What songs could've been hits?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by NothingBrightAboutIt, Feb 20, 2017.

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  1. Jimmy B.

    Jimmy B. .

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  2. Jimmy B.

    Jimmy B. .

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  3. Bigbudukks

    Bigbudukks Older, but no wiser.

    Location:
    Gaithersburg, MD
    I just happened to be lucky enough to be stationed in San Antonio in 1977 and heard this on the radio. It was a local band and they had some talent. they didn't make it very big, but their first album is most definitely worth a listen.



    It's Not The Music
     
  4. John Adam

    John Adam An Introvert In Paradise

    Location:
    Hawaii
    Hitting #18 on the Hot 100 is not exactly bad. I think it's one of their more well-known songs, isn't it? :)
     
  5. John Adam

    John Adam An Introvert In Paradise

    Location:
    Hawaii
    Wow, this came out smack in the middle of the disco era. I'd never heard of this before.....and I kinda like it! :)
     
    Catch22 likes this.
  6. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident

    Not far. Avant garde didn't always translate to the Top 40, and not everyone was a hippie. It might have sold because it was the Beatles.
     
  7. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident



    This song could have put the Chicago blues into the Top 40, with that twisting tempo.
     
    Blaine Jacobs likes this.
  8. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident

    Little Walter's "Roller Coaster"
    Albert Collins'"Frosty"

    Back when rock instrumentals still ruled, these two bluesmen could have gotten a piece of that action.
     
    hugh . g. likes this.
  9. Brian Lux

    Brian Lux One in the Crowd

    Location:
    Placerville, CA
    Not taken as a dig although I would say there is a good deal of difference between, say, "Sheena is Punk Rocker" and "Danny Says" and so many of their songs would have made great radio hits, even the ones that were similar.

    In some quarters, blame for The Ramones not scoring a big hit was put on the Sex Pistols for seemingly turning off America to Punk (Danny Fields mentioned their "puking and bleeding and vomiting all over the place"). I think it was more of a reaction of boomers (I was born in '51 so I might know about that) against these young upstarts coming along and shaking up the boat which had gotten bloated and lethargic. For example, when in the early 80's I mentioned to a fellow boomer that the Minutemen came out with a song called "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs" the guy said "I don't need to hear any song putting Bobby down", and I was pretty certain he was going to beat the crap out of me. All this misunderstanding of D Boone who would also sing Mike Watts lyric about wanting to be Dylan's soldier child. The punk misconceptions among boomers runs thick. What a shame.
     
    mrbobdobalina likes this.
  10. PsychGuy

    PsychGuy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albuquerque
    Always thought Loudon Wainwright III's "Grown Man" song could have been a hit if the right artist had covered it -- probably a modern country guy (not that I'm into that). Always struck me as a great song in waiting.
     
  11. redfloatboat

    redfloatboat Forum Resident

    I think some songs that were big hits in the likes of NZ or Australia could've been hits in the UK or America too.

    This song is so catchy and had hit written all over it.
     
    Surly and Blaine Jacobs like this.
  12. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Lou Reed "Metal Machine Music Pt 3" (edit)
     
  13. Blaine Jacobs

    Blaine Jacobs Forum Resident

    My favorite Deep Purple song.
     
  14. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident

    "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" didn't make it very high on the American charts in 1977, but it's neighbors included "Jet Airliner," "Undercover Angel," "Black Betty," "Got To Give It Up," Waylon singing about some small town in Texas, Foreigner feeling like the first time, and the Commodores taking it easy like Sunday morning.

    Dropping "Sheena" in the middle of all that would have been anarchy in the USA for real!!!
     
    Brian Lux likes this.
  15. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident

    I've felt the same way about the Replacements'"Waitress In The Sky." Had some neo-traditional country guy like George Strait or Ricky Van Shelton recorded this in the 80s or 90s, that would have been an easy C&W #1.
     
    JDeanB likes this.
  16. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident

    "He Can't Love You Like I Love You" was the only Michael Stanley Band song I ever heard. Chicago was one of the markets that played it. In a year (1981) filled with small-town mainstream "heartland" rock bands, guess there wasn't room for everybody.
     
    Chris C likes this.
  17. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
  18. readr

    readr Forum Resident

    I was thinking with all the wingnuts here I wouldn't have to specify off his debut. I was referring to the original studio version. I always liked the live single version, but thought the original had more magic.
     
  19. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident

    It's a long shot, but this could have been a novelty hit

     
  20. The Elephant Man

    The Elephant Man Forum Resident

    'Hey Jude' The Beatles
     
  21. Surly

    Surly Bon Viv-oh-no-he-didn't

    Location:
    Sugar Land, TX
    I love this song! MTV played it, back when they were short on videos and played pretty much anything they could find. I agree it should have been a hit...and I really, really love their song "One Good Reason" as well. Phil Judd had a solo album released here, too.

    As for AU/NZ songs that should have hit here - well, most anything from the Neil era of Split Enz. Again, they got some MTV play and many people do know them, but no real charting hits. "One Step Ahead," "I Got You," and "Message To My Girl" are all classics to me. "What About Me?" by Moving Pictures charted twice here, but only got to the upper '20s the first time around. "Send Me An Angel" by Real Life was a hit, but I also really love "Catch Me I'm Falling" and "Face To Face." Divinyls had a big hit here with "I Touch Myself," but the same should have happened for "Pleasure And Pain," "Sleeping Beauty," and "Boys In Town."

    Others: "Solid Rock" by Goanna, "Computer One" by Dear Enemy, "You're The Voice" by John Farnham, "Higher Than Hope" by Daryl Braithwaite, "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind" by Models, and both "That's When I Think Of You" and "If I Could" by 1927.
     
  22. Surly

    Surly Bon Viv-oh-no-he-didn't

    Location:
    Sugar Land, TX
    As a born and bred Clevelander, I'd add "My Town" to this list (scraped the bottom of the top 40), and also their true Cleveland "smash" hit, "Lover." That's the equivalent of a multi-week #1 in my hometown (and "When Your Heart Says It's Right" is my favorite Kevin song).

    I'd also add "Takin' It Back" by former MSB member Jonah Koslen's band Breathless to this list as well!
     
  23. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    :wave: All good stuff, but if you're going to bring Jonah into the mix, then I will have to post this great one ...

    Waste a Little Time On Me (Live)
     
    Surly likes this.
  24. Brian Lux

    Brian Lux One in the Crowd

    Location:
    Placerville, CA
    Haha! Yes, it certainly wold have been a riotous, delicious little jolt to a mostly very boring culture of that time! I think Legs McNeil described it best, "Everything thing then was so... browwwwn."
     
  25. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    Keith Colley, Welcome Home Baby (1964):

     
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