Bad choices for lead-off singles

It’s decent. Some pretty cool moody stuff on side 2, if I recall correctly.

 

It is worth noting that UK aside very many country's issued a second single for this album and the A side selection/s made were not just Heartbreaker but also Star Star!

 

I didn't realize that! Orange Crush was huge on the radio where I lived at the time...no idea it was never released as a single.

 

Think again, Star Star was an A side elsewhere!

 

It was in Australia.

 

I never thought anybody worshipped Mick's solo career so no.

 

Well, I lived in the US at the time.

 

I bought that single without having heard it, it was a disappointment and probably why I've never listened to No Code.

 

No strings on it but 6 years earlier a ballad type ditty called Ruby Tuesday was a US #1 Single!

 

And I don't agree with any of you!

@Dillydipper I like "Questions 67 and 68. I agree it sounds a bit clunky with the staccato horns, but it was the perfect single to introduce the band. The producer wanted to show that they were supposed to AM radio hitmakers, not just another horn band that would fade away. And, despite it's clunkiness, it sounded great on the radio, especially with Peter Cetera's vocal. That's all that mattered. After all, the song was reissued and charted even higher in 1970.

As for the rest of you guys, the idea isn't always to start off with a hard, powerful single. Sometimes you want to start with a warm-up that gets 'em wet.

 

That was the whole point. At the time, Mr. William Joel was getting sick of being branded the piano man, and wanted to show that he could rock with the best of them. And, punk was growing popular at the time, so...

 

Wherever it was, I'm moving there.

 

Not sure if serious

 

What other song would have made a better single from the album? Obvious and only choice.

 

Schnell schnell!

 

The Beach Boys' "Sunflower" and "Surf's Up" both had bad lead-off singles. Not that the songs were bad, they just didn't work as AM friendly A-sides. "Add Some Music To Your Day" was too long and "Long Promised Road" was just plain too difficult to dance to. Better choices would've (respectively) been "Our Sweet Love" and "Feel Flows."

 

Roll With It by Oasis... especially at the peak of the "Brit Pop War".

 

You should give it a listen,it's one of their strongest albums.

 

Looks like we agree, then.

To disagree.

Does it sound great on the radio? Let's continue to agree.

To disagree.

Don't buy the song being reissued and "charted even higher" as being relevant. They had already placed several superior singles into the public ear at that point, and if that meant the public was only then willing to hear it...well, that just proves my point, not your own: not exactly the best choice for a "lead-off" single...if you have to follow it up with several other, better-performing singles, to be able to get any chart action from it once you re-release it after better successes.

And, you already know how I feel about using sales stats that are only really of use to programmers, retailers and people who stock jukeboxes, as excuses to win arguments. They're not reliable, and they're not really for the public to misinterpret their significance just for bragging rights.

The only thing we do honestly agree on about this single is: it's still clunky.

 

Haven't looked over 18 pages so this might have already been mentioned. I always thought "The Harlem Shuffle" was a fairly weak leas off single from The Stones' "Dirty Work" album.

 

To me, it sounded great when I heard it on the radio. I can still hear the DJ announcing the song over the horn section before the vocal kicked in.

 

It wasn't the Stones initial first choice either until they realised (in advance) it was getting more immediate reaction than their favoured (One Hit) To The Body so went with it instead and got some momentum from a far bigger hit first up than they otherwise would have!

 

"Break On Through" was a great first single. Obviously, the title spoke for itself, but it was different from anything else at the time. And, remember, "Light My Fire" was edited for the single release. The only reason it sounds faster is because the tape for the album version slowed down.

 

Somebody has already mentioned 'Body Language' off 'Hot Space'. Truly bad choice.
Another mistake Queen made is the singles from 'Jazz'. 'Bicycle Race'/'Fat Bottomed Girls' was the lead off single, and AFAIR it missed the Top Ten, whereas the 2nd single 'Don't Stop me now' got to #9. Had they released them the other way round, DSMN would have been much bigger. Today, it certainly is more loved than BR.

 

With the benefit of hindsight Light My Fire was a lot more successful.