Post by adam31 on Nov 16, 2015 13:00:41 GMT -5
Vehicle - Ides Of March (American Woman). "American Woman" is a great song; just liked "Vehicle" better. Waiting For A Girl Like You - Foreigner (Physical) If I researched a little more (it's a Monday though so I don't want to) I could probably find many songs to fit this bill. The first one that came to mind is the Foreigner classic though. Not only blocked by Physical but once ONJ finally abdicated the top spot, Hall & Oates leapfrogged them too! It would be tough to find a more unfair #1 denial.
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Post by mga707 on Nov 16, 2015 15:23:43 GMT -5
One rock legend kept another from #1 in the fall of '72 with a vastly inferior song. I'm referring, of course, to "My Ding-a-Ling" keeping "Burning Love" out of the top spot.
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Post by 80sat40fan on Nov 16, 2015 17:42:48 GMT -5
Given airplay today, I would pick "Gloria" by Laura Branigan over both "Truly" by Lionel Richie and "Mickey" by Tony Basil.
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Post by slf on Nov 16, 2015 19:11:52 GMT -5
Certainly one of the classic examples of this injustice took place in late 1963, when that garage-rock anthem "Louis, Louis" spent six weeks at #2, behind the far more sedate "Dominique" (by the Singing Nun), and "There, I've Said It Again" (by Bobby Vinton). I venture to guess that the recent Kennedy assassination played a role in people, teens included, gravitating a little more towards tamer, even pseudo-spiritual, records. I also theorize that that's why Beatlemania exploded with such force a couple of months later--those same young people wanted to shake off their somber mood and start having fun again, and those fresh-sounding lads from Liverpool were exactly what this country needed.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2015 19:31:41 GMT -5
The only "unfair" denial is one you can identify as one purposely kept out because of whatever reason by actually SHOULD HAVE been #1. Stuff in October 74 easily comes to mind since I have no faith in those charts whatsoever. Beyond that, nothing.
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Post by trekkielo on Nov 16, 2015 20:57:17 GMT -5
The only "unfair" denial is one you can identify as one purposely kept out because of whatever reason by actually SHOULD HAVE been #1. Stuff in October 74 easily comes to mind since I have no faith in those charts whatsoever. Beyond that, nothing. Once again, 1978's "Baker Street" comes to mind!
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Post by chrislc on Nov 16, 2015 21:34:00 GMT -5
Another one I liked was Say It Isn't So. I think Say Say Say kept that one out?
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