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Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

J

JimMcGrath

This thread is the son of "stiffs" and cousin to "segues" & "burnouts". What song do you see as a hit if only it had gotten better promotion, more airtime or whatever you think the reason it didn't make it. Maybe it was ahead of its time. Maybe behind. For whatever the reason it fell short of its potential.

I tried looking up my entry but my books don't list it. I submit "The Core" by Eric Clapton. The few times I have heard it on the radio it brought a smile to my face and an air guitar to my fingers.
 
There are so many, but off the top of my head, from 1968, Nothing But a Heartache by the Flirtations. On Deram Records(subsidiary of Decca).
 
"There are so many, but off the top of my head, from 1968, Nothing But a Heartache by the Flirtations. On Deram Records(subsidiary of Decca)."

IIRC it was a substantial regional hit in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions. Seemed like t was in hot rotation at WBBF in Rochester for weeks when it was released--and it popped up on KB as well. But looking at the WABC playlists for 68 and early 69 it never seems to have showed...don't know why, NYC was always a good R&B market, still is. Song barely cracked the top 35 nationally.

One group that never got quite as much play as it probably deserved was the Chairmen of the Board, featuring lead singer General Johnson (yes, that's his real name). They had one big top 10 hit, Give Me Just A Little More Time...but they had several other releases that just missed the top 10 including Danglin' On A String and Pay To The Piper. That last one may have been a little controversial because of the lyrics--never got higher than #13 nationally. it was a bigger hit in NYC, Rochester and Buffalo, hitting the top 10 early in '71 in each market. After that--a disappearing act on record, even though they still perform on the oldies circuit.
 
Saturday Night Son of Stiff Suggestion: "Give Me One More Chance" a local hit by Wilmer Alexander and the Dukes could have been a national smash had it been on a bigger label and some palms been greased in NYC and LA. Raven, another 60s Buffalo band which was signed to Columbia records, was a fantastic Buffalo progressive rock band that might have been the next Santana or even "heavy" Chicago. In the 80s, Actor, a group with a powerful female lead singer named Jesse, could, shoulda, had a hit with "I'm Checkin' Out."
 
Radknowski said:
Saturday Night Son of Stiff Suggestion: "Give Me One More Chance" a local hit by Wilmer Alexander and the Dukes could have been a national smash had it been on a bigger label and some palms been greased in NYC and LA. Raven, another 60s Buffalo band which was signed to Columbia records, was a fantastic Buffalo progressive rock band that might have been the next Santana or even "heavy" Chicago. In the 80s, Actor, a group with a powerful female lead singer named Jesse, could, shoulda, had a hit with "I'm Checkin' Out."
Click to expand...

"I'm Checkin' Out" is a great little tune, a famous final scene great.
 
We could do an entire thread on Buffalo/NF/Rochester area bands that SHOULD have broken nationally. Wilmer & the Dukes, Raven, Rochester's Black Sheep, Buffalo's Talas, Actor - or Jesse as a solo artist, Corey Wells & The Enemys, Weekend, The Road. How many got exposure on local radio?

BTW, here's a fascinating tidbit about Cory Wells....

http://www.60sgaragebands.com/bandbios/corywellstheenemys.html
 
When I first heard "I'll Drink To You" by Rochester's Duke Jupiter, I thought it would explode on the national scene and put DJ on the map cuz the song had top 15 written all over it. Alas, I don't even think it cracked the top 40.
 
qman said:
When I first heard "I'll Drink To You" by Rochester's Duke Jupiter, I thought it would explode on the national scene and put DJ on the map cuz the song had top 15 written all over it. Alas, I don't even think it cracked the top 40.
Click to expand...
But it was big at 97 Rock and a major bar and sound system hit at high schools and colleges around Buffalo. This is a classic turntable hit that jocks and listeners in a particular "party" environment enjoyed hearing; an "oh wow" or "driveway moment" song. These days, songs like this could be called "playlist songs" because even though they're not chart busting smash hits, they're likely to show up on iPods and mp3 players, especially with 45+ males. At the very least, "I'll Drink to You" should be in lunar rotation at most northeast Classic Rockers .
 
"Rochester's Black Sheep"

Don't feel sorry for Black Sheep's lead singer/songwriter...a couple years after Black Sheep broke up, Lou Grammatico shortened his last name to Gramm, got together with Mick Jones down in the Hudson Valley, and put together a little band called Foreigner...(time to cue up "Juke Box Hero"...)
 
qman said:
When I first heard "I'll Drink To You" by Rochester's Duke Jupiter, I thought it would explode on the national scene and put DJ on the map cuz the song had top 15 written all over it. Alas, I don't even think it cracked the top 40.
Click to expand...

To my ears one of the best R&R guitar solos.
"Little Lady" shoulda done better too.
 
"Do the 81" by Candy and the Kisses was every bit as good as the Flirtations "Nothin but a Heartache." It was Motown via Philly. Awesome, awesome record on Cameo-Parkway.
 
I'll diverge from the Thruway and travel down the Jersey Turnpike to Exit 12 to nominate several different singles from The Smithereens.

They had two minor Top 40 entries but coulda, shoulda, woulda scored big with "Blood And Roses" had the subject matter not been quite so dark. "Behind the Wall of Sleep" coulda been a contender also. And the song "Now And Then" which even featured the Cowsills (!) on backing vocals didn't get no respect either. I could go on, since I'm a fan.

Incidentally, The Smithereens are playing 1/29/2010 at the Seneca Niagara Casino. I don't know that they've been up this way as a complete band since they played the Rochester Music Fest at around the start of this decade. I might just venture down the Thruway for that.
 
What? And no mention of Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes? Whutkindajoiseyboy is you anywayz? :D
 
Mentioned in the stiffs thread "Easy Livin' " by Uriah Heep and I submit the song by them from the next year "Stealin' " as a candidate for this thread. Chart action was about the same on both with 2 weeks on the charts
 
"Easy Livin'" and "Stealin'" might not have been chart hits, but they sure got a lot of AOR airplay around these parts. There are a lot of songs that weren't hits on the Pop charts that did VERY well on AOR, and its successor, Classic Rock.
 
JimPastrick said:
What? And no mention of Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes? Whutkindajoiseyboy is you anywayz? :D
Click to expand...

Hey, you wanna make sumtim' a dat? You wanna pieceame? ;D

Good point, though. Southside packed The Stone Pony many a time but never quite hit the top tier.

So did Glen Burtnick, as long as we're talking about Jersey Boys. Burtnick had some success as Tommy Shaw's replacement in Styx and also as a songwriter, but coulda, shoulda, woulda scored with something from the "Heroes and Zeroes" CD or maybe even the "Talking In Code" album (on vinyl only, except in Germany). He had Neal Schon on a couple of guitar solos and Bruce Hornsby on one track on "Heroes and Zeroes." Unfortunately, the singles were more Zeroes than Heroes.
 
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