Led Zeppelin: Not a "singles band"

We've all heard this many times....the singles they released were few and far between.

Why were certain songs selected for single release (like The Immigrant Song and Fool in the Rain) while others that could have been bigger hits were passed over (Stairway..., All My Love). Was this a band or label decision?

 

"The Immigrant Song" remains as my favorite Led Zeppelin song, so I don't agree with the premise of "not a singles band"...

First time I heard it on the radio, I was like "whoa!!!"...

 

I don't know the answer to that but it's interesting to think about what exactly a 'single' is. I mean if it wasn't available on a 45 does that mean it wan't a single? Because if you were listening to the radio in '79/'80 you would never have thought that All My Love was not a single. It was played all the time.

 

All My Love was in heavy rotation on FM AOR stations. I don't know that I ever heard it on a hits/top 40 oriented station, AM or FM back during that time. That is one delineation between single vs hot album track: where they received airplay. Also - what kind of promotion they received...

 

I think that Zeppelin's modest singles discography still did a fair job of highlighting each album.

There is definite truth, though, that they are a band best appreciated by their albums.

I think that an album like Physical Graffiti really brings this "into the light". The single released, Trampled Underfoot / Black Country Woman, doesn't really do the album full justice (even as a single). The standouts on that album, for me, include the likes of The Rover, Ten Years Gone, Kashmir. Yet it's easy to see how none of those would have been practical as singles.

So while Zeppelin's singles are fine, I know exactly what they meant by saying they were not going to be a "singles band".

 

To me, a single meant distributed to record shops and radio stations as a 45. All My Love was never released that way. Fool in the Rain, a lesser song (IMO), was. I remember hearing All My Love in spring 1980 but it was on AOR stations, not "Top 40."

 

My understanding is that Zeppelin never released "singles", they were adamant that their albums were to be played.
If by "single" you mean "played on the radio" then those were the songs off the album they felt were the most radio "worthy".
Their best music (imo) is not their "singles" or "hits". Perhaps that is why they did not press "singles".

 

They did indeed issue singles though. Or, precisely, Atlantic/Swan Song did. Ten were officially released and nine charted on the Billboard Hot 100 (Candy Store Rock/Royal Orleans) did not chart.

Their biggest single was even a "Double Sided Hit"...

WHOLE LOTTA LOVE #4 /
Living Loving Maid #65

Even "Stairway To Heaven" was released twice (once in 1972 and again in 1973) but they were only pressed as promotional singles from Atlantic. They were not meant for commercial stock or sales.

 

I have a 45 of “The Immigrant Song”

“Fool in the Rain” is a great pop song.

 

I've never considered zep a singles band. That doesn't mean they didnt have singles, or songs that could have been, it merely means they were focussed on making albums.

 

you're going to have to explain the title of this thread to my Led Zeppelin 10 Legendary Singles 45 rpm box set. It will not be pleased.

 

Oh, o.k. I was mistaken then. - I have been playing records for 50 years, but have never bought a "45".

 

From my understanding this is very true.

 

Immigrant Song 45 would be worth having for its flip side.

 

Me either

 

It was 100 percent a band decision.

If they'd had their way, they'd have released no singles at all (and, except for sone promos, this was indeed the case in the UK), but Atlantic in the States insisted on at least one single per album. In exchange, LZ had veto power over any song Atlantic wanted to release as a single in the U.S.

"Stairway" was not issued as a single because Atlantic, not trusting its pressing plants to produce hundreds of thousands of copies of an eight-minute-long single without making a ton of defective 45s, wanted to create a single edit, and the band refused.

"All My Love" was probably vetoed by Robert Plant because of the deeply personal nature of the song.

 

All the better they weren't a singles band, it made them much cooler, not having songs in amongst top forty dross.

 

Compared to ABBA or the Grass Roots, they weren't really a "singles" band.

 

For the most part, the band opposed 45s and only tolerated them to prevent further meddling from the record label.

"Good Times Bad Times" and "Whole Lotta Love" were both released in the U.K. without permission from the band (and were quickly withdrawn after threats from Peter Grant).

 

Don't forget "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do", B-side to Immigrant Song that never made it to Album.

 

The 70s isn't a singles decade!

 

I agree, I bought the "Immigrant Song" 45 in late 1970 when it came out, and used to hear it on AM radio quite frequently. It was one of the first 10 records I ever bought. Of course, when you turned it over you get the great "Hey Hey What Can I Do" on the flip side.

 

I just love that Candy Store Rock was released as a single...

 

When I got into Led Zeppelin, I discovered I knew three songs of other theirs from hearing them on the radio when I was younger (read 1972-1979): Stairway, Immigrant Song and All My Love. Considering my dad wasn't a big FM guy, I likely heard the last two on AM radio somewhere in the NYC area (Stairway I have a specific memory of playing around with the FM dial on the stereo when I was living in Wallington so it was either 1972 or 73 and I stumbled on either WPLJ or WNEW)

 

Peter Grant is probably the last person you want to walk into your office with a scowl on his face. Especially if Richard Cole is right behind him.