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TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)

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erikalbany
TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 20, 2009 07:03AM
The ultimate for me: "Trash" by the New York Dolls"

Also: "Achin' to Be" by the Replacements, "Venus" by TV
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Delvin
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 20, 2009 07:43AM
Too many to name, but the first ones off the top of my head:

"Shake Some Action" by the Flamin' Groovies
"Rockaway Beach" by the Ramones
"Modern Kicks" by the Exploding Hearts

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mats84
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 20, 2009 07:46AM
Needle Hits E by Sugar

(And it's a freakin' B-side)

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breno
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 20, 2009 09:04AM
Some of these may have been hits in other parts of the world, but not in the U.S. -

"Head On" - Jesus & Mary Chain
"Goodnight Moon" - Shivaree (which i actually heard being played in a mall in Kazakhstan)
"Airport" - the Motors
"Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken" - Camera Obscura
"Pillar to Post" - Aztec Camera

It's funny to think about the songs that weren't hits at the time of their release, but have since become so ubiquitous that younger people believe they were:

"What I Like About You" - the Romantics
"Blitzkreig Bop" - Ramones
"Lust for Life" - Iggy Pop

Funny that those songs are good enough to sell products, get played at every ballpark and wedding in the U.S., but weren't good enough to get played on the radio.
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Jermoe
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
April 18, 2014 06:09PM
Quote

It's funny to think about the songs that weren't hits at the time of their release, but have since become so ubiquitous that younger people believe they were:

"What I Like About You" - the Romantics
"Blitzkreig Bop" - Ramones
"Lust for Life" - Iggy Pop

While The Cure's "Friday I'm in Love" might've been a bit more of hit than those cited by Mr. Reno, it seems to be much bigger today than it was in 1992. I commented to the wife just this morning how odd it is to hear this song anywhere and everywhere now, and it's like En Vogue never existed...
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Jermoe
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
April 19, 2014 04:03PM
Ah, K's Choice...it's been too long!
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zwirnm
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
April 23, 2014 12:39PM
I never liked K's Choice, but I heard that song a lot when it came out.

I keep thinking the time is right for a Paisley Underground rediscovery, with some carefully 'curated' reissues or use of songs in TV shoes or commercials. Maybe I'll just keep wishfully thinking.
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rhettlawrence
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
April 29, 2014 10:31AM
The Three O'Clock really should be in a TV commercial. It would be a hoot to hear Steve Wynn's snarl on a Viagra spot though. Tell me when it's over, indeed.
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HollowbodyKay
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
April 27, 2014 10:11AM
Quote

Funny that those songs are good enough to sell products, get played at every ballpark and wedding in the U.S., but weren't good enough to get played on the radio

Radio $tation$ are $omewhat particular and finicky about the $tuff they play. For arti$tic rea$ons, of cour$e.
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Delvin
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 20, 2009 11:30AM
"What I Like About You" received a lot of airplay here in Colorado, when it was a new release. (We did have some pretty cool commercial radio stations back then.)

I know what you mean, though, about the way young people sometimes think an artist's current "legend" status reflects the popularity said artist enjoyed, back in the day. I've spoken to a lot of young people in Ramones t-shirts, who were pretty impressed that I saw the band live. But they usually get a bit confused to learn that I saw them in a small hall, rather than in some big arena. They seem to have it in their heads that the Ramones had been as big as Led Zeppelin.

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MrFab
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 20, 2009 11:45AM
wiki sez: "..."What I Like About You,"...reached #49 in the US, #12 in the Netherlands, and #2 in Australia, where the band was especially popular. "What I Like About You" would become much better known later in the 1980s, when its placement in television commercials and other high profile media made it an evergreen power pop anthem."

I've always maintained that The Plugz "Blue Sofa" (aka "I'm still an idiot and I'm still in love") was an excellent, perfectly presentable mainstream rocker that, had it come from band not associated with the LA punk scene, would have been huge.
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Aitch
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 20, 2009 10:40PM
The Romantics did a pub and club tour of Australia on the strength of What I Like About You. Around this time quite a few bands did these tours on the strength of a solitary hit. The Vapours, The Tourists and Matchbox (remember Rockabilly Rebel, that was #1 here). The band that made the most cash from a pub and club tour here, didn't have a hit at all at the time, they were called The Cure.
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STEVE
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 20, 2009 01:17PM
you're fucked-queers
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HollowbodyKay
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 24, 2009 10:06AM
"Trash" isn't a hit? I listen to that tune almost every other day. DAMN!

One of the reasons that I like all the obscure crap that gets so much love here at TTP is so I don't have to have it forced down my throat every five minutes by the pinheads who run commercial radio.

That said, here is my lone nomination:

Phil Gnarley & The Tough Guys - "Wine Cooler Party"

...

Do any of you have that song on MP3? I only have it on an old cassette of "The Gotham City Underground," a college radio show I used to tape off the station from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania.
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Jermoe
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 26, 2009 02:21PM
"Elevator Love Letter" - Stars

"Alex Chilton" - The Replacements

"Tunnel Song" - Pulsars

From the "That's What I Like About You" school:
"Six Months in a Leaky Boat" - Split Enz

I've never understood how/why Oingo Boingo and XTC didn't end up with at least 6 or 7 US Top Ten songs during their respective heydays. More recently, the same could be said for Spoon.
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Delvin
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 26, 2009 03:54PM
For about 25 years, I've thought "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" by The Humans should've been a big hit ... though it's been only four years since I found out who recorded it.

To repeat the story: One day, back when I was in college, I found an unlabeled Maxell cassette in a parking lot. If I had pulled my car into that parking space just six inches to the left, I would've crushed that cassette. It turned out to be a very cool mix tape. "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" was one of my favorite songs on it, but the tape didn't include any notes to identify the artist. The good people on this board identified it for me.

While I'm talking about this song, does anyone here have it on MP3? Let me know; thanks!

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Nile
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 26, 2009 11:03PM
Quote

While I'm talking about this song, does anyone here have it on MP3?
Couldn't find the mp3 but here is a YouTube video of the Humans performing the song (it's off the album Happy Hour...IRS SP 70025):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hFEfGORAbM

And here is a discography for the band:

http://www.irscorner.com/h/humans.html

And here is the album on auction at eBay:

http://tinyurl.com/aqp3pv

And also on eBay:

http://tinyurl.com/btqqn5

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MrFab
Re: Got Your mp3 Delvin!
January 27, 2009 08:20PM
Pulled out my copy of "Happy Hour," recorded and mp3-ized "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark". Gimme your email and you got it (mrfab3@hotmail.com)
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Delvin
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
January 28, 2009 07:26AM
Terrific! thedelvin@yahoo.com

Thanks, Fab!
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Delvin
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
February 03, 2009 10:11AM
Again, many thanks to Fab for sending me the Humans MP3 ...

AND, many thanks to my lovely wife, who found a copy of the Happy Hour LP on eBay and got it for me for my birthday!

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STEVE
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
February 03, 2009 01:39PM
happy birthday dtrain.
your enthusiam is contagious.
I think i get a similar feeling when I listen to my old YIPES! album.
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BCE
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
April 18, 2014 09:19PM
"Think Too Hard" - The dB's
"Not an Addict" - K's Choice
"Before Too Long" - Paul Kelly & The Messengers

How any these songs failed to be HUGE on mainstream CHR/"Top 40" radio is a real head-scratcher for me.
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hoip chiggs
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
April 19, 2014 05:30AM
The Wild Flowers - A Kind of Kingdom
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hoip chiggs
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
April 19, 2014 07:26AM
"Think Too Hard" - The dB's
"Not an Addict" - K's Choice
"Before Too Long" - Paul Kelly & The Messengers

Any one of these songs can be resurrected as a hit today. Just insert the words nigga, nigga, nigga, muthafukka and voila, there's your hit.
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Delvin
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
April 21, 2014 08:44AM
> While The Cure's "Friday I'm in Love" might've been a bit more of hit than those cited by
> Mr. Reno, it seems to be much bigger today than it was in 1992. I commented to
> the wife just
> this morning how odd it is to hear this song anywhere and everywhere now, and it's like
> En Vogue never existed...

More than one artist has said (in effect) a song/album may not always spark the world's interest when it gets released, but it's surprising what rises to widespread acclaim five years later. Who knows? The Exploding Hearts may end up with a gold record, a few years from now. And at the same time, En Vogue may be just one commercial away from a revival and a reunion tour.

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erikalbany
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
April 21, 2014 11:37AM

Delvin wrote:
>
> More than one artist has said (in effect) a song/album may not
> always spark the world's interest when it gets released, but
> it's surprising what rises to widespread acclaim five years
> later. Who knows? The Exploding Hearts may end up with a gold
> record, a few years from now. And at the same time, En Vogue
> may be just one commercial away from a revival and a reunion
> tour.
>

Boards of Canada's "Dayvan Cowboy" is currently in a prominent Nissan commercial. That track is from 2005, but I don't see it breaking them beyond the cult of fans they currently have ... I could be wrong, though. My wife hates it when I play "that techno music that you can't sing along to."
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satchmykels
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
April 28, 2014 06:55AM
That K's Choice song wasn't a hit??? Didn't like it then, like it even less today. Back to the topic at hand, has anyone mentioned Cowboys International yet? "Wish" sounds like it maybe could've been a hit if anyone outside of the cut-out bins had heard it.
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HollowbodyKay
Re: TP songs that should have been "hits" (whatever that means)
April 28, 2014 12:21PM
Quote

I keep thinking the time is right for a Paisley Underground rediscovery, with some carefully 'curated' reissues or use of songs in TV shoes or commercials.

In that case, I'd like to nominate "Tell Me When It's Over."
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