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80smusicfreak
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| Posted: 05 February 2008 at 9:41am | IP Logged
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MMathews wrote:
And yet the original never needed to be a top 40 hit, it just became a classic of the era without chart status.
The 80's produced a few of those....
-MM
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Thought I'd steal MMathews' comment above regarding Modern English's 1983 "hit"(?), "I Melt With You", which of course managed to climb to only #78 in "Billboard" and #68 in "Cash Box" at the time. However, I agree w/ him 100% that it somehow turned into a classic that still gets a lot of airplay to this day - w/ countless CD appearances to match - despite the fairly poor chart showing...
I also agree that there are many other examples from the '80s, so rather than hijack the "IMWY" thread, I thought I'd open the topic in this new one instead...
So what other '80s songs that topped out below the top 40 - including those that perhaps only "bubbled under" or failed to chart at all - qualify as classics today??? (By coincidence, a few years ago I made just such a list of about a dozen songs, although I by no means consider it complete!) At this time, I'll go ahead and add:
THE ROMANTICS - "What I Like About You" (1980) (#49 "Billboard"/#53 "Cash Box")
Agree??? Disagree??? :-)
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sriv94
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| Posted: 05 February 2008 at 9:45am | IP Logged
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That was the first song that popped into my head as well.
I'd go ahead and add "Tempted" by Squeeze (1981).
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Underground Dub
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| Posted: 05 February 2008 at 10:57am | IP Logged
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Madonna's "Into The Groove".
Most. Irritating. Witheld. Single. Ever. (thanks Billboard)
Edited by Underground Dub on 05 February 2008 at 10:58am
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bdpop
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| Posted: 05 February 2008 at 1:48pm | IP Logged
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I'll add a few:
Just Can't Get Enough - Depeche Mode
What Do All the People Know - The Monroes
New Year's Day - U2
Red Skies - The Fixx
Words - Missing Persons
Goodbye To You - Scandal
Black Coffee In Bed - Squeeze
Lunatic Fringe - Red Rider
Mexican Radio - Wall of Voodoo
Radio Free Europe - R.E.M.
Rock Lobster - B-52's
Private Idaho - B-52's
Dancing With Myself - Billy Idol with Gen X
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Hykker
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| Posted: 05 February 2008 at 5:01pm | IP Logged
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Underground Dub wrote:
Madonna's "Into The Groove".
Most. Irritating. Witheld. Single. Ever. (thanks Billboard) |
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Not sure if this song fits this theme. The only reason it didn't chart on the Hot 100 is because it was only available as a 12" single which Billboard didn't count at the time. By any other definition the song was a big hit...it was all over CHR radio in 1985.
A couple others I'd add to the list are
"It's The End Of The World As We Know It"-REM
"Tenderness"-General Public
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80smusicfreak
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| Posted: 06 February 2008 at 12:10am | IP Logged
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sriv94 wrote:
| I'd go ahead and add "Tempted" by Squeeze (1981). |
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Absolutely - that one also made the list I compiled a few years ago, and would've been my next pick, had somebody else not mentioned it first!
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80smusicfreak
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| Posted: 06 February 2008 at 12:32am | IP Logged
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Hykker wrote:
Underground Dub wrote:
Madonna's "Into The Groove".
Most. Irritating. Witheld. Single. Ever. (thanks Billboard) |
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Not sure if this song fits this theme. The only reason it didn't chart on the Hot 100 is because it was only available as a 12" single which Billboard didn't count at the time. By any other definition the song was a big hit...it was all over CHR radio in 1985. |
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Agreed, not to mention they made a video for it as well. I remember "Billboard" having to justify its absence from the "Hot 100" at the time, as I'd already been buying the magazine for a couple years, at that point. But w/ the extra effort that Sire went to to promote "Into the Groove", it made no sense to me at the time why they didn't just go ahead and press a 45, too...
But I'd probably disqualify "ITG" from this list for the same reason, Hykker...
Quote:
A couple others I'd add to the list are
"It's The End Of The World As We Know It"-REM |
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Agreed...
Quote:
| "Tenderness"-General Public |
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Ineligible, due to hitting #27 in "Billboard" and #24 in "Cash Box" in 1985 - and thus its appearance in Pat's book/database as well...
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Underground Dub
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| Posted: 06 February 2008 at 1:40pm | IP Logged
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Well, screw you both! j/k
Had "Into The Groove" fresh on my mind as I was trying to (within strict, Billboard Hot 100 guidelines) compile a Madonna hits collection, and had to "cheat" to include it.
How about...
- Pat Benatar "You Better Run"
- Billy Idol "Rebel Yell" and "Dancing With Myself"
- Scandal "Goodbye To You"
- Van Halen "Hot For Teacher"
- New Order "Blue Monday"
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bdpop
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| Posted: 06 February 2008 at 2:08pm | IP Logged
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Some more:
Why Me - Planet P
Bizzare Love Triangle - New Order
Sharp Dressed Man - ZZ Top
And She Was - Talking Heads
I Will Follow - U2
Shakin' - Eddie Money
Working In a Coal Mine - Devo
Walking In LA - Missing Persons
Girl's Talk - Dave Edmunds
Message In a Bottle - The Police
Save It For Later - English Beat
Love On Your Side - Thompson Twins
Candy Girl - New Edition
Popcorn Love - New Edition
Body Talk - The Deele
Everybody - Madonna
Physical Attraction - Madonna
IOU - Freeze
Situation - Yazoo
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bdpop
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| Posted: 06 February 2008 at 2:10pm | IP Logged
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All these lists just show how much good music was released in the 1980's.
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Gary
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| Posted: 06 February 2008 at 6:33pm | IP Logged
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How about "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by Nick Kershaw?
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 06 February 2008 at 7:09pm | IP Logged
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One song no one's mentioned, that I'd put high up in this category, is Boomtown Rats' "I Don't Like Mondays," which only peaked at #73.
BTW, I'll put out this theory that the reason so many of these lower charting hits still became so known is that most of these songs in question (including the Boomtown Rats) GOT MASSIVE PLAY ON MTV - even after their peak moment. Anyone agree?
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MMathews
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Hi All,
Thanks 80'smusicfreak, I'm glad you ran with the topic.
I agree with most of the above tracks, too! And yes I agree with EdisonLite that MTV had a big influence on some of these songs becoming "mainstream" hits.
In later years, when they effectively killed the single, they had no choice but to start measuring other factors but i found it interesting in the 80's, when it was still singles-driven that we saw many more of these non-charting or low-charting songs eventually becoming "hits of the day" right along side the top-10's and #1's.
..and I'm glad someone mentioned The Monroes...what a great "sleeper hit"!
-Mark M
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TimNeely
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| Posted: 06 February 2008 at 11:06pm | IP Logged
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Another one I'll add to the list:
"Bang the Drum All Day" by Todd Rundgren -- only got to #63 in Billboard and #73 in Cash Box, but it's hard to find any sporting venue that doesn't have this song on its Jumbotron playlist.
And another:
"Blister in the Sun" by Violent Femmes -- didn't chart at all in the top 100 of either Billboard or Cash Box, but it's on almost every 1980s radio format today.
Edited by TimNeely on 06 February 2008 at 11:10pm
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eriejwg
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| Posted: 06 February 2008 at 11:17pm | IP Logged
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TimNeely wrote:
"Blister in the Sun" by Violent Femmes |
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Played that song at a wedding a few weeks back... people love it!
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sriv94
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| Posted: 07 February 2008 at 7:46am | IP Logged
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Can't believe we've overlooked Talking Heads' "Once In A Lifetime" (another MTV fave).
And Gary, it's "Wouldn't It Be Good" ("Wouldn't It Be Nice" was the Beach Boys' tune).
Edited by sriv94 on 07 February 2008 at 7:47am
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AndrewChouffi
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| Posted: 07 February 2008 at 8:12am | IP Logged
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Hi People,
Yes, most of these songs were in rotation on MTV which is why they are revered today.
However, please don't forget that most of these records were big hits in rock & "wave" style dance clubs throughout the country (sometimes even before MTV play).
There really is no chart documenting just how big these tracks were in the rockin' bars in mainstream America (most of these establishments DID NOT report to the Billboard Dance chart as too many of them were in Secondary/Tertiary markets).
Only the people who lived through it will know how big these songs really were at the time (prime example -- The Gen X import of "Dancing With Myself" was a HUGE rock club hit years before American radio was introduced to it.)
Andy
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bdpop
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| Posted: 07 February 2008 at 12:59pm | IP Logged
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These should have been much bigger hits too:
Looks That Kill - Motley Crue
Take the L - The Motels
Promised You a Miracle - Simple Minds
Satisfaction - Devo
Senses Working Overtime - XTC
Der Kommissar - Falco
Wind Him Up - Saga
Bringing On the Heartbreak - Def Leppard
Antmusic - Adam and the Ants
Should I Stay Or Should I Go - The Clash
Desperate But Not Serious - Adam Ant
Fields of Fire - Big Country
Everything Counts - Depeche Mode
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MCT1
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| Posted: 07 February 2008 at 10:21pm | IP Logged
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in the parallel 50s/60s/70s thread, TimNeely wrote:
| You have two different categories of songs here: Those that never charted because they were never issued as commercial singles...and those that were issued as singles but didn't catch on with the Top 40 crowd...I'm going to list some that you might hear on the radio today, usually on "classic rock" stations. These lists are far from complete. |
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Looking at all the responses in both threads, I see four different categories:
1) Songs that were popular with Top 40 audiences, but weren't Top 40 hits because they weren't eligible to chart (generally because they weren't released as singles at the time). Examples: "Into The Groove", "Isn't She Lovely", numerous Beatles album cuts.
2) Songs that weren't popular with Top 40 audiences when new, but eventually became popular with audiences that listen to formats that play old Top 40 hits, to the point where a modern observer who isn't familiar with chart data might assume that these songs must have been Top 40 hits. Examples: "What I Like About You", "I Melt With You".
3) Songs that were/are popular with some type of non-Top 40 audience (AOR seems to be the main focus in the responses of this type so far) but never crossed over to Top 40 audiences. Examples: numerous Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd songs.
4) Songs that people feel should have been Top 40 hits. Everyone's are different.
I'm not sure what the original poster had in mind, but in this post I'd like to focus on #1 and #2. They are probably the easiest to define, and the most relevant for this board. By contrast, #3 and #4 both cover a lot of ground.
Under #1, the most obvious '80s example is undoubtedly "Into The Groove". Another that comes to mind is "Be Good Johnny" by Men At Work. Although it was eventually released as a single, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was getting Top 40 airplay well before the single came out.
Once Billboard began maintaining an airplay chart (and allowing non-singles to chart in it), "Never Say Goodbye" by Bon Jovi and "Spotlight" by Madonna both made the Top 40 of the airplay chart despite the unavailability of commercial singles. (Tim's Goldmine price guides actually indicate that a 45 of "Never Say Goodbye" does exist, but it doesn't seem to have been available when the song was on the airplay chart, and it seems to be a very obscure release; I've never see one myself.)
Did "Back In Time" by Huey Lewis & The News or "Pink Cadillac" by Bruce Springsteen receive significant Top 40 airplay when new? I don't think the former was ever released as a single, while the latter was a B-side. I remember hearing these on the radio, but in the mid '80s I was switching back and forth a lot between CHR and AOR, and I don't really remember which stations I heard these on. If they don't fit here, they definitely fit under #2.
Under #2, "What I Like About You", "Dancing With Myself", "I Want Candy", "I Melt With You" and "Tempted" are all great examples.
I'd bet that many people would assume that Squeeze had at least one Top 40 hit before "Hourglass" (certainly "Tempted", maybe "Pulling Mussels From The Shell" or "Black Coffee In Bed"), and U2 at least one before "Pride" (certainly "New Year's Day", maybe "I Will Follow" or "Sunday Bloody Sunday", which wasn't even released as a single).
Among others noted upthread, I'm sure that "Rebel Yell", "Mexican Radio" and "Blister In The Sun" are all probably widely believed to have been Top 40 hits, and that many people would be surprised to learn that Yaz never had any Top 40 hits, and New Order just one during the '80s. If "Just Like Heaven" by the Cure hadn't managed to sneak into the Top 40 for one week, it would belong here as well. Several others already listed are at least arguable. I'd also add "Workin' For A Livin'" by Huey Lewis & The News and "I Don't Care Anymore" by Phil Collins to the "arguable" list.
What a lot of these songs have in common, of course, is the MTV factor alluded to upthread. Many of them are new wave/alternative songs that were ahead of the curve in terms of what Top 40 radio was playing at the time. When new, they were considered too "out there" for Top 40 radio, but in hindsight they seem to fit in with what we now think of as "'80s Top 40".
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MCT1
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| Posted: 07 February 2008 at 10:39pm | IP Logged
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Gary wrote:
| How about "Wouldn't It Be [Good]" by Nick Kershaw? |
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I have lived my entire life in the Boston area, and my sense is that this song may have been bigger in Boston than it was in other places. This song missed the Top 40 nationally, and I was not listening to any non-Top 40 format that would have played it, yet I definitely remember hearing it back in the '80s. It is very commonly heard on "retro '80s" programs in the area today. (Did MTV play this? I have no idea, because the cable system in the town where I lived didn't have MTV until 1992. My video watching in the '80s was either local programming or things like "Friday Night Videos" or "Night Tracks".)
Another regional hit was "Candy Girl" by New Edition, a year before they really broke nationally. This song was a significant airplay hit on Top 40 stations in both Boston and Providence.
We also got the English version of "99 Red Balloons", at least on whatever station I was listening to at the time it was on the charts (WHTT in Boston, I think). At the time, I could never figure out why Casey Kasem always played the German version. When local radio stations began digging out '80s hits back in the mid '90s, though, they pulled out the German version, so now we have that just like everyone else. At first the German version sounded weird to me, but I've heard it so many times over the past 10-15 years that now it sounds normal and the English version sounds strange.
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Top 40 Music on Compact Disc : Chat Board
Topic: ’80s non-top 40 hits, yet classics today
