• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

They should have been released!

J

johnbasalla

A comment on the "Stellar B-Sides" thread inspires me to ask this question. What songs should have been released as singles, but weren't? This should be kind of easy. For starters, just look at songs that get lots of airplay today, but were never issued on a '45'.

Possibly the top one, imho, is "Here Comes The Sun" by The Beatles. There is no way that Richie Havens would have enjoyed a pop hit with this tune if The Beatles original, and much superior, version would have been issued as a single. For that matter, even though "Birthday" by The Beatles is not one of their masterpieces, it certainly would have been a bigger hit then The Underground Sunshine's decidedly mediocre take on it. In fact, to bring this full circle with the Stellar B-Sides" thread, the B-side of the Underground Sunshine version of "Birthday" is "All I Want Is You", and it is far better then their bubble-gummy "Birthday".
 
Great question!

I've thought of boatloads before, but for starters, 2 Supremes songs come to mind---
"You Gave Me Love" - 1969 (Better than their average late-Ross Material)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJXxojVAqFQ

"Why Must We Fall In Love" - 1969 / Supremes/Temptations (Released as a UK single in 1970, should have been here, as well)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQvwa4IKVmk

Also,
"Bittersweet Samba" - Herb Alpert (From Whipped Cream)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV50GNmTV6I


I'll keep thinking!
 
Great thread!

Absolutely right about "Here Comes The Sun" and "Birthday". I think "Blackbird" and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" could have been strong singles as well.

Others I've always thought should have been:

Steely Dan's "Black Cow" (from AJA): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCtSa0exAH0

The Doobie Brothers' "South City Midnight Lady" (from THE CAPTAIN AND ME): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZFnDYUScp0

Carole King's "Music" (from MUSIC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQN-yFR0Cc

Boz Scaggs' "Georgia" (from SILK DEGREES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzfh7sLwYaw


...and I'm sure I'll think of more.
 
Tell Me Why - Beatles ('63)
It Won't Be Long - Beatles ('63)
Till There Was You - Beatles ('63)
Under My Thumb - Stones ('66)
Sympathy For the Devil - Stones ('68)
Back in the USSR - Beatles ('68)
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin ('71)
Dirty Work - Steely Dan ('72)
I Saw the Light - Raspberries ('72)
If You Change Your Mind - Raspberries ('72)
Pinball Wizard - Elton John ('75)
Give A Little Love - Bay City Rollers ('75) - (#1 UK)
Isn't She Lovely? - Stevie Wonder ('76)
So Fine - ELO ('76)
More Than a Woman - Bee Gees ('78)
The Grand Illusion - Styx ('79)
If I Was a Dancer - Stones ('81)
You're the Best - Joe Esposito ('84)
Who Do You Think You Are - Spice Girls ('96)
Day and Night - Billie Piper ('00) - (#1 UK)

Though not charted and probably not tested either, every one of these merit airplay consideration on Classic Hits stations!! Please take note...
 
RIN3GUY said:
Tell Me Why - Beatles ('63)
It Won't Be Long - Beatles ('63)
Till There Was You - Beatles ('63)
Under My Thumb - Stones ('66)
Sympathy For the Devil - Stones ('68)
Back in the USSR - Beatles ('68)
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin ('71)
Dirty Work - Steely Dan ('72)
I Saw the Light - Raspberries ('72)
If You Change Your Mind - Raspberries ('72)
Pinball Wizard - Elton John ('75)
Give A Little Love - Bay City Rollers ('75) - (#1 UK)
Isn't She Lovely? - Stevie Wonder ('76)
So Fine - ELO ('76)
More Than a Woman - Bee Gees ('78)
The Grand Illusion - Styx ('79)
If I Was a Dancer - Stones ('81)
You're the Best - Joe Esposito ('84)
Who Do You Think You Are - Spice Girls ('96)
Day and Night - Billie Piper ('00) - (#1 UK)

Though not charted and probably not tested either, every one of these merit airplay consideration on Classic Hits stations!! Please take note...
Click to expand...

The Beatles tracks, "Under My Thumb", "Sympathy For The Devil", "Stairway To Heaven", "Pinball Wizard", "Isn't She Lovely" and "More Than A Woman" are all tracks that I've heard on Classic Hits stations within the last year.
 
johnbasalla said:
Mr. Hagerty surely meant to type "Rolling Stones" for "Under My Thumb"... etc ... A simple slip of the keyboard.
Click to expand...

Nope. I lumped "The Beatles tracks" all together. Everything that follows is a song title. The OP had already referenced the artists.
 
johnbasalla said:
Possibly the top one, imho, is "Here Comes The Sun" by The Beatles. There is no way that Richie Havens would have enjoyed a pop hit with this tune if The Beatles original, and much superior, version would have been issued as a single. For that matter, even though "Birthday" by The Beatles is not one of their masterpieces, it certainly would have been a bigger hit then The Underground Sunshine's decidedly mediocre take on it. In fact, to bring this full circle with the Stellar B-Sides" thread, the B-side of the Underground Sunshine version of "Birthday" is "All I Want Is You", and it is far better then their bubble-gummy "Birthday".
Click to expand...
I would have loved to see "Here Comes the Sun" issued as the A-side (the whole apple) with "Octopus' Garden" as the sliced apple B-side. But that would have meant a single with NO Lennon-McCartney tunes on either side! (Save for a possible early single on one of those minor labels which might have had a cover song on both sides.)

"Out of Time" by the Stones. Someone here said that the alternate take was released in 1975, but the original version (the entire 5:00 version, if possible) should have been a single in 1966. Agreed about "Under My Thumb" as well.

And from the '80s, "Be Good Johnny" by Men at Work should have been a single. Michael claims that it was, but I have seen no evidence to support that. I never saw it on store shelves. What was the B-side? It seemed that it was getting some top 40 airplay in spring 1983, but instead, Columbia records rush-released "Overkill" from the next album Cargo, and radio dropped "Be Good Johnny" like a hot potato!

FM 100 in Memphis used to (quite regularly!) play "Until the Night" by Billy Joel. Great song, but probably too long to be a single, unless it was edited, and I don't know how or where you would cut a masterpiece like that!
 
radioman148 said:
Hey Bulldog--Beatles (from the Yellow Submarine album) should've been a big hit single.
Click to expand...
One of my faves, too! I don't think that there were any new singles to originate from the Yellow Submarine soundtrack album. There were a couple on there ("Yellow Submarine" and "All You Need Is Love" had already been singles.)

From the white album, my choice for a single would have been "Back in the USSR" over "Birthday," mainly because "Birthday" is one of those types of songs that can generate significant airplay without ever being a single.

In the case of the Beatles, there was far more demand for singles than there actually were singles released. In the UK, for example, "Eight Days a Week," "Nowhere Man," and "The Long and Winding Road" were not ever released as singles, nor was George's solo, "What Is Life" from All Things Must Pass. ("Yesterday" was belatedly released as a single during the 1976 "reunion" fever.) Most of the songs that UK fans wanted to see released as singles were at least issued on EPs, which were apparently quite popular in the UK.
 
Firepont:

I was wrong. "Be Good Johnny" was a single elsewhere and it appears CBS may have shipped promo copies to radio, but no commercial singles were pressed.
 
michael hagerty said:
Firepont:
I was wrong. "Be Good Johnny" was a single elsewhere and it appears CBS may have shipped promo copies to radio, but no commercial singles were pressed.
Click to expand...
Thanks. It seems that since it was beginning to garner some airplay here stateside, that they should have given it a chance. Sometimes, the record companies seem to think that what would work as a single in some countries might not necessarily work in others. But they should have given this one a chance.

Every once in a while, the artist(s) themselves do not want a given song released as a single. That appears to have been the case with "Never Say Goodbye" by Bon Jovi, but they did not want it issued as a single. Radio, as I understand it, was practically begging them to release it as a single. Too bad for them (Bon Jovi), because it is one of those '80s power ballads that would probably still be getting a LOT of airplay (probably on AC) today.
 
RIN3GUY said:
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin ('71)
Click to expand...
Probably would have had to be SEVERELY edited in order to become a single, and for that reason, it is probably good that it wasn't. Even without ever being released as a single, this is one of those songs that many say has been "burned to a crisp" on classic hits/classic rock radio.
Isn't She Lovely? - Stevie Wonder ('76)
Click to expand...
Somewhat agree here. This is one of those that still gets airplay today, although I would definitely have edited out all the "baby splashing in the bathtub" part for a single release. I have a feeling that that still embarrasses Stevie Wonder's daughter, even today.
More Than a Woman - Bee Gees ('78)
Click to expand...
I could agree with this choice, too, especially over the much weaker Tavares version. The Gibbs' version of this one still gets airplay today, and the success of the Gibbs' three singles from Saturday Night Fever suggests that this one would have been yet another blockbuster for them. But the downside to all of that is that the BeeGees were already dominating top 40 radio in 1978, and adding this particular song to that list would probably have caused the inevitable anti-BeeGees backlash to begin even sooner than it did!
 
firepoint525 said:
RIN3GUY said:
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin ('71)
Click to expand...
Probably would have had to be SEVERELY edited in order to become a single, and for that reason, it is probably good that it wasn't. Even without ever being released as a single, this is one of those songs that many say has been "burned to a crisp" on classic hits/classic rock radio.
Isn't She Lovely? - Stevie Wonder ('76)
Click to expand...
Somewhat agree here. This is one of those that still gets airplay today, although I would definitely have edited out all the "baby splashing in the bathtub" part for a single release. I have a feeling that that still embarrasses Stevie Wonder's daughter, even today.
More Than a Woman - Bee Gees ('78)
Click to expand...
I could agree with this choice, too, especially over the much weaker Tavares version. The Gibbs' version of this one still gets airplay today, and the success of the Gibbs' three singles from Saturday Night Fever suggests that this one would have been yet another blockbuster for them. But the downside to all of that is that the BeeGees were already dominating top 40 radio in 1978, and adding this particular song to that list would probably have caused the inevitable anti-BeeGees backlash to begin even sooner than it did!
Click to expand...

"Stairway": I don't know a Top 40 that didn't play it...unedited...between 1971 and 1975. Releasing it as a single might have coordinated some of that airplay (some stations didn't start until '73 or '74) and would have given consumers a single they could buy, but that's about it.

"Lovely": Agree about the need for an edit. KFRC, San Francisco did a brilliant one, and played "Lovely" instead of the third single (was it "As"?).

"Woman": Early enough (from "Saturday Night Fever") that it wouldn't have been the straw that broke the camel's back. The Bee Gees' backlash coincided with disco wearing out its welcome. I doubt that would have changed.

As I've written in other threads, LP sales passed singles sales in the late 60s (in the record singles year of 1974, 200 million singles were sold...but 400 million albums), and I always included album sales in airplay decisions. I don't know of any West Coast Top 40s that didn't play these three records from three of the biggest albums of the 70s).
 
I always thought Springsteen's "No Surrender" and "Bobby Jean" were stronger tracks on the Born in the USA album than a couple of the seven songs that actually became singles. In fact, I worked at an R&R reporting CHR station then and after "I'm on Fire," the CBS rep called me to ask my opinion for the next single and I named both those tracks. Of course, the next three singles were "Glory Days" "I'm Going Down" and "My Hometown." LOL
 
Madonna's "Into the Groove" came out at the same time that "Angel" was on the charts. Our listeners loved it, and "Angel" disappeared. I gather ITG was a single in other countries.
 
One more from that same period, Journey's "Ask the Lonely." It was on a movie soundtrack for a movie nobody remembers, "Two of a Kind."
 
michael hagerty said:
"Lovely": Agree about the need for an edit. KFRC, San Francisco did a brilliant one.
Click to expand...

WLS had a great edit too; perhaps it was the same as KFRC's? I think it omitted the baby, shortened it from 6 minutes to 4, and instead of the usual fade-out it included the abrupt ending found on the LP, which is a very nice touch. I sure wish I could find an MP3 of this edit somewhere!
 
RIN3GUY said:
michael hagerty said:
"Lovely": Agree about the need for an edit. KFRC, San Francisco did a brilliant one.
Click to expand...

WLS had a great edit too; perhaps it was the same as KFRC's? I think it omitted the baby, shortened it from 6 minutes to 4, and instead of the usual fade-out it included the abrupt ending found on the LP, which is a very nice touch. I sure wish I could find an MP3 of this edit somewhere!
Click to expand...

It sounds the same. KFRC's parent, RKO, owned WFYR, so I doubt they would have shared the edit, which KFRC music director Dave Sholin did. But it wouldn't have been hard to edit it exactly the same way.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom