Singles Without Albums

[Beatle Simon]

As well as being pretty impressive in the "Albums Without Singles" thread, The Beatles were also impressive in non-album singles:
"From Me To You"
"She Loves You"
"I Want To Hold Your Hand"
"I Feel Fine"
"We Can Work It Out" / "Day Tripper"
"Paperback Writer"
"Lady Madonna"
"Hey Jude"
"Ballad Of John & Yoko"

And all of them No.1s!!!!

[Guest]

Singles Without Albums

Non-album singles were pretty much the norm in the UK at the time, though not in the US where, as I said in the other thread, I think all these except the last three (which were late-period, after their albums were the same everywhere) appeared on Meet the Beatles or Beatles '65 or Yesterday and Today or something else that wasn't released in Britain (that's a whole other subject actually: the CD age standardised their catalogue worldwide as the UK albums, with the exception of Magical Mystery Tour where the UK got the full US album - with "Penny Lane", "Strawberry Fields", "All You Need Is Love" thrown on as fillers - whereas initially it only got a double EP).

It's horrible, obviously, but Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" was never on any of their albums until a compilation years later, which is why it spent months hovering around the lower reaches of the Top 75. The Smiths, loyal as they were to 60s/classicist ideas of pop consumption, released a great many non-album singles which have now of course been compiled beyond death, and arguably Meat is Murder should have been in the other thread ("Shakespeare's Sister" was a non-album single, "How Soon is Now" was only ever on later reissues, and the only single off MiM at the time was "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore", months later and rather pointless, which duly missed the Top 40).

[Ray de Galles]

Singles Without Albums

'Masses against the Classes' and 'Motown Junk' are major Manics singles not on any regular albums.

[Furtho]

Singles Without Albums

Depeche Mode's Get The Balance Right has only ever been on compilations.

[Mumpo]

Singles Without Albums

The same is true of Dreaming Of Me.

And, of course, Shake The Disease, It's Called A Heart, Only When I Lose Myself and Martyr; though these singles were all released specifically to promote compilation albums, rather than simply omitted from studio albums.

[Andy C]

Singles Without Albums

And the single versions of Get Back and Let It Be were different from the album versions.

[Gangster Octopus]

Singles Without Albums

Neither Virginia Plain nor Pyjamarama were originally on albums. As wasn't Reward.

[delicatemoth]

Singles Without Albums

I don't think The Fall had a single on an album until 'Mr. Pharmacist', and not that many subsequently.

[evilC]

Singles Without Albums

There's tons from the genres of dance and electronic(a) that could be mentioned on either thread.- Too many to list, really.

Thus, for the moment, I'll just mention one particularly memorable one:

'Spikee' by Underworld

[Guest]

Singles Without Albums

Don't know why I keep forgetting the Manics. Probably because they meant too much to me for my own good, or even theirs.

Easy to lose track of this sort of thing now that so many albums have contemporaneous singles that weren't originally on them added to CD reissues (as with Roxy Music, and countless others).

[linus]

Singles Without Albums

A lot of those UK singles end up being included in American (or other international) album versions. "Dreaming of Me" for instance is in my Speak And Spell.

[MsD]

Singles Without Albums

Bowie's John, I'm 0nly Dancing.

[Sits]

Singles Without Albums

The other extreme crept in from the early 80s when it seemed to become acceptable to release up to four tracks off an album as singles. That didn't stop some more extreme examples. From memory all these off Thriller were released as singles in the UK:

Wanne Be Startin' Something
Thriller
Beat It
Billie Jean
Human Nature
PYT
The Girl is Mine

[Tony C]

Singles Without Albums

Roxy Music 'Pyjamarama'.

[archibald8]

Singles Without Albums

Going Underground

Rat Race

Who wants to be the Disco King?

Fools Gold

Pop Scene

Whatever

[Jah Womble]

Singles Without Albums

Joy Division/New Order pretty much religiously kept singles and albums apart until Low-Life in 1985, which of course contained 'The Perfect Kiss' and 'Sub-culture'.

The other extreme crept in from the early 80s when it seemed to become acceptable to release up to four tracks off an album as singles. That didn't stop some more extreme examples. From memory all these off Thriller were released as singles in the UK:

Wanne Be Startin' Something
Thriller
Beat It
Billie Jean
Human Nature
PYT
The Girl is Mine

The same thing happened with Bad, which became the first - and, I believe, only - album in history to spawn five US number one singles. Quite an achievement, even by Jacko's standards.

[Sits]

Singles Without Albums

archibald8 wrote:

Fools Gold

A lot of Stone Roses' stuff was single-only, but then if a band can have a 20+ track Best Of, and only two studio albums, it's not surprising. Unless you count EPs.

So Young
Sally Cinnamon
Elephant Stone
Fools Gold
One Love

[tone_burst]

Singles Without Albums

always been fond of this one myself..

[ale]

Singles Without Albums

the seemingly interminable wait for the second Clash album saw them release Clash City Rockers & White Man along with I Fought The Law none of which ended up on Give Em Enough Rope...

[ale]

Singles Without Albums

MsD wrote:

Bowie's John, I'm 0nly Dancing.

also Knock On Wood...Baal...

[Guest]

Singles Without Albums

For reasons that are so blindingly obvious and boring, the majestic genius that is Whatever by Oasis never appeared on any LP.

How about that for a first post.

[Sundeporino]

Singles Without Albums

I had hopes for Elvis C at the time with this standalone single lark but only "Watchin The Detectives" springs to mind.
Although Pills n Soap appeared a few years later it seems to have been a one off.

[E10 Rifle]

Singles Without Albums

Blue Monday isn't on any album is it?

[George]

Singles Without Albums

Into The Groove - Madonna: A stand alone single that was tacked on to the 85 reissue of Like A Virgin outside of North America but remains separate from the album in the U.S.

[hobbes]

Singles Without Albums

Boys Dont Cry and Charlotte Sometimes by The Cure.
Marblehead Johnson by The Bluetones.