What is there besides "Don't Stop Believin'"? Or is there anything as clear-cut?
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Acts whose biggest hit now wasn't their biggest hit then
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The Beatles. Modern Beatles-listening appears to mostly be about their last three albums (source - a graph I saw about the streaming popularity of Beatles records). Obviously these were big hits then as well, but bigger than their earlier work?
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Albums, yes, because many more people were buying albums generally in 1969 than in 1963
With regard to singles their 1963-64 output has still sold more than anything later
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...United_Kingdom
However I'd agree that in the downloads Era the most popular tracks are Let It Be, Hey Jude, Here Comes The Sun. That will continue because they are more hummable I guess, but not necessarily better songs.
On the OP generally, This Charming Man made #8 on reissue in 1992, higher than any single. The Smiths released when active. However, the 1992 chart run was only 5 weeks whereas the 1983 original run was 18 weeks.
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- Jan 2015
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- Wrexham... ish
- R. + R. McReynold's Travelling Circus, The Jurgen Klopp Farewell Tour XI, Page's Boys
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Originally posted by BrunoI was song-hopping on Youtube last night and came across "Counting Stars." How many hits do you think? 1 billion 880 million for a video uploaded 4 years ago. Which song has the most?
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Originally posted by Jah Womble View PostDon't Stop Me Now by Queen: a modest #9 hit on release in 1979, but arguably the most played of their songs nowadays. This presumably will be because of a stage show or TV commercial.
Originally posted by BrunoB.R., We Are the Champions (because sports), or We Will Rock You (because sports).
It's always felt to me since that Don't Stop Me Now is simply a great singalong tune, which people en masse perhaps just took a few decades to cotton onto – if anything its modern-day popularity has simply rectified the somewhat middling chart placing it originally received.
Will be interesting to see, per Bruno's comment, how much variance there is between the two sides of the Atlantic for example as this thread progresses. I've never heard of the Bob Seger song ursus cites, for instance: here in the UK you'll hear We've Got Tonite, Hollywood Nights and, er, that's about it, and has been ever since I first discovered them in the mid-'90s.
Speaking of songs that have enjoyed a second life at least partially via commercials, the Bellamy Brothers' two UK hits were Let Your Love Flow (no.7, 1976) and If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me (no.3, 1979). The latter was not only their bigger hit, but apart from anything else had a certain fame for chart nerds like me as (if I recall rightly) one of the longest unbracketed hit song titles ever. The former however has had a hugely higher profile in recent years and is a stone-cold radio classic, not least thanks to a rather joyful advert – I forget what for, mind – a few years back that featured people whooshing around towns, in and out of houses etc. on giant waterslides, which it re-charted on the back of.
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Open Arms was their biggest hit (#2) and Who's Crying Now made #4. Don't Stop Believin' scraped into the Billboard Top Ten at #9. In Canada it made #2, which says a lot about the taste of Canadian music fans.
Blitzkrieg Bop must be the most popular Ramones song, yet it never even nudged the top 100 anywhere. Their remake of Baby I Love You made the top ten in the UK but that's about it.
Similarly I'd have expected Lust for Life to be Iggy Pop's biggest hit, but it's well in the shadow of Real Wild Child.Last edited by Amor de Cosmos; 24-07-2017, 16:43.
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Re: Don't Stop Believing. I was deliberately leaving the taste question open. I have Petra Haden's acapella version because, like most of her stuff, it's gently tongue in cheek. Which suits the way the song has evolved over time I think.
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Originally posted by BrunoNot quite sure what you mean. If you're saying that a lot of people view the song ironically as some kind of guilty pleasure, or ironically because it's as popular as it is, I agree. But for it to be not only popular but to outsell every other single from the second half of the 20th century, suggests #1 that a lot of people like it in earnest, and #2 that a lot of young people like it in earnest. .
It's not quite irony, it's more that I think the song's good, but Journey are a more than a bit cringeworthy. Which has to do with my age when it was released and other contextual stuff. Petra Haden's version validates it for me by reducing the bombast to zero, foregrounding the lyrics, and adding a touch of humour in the chorus and harmonies.
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I think it's a re-release that the band did for one of the World Series runs.
They did it live at least once.
As someone who spent his early 20s in early 80s San Francisco, I will always have a soft spot for them, but it has virtually nothing to do with the music itself, but rather the memories it evokes,Last edited by ursus arctos; 24-07-2017, 20:43.
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Originally posted by BrunoBombast, hmm. I mean so much of rock and roll...
As someone wrote, Steve Perry's voice was built for arena rock. I can believe that's true but, for the same reason, I also believe it has it's emotional limitations.Last edited by Amor de Cosmos; 24-07-2017, 20:57.
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Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View PostOn the OP generally, This Charming Man made #8 on reissue in 1992, higher than any single. The Smiths released when active. However, the 1992 chart run was only 5 weeks whereas the 1983 original run was 18 weeks.
Elton John's Are You Ready for Love? didn't even make the top 40 on its release; after its appearance on the Sky football advert, I expect it probably went into his live set. Ditto Elvis Presley's A Little Less Conversation.
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How Soon Is Now had already been issued as the B-side of William It Was Really Nothing (the 12-inch also includes Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want, thereby making it a legitimate contender for best three-song release ever). It was released in its own right after topping Peel's Festive 50 (I think). This, plus its length, probably explains its relatively low UK chart position - as far as I know (and I was a big fan back then) it's always been regarded by most fans as one of their finest moments.
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Originally posted by Stumpy Pepys View PostI'm fairly confident in saying, in the US, the best-known Smiths song is How Soon Is Now?, which wasn't one of their better-selling UK singles. Probably because it was used as a theme for a TV show whose name escapes me.
Stumpy, I think the TV show you're thinking of would be Charmed, the 'three sisters being witches in modern-day San Francisco' thing with Alyssa Milano and co. The theme was a cover version, though, not the Smiths' original.
Elton John's Are You Ready for Love? didn't even make the top 40 on its release; after its appearance on the Sky football advert, I expect it probably went into his live set. Ditto Elvis Presley's A Little Less Conversation.
Are You Ready For Love, although you probably couldn't fairly call it Elton's "biggest hit now", is a great tune and deserved far better than to miss the Top 40 altogether in 1979 – so topping the charts in 2003 certainly made up for that.
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Leo Sayer's another: Thunder in My Heart didn't even make the Top 20 on initial release (1977) but went to number one on reissue (remix) in 2006, prompting reality TV appearances.
Journey were horrendous - it seems pretty obvious that (in the UK at least) they've only gained traction for the one song now because of Glee.
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