And The Stiffs Just Keep On Comin'

[John C]

As this thread was about to fall off the front page...I bring you one of Atlantic's "big things" from 1983...cool song but I don't think it even made the Top 40:

Zebra - "Who's Behind The Door"

I remember that song well, Chas. I thought the song and artist would do better. Right about that same time was (forgive me if it's already been used) Aldo Nova's "Fantasy".

"Fantasy", I think, actually made the Top 25. Still an indelible association with WNY & CNY when I occasionally hear it. It was out Spring '82.

You may be right, Chas. I don't have my Whitburn handy. I just wanted to be the 1500th replier. Did I win a prize for that? ;D

 

[chas108]

As this thread was about to fall off the front page...I bring you one of Atlantic's "big things" from 1983...cool song but I don't think it even made the Top 40:

Zebra - "Who's Behind The Door"

I remember that song well, Chas. I thought the song and artist would do better. Right about that same time was (forgive me if it's already been used) Aldo Nova's "Fantasy".

"Fantasy", I think, actually made the Top 25. Still an indelible association with WNY & CNY when I occasionally hear it. It was out Spring '82.

You may be right, Chas. I don't have my Whitburn handy. I just wanted to be the 1500th replier. Did I win a prize for that? ;D

You've won a Summer Fun Prize Package including two free rentals at Ed's Video Emporium and Crematorium! Plus a four-pack of tickets to the County Zoo and a $50 gift certificate for Wegmans!

Did I mention it was clean out the prize closet weekend? Gotta get after those promotions people again...and the Herb Tarleks back in the sales department who think anything from a crematorium's a great prize!

 

[Debaser]

Don't forget the grape jelly. I think there are several dozen jars in the KB prize closet from some less than stellar weekend giveaway in the 70s.

 

[nytalkin]

If I remember correctly DB you tried giving away the hood ornament from a '68 Audi. Didn't you take that car for a lot of walks?

 

[Silkie]

I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself - Dusty Springfield

 

[Debaser]

If I remember correctly DB you tried giving away the hood ornament from a '68 Audi. Didn't you take that car for a lot of walks?

The Audi was one of the first (of the series) made...in the 70s...and it was a lemon. I probably tried to give anything and everything away from that car.

 

[chas108]

The Audi was one of the first (of the series) made...in the 70s...and it was a lemon. I probably tried to give anything and everything away from that car.

If a car could ever be a stiff...that Audi would be it. That and the '72 Vega I owned back then...

And speaking of stiff lemons...there's always "Sam" by Olivia Newton-John. Excuse me, I hear a loaf of white bread singing out in the kitchen.

 

[Debaser]

And speaking of stiff Bread tunes...

Has anyone mentioned "Guitar Man?" I don't have 3 hours to re-read this thread to find out...

 

[qman]

Both "Sam" and "Guitar Man" hit the top 20 on Billboard's charts in 1977 and 1972 respectively. Hardly stiff material.

 

[chas108]

Just cracked my Whitburn...Bread had two singles reach that failed to crack the Top 20 - both rockers: "Let Your Love Go" at #28 and "Mother Freedom" at #37. Guess "Guitar Man" was about as uptempo a hit as they ever had.

As for ONJ, "Don't Stop Believin'"...a song associate with "Sam" since they were both out one right after the other, peaked at #33.

We stand corrected.

 

[qman]

Legend has it that ONJ sang "Sam" as a dedication to a man from here in Rochester who she dated. In fact he and his partner Nick operated a restaurant right down the street from where i grew up.

 

[John C]

Both "Sam" and "Guitar Man" hit the top 20 on Billboard's charts in 1977 and 1972 respectively. Hardly stiff material.

Chas, you've been pulled over by the "Stiff Police". I would argue that compared to the rest of her material "Sam" was a stiff. Anyway, I just wanted to put the Stiffs back on page 1. Before I go, I offer Stevie Nicks' "After the Glitter Fades" as a follow up to her first 3 singles, which were all top 15.

 

[chas108]

Both "Sam" and "Guitar Man" hit the top 20 on Billboard's charts in 1977 and 1972 respectively. Hardly stiff material.

Chas, you've been pulled over by the "Stiff Police". I would argue that compared to the rest of her material "Sam" was a stiff. Anyway, I just wanted to put the Stiffs back on page 1. Before I go, I offer Stevie Nicks' "After the Glitter Fades" as a follow up to her first 3 singles, which were all top 15.

John, you're absolutely right. Many of these songs must of necessity "be compared to" for myriad reasons. And to me, "Sam" and "Don't Stop Believin'" fit the bill because ONJ had enough other hits playing as power oldies...and as those oldies dropped off the radar, they would qualify for the "Hits That Don't Get Played Anymore On The Radio" thread.

A few dozen pages ago, a couple of us were taken to task for posting songs from "the stiff-filled year of 1980". But look back at how few of those songs endured. It was a year that turned out to be filled with "turntable hits". Whoever coined the phrase was spot on IMO.

Ultimately stiffs are in the eye of the beholder. Who among us thinks of "Smooth Criminal" or "Another Part Of Me" first, when thinking of Michael Jackson? Isn't it usually "Billie Jean", "Beat It" or some other iconic cut from Thriller? And If you're thinking of Bad, don't we think of the title hit or "Man In The Mirror", f'r example?

By Michael Jackson's standard, "Smooth" and "Another" were stiffs. Yet many one and two-hit wonders didn't chart even that high and yet those are "hits". Then again you have to figure album sales, and nowadays downloads...so again it comes down to the eye of the beholder.

 

[Radknowski]

Sorry, this was no stiff, but hearing it on the jukebox in the bar earlier this evening forced me to resurrect the thread on a delightfully beer-drenched Saturday night.

She's known more for "Me and Bobby McGee" but Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" was the song that made me turn it up to 11. I liked the Erma Franklin version of the song too, which I heard years earlier on a 10kw Urban (Soul, Race Music, R&B) AM daytimer in Annapolis, Maryland. "

"You know you got it, cuz it makes you feel good..." Damn fine music, it was. I'm well buzzed but ain't drivin', so bottoms up.

 

[chas108]

Sorry, this was no stiff, but hearing it on the jukebox in the bar earlier this evening forced me to resurrect the thread on a delightfully beer-drenched Saturday night.

She's known more for "Me and Bobby McGee" but Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" was the song that made me turn it up to 11. I liked the Erma Franklin version of the song too, which I heard years earlier on a 10kw Urban (Soul, Race Music, R&B) AM daytimer in Annapolis, Maryland. "

"You know you got it, cuz it makes you feel good..." Damn fine music, it was. I'm well buzzed but ain't drivin', so bottoms up.

You began the thread...so as far as I'm concerned, you have the right. And it's been great fun. Plus it gave me a forum in which to chat with two of my all-time radio heroes. So thanks.

Side note: Faith Hill, born in 1968, had never heard Janis Joplin's definitive version of "Piece Of My Heart" when she turned it into a Country classic in '94.

And now...The Fifth Dimension - "If I Could Reach You". Fall '72...reeeeally stiff.

 

[SirRoxalot]

OK, you want a REAL stiff?

"Monsters' Holiday", released by Bobby "Boris" Pickett in December 1962 - the Christmas-themed follow-up to "The Monster Mash".

Monsters at Halloween? #1

Monsters at Christmas? #30 - without a bullet...

 

[chas108]

Seeing as though I drew a tenuous thread from Focus ("Hocus Pocus") to Pink ("Get The Party Started") over on the "Hits that don't get played" thread...here's one of Pink's best, a 2003 release that shoulda-been-a-hit-but-wasn't: "Trouble".

 

[Silkie]

It might simply be a forgotten 45, but "Do You Know What I Mean", by The Turtles seems to be a stifferoo too.

 

[Debaser]

Speaking of The Turtles, there's always "The Story of Rock and Roll" and "Guide For The Married Man."

 

[Tom Wells]

Well, what about the Turtles' "Grim Reaper of Love" or "Surfer Dan" ...he's so cool you can't see him go by....