Why wasn't Flowers in the Dirt more successful?

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

  1. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni

    Location:
    USA
    I disagree with this. My Brave Face made the top 40 and I remember a lot of young folks discovered Paul from this song. He got a lot of press and he did his Beatles tour along side this album. He was doing just fine at this point along with building new younger fans. I went to this concert tour myself and there was a lot of excitement over it.
     
  2. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Ah yes! Neil Young's "Glitter Ball" with Pearl Jam. Yup. Young's mixing it up with icons from the Generation Y helped him stay relevant. To Paul's credit, he did release a single with Kanye West and Rihanna a couple of years ago that put his name in the mouth of Gen Y, although his vocal isn't even on it.
     
  3. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    The only place I heard his hits from that album around here is on supermarket Muzak systems. Serious. If you turned on MTV, you'd more likely see "Yo! MTV Raps" and "Headbander's Ball".
     
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  4. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    And I disagree with this. "My Brave Face" may have made the top 40, but it came and went without much or no attention. I was in my mid-twenties at that point and knew a lot of people three-five years younger than me. They just weren't into McCartney, whom by then was an oldies act from their parent's generation.

    In 1989, people were listening to Madonna, Public Enemy, 2-Live Crew, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Janet Jackson, Guns & Roses, Prince, Roxette, Def Leppard, Metallica, and Milli Vanilli, but, no Paul McCartney.

    I'd never even heard the song until just a couple of years ago, and thought it sounded like TV commercial, and a quite annoying one at that. After having bought the used CD and having given it a proper listen to it, I kind of like it now.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2018
  5. frightwigwam

    frightwigwam Talented Amateur

    Location:
    Oregon
    IMDB says that the film grossed $60M in the US, 10th on the 1985 box office chart, just below The Goonies, and it made more money that year than Police Academy 2, Fletch, National Lampoon's European Vacation, The Breakfast Club, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, or Brewster's Millions. It wasn't a phenomenon, but it did well, and MTV showed that video a lot.

    I remember some MTV hype about the McCartney-Costello collaboration. Coming on the back of Elvis' hit (#19 Billboard) "Veronica," which MTV also pushed, he was well-positioned to get his new single played for the public. I don't think Paul could rightly complain about lack of support or attention from the star-making machinery. The public just didn't go crazy for the song. Maybe Paul isn't so enamored with it, either. "My Brave Face" still hasn't shown up in any McCartney anthologies, not even the 4-CD version of Pure McCartney, right?
     
  6. Yannick

    Yannick Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cologne, Germany
    "Flowers in the Dirt" was my introduction to Paul McCartney, my first CD of his when I was a kid. Why has he never worked with Trevor Horn and Steve Lipson again? He really should. They are good for the songwriting process.
    I'm glad the band from this album and tour did stick around for another album. I wish Robbie McIntosh and Hamish Stuart had returned for "Driving Rain" but they didn't. I'm glad we also got "Off the Ground" and its b-sides from this band.
     
  7. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni

    Location:
    USA
    Nope. It got a lot of buzz where I live, Grant. And I remember one local story of a dad talking about how much his daughter loved the song and it was what she was looking forward to hearing Paul sing the most in the concert, not the Beatles tunes. The song got heavy rotation here and Paul easily filled the stadium. I recall it being a big comeback for him.
     
  8. Hermes

    Hermes Past Master

    Location:
    Denmark
    Now that's stupid. It was "edgy John" that let his girl join the band called Beatles during the recording sessions - and after The Beatles. The lightweight Paul made some heavy stuff too. Would Billy Joel ever make something like Helter Skelter? I don't know, but surely Paul has a lot of haters.
     
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  9. Hermes

    Hermes Past Master

    Location:
    Denmark
    It reached Denmark. I was in my mid twenties too, and I bought it and it was on the radio. The Costello-collaboration gave it some attention. Surely McCartney was oldie stuff, but so were the Stones. The reason they kept the attention has more to do with them being a cartoon like icon of rock than the music itself.
     
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  10. Blue Cactus

    Blue Cactus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    32.
     
  11. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Well, it got zilch here. Like I said, I was at the right age to know what the majority music buyer at that point were into.
     
  12. davidlg1971

    davidlg1971 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    That makes sense that McCartney wasn't on the radar of mid-20s folks in 1989. Having been largely absent from the singles / touring landscape for most of the prior 10 years, why would he be?

    But there was indeed promotion and attention. The album was trumpeted - and received as - a significant comeback. And specifically My Brave Face is the last song Paul ever placed within the US top 30. So - it's the highest-charting single Paul has had in the last 31 years. So objectively, that single made a bigger impression than anything he's recorded since.
     
  13. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I don’t want to derail the thread, but I need to respond to this. Think of these dates. He didn’t need “Generation Y” to stay relevant - they were partying in his house.

    El Dorado (Japan EP) April 1989
    Flowers in the Dirt June 1989
    Freedom October 1989 (#2 Village Voice Critics Poll)
    Ragged Glory September 1990 (#1 Village Voice Critics Poll)
    Pearl Jam - Ten August 1991
    nirvana - Nevermind September 1991

     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2018
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  14. davidlg1971

    davidlg1971 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    The point Walrus alluded to is important: Whatever us hardcore fans think of an album is immaterial to its performance; hardcore fans don't shift units in the millions. So forum members liking / not liking the material on an album doesn't justify...anything.

    FITD was received well critically - at the time Rolling Stone gave it 4 out of 5 stars. For comparison's sake, in 1983 they gave Pipes Of Peace 2 stars. FITD was perceived by the media of the time as a return to form. But it didn't sell gangbusters, nor did it have a big hit song. But based on where McCartney was in his career, and where radio was at the time, that was about as good as could be expected.
     
  15. Dr. Winston Ramone

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

    Location:
    Pittsburgh
    There's a difference between a successful single and a successful album. (I'm sure there is a thread on this topic somewhere.) I'm referring to the album, as is the OP. I'm sure there was a lot of excitement at the Paul McCartney concert - I'm going out on a limb, but most probably weren't there to see the new material.
     
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  16. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    I think FITD is an excellent album. It did pretty well over here. No 1 album. Singles charted as well. My Brave Face and This One made 18. Not great but I think sales moved to album buyers by then. More of the Costello co-writes should have been included. Several McCartney singles have made the top 20 (just) since Flowers. His albums continue to chart high in the UK with Driving Rain being the only flop.
     
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  17. HeavensAbove

    HeavensAbove Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento
    True. I recall No Jacket Required being PC's last "big" solo album. Top 40 mainstream had largely moved on by ...But Seriously.
     
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  18. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Milli Vanilli were prettier.
     
  19. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    "My Brave Face" and "Flowers In The Dirt" was also right before Soundscan, so we may never know exactly how well they did, or what parts of the country MACCA did well in. I am suggesting tha demographics plays a role in how each of us experienced it.
     
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  20. For the Record

    For the Record Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario Canada
    After Pipes of Peace, Give my Regards to Broad Street and Press to Play... I'm guessing people weren't even batting an eye when McCartney would release something, not knowing that he had CONSCIOUSLY decided to make this a commercial comeback album. The album was successful. The tour certainly would have helped the momentum of the album sales.
     
  21. Colocally

    Colocally One Of The New Wave Boys

    Location:
    Surrey BC.
    Maybe it was different in the USA. In the uk it was big news.
     
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  22. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    It was pretty much Phil Collins' last commercial hurrah. In the early 90s, he was quickly slipping into Adult Contemporary status, which explains why I only heard his stuff on muzak systems. Radio didn't play him. Same with Paul McCartney at that point. Radio here didn't play him. They were too busy with Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, and Aerosmith.
     
  23. MikeVielhaber

    MikeVielhaber Forum Resident

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
     
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  24. wildstar

    wildstar Senior Member

    Location:
    ontario, canada
    Yeah of course, it was all over for Phil after 'No Jacket Required' which had an unbelievably impressive 4 Top 10 singles. But he was clearly all washed up on the Top 40 charts with the later '...But Seriously' album which ONLY managed a mere 4 Top 5 singles.
     
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  25. Ryan Lux

    Ryan Lux Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, ON, CA
    Exactly. But Seriously was so popular that by the time We Can’t Dance came out, there was no break. I think this is why he dropped off the radar, commercially speaking, so fast. People were finally burnt out after 15 years of endless big Collins-sung hits.
     

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