What songs could've been hits?

Big Star - "The Ballad Of El Goodo". (Sure, a lot of people know this song, but it should have been a huge hit! I'm sure the title of the song didn't help it's cause)

 

Semisonic - "Chemistry". (This one missed being a hit for GOD knows what reasons. Pure power pop brilliance, in my opinion and of course, it doesn't hurt that my wife is a lab technician, whose job centers around chemistry!)

 

Jellyfish - "Baby's Coming Back" (Just like Semisonic's "Chemistry" above, this one failed as a hit single. In no thanks to the horrible promotional department backing that their record label "Charisma" gave the record!)

 

The Moody Blues, "Lovely to See You." Never issued as a single (to my knowledge). Instead, they issued "Never Comes the Day," which barely charted, followed by "Watching and Waiting," which didn't chart at all. I think they kept issuing ballads in an attempt to duplicate the success of "Nights in White Satin."

 

Shoes - "Too Late"

I always thought this song should've been a smash hit. A perfect pop song, in my opinion. Moody, great melodies and hooks. I guess it'll always remain a regional power pop footnote...

 

Jay & The Americans - "Dawning" (Possibly one of the all-time greatest flip-sides, that sadly few actually flipped to)

 

The Stompers ~ "Never Tell An Angel" cracked the top 100 - but I always thought it should have been a big hit. Pure ear candy. One listen and you'll have the hook in your head all day long.

It was a bit of a regional hit and was in regular rotation on Boston radio.

 

Aerosmith - "Heart's Done Time"

 

"Oh My Angel" - Bertha Tillman, 1962.
last fm dot com provides the following:
Bertha Louise Tillman was a 1960s pop singer, born 28 June 1942 in Texas. She died in San Diego, Ca., on 31 May 1993, aged 50. Her best known tune is Oh My Angel, the first of two 45s released by her on Bob Shad's New York-based Brent label. The other, I Wish, was released as Bertha Tillman & The Killers.

Bertha Tillman was working as a shop assistant in San Diego when she was discovered by Hank Blackman of J.J. Jackson and The Jackals. The group provided the background vocals for her evocative rendition of 'Oh My Angel', a song written by the lead singer of The Jackals, June Jackson. Starting the second week in March, the record (Brent 7029) got a lot of airplay in Seattle (as well as various cities in California) and went to #4 on the KAYO (Seattle-Tacoma, 1150 AM) survey for the week of 30 April 1962. Billboard does not appear to have noticed the record when it was released, but it entered the Hot 100 at #95 on the week of 5 May, and reached #61 on the week of 9 June. Inexplicably, the record did not make the Billboard R&B charts, and received little airplay in the East. After cutting one more record for Brent, Tillman went back to San Diego; she died in May of 1993.

Never mind "could've", this song "should've"!

 

Ramones - "Swallow My Pride" -- This one was released as a single, but stood absolutely no chance of charting in 1977....

 

"Pen of a Poet" by Chuck Woolery. Honestly...a very good record. Hard to find, tho'

 

I still sometimes get surprised that all of The Zombies singles between "Tell Her No" and Odessey and Oracle flopped (and Odessey and Oracle for that matter).

This is one of my favorites. It even failed when released with the 2nd half faded out.



"She's Coming Home" is another.

 

Rolling Stones:

Under my thumb
Under the boardwalk

 

I wish The Beatles released "Revolution 9" as a single. I wonder how high it would have climbed in the avant garde hippie era of the the swinging 60s.

 

McCartney's Café on the Left Bank. Paul has rocks in his head.

 

I heard someone say once that if AWBH renamed Long Lost Brother of Mine to Long Lost Lover of Mine it could've been a hit. I'm inclined to agree, it's a very poppy song while still having some complexities.

 

Flamin' Groovies "Shake Some Action". Has all the ingredients to be a "hit", and is about as good as Power Pop gets, but never broke beyond "cult" status.

 

That was just great, thanks for sharing or I may have never heard it!

 

Here is a rare "single" cover of "Lovely To See You", that was released around the same time as The Moody Blues, by a small band from Wisconsin, trying to have a hit with the song!

 

Redd Kross !


Channeling vintage Cheap Trick

 

In the U.S., the Kinks had only three minor hits between "Sunny Afternoon" (1966) and "Lola" (1970). "Waterloo Sunset," though acknowledged as a classic single today, didn't chart at all on either the Billboard or Cash Box top 100 singles charts.

The American Federation of Musicians banned them from coming to the States to perform for four years, so their lack of hits in this period resulted from that out-of-sight, out-of-mind phenomenon. The union finally lifted the ban in 1969.

 

"Out There" by Blake Babies would've been a (ahem) mammoth hit in a perfect world.

 

You Must Be One Of Us by one of the great forgotten groups, the Sal Valentino-led Stoneground.

 

Blood Sweat & Tears - Sometimes in Winter was my favorite song they ever did.

Should have been a massive hit.

 

Journey "If He Should Break Your Heart" (form 1996 "Trial By Fire").