Greatest Hit's Albums That Are Missing Significant Hits

You recall correctly. I first owned "Xmas" on "Shaved Fish", so I still hear that crossfade whenever I play any version of the song!

 

Last year I finally picked up Playback - The Brian Wilson Anthology because it had a couple of tracks not available elsewhere.
While they did a great job at coming up with some tracks that I had not heard in some time, and actually it flowed pretty well, it was missing "Imagination." Now, I know that wasn't a "hit" but it certainly is one of Brian's most recognizable solo tracks. I have actually heard it on the radio and even in stores. I was very surprised they left that one off.

 

Fleetwood Mac “Seven Wonders”
Peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100.
You won’t find it on here though.

 

Nor the #20 "Think About Me"

 

I think the problem is that those two songs don't quite "fit" classic rock. Shakedown is very glossy 1980s pop that has little to do with his classic 70s material and Shame On The Moon is very country (even crossed over to that chart) so there hasn't been much room for those two songs on the same stations that play Mainstreet and Old Time Rock N Roll to death.

 

Seven Wonders was very overshadowed at the time by the other Tango singles and you rarely heard it for years. I think American Horror Story really gave that song a new life and since then its risen in stature as a classic FM single since Coven in 2013.

 

that's hysterical! guess they weren't thinking?

 

yea, I remember being pissed they were left out...IIRC all the songs in this box were remixed?

 

It wasn't on there because Hollywood Records had dropped "Classic Queen" about six months earlier which was largely a US repackaging of "Greatest Hits II", except Bohemian Rhapsody was added to that release to coincide with Wayne's World and also gave the release of mostly songs that fell under the US radar one blockbuster single to "sell" the album, so that fall when Hollywood released the earlier hits on a compilation, they didn't need to put Bohemian Rhapsody or Under Pressure as both tracks had appeared on "Classic Queen" which actually had been a successful release for them, going to #4 in the US.

 

Dan Folgelberg Portraits...leaving out the studio version of leader Of The Band

thanks for the explanation...

 

Portrait - Dan Fogelberg
leaves out the studio version of Leader Of The Band... replaces it with a live version! I was really frustrated with this release...

 

Right, it is on Golden Bisquits," which I also have on 8 track. However, I was referring to a later greatest hits comp of theirs from '74, Joy To The World - Their Greatest Hits. This later comp has a few tracks in common with GB, so it's definitely not a "greatest hits vol.II" kind of thing. Check it out:
Three Dog Night - Joy To The World - Their Greatest Hits
I find it odd that they would include tracks like "Family Of Man," or "Sure as I'm Sitting Here," yet neglect to include "Mama Told Me Not To Come." Now that I think about it, "Easy to be Hard" is also absent from that release as well. Still, it's a pretty solid compilation anyway. Too many great songs from 3 Dog Night to choose from

 

That's an odd one, since it's almost a "greatest hits vol. 2," except that it repeats two songs (One and One Man Band) from Bisquits-- so all the rest of the early hits are missing too.

 

Who's That Girl (a #1) and Causing A Commotion (#2) as well.

Problem with Immaculate is that there was only so much room on one disc that some big hits ended up having to be left out especially to make room for the two songs. Of the 15 previously released tracks that made the release, its hard to want to take any of them out to make place for any of the five above mentioned. Holiday only hit #16 and Borderline #10 but those two songs are evergreens that remain two of her most popular, and it can be argued that Who's That Girl was a weaker La Isla Bonita (which charted lower but had more shelf life) and Causing A Commotion a weaker Into The Groove, so the stronger "parent" tracks already were represented on the set.

 

Who's That Girl, Causing A Commotion and True Blue were included on The Holiday Collection EP, kind of a companion to the Immaculate Collection...

 

Perhaps even more reason to include it as the majority of US Duran fans would not have access to the single and it's one of their best singles. Apparently the band don't like it which is perhaps a reason it wasn't released as a single or included on multiple best of's. The one reason that would explain that attitude would be if the record company forced them to redo the album version for the single version

 

A lot of greatest hits cover an artists wide array of styles. "Abracadabra" for example sounds nothing like the Steve Miller Bands 70's singles.

 

Plus, right, what's on this that's from 1975 ay? In fact, 1976 even?

 

Good point. Idol was still in Chelsea in 1976 and Wiki says Generation X's first gig was December 76. Weird.

 

I wouldn't mind if it had that first "demo" version of YrGen

 

Squeeze has issued a fair number of compilations, but I can't think of any that include their early hit single "Bang Bang." (A re-recorded version is on The Complete BBC Sessions, but it kind of has to be or it wouldn't be "complete," would it?)

 

True. I was just trying to theorize why his first Greatest Hits ignored his two highest charting singles and that's the best I could come up with

 

It's not on the US edition but curiously is on the UK release* (where it peaked at #56). There are a few differences between the US and UK versions. The US has fewer tracks too.

*Possibly not on the UK vinyl format, which had 13 tracks as opposed to the 17 on the CD.

 

Odd, for sure. However, I think it's more of a "definitive" greatest hits for the group, as there are a lot of songs on Bisquits that weren't particularly big hits for them. So I've a feeling that's why they didn't market it as a "greatest hits II."

 

It had major radio play in New England.