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"How was that their highest charting single?"

MikeyTaylor

Can anyone think of any famous bands or music artists whose highest charting single in the UK or US was weird or less known?

Examples:
*Pearl Jam's highest charting single in the US was 'Last Kiss' (#2). In the UK, it was 'Spin the Black Circle' (#10).
*Rage Against the Machine's only top 10 single (until December '09 obviously) was "Bulls on Parade" (#8).
*MC Hammer's 'Pray', 'Too Legit to Quit', 'Have You Seen Her?' and 'Addams Groove' ALL outcharted 'U Can't Touch This' in the US. Pray was the highest charting at #2.

Anyone have any more examples?

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MikeyTaylor

While the Crash Test Dummies had 6 singles reach the Canadian top ten, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" was not one of them. In Canada, the single stalled at number 14.

I never knew that!

MikeyTaylor

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

She's On It did well when it was reissued in 1987. Included on The Hits Album 7 between Spagna's Call Me and I Wanna Be Your Drill Instructor.

Adeva's three 1989 singles - Respect, Warning!, I Thank You - all peaked at #17.

The original version of "In and Out of My Life", the song I associate with her most, didn't chart in the UK, but in 2000, it was mashed up with Fatboy Slim as "Onephatdeeva" peaking at #11 so technically that's her highest charting single.

[Deleted User]

Five Star released seven singles from their debut album, Luxury Of Life.
The first two failed to chart.
The third, All Fall Down, reached #15
The next two got to #18 and #25.
They decided to go for a sixth - RSVP - which stalled at #45.
Surely enough is enough.
No - RCA went for a seventh - System Addict - which hit the heady heights of #3.

[Deleted User]

She's On It did well when it was reissued in 1987. Included on The Hits Album 7 between Spagna's Call Me and I Wanna Be Your Drill Instructor.

Adeva's three 1989 singles - Respect, Warning!, I Thank You - all peaked at #17.

MikeyTaylor

loyatemu wrote: »

Beastie Boys biggest hit was "Intergalactic" which is pretty well known, but it's surprising that neither "Fight for your right to party" nor "Sabotage" made the top 10.

Portishead's only top 10 was "All Mine" rather than "Sour Times" or "Glory Box" which were both ubiquitous in films and TV in the late 90s.

"She's On It" and "Ch-ch-check it Out" reached the top 10.

Glory Box and Sour Times BOTH peaked at #13. How unlucky.

loyatemu

Beastie Boys biggest hit was "Intergalactic" which is pretty well known, but it's surprising that neither "Fight for your right to party" nor "Sabotage" made the top 10.

Portishead's only top 10 was "All Mine" rather than "Sour Times" or "Glory Box" which were both ubiquitous in films and TV in the late 90s.

Balmed Out

I'm amazed last kiss wasn't number one in the USA, seemed to be on the radio permanently that summer. Had to look up what beat it and was Jennifer lopezs debut single

MikeyTaylor

Scouting for Girls' only UK #1 wasn't "She's So Lovely" or "Elvis Ain't Dead"... but "This Ain't a Love Song" in 2010.

MikeyTaylor

I'm sure "Living in America" is quite a well known song but that was James Brown's only UK top 10 single, reaching #5 in 1986. I Feel Good, Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, Sex Machine and It's a Man's Man's Man's World all peaked between #13 and #32!

MikeyTaylor

Until 2012 Elbow's highest charting UK singles were 'Asleep in the Back/Coming Second', 'Fallen Angel' and 'Grounds for Divorce', all of which reached #19. 'One Day Like This' only reached #35 on two separate occasions, prior to the London Olympics.

[Deleted User]

blastman wrote: »

Officially...

That's what counts.

blastman

loyatemu wrote: »

AC/DC were the act with the most top 40 hits without ever making the top 10, but I see Highway to Hell got to no. 4 in 2012 (presumably it was used in a film?). Super Furry Animals now hold that ignominious record - they just missed out when Northern Lights got to no. 11.

Think there was a campaign to try and get them to number 1 for Christmas that year, Highway to Hell was the song picked to use for it.

blastman

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Metallica and AC/DC are two long-running acts that have never released a Best Of, Greatest Hits or Singles collection.

Officially...

[Deleted User]

Metallica and AC/DC are two long-running acts that have never released a Best Of, Greatest Hits or Singles collection.

MikeyTaylor

loyatemu wrote: »

Movin on Up was on the Dixie-Narco EP.

My mistake, EP reached #11 in the UK

loyatemu

MikeyTaylor wrote: »

As for Rocks, that reached #7. Movin' on Up wasn't released in the UK but was in the US but didn't chart. It reached #93 in Germany

Movin on Up was on the Dixie-Narco EP.

MikeyTaylor

loyatemu wrote: »

Primal Scream's biggest hit was the forgettable "Country Girl" from 2006. "Loaded" only reached no. 16.

As for Rocks, that reached #7. Movin' on Up wasn't released in the UK but was in the US but didn't chart. It reached #93 in Germany

loyatemu

Primal Scream's biggest hit was the forgettable "Country Girl" from 2006. "Loaded" only reached no. 16.

MikeyTaylor

Maroon 5's only UK number #1 is not Moves Like Jagger, This Love, Sugar, She Will Be Loved - but 'Payphone' in 2012.

MikeyTaylor

loyatemu wrote: »

AC/DC were the act with the most top 40 hits without ever making the top 10, but I see Highway to Hell got to no. 4 in 2012 (presumably it was used in a film?). Super Furry Animals now hold that ignominious record - they just missed out when Northern Lights got to no. 11.

Depeche Mode have had 43 top 40 hits without having a no. 1 - never higher than no. 4. Their original songwriter Vince Clarke went on to have shedloads of hits with Yazoo and Erasure, including several no. 2s before eventually resorting to an EP of Abba covers to finally get his no. 1.

Super Furry Animals have had the most top 20s, 40s AND 75s without a top 10. "The Man Don't Give a F*ck" only reached #22. Fellow Welsh band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci are the only act to have eight top 75s without any top 40s.

loyatemu

MikeyTaylor wrote: »

AC/DC's highest charting original single in the UK is Heatseeker (#12).

AC/DC were the act with the most top 40 hits without ever making the top 10, but I see Highway to Hell got to no. 4 in 2012 (presumably it was used in a film?). Super Furry Animals now hold that ignominious record - they just missed out when Northern Lights got to no. 11.

Depeche Mode have had 43 top 40 hits without having a no. 1 - never higher than no. 4. Their original songwriter Vince Clarke went on to have shedloads of hits with Yazoo and Erasure, including several no. 2s before eventually resorting to an EP of Abba covers to finally get his no. 1.

MikeyTaylor

Prior to spring 2013, Ant & Dec/PJ & Duncan's highest UK charter was "We're on the Ball", peaking at #3. "Let's Get Ready to Rhumble" only made #9 upon its initial release in 1994. WOTB was also their only top 5 single at the time. Can you believe that??

[Deleted User]

MikeyTaylor wrote: »

Iron Maiden's only domestic chart topper was "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" in 1990.

Big surprise. Was in the shops for the post-Christmas period and was helped by releasing a CD, cassette, 7", 12" and a 7" flip top brain pack set. At the time I saw one guy buying all five formats in one go. The BBC didn't play it either. It's absent from compilations of 1990 / 1991 - must be a refusal to license.

Bruce Dickinson originally recorded the track for use in the fifth Nightmare On Elm Street film (1989)

MikeyTaylor

Iron Maiden's only domestic chart topper was "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" in 1990.

[Deleted User]

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Hot Chocolate had a number of hits in the '70s and '80s (especially the '70s). The song that gets most airplay is You Sexy Thing. Of course, this was helped by its use in the film The Full Monty, thus giving it a new lease of life in the '90s. It reached its highest position of No. 2 on its original release in 1975.

But who remembers their only U.K. Number 1? Was it Every 1's a Winner or was it It Started With a Kiss. No, they reached No. 12 in 1978 and No. 5 in 1982, respectively. It was in fact one of their many songs that are hardly ever played on the radio - So You Win Again from 1977.

You Sexy Thing was remixed by Ben Liebrand in early 1987 and used to promote The Very Best Of Hot Chocolate. It also appeared on Now 9 which came out at the end of March 1987. While the original version of the song was used in The Full Monty, a number of compilation albums released in 1997 (Now Dance '97, Now 38) used the inferior 1987 remix.

Declan A Walsh

Hot Chocolate had a number of hits in the '70s and '80s (especially the '70s). The song that gets most airplay is You Sexy Thing. Of course, this was helped by its use in the film The Full Monty, thus giving it a new lease of life in the '90s. It reached its highest position of No. 2 on its original release in 1975.

But who remembers their only U.K. Number 1? Was it Every 1's a Winner or was it It Started With a Kiss. No, they reached No. 12 in 1978 and No. 5 in 1982, respectively. It was in fact one of their many songs that are hardly ever played on the radio - So You Win Again from 1977.

[Deleted User]

Re: the four MIA-on-CD singles.
All four bands have released numerous compilation albums (Best Ofs, Greatest Hits, Singles collections) over the years - as well as reissues of albums that originally included these songs. In addition there have been thousands of opportunities to include these single edits on Various Artists compilations over the last 35 years. There are new retrospective 1980s compilations released every couple of weeks.

Double Dutch is on the first Now album but when they issued it on CD for the 25th anniversary, they used the Duck Rock version. Walking On The Moon (and Message In A Bottle) are in the same boat - Police and V/A compilations always use the longer album versions. AntMusic likewise - the mix on Kings Of The Wild Frontier is about 25 seconds longer than the 7" and is invariably included everywhere. Once an error is made, it keeps cropping up over and over again. The version of Once In A Lifetime that we heard on the radio back in 1980 / 81 was more than a minute shorter than the Remain In Light album take.

These aren't obscure songs. They sold by the truckload. The fact that the versions we heard on the radio still haven't made it to CD at this point in time is staggering.

[Deleted User]

MikeyTaylor wrote: »

That's interesting.

Speaking of the Police, Sting's only UK top 10 singles outside of the band were "When We Dance" (#9), "All for Love" with Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams (#2) and "Rise and Fall" featuring Craig David (#2).

A lot lower profile (to me) than other tracks like If You Love Something Set Them Free, Russians, An Englishman In New York (Ben Liebrand Remix).

MikeyTaylor

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

The answer being that the single versions of all four are still unavailable on CD.

That's interesting.

Speaking of the Police, Sting's only UK top 10 singles outside of the band were "When We Dance" (#9), "All for Love" with Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams (#2) and "Rise and Fall" featuring Craig David (#2).

[Deleted User]

The answer being that the single versions of all four are still unavailable on CD.