Some songs that should have been big hits
July 15th, 2007This is just for fun. Think of some songs you like that weren’t big hits that should have been. I’ll start with a few…
1. Simple Minds - Someone, Somewhere, in Summertime. Great song, but nobody’s heard it. They scored a huge hit with “Don’t You Forget About Me,” which is a song that I can’t stand. I know everyone liked that song but I don’t.
2. Tori Amos - Winter. This is the best song she ever wrote, and I love Tori so that’s saying something. Yet, it never was a hit. What’s wrong with people’s tastes?
3. Beautiful Creatures - Wish. Great ballad, but that band never made it and I don’t think they’re even around anymore. 
4. H.I.M - Love You Like I Do. This is probably Mrs. Z’s and my song. We have several “songs,” but this is probably the one. H.I.M is big at Hot Topic, but they’ve only had one Gold album in America, and it wasn’t even their best album.
5. Slayer - War Ensemble. Slayer writes pretty songs the whole family can sing along to. Yet, they’ve never had a hit single. I don’t get it.
OK friends. Let’s hear some opinions.
well, i can’t float any opinions since i have never actually heard any of these songs, lol. btu thanks for the tips;)
Lime - Any songs you liked that should have been a big hit?
I agree with the Tori Amos song…it is fantastic.
And Mrs. Z is correct about the sweet smell of breastmilk poo…someone was telling me that when Slade Alexander starts on solids I better watch out…I’ll surely gag
DYFAM is a great cross-over post-punk/pop song, despite being written by Billy Idol’s producer Keith Forsey (think about it - Billy Idol said “No freaking way” when offered the song, so they shopped it around and Simple Minds cut it) rather than Chrissie Hind’s husband Jim Kerr, frontman of The Simple Minds. And Cocteau Twins took their name NOT from the poet Jean Cocteau but rather from an unreleased Simple Minds’ song about two gay guys who were into Jean Cocteau; entitled “The Cocteau Twins”. So hey, isn’t that the same thing? Kerr changed his band’s name from Johnny and the Self-Abusers to Simple Minds as a nod to David Bowie’s song “The Jean Genie”: “He’s so simple minded he can’t drive his module” (lead single off “Aladdin Sane”, 1972). How hum; as Ratt once said, “round and round”.
1973, not 1972.
Slade - So you’ve heard that before (about the poo). I’ve almost thrown up on more than one occasion.
I could see you being into Tori.
Badman - Jim Kerr is married to Chrissie Hind? Poor guy. I probably would have jumped off a bridge by now.
Back to your theme, almost anything written by XTC from 1980 (“Black Sea”), 1982 (“English Settlement”), all the way through 1989 is a pure slice of pop heaven, with the catchy-ist of riffs and smart lyrics and tons of output, so wtf?? – they were largely ignored by the masses. Which of course is great for me, but it is surprising as they by rights should have been bigger than The Police. In fact, I’m pretty sure XTC was the band Stewart Copeland was gunning for when he created his trio with math teacher Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner and Andy Summers.
A girl I had a huge crush on in 1990 loved XTC. She couldn’t say enough good about them. I never got around to hearing them, so I’ll be interested to hear what they sounded like. Well, she ended up hating my guts, so I never bothered.
I cant give any specifics here because I cant think of any one right off hand. But you know what gets me is there is load of music out there that the radio stations have but they only play a handful. At least thats what they do here. Once a year they do an A-Z thing with there thousands of CD’s and then back to there original handful or two it sucks. Really sucks.
Tweety - I hate it when people put the wrong CDs in the wrong cases. Mrs. Z does that.
I tend to like the non radio songs off of CD’s and I listen to a ton of relatively obscure music so it’s hard to choose. I’ll go with a couple popular artists:
Get Down Make Love - N.I.N.
Wasted Kisses - Prince
Just - Love Prince, and NIN is one of those bands I would have liked to have seen live.
I like Winter by Tori, but my favorite has always been China. I always always always love the song that the band doesn’t play in concert (except for Ghost Town by The Specials).
The Cutter by Echo & the Bunnyman
Can’t Get Used to Losing You by The English Beat
Michael Caine by Madness
Atmosphere by Joy Division (how many times can DJs really play Transmission and Love Will Tear Us Apart?)
Have you heard of Voltaire? He’s my new favorite.
Can you recommend THE H.I.M. album to get? A friend introduced me last year (he was the DJ at a local punk/goth/alternative bar), but I couldn’t figure out which album was best to get.
Kathleen - I love China. Got a story about China. My buddy M who got me into Tori saw her live back in ‘91. After she finished the first set, he somehow got backstage and told her that he was really disappointed she didn’t do China. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and started the 2nd set with China.
My buddy Badman likes Voltaire, but I personally never heard them.
My favorite H.I.M album is Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights. It has four 10 dead zombie songs - In Joy and Sorrow, Pretending, Close to the Flame, and Love You Like I Do.
Shit…lost my comment. Let’s try again.
Cool story about Tori. Good to know I’m not the only one who loves China.
Voltaire has a few songs that might appeal to you. One is called Brains (the word “zombified” makes an appearance) and then there’s The Zombie Prostitute. My personal favorites are The Vampire Club and Good Night, Demonslayer which is a bedtime song for his son.
Thanks for the tips on H.I.M. I hope my record store can get them in.