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Regional hits that should have broken out nationally

J

johnbasalla

Here's another take on the regional hits topic. Which regional hits could or should have made it big nationally. Another side question is, why didn't they? GO!
 
From the Northeastern Ohio area, the classic "should-of" is The Michael Stanley Band, who did manage two
Top 40 hits in the early 1980s. It wasn't for a lack of trying. They sold out large venues in the Cleveland area. They had top flight recording contracts with Epic, Arista and EMI America (Capitol) Records. Their output was prolific.

Another from Cleveland:
CIRCUS - "Stop, Wait and Listen" (Metromedia Records) 1972-1973. This is a great, upbeat Pop-Rock tune. It was a big hit in Northeastern Ohio. It barely made the Billboard "Hot 100" in early 1973 although it was played in Cleveland in 1972, maybe even later 1971. One side-light ancedote ... I recall that a member of the band was a student teacher in my high school for a short time. I pointed out that I was familiar with him from the band.
 
Not likely any of you will remember this one, but Siegling & Larrabe's Philadelphia Girl from 1970 never received the airplay it deserved. S & L were Albuquerque-grown talent, although I believe Frank Larrabe's roots were in Chicago.

The tune was a bouncy, yet gentle entry on the folkish rock market so popular at the time. As I recall, it was pushed nicely by Albuquerque's AM powerhouses, KDEF & KOB. Los Angeles area stations, already playing the offerings of another Albuquerque area duo, The Whickham Bros, also gave a push to P.G. A friend and I occasionally heard P.G. on a car radio, thanks to a stray late night AM signal from Oklahoma.

Info on P.G. and the album spawning it are available on RED TELEPHONE, a website catering to searches for hard-to-find recordings. Many similar websites mention P.G. being unavailable.
 
I never understood why "It Could Be We're In Love" by the Cryan Shames didn't do better nationally.
Yes, most of the Cryan Shames singles were hits only in the Chicago area, but "It Could Be We're In Love" was #1 on both WLS and WCFL
for an entire month. (August 67) Considering the influence, power, & signal coverage that both of those stations had, I would have expected that record to do better than #85 on Billboard.
In fact, it wasn't even the Cryan Shames biggest selling national hit.
 
johnbasalla said:
From the Northeastern Ohio area, the classic "should-of" is The Michael Stanley Band, who did manage two
Top 40 hits in the early 1980s. It wasn't for a lack of trying. They sold out large venues in the Cleveland area. They had top flight recording contracts with Epic, Arista and EMI America (Capitol) Records. Their output was prolific.
Click to expand...
I remember "My Town" getting airplay in west Tennessee back in the early '80s. 8)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl-zQhr0V6g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRVukE-0MtA
 
Autumn by The Thomas Group was a regional hit in Louisville in 1969, but I never heard it anywhere else.
 
The Wildweeds' "No Good to Cry" was huge in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, practically unknown everywhere else. I thought it was a great single, must have been doomed by small label (Cadet)/poor distribution.

Another one that never got out of the Northeast was the Jordan Brothers' version of "Gimme Some Lovin'." This was THE hit version of the song in Boston, but once WRKO went Top 40 in Spring '67, it was like it never happened. The Spencer Davis Group got all the airplay as a recurrent and later as an oldie.
 
The Uniques, from Louisiana had a regional hit in the South in 1966 with a romantic ballad "All These Things", it only reached #97 Nationwide.

10 years later, in July 1976 The Uniques lead singer Joe Stampley re-recorded it as a 2-step and took it to #1 on Billboard's Country chart.
 
Smittian said:
The Uniques, from Louisiana had a regional hit in the South in 1966 with a romantic ballad "All These Things", it only reached #97 Nationwide.

10 years later, in July 1976 The Uniques lead singer Joe Stampley re-recorded it as a 2-step and took it to #1 on Billboard's Country chart.
Click to expand...

that is a sweet recording by the Uniques their cover of the art Neveil classic "all theses things" is wonderful..their whole Lp was great , "Fool #1", "How Lucky can One Be" and they did a great job on the gene thomas hit "Sometime"
 
CTListener said:
The Wildweeds' "No Good to Cry" was huge in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, practically unknown everywhere else. I thought it was a great single, must have been doomed by small label (Cadet)/poor distribution.

Another one that never got out of the Northeast was the Jordan Brothers' version of "Gimme Some Lovin'." This was THE hit version of the song in Boston, but once WRKO went Top 40 in Spring '67, it was like it never happened. The Spencer Davis Group got all the airplay as a recurrent and later as an oldie.
Click to expand...

Wikipedia's list of cover versions of "Gimme Some Lovin'" omits the one by Big Al Downing from the early to mid '70s.
 
Back in '81 at WSFL I was playing "Sweet Virginia Breeze" and "Candy Apple Red" by The Robbin Thompson band, but you'll probably recall I didn't manage to drive either one to the top of the charts. ::)
 
I can remember being very surprised looking through my first Joel Whitburn book and not finding Billy Harner's "Sally Sayin' Something" from 1967.
 
Some of you may remember the Doors' Light My Fire. I think there might even be one or two stations that still play the song. (Remember when Jim Morrison promised the Ed Sullivan Show director that he'd change the line "We couldn't get much higher" but sang it anyway on the tv broadcast? Sullivan was livid!) The Doors' first song was a top-ten hit here in Los Angeles but made it to only #126 on Billboard's Bubbling Under chart and dropped off after a single week. It was Break On Through...and the song obviously didn't live up to its title.
 
^^^ Back in the '60s, Break On Through proved to be a smash on Album spinning FMs. For FM-heads, B.O.T was hot , even if it didn't chart well. A couple of Denver FMs still spin it today, especially on Sundays! (???)
 
Back in '81 at WSFL I was playing "Sweet Virginia Breeze" and "Candy Apple Red" by The Robbin Thompson band, but you'll probably recall I didn't manage to drive either one to the top of the charts.

Both great songs I play then on my show on 1070 WNCT Unitron
 
In addition to Break On Through, there were dozens of other songs that were big hits in Los Angeles but didn't do well nationally. Here are four of the best (or worst) examples:

Chris Montez had a big hit here with All You Had To Do Was Tell Me in 1962 but the song made it to only #108 in Billboard. In 1964 Montez re-recorded the song with Kathy Young, who had the 1960 hit A Thousand Stars. It was a much better version and was a top-30 hit in Los Angeles but stalled at a pathetic #125 nationally.

The Byrds' I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better from 1965 was a top-20 hit here but made it to only #103 nationally. Buffalo Springfield's Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing (1966) and Uno Mundo (1968) were top-40 hits here but nationally stalled at #110 and #105, respectively.

Chris Montez was from Los Angeles. The Byrds were from Los Angeles. Buffalo Springfield was from Las Angeles. There ya go!
 
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