With the massive success of “Cold Heart” by Elton/Dua on AC and on other formats, did any AC’s start spinning the original “Sacrifice” by Elton from 1989? It was a big hit at its release, but seemed to fade and not be a very strong gold (I haven’t heard it on FM in 20 years). I would imagine the remix with Dua Lipa probably sparked some interest in “Sacrifice” since way more people are familiar with “Rocket Man.”
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“Sacrifice” by Elton John
- Thread starter 101tm
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Interesting question. I listened to the original and my immediate response is that I wouldn't play the original because it's 5 minutes and really plods. The remix added some interest by inserting the other hooks and tempo. So now knowing the remix, the original is a disappointment. I keep waiting for Dua to come in. But I'll dig into Mediabase when I get some time and see if it shows up.
EJ should dig into his catalog and do a few more of these remixes. I really like this one.
I did a song analysis on Sacrifice by Elton John and found no spins of the song in any format last week.
However, historically, it is #20 on his list of most played songs (I Guess That Why They Call It The Blues is #1). The most recent spins I see for the song are in 2012. For the most part, stations stopped playing it in 1998, when it was ten years old.
However, historically, it is #20 on his list of most played songs (I Guess That Why They Call It The Blues is #1). The most recent spins I see for the song are in 2012. For the most part, stations stopped playing it in 1998, when it was ten years old.
Thanks for the info! Goes to show just because a song hits #3 on AC or whatever format not every song can have staying power.
The original had the very typical late 80s/early 90s ballad sound and production that hasn’t held up very well, I guess. It was during a period when it seemed like almost every 70s and early 80s rock or pop act was coming back, many times with ballads that did well on AC but largely faded away. Genesis, The Bee Gees, Phil Collins (does anybody even remember “I Wish It Would Rain Down” or “Another Day in Paradise”, lol), Rod Stewart all did it just to name a few. Rod Stewart’s late 80s and early 90s tracks (“Have I Told You Lately”, “Rhythm of My Heart”) still get some airplay. I would imagine a lot of these songs by said artists were primarily popular with the AC demo at the time who passed 55+ long ago.
Another heavily played EJ song that I used to not remember hearing much is “I’m Still Standing”, but now adult hits and classic hits stations for the most part are all over it for the past 10 years or so.
The original had the very typical late 80s/early 90s ballad sound and production that hasn’t held up very well, I guess. It was during a period when it seemed like almost every 70s and early 80s rock or pop act was coming back, many times with ballads that did well on AC but largely faded away. Genesis, The Bee Gees, Phil Collins (does anybody even remember “I Wish It Would Rain Down” or “Another Day in Paradise”, lol), Rod Stewart all did it just to name a few. Rod Stewart’s late 80s and early 90s tracks (“Have I Told You Lately”, “Rhythm of My Heart”) still get some airplay. I would imagine a lot of these songs by said artists were primarily popular with the AC demo at the time who passed 55+ long ago.
Another heavily played EJ song that I used to not remember hearing much is “I’m Still Standing”, but now adult hits and classic hits stations for the most part are all over it for the past 10 years or so.
Among Elton's Top 5. And he is #8 most played artist in classic hits.
Well Sacrifice got attention again once the remix came out. In this one Sacrifice have 573 Million views and Cold Heart got 453 Million views. I remember when the Original version came out it was big all the way to the 1990's but faded for some time and now is getting attention again because of the remake.
Some may forget what Elton looked like before the hair replacement.
I actually didn't mind either of those songs, at least back when they were current, but I thought the Phil Collins version of "Can't Stop Loving You" that he released in 2002 wasn't great, and I was convinced at the time that if anyone aside from Collins had released that particular tune at that particular time, it wouldn't have received much if any airplay. To my mind, at least back then, it was akin to when you'd see an aging actor who was very popular back in the day, now appearing on one of the late night TV talk shows. Their prime had passed, the project they were "pitching" on the show wasn't great, but everyone involved kind of played along and gave them their moment, more out of respect for what they'd done in the past than anything.
"Sacrifice" is one of those songs that doesn't feel like 5 minutes(to me anyway), it's that good. Seeing as it only hit #18 Hot 100, a re-release wouldn't have been a bad idea.
When it comes to re-releases, it's better when it's a song that didn't do well originally(Running Up That Hill).
@101tm is way off base by saying Phil Collins was "coming back" in the late 80s with "the "But Seriously" album, when then was his followup to "No Jacket Required". "Something Happen On The Way To Heaven" should be brought back.
When it comes to re-releases, it's better when it's a song that didn't do well originally(Running Up That Hill).
@101tm is way off base by saying Phil Collins was "coming back" in the late 80s with "the "But Seriously" album, when then was his followup to "No Jacket Required". "Something Happen On The Way To Heaven" should be brought back.
I think the success of the Cold Heart remix might change the way artists will be looking at their catalogs.
That sounds about right. I heard "Sacrifice" quite a bit on the Hot AC station I listened to when I was a kid probably up until about 1995, but that was around the time Hot AC started to "modernize" and drop the likes of Michael Bolton, Vanessa Williams and Amy Grant in favor of Hootie, Alanis and Blues Traveler.
How many spins has the original version of "The One" been getting? Like "Sacrifice," that was a big AC hit when it was current, and was also a Top 10 pop hit, but it seemed to disappear from the radio around the same time as "Sacrifice."
How many spins has the original version of "The One" been getting? Like "Sacrifice," that was a big AC hit when it was current, and was also a Top 10 pop hit, but it seemed to disappear from the radio around the same time as "Sacrifice."
Heard it as recently as the mid 2000s, it was a huge hit. BTW, I remember hearing "Takes A Little Time" from Amy Grant on Star 1045 in 1997 when it came out, though that was her last Hot AC hit. Bolton's "The Best of Love" was relegated to B101, the AC station, despite being a good song with a restrained Bolton performance..
I stand corrected, I should have phrased this differently. “But Seriously”, 4-5 years after “No Jacket Required” had a TON of AC hits on it, but none of them really held up despite it being a great album.
“Invisible Touch” with Genesis I believe came out a year later. You’re more likely to hear “One More Night” or “Take Me Home” than anything from “But Seriously.” “Something Happened on The Way to Heaven” would even fit well on an adult hits or classic hits station. Great song. Collins was a very talented and versatile artist. I’m 31 and most of these AC hits from the later 80s by established artists I know from streaming, definitely not AC radio over the past 20 years, at least in the areas I’ve lived in.
“Can You Feel The Love Tonight” by Elton John still comes around from time to time, not as much as I heard it in the late 00s. It does have a movie on its side.
It's one of his most-played songs currently on the radio, according to Mediabase. When I was researching current airplay of Sacrifice, I noticed Can You Feel is Top 5. But that's across all formats.
Collins was one of the biggest artists of the 80s, between his solo stuff and Genesis, often in the charts at the same time. Then you had Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford leading Mike & The Mechanics. Then there was former Genesis singer Peter Gabriel. It's really hard to compare how dominant they all were at that time.
The bad news is that Phil's health has been very bad lately. He will likely never tour again. His son Nic is 22, and is playing drums for Mike & The Mechanics this year. But they're only touring Europe so far. As I said earlier, it would be great to dig into their catalog and do some remixes. Their music still sounds fresh.
Collins had that deal where I believe he did a Genesis album, then a solo, then another Genesis album every 4 or so years, so there was definitely no shortage of material. A lot of people think Genesis songs were Phil Collins, too, which is technically true. “Invisible Touch” and “No Jacket Required” are two of my favorite 80s albums and I enjoy seeing a lot of the tracks still popular on FM. “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” is another good track off of IT that I had forgotten about.
As for Elton John, I remember ‘Can You Feel’ being staples on their national AC “playlist” and Delilah, so those could be significant factors in its airplay if it’s still in the rotation. Elton’s most recent solo somewhat hit I believe was “Looking Up” in 2016, which peaked at #12 on AC. It wasn’t a bad track, but almost seemed like one of those semi-“obligatory” plays, and it fell off the air by 2018 which is to be expected from an artist with such a massive, successful back catalog. He might have done slightly better in the current AC climate where we don’t have almost every CHR #1 crossing over to an AC smash and stations are playing fewer currents.
That whole album of Amy's ("Behind the Eyes") seemed to be her attempt to get in on some of the "Lilith Fair" action. The frothy pop of "Heart in Motion" and "House of Love" was gone and it was guitar-based and in some places rather downbeat. That may have been part of why "Takes a Little Time" did well at Hot AC and moderately well at CHR.
Incidentally, I saw Amy on her "House of Love" tour twice, and at the second show she played "Takes a Little Time" as a "preview" of her next album. This was in 1995. Perhaps she already had a sense of where the wind was blowing as far as pop music went.
Michael Bolton's "Go the Distance" sold enough singles to get into the Top 30 on the Billboard chart, but that I'm sure was largely due to sales, as I don't recall ever hearing it on a Hot AC or CHR station. "Can I Touch You... There?" was the last song of his I remember getting played on WKQI (Q95) Detroit. They also played "Takes a Little Time," but didn't support anything of Gloria Estefan's after "Everlasting Love" except for maybe her 'N Sync collab.
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A number of those '90s AC hits are showing up in the Adult Standards format as well, due to being "too soft/old" for mainstream AC or classic hits. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and Amy Grant's "That's What Love Is For" are in rotation on the Local Radio Networks standards format (which 107.7 in Bend, OR recently switched to). WW1's America's Best Music has played the likes of Celine Dion's "If You Asked Me To" and Kenny G/Peabo Bryson's "By the Time This Night Is Over."
“Can You Feel” might also be heard by some as a newer song as audiences are introduced/reintroduced to it when they see Lion King on Broadway or touring the country.
My girlfriend and I were out for dinner tonight and the playlist at the restaurant played "No Son of Mine" from Genesis (the same album as "I Can't Dance"). Even though she had never heard the song, she recognized the voice as Phil Collins from the Tarzan movie
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