I Won't Sing It...Singers Who Turned Down Hit Songs

I think I recall Tom Jones confirming the story. If you listen to Long Live Love, near the end of the song, they lift the horn arrangement directly from It's Not Unusual.

 

Not true. Monkee fan urban myth. IIRC they DID turn down a song called Sugar Man

 

Fair enough then if he did. But whenever I’ve seen her interviewed she always talks like she was the biggest star in the world and puts down her other peers to seem like she was the hot ticket. She made some good records though.

 

First I've ever heard of that. Janis Ian turned down You Light Up My Life.

 

Micky Dolenz disagrees with you

 

Found a reference to it here, but remember hearing it at the time when it was number for the 100th week or whatever it was

(Everything I Do) I Do It for You

 

Ah, OK. She may have never been asked. She did turn down the offer to sing a James Bond theme song.

Edit to add: OK, it could have happened. Michael Kamen was a friend and collaborator of Kate's.

 

The psychedelic band the Human Expression turned down "Born to Be Wild", later a #2 hit for Steppenwolf.

 

Elvis Presley, for all intents and purposes, turned down "Don't Forbid Me" in 1956. It was in a pile of demos he had, but by the time he listened to it, Pat Boone had recorded it first and would hit #1 with his version. Elvis mentioned it during the so-called "Million Dollar Quartet" session.

 

Don Henley turned down "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You". I've always wondered which perspective Henley would have used if he recorded the song. Ann Wilson sung it from the perspective of a female driver who picked up a male hitchhiker. So, would Henley have sung it as a male driver who picked up a female hitchhiker? Or would he have sung it from the perspective of a male hitchhiker?

BTW, the original version of the song (without the creepy hitchhiker vibe) was recorded by Dobie Gray in 1979:

 

Fake news!

 

Mott the Hoople turned down "Suffergette City" to get "All The Young Dudes" from Bowie.

 

What is it with you and brackets?

 

Ian Huner/Mott the Hoople turned down Can't Get Enough - one of the reasons Mick Ralphs bailed to form Bad Company.

 

Wow! I'd love to hear her take on that one!

 

Bobby Darin turned down Daydream, Younger Girl and Do You Believe in Magic
Sophie Ellis Bextor turned down Can't Get You Out of My Head
Elvis was supposed to record Sea of Heartache on his last recording session before going into the army but ran out of time.
The Beach Boys turned down Seasons in the Sun

 

I suppose you could start a separate thread for Elvis, who supposedly turned down "It's Only Make Believe" and "Only The Lonely", enabling their co-writers to get hits with them

 

The Association famously turned down Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park" when they were recording the Birthday LP.

 

Frank Sinatra turned down "Suicide" from Paul McCartney.

Paul explains: "I actually got a request from Sinatra for a song. ... I spoke to him on the phone and told him about it: ‘Great, Paul, send it along.’ Thank you, Frank! So I got that out of it. I did a demo, sent it to him and he thought I was taking the piss. He really did. ‘Is this guy kidding?’ You know, sending Sinatra a song called ‘Suicide’? He did not get it."

It wouldn't have been a hit though.

 

Ditto!

 

Not exactly a turn down, but Bill Medley says the Righteous Bros did everything they could to avoid cutting "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Medley thought it better suited to the Everly Bros, while Bobby Hatfield hated it because he comes in so late.

 

The Tremeloes - Yellow River

 

I've heard they couldn't have turned it down, as it was supposedly written in 1969, after The Monkees were supposed to have turned it down... There is/was a song called something like "Sugar Man" they did turn down, and it's said the confusion comes from the two songs having somewhat similar names...

 

Cliff Richard turned down "What's Love Got to Do with It," which became Tina Turner's comeback hit (though she wasn't overly enthused about it, either).

TLC vetoed "...Baby One More Time," which became the debut single (and a #1 hit) for Britney Spears.

Both Hilary Duff and Pink turned down the song that became one of Kelly Clarkson's signature hits - "Since U Been Gone."

 

Always thought it sounded like Dionne