marvin Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 That famous line uttered by the Beatles about where they were heading, is a good starting point to start a discussion about songs that as Briooh mentioned, "in a just world", should have hit the higher reaches of the charts.Here's one to get the ball rolling: "It Hurts too Much." For the life of me I still can't understand why this one didn't do better on the charts. It had it all: great musicianship, fabulous lead vocals, and as hooky a chorus as you're likely to hear.What other songs qualify?Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 "Shake Some Action" & "You Tore Me Down" by the Flamin' Groovies, neither of which charted at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 "Fall On You", "Hey Grandma", and "Omaha" by Moby Grape.....when Columbia brilliantly decided to release 5 singles by the band simultaneously to promote their '67 debut album, it confused radio DJs everywhere, and they all stiffed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted November 16, 2006 Author Share Posted November 16, 2006 Fabulous picks John! Here's one that reached the top of the Canadian charts in 1972, but I don't know if it ever dented the U.S. charts: Michel Pagliaro's "Lovin You Ain't So Easy." God is this an amazing song. I actually sent it to Ernie (Roadie#3) who played it for Wally. Wally was totally impressed.Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 God, I'd totally forgotten about Pagliaro over the years! While Dwight Twilley's "I'm On Fire" made a small dent in the charts, I think I liked the follow-up "You Were So Warm" (with Phil Seymour singing lead) even more....and it totally stiffed. Two killer classics by the Bobby Fuller Four, "Let Her Dance" and "Never To Be Forgotten" should have been monster hits, at least as big as "I Fought The Law". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 My all-time favorite 60's Aussie band, The Easybeats, only had one minor hit in this country, "Friday On My Mind". I always thought that "Sorry", "Gonna Have A Good Time Tonight", "The Music Goes Round My Head", and "St. Louis" could and should have been hits here as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris hess Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 "do'nt hide your love"-the rembrandts..that song still slays me to this day!!.."it hurts too much" deserved more..but at the same time,i think "inside story" should have been a bigger hit than that one..it just combines everything (melody,harmonies,arrangement,beat,chord changes,etc,,) that is needed for a great rockin song in my opinion..lol,chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordharris Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 Here's one by Jim Staford-"Spiders And Snakes""Cause that Ain't what it takes to love Me", Like I wanna be loved by you. da da, da, dagreat huh, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted November 16, 2006 Author Share Posted November 16, 2006 I remember being in Boston in the summer of 1975 (?), and Twilley's "I'm On Fire" was constantly on the radio. It should have been at least a Top 10 hit. His bandmate, Phil Seymour on his first solo album, did a fabulous version of Fuller's "Let Her Dance."John if you're interested, Pag's stuff was re-released on CD a few years ago, and I've got a great double "Best of" compilation. Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pierson Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 //ericcarmen.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" /> : Here's one by Jim Staford-"Spiders And Snakes"great huh, but it was a smash hit... Marvin's asking for songs like Eric's "It Hurts Too Much" which sound like bona fide top 10 hits but missed the charts....Pagliaro's "Loving You Ain't Easy" definitely... if i'm correct, i think Columbia released "Loving You.." and "Some Sing Some Dance" as singles in the US, but definitely NO albums by Pag...same thing goes for Pilot's "Get Up & Go" from their 4th album "Two's A Crowd"... Arista released the single in the US, but didn't release the album when the single flopped...others:Turtles- "Can I Get To Know You Better"Peter Frampton- "Baby (Somethin's Happening)"Piper- "Can't Wait"Aerosmith- "Same Old Song & Dance," "SOS (Too Bad)," "Spaced" & "Toys In The Attic" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted November 16, 2006 Author Share Posted November 16, 2006 Yikes Pat! You're making my brain dance by bringing up Piper's "Can't Wait" and Pilot's "Get Up and Go." Thanks! Now I've got to go find those songs somewhere!Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ira Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 Pierson-Turtles-"You Don't Have To Wait In The Rain Anymore" (I met them and Howard told me that by this time-White Whale Records was down for the count.)....And for my millionth time...."New York's A Lonely Town".-Ira. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordharris Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 "It Hurts Too Much" geeze, Marv, this one's a hard one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris hess Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 hey,what about "inside story" guys??lol,chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Allen Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 The Pag stuff did indeed chart (albeit weakly)in the states (oddly enough, I heard them first on a U.S. station). They still stand the test of time - 2 of the purest pop singles ever recorded. God bless Pagliaro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted November 17, 2006 Author Share Posted November 17, 2006 "God Bless Pagliaro" indeed. He's the patron Saint of Pop Music in Quebec, and hardly a week goes by that the local 'classic rock' station doesn't play a Pag song.Back on topic, "Where Have You Been All My Life" by Fotomaker.Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HT from Mo Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 "I Was Born to Love You" - Eric CarmenThe title you gave Marvin "Where Have You Been All My Life" sounds like a title that Eric would have come up with. Hmmm... I haven't heard that one but I have an idea on what I think it should sound like.HT from Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pretender Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 Generals And Majors-XTC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 Two Eric songs I'd bring up would be:* "Sunrise." I know it made some noise on the charts (#34 on Billboard, I believe), but I remember feeling like it shouldn't have stalled there. Eric was on such a roll at the time that I figured it would hit the Top 10 easily.... Such a bouncy, upbeat song.... What better song to start the morning? * "Boats Against the Current." I know all the reasons why it didn't make it as a chart-topping single, but... a great song is a great song. So regardless of promotional efforts or delayed release dates or the inability of the great unwashed to "get" such a cerebral song, it should have gone higher than #45.PS: Marvin, not to be a know-it-all (I hate know-it-alls!), but... wasn't the classic Lennon quote "toppermost of the poppermost" (not topmost of the popmost)? That's how I've always seen it, and I checked some reference books to be sure. PPS: I'm being a little anal-retentive, I know.... Reminds me of a great T-shirt I saw once: "Should anal-retentive be hyphenated?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulie Mississippi Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 I've always said that "American As Apple Pie" had hit written all over it, but I gather you're loooking or songs that actually were released as singles.Bachman Turner Overdrive - Take It Like a Man... might be that they asked Little Richard to play keyboards on that one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ira Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 "I Wanna Take Forever Tonight" was not such a big hit by Cetera and Crystal Bernard.What a marvelous song Eric wrote.What a marvelous version by this duo!-Ira. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted November 18, 2006 Author Share Posted November 18, 2006 LC you're correct about "toppermost..." In fact when I first typed it out, I originally wrote that, and then changed it thinking I had it wrong. Thanks for getting it straight!Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sllvnbil Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 I could think of alot of great songs that didn't chart high. "Someday" by Steve Earle in 1987 is one that comes to mind. This is a great song and still a great sounding record. Someone's bound to re-record the song. I thought about taking a crack at it! ANY record by Del Amitri. I love that band! Marshall Crenshaw had tons of great songs that went nowhere on the charts. "Someday, Someway", "Whenever Your On My Mind", "Your My Favorite Waste Of Time". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted November 18, 2006 Author Share Posted November 18, 2006 Billy you certainly hit the nail on the head with Del Amitri, but I'm blown away that you mentioned "Someday." This is a lyrically and melodically amazing song, and you're right, it's just waiting for someone to re-release it and give it another chance. Whenver Earle plays Calgary, that song is the one that really gets the crowd going.Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlesteve Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 "It Hurts too Much" was magical, top 3 singles that could have been a contender. (Top 3 never released as a single would be "If You Change Your Mind") I always had my EC radar on but before the internet and easy personal research, it was hard to ascertain when Eric was releasing anything. I heard IHTM on the radio before I even knew there was an album. I heard Hungry Eyes in the car and said that sounds a lot like Eric, and same with I Wanna Hear it From Your Lips" instant Eric, so I bolted to Tower Records and sure enough there was an album. Tells you about the PR juggarnuat that Eric didn't get when even the hard core fans couldn't figure when there was a new record out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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