Why wasn't Flowers in the Dirt more successful?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by NiceMrMustard, Sep 19, 2018.

  1. NiceMrMustard

    NiceMrMustard Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    My Brave Face debuted on the radio in early summer 1989 and I thought it was a nice comeback song after a dry spell for Sir Paul - no Top Ten US hits since..."Spies Like Us." I was sure it would be a Top 10 hit for him in the States.

    It fizzled, as did the album. Were people just too into Milli Vanilli, Martika, and Bobby Brown that summer to care about this album?
     
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  2. Colocally

    Colocally One Of The New Wave Boys

    Location:
    Surrey BC.
    The follow up tour did pretty nicely.
     
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  3. Mediocre record maybe?
     
  4. Acoustic Warrior

    Acoustic Warrior I Come From The Water

    Location:
    Frankfort Kentucky
  5. MarkTWIC

    MarkTWIC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bradford
    Love the Beatles, don't own any of their solo albums (I think I have a Lennon compilation somewhere, the fact I don't know for sure is telling). When I was growing up Paul McCartney was
    "Mull of Kintyre" and the "Frog Chorus". He just wasn't cool when I started buying records.
     
  6. mmars982

    mmars982 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    My Brave Face was his last top 40 hit, if I recall correctly, peaking at #25. I agree it should have done better.

    Too bad they weren't into bundling the album with tickets for his tour back then.
     
  7. gregorya

    gregorya I approve of this message

    Marketing 101... don't put the word "dirt" in the product name... :)
     
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  8. Duke Fame

    Duke Fame Sold out the Enormodome

    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Did he have a video off that album at all? I don't remember one at all, so that would be my reasoning.

    By contrast, The Stones were still releasing multiple videos off of their albums and MTV was still a big deal in 1989. "Mixed Emotions" was in pretty heavy rotation at the time.
     
  9. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    Thread Title Marketing 101...include the artist name.
     
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  10. mmars982

    mmars982 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    There was a video: My Brave Face - Wikipedia

    I have no memory of ever seeing it back then.
     
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  11. If it had been an actual Paul and Elvis full on collaboration I think it might have done even better..
     
  12. Hermes

    Hermes Past Master

    Location:
    Denmark
    Mediocre people maybe? Stupid times?
     
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  13. Dr. Winston Ramone

    Dr. Winston Ramone Shoveling smoke with a pitchfork in the wind

    Location:
    Pittsburgh
    I wasn’t around back then, but I would imagine that it did well among his fans, while failing to create many new fans.
     
  14. Blimpboy

    Blimpboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Walton, KY
    I thought it was successful at the time. A number one album in the U.K. with top a top 40 single worldwide. The videos from the album were on MTV, VH1 and even CMT aired "Put It There". Lots of radio airplay in my area. The concert tour was an instant sellout everywhere he went. I think that would be considered successful by many artist's standards.
     
  15. NiceMrMustard

    NiceMrMustard Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    I didn't want to say it. 1989 was the year I checked out of Top 40. New Kids on the Block, Paula Abdul, Milli Vanilli, Richard Marx, Martika, Bobby Brown, Batdance...no thanks.

    Thank God we had Petty at least that year.
     
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  16. NiceMrMustard

    NiceMrMustard Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    But Spies Like Us made the top 10. That does not compute. It's not like the movie was as big as Ghostbusters.
     
  17. DockBoggs

    DockBoggs Forum Resident

    I bought it when it came out, but I've never been that crazy about it. The only song I really like is Put it There. To me, it's a mediocre album that got a lot of attention only because he toured for it.
     
  18. wildstar

    wildstar Senior Member

    Location:
    ontario, canada
    It didn't fizzle - it did respectably - US #25 for the single and US #21 for the album.

    What fizzled were the two follow up singles "This One" at US #94 and 'Figure Of Eight at US #92

    "My Brave Face" was fairly successful as a "comeback single" after 'Stranglehold' fizzled at US #81 and every other single released from 'Press To Play' aside from the first 'Press' at US #21 missed the chart completely.

    Not to mention that the US record company refused to release "Once Upon A Long Ago" as both a single and as a new song on his "All the Best" comp.
     
  19. Colocally

    Colocally One Of The New Wave Boys

    Location:
    Surrey BC.
    That was theee years before Flowers.
     
  20. humpf

    humpf Allowed to write something here.

    Location:
    Silesia
    Well, I have no idea about the situation in the USA, but my memory agrees with those who say that he was not cool at the time. His comeback after Wings over America was Flaming Pie (and Anthology), inbetween he got attention mostly due to Lennon's death (Tug Of War).
     
  21. moople72

    moople72 Forum Resident

    Location:
    KC
    1989 was a great year.....
    I think reissues on CD of the old, great albums spurred McCartney, Dylan, Stones, Lou Reed to put out stronger albums eclipsing thier more recent work. In terms of competing with one's former self, McCartney may have had the heaviest lift.......the 2nd half of his album felt a little undercooked at the time. But it was great to hear My Brave Face on the radio (it actually plays better now than it did then.....felt a little too tame then, imo).

    With the last three CD tracks, the album ends with a thud. This One was sort of a lacklustre follow up single. Figure of Eight and Put it There are stronger but not radio-friendly.
     
  22. benjis

    benjis Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    I love most of the FITD album, and think it was one of his better post-70's solo albums, along with Flaming Pie,Run Devil Run, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Memory Almost Full, and of course, Egypt Station.
     
  23. Rojo

    Rojo Forum Resident

    This
     
  24. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    I think a lot of people would be happy with that level of fizzle. Having said which, by 1989 Paul McCartney was not as big a draw as he was in the 70s. I don't know the figures, but looking here:

    Paul McCartney discography - Wikipedia

    suggests that FITD did pretty well and that nothing later has done better, though Off the Ground looks close.

    Tim
     
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  25. mmars982

    mmars982 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    My favorite track on the album is We Got Married. Especially with David Gilmour on guitar & David Foster producing, I think it should have gotten more attention.
     

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