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"We Are Family" never made it to #1, nor did "Knights in White Satin." Considering each of them was played about every 6 and a half minutes, I found that surprising. I know "Brown Sugar" never made it past Tony Orlando's "Knock Three Times," and "Strawberry Fields" was beaten by "Please Release Me," by Englebert Humperdink. Other Beatle's songs that never made it were "Twist and Shout," "Yellow Submarine," and "In My Life." "La Bamba," "Like A Rolling Stone," and "Imagine" never made it either. Some of them you just have to scratch your head over.
Oh, I don't think "California Girls" ever made it either. Might be wrong about that one, though. Funny story about that one.... Brian Wilson wrote it the first time he ever dropped acid. He was at a friend's house and was having a really bad trip, and he sat down at the piano and started playing some stupid, inane melody over and over again - da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da" on and on and on... his friend yelled, "Jesus, will you stop it?" and Wilson got embarrassed for a moment... the he started singing, really quietly, "Well, east coast girls are hip, I really dig those styles they wear..." he and Mike Love finished it off a couple of days later, and the rest is history.
"Rosanna" won a Grammy for Toto (Record of the Year, the album Toto IV), was nominated for Song of the Year, and spent 5 weeks at #2 in July and August of 1982. However, it could not push past "Don't You Want Me" by the Human League and "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.
A few months later the third single from the album, "Africa" did hit #1 in early 1983. The Weezer cover was #1 on the Alternative charts this year.
What songs do you consider unlikely number 1 hits on the U.S Billboard charts, yet they actually were number one? Which ones surprised you?
Likewise which songs did you initially think were number 1 hits, but actually never did hit the top spot?
Given how many songs are out there, I don't think it's any surprise that a given song wasn't #1.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nema98
On Wikipedia last night I was looking at the Top Hot 100 Billboard songs by year, and in 1984 and 1985, I saw that Duran Duran's two number 1 hits were "The Reflex" and "A View To A Kill". But "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf" were not number 1 singles.
That's an example of how contemporary popularity isn't a hard and fast indicator of future radio airplay.
With Duran Duran, for example, Hungry Like the Wolf and Union of the Snake both peaked at #3, yet while the former lives on in classic modern rock rock radio airplay the latter is rarely heard. Is There Something I Should Know? peaked at #4, and it's very rarely heard.
You just never know what's going to endure and what's going to fade into oblivion.
Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" (1985) is mentioned in this thread, and it's unique; it is the only James Bond series theme to peak at #1 in the US. "Live and Let Die" (1971), from the movie of the same name, from Paul McCartney and Wings, and "Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon, from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), peaked at #2. Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only" (1981) peaked at #4, and is the only other to break the Top 5 in the US.
While none of them get a lot of airplay these days, the Wings, Simon and Easton songs seem to have received much more airplay than Duran Duran.
Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" (1985) is mentioned in this thread, and it's unique; it is the only James Bond series theme to peak at #1 in the US. "Live and Let Die" (1971), from the movie of the same name, from Paul McCartney and Wings, and "Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon, from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), peaked at #2. Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only" (1981) peaked at #4, and is the only other to break the Top 5 in the US.
While none of them get a lot of airplay these days, the Wings, Simon and Easton songs seem to have received much more airplay than Duran Duran.
Sluggo - unfortunately those songs you mentioned are getting old -- and so are we.
I'll go with the song that's been in my head for days...Billy Joel - River of Dreams.
It only reached #3 in 1993.
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