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Chuck Berry had exactly one #1 song and it was the novelty track "Ding-A-Ling." Aerosmith's only song to peak at #1 was "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from the Armageddon soundtrack. Can anyone name other major acts who have a top song that is not really indicative of their style or career?
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Bob Seger’s only #1 song is kind of a poppy dancey 80s tune called Shakedown from Beverly Hills cop 2. Sounds not much like his usual heartland rock
I can hear the song in my head but had zero idea that was Seger
I think a lot of people think it is Glenn Frey.
Glenn Frey had "The Heat is On" from the first Beverly Hills Cop.
It was written for Glenn Frey.
The H is O
Amazing example!
Not even a top 10 Seger song. Top 20? Questionable. That’s suprising to me and I lived through it.
I loved and basically grew up on Beverly Hills Cop, but it's crazy to think that people would know this song but wouldn't know something like Roll Me Away or Against the Wind
If you were born in the midwest from 75-95 you grew up on all Seger songs.
You don't really need the Midwest qualifier there.
Come on that song was great, what was that summer of 87or 88? Growing up in Detroit, BHC was #1 at the box office and Bob Seger had that song on every station. I remember my mom blasting that song flying down the lodge in her mustang, I was in the back with my he-men, no car seat lol just a buckle.
I'd believe that. I didn't know he had any number ones, even though he's fucking awesome.
You’re busted!
Disagree. Shakedown is basically Katmandu with synthesizers layered on top to make it sound more like it came from a movie soundtrack. But at their core, both songs are Seger, and I love them both.
For all the synths, there's some good old-fashioned organ buried in the song, I love that.
Its crazy. I remember this song as a kid but no idea who sang it. Knew of Bob Seger; first for the Chevy commercials then the Metallica cover but was exposed to more of his songs over the years. I only found out he was the singer of Shakedown in the past year.
You want your mind blown, check out his earlier material. I suggest MONGREL.
Bob rocked ass when he was young...came up on the same scene as the MC5, Stooges and Grand Funk, and more than held his own. Iggy Pop even said that seeing Bob's band in high school was the final nail in the coffin for him ever pursuing a normal life.
Holy shit.
In Canada the singles Mainstreet and The Real Love went to number one as well. But Bob Seger was not really that big outside the US and Canada.
"The Flame" by Cheap Trick is the only #1 they had.
Cheap Trick always shocks me. I get they weren't quite that big, but between Dream Police, At Bodokan, and In Color there's at least three potential #1s for each album.
*Did not expect this to be the comment I would get my first RedditCares message from. Be better.
I got one earlier today also on a post that was completely sane. Some bot is having fun?
Sorry to intrude, but I got this whack message that really made no sense…not exactly sure that’s what you’re referring too, but
RedditCares messages encourage you to seek help and not harm yourself. Apparently something is glitching or some a-hat is using them to annoy people.
Yeah I got one today and truly have no idea why
Live at Budokhan is a great album. Although it was recorded at Nippon I believe.
Great energy, the crowd is insane, Zander's vocals are on point, Nelson going cray on guitar, and Bun E. laying down a rocking beat. What's not to love?!
Budokan is a type of building, not a town or city :).
Cheap Trick was HUGE in Japan. As was the band The Runaways.
I’m there right now, checking out a lot of music stores. The Beatles, Ventures, Stones, Simon and Garfunkel and Santana are absolutely everywhere.
Think that’s just a trend going on in Reddit right now. Seeing it all over the place. There’s steps to report the person who sent it maliciously. I’d recommend doing so since it’s a dick move
Dream police wasn't number one? Crazy
Rapport the reddit care message as harassment and reddit will take care of whomever sendt it
Lol, I JUST got my first one minutes ago, for I don't even know what! Just reply "STOP", and you'll never see it again, apparently.
There is a massive difference between singles charts in the 60s / 80s, and longevity of songs. Part of the hatred for disco was because everyone we knew was listening to, and going to concerts by bands like Cheap Trick, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rush, and Kansas, but pop radio was almost all soft rock and disco.
Not Surrender???
Or I want you to want. Me
Went to number 1 in the US, Canada and Australia. The only other single that made it to the top of any chart around the world was the live release of I Want You To Want Me which made it to number 1 on the Dutch and Belgian (Flanders) charts. That album (Cheap Trick at Budokan) was also their only one to reach number 1 anywhere in the world, topping the Canadian charts.
I Want You to Want Me was also number one in Japan.
Billy Joel considers one of his #1 hits, "We Didn't Start the Fire" to be the least of all his songs. He blames the fact that he reversed his creative process for it, by writing the lyrics before the actual music.
Not Uptown Girl? That went to number one in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and The UK... And hopefully not Goodnight Saigon, because that went to number one in Belgium and The Netherlands.... :-)
ps, Tell Her About It and It's Still Rock and Roll to Me where also number one in the US and The River of Dreams went to number one in Australia and New Zealand.
I feel like that’s a jab at Elton John.
Please elaborate.
IRC Joel and Elton had a tour together and then some animosity ensued.
Afterward, Elton said Joel hasn’t released anything, and Joel made a comment about Elton that he shouldn’t release music that’s garbage. (Just don’t put it out so your peak legacy isn’t tarnished)
Billy has taken shots at Elton over the years. And the way Elton writes songs is that he gets the lyrics from his writing partner Bernie taupin and then writes a melody and chords over it, so by Billy saying it’s the least of his songs because of the writing process, it’s kind of a dig at Elton’s writing process.
Billy Joel also doesn’t really understand why piano man is such a hit because it’s so simple. He definitely doesn’t see it as one of his better songs. But the simplicity is exactly why it’s a hit.
I could see artists growing to resent their biggest hits after playing it for 30 years.
It's also not in 4/4 time. I've always felt it was 3/4, but I don't know how it was composed.
I find modern songs in 3/4 time to feel like they have something extra to them.
Yep, at its core, it’s a pretty straightforward waltz
Extreme took "More Than Words" to #1, and I've been told that it’s nothing like the rest of their catalog.
Same with Poison and "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." Both downtempo acoustic ballads from uptempo hard rockin’ mostly electric hair bands.
I had a friend who worked in a record store, and he said that Extreme album was the most-returned record they ever stocked. Middle aged white women bought it for that song, and they’d put it on, and they were shocked it was otherwise all edgy metal.
He’d always rib them a little when he returned their money. “Did you notice it’s titled Extreme II: Pornograffiti?”
Heh I worked in a record store warehouse chain, used and new. I could see that! Hahahah
My job was to sort the used copies for all the stores and we had so many copies of Green Day’s Dookie, we stopped buying it back. Lol.
Really works for every metal/hardrock band that had some ballad blow up randomly.
Mr. Big is another good example
The cool thing about More Than Words is that it’s an emotionally manipulative appeal to a woman to put out, wrapped in treacly-sweet vocal harmonies. That kind of music-lyrics tension is always good, and here it’s a neat reminder that love and lust are adjacent concepts. I also like Nuno Bettencourt’s acoustic playing on it.
I'm 99 percent sure that it's not supposed to be sexual. It's just talking about putting your love into actions. And I say this because Gary Cherone is actually a devout Christian, and a lot of Extreme songs are moral/religious but under the radar, like "Hole Hearted," for instance, which is about God. Plus, there's this bit:
What would you do if my heart was torn in two?
More than words to show you feel
That your love for me is real
What would you say if I took those words away?
Then you couldn't make things new
Just by saying: I love you
Oh man you just reminded me how much I love Hole Hearted
I remember my mom got Extreme II: Pornograffiti because of that song and hated the rest of the album.
Every Morning by Sugar Ray became somewhat indicative of their career but was definitely a departure at the time it came out.
They supposedly sold out intentionally. That song came from an album called "14:59", indicating that they knew their 15 minutes of fame were almost up and they wanted to cash in. That was the story at the time, however. Lemonade and Brownies is a fun album, though.
I recall reading somewhere that for their previous album (Floored), they were recording and some sort or argument ensued. They took a brief pause in the studio and were just kind of messing around and decided to play a different style which resulted in their hit song Fly. When people bought the album many were pissed that was the only song that sounded like that and the rest was more heavy/hard. So they said they’d switch their style to appeal to the masses which wanted more like that.
Fly without that Record Executive added reggae guy, is a pretty good song. I usually change the channel when I hear the radio version.
I also read that Mark McGrath quit the band when they recorded Fly because he didn't feel like that song was their style. He ended up agreeing to come back to the band and now he is still going as a DJ on SeriusXM.
I love that song for introducing me to Malo’s Suavecito.
Never been into them but that’s a pretty fun song that reminds me of popular music during simpler times
Was it? Every morning just seemed like a continuation of Fly off of Floored. Just cute little groovy pop love song. I honestly thought Sugar Ray was in same vein as Sublime, but lighter at the time. Fly taught them they could make money leaning more into pop so then you got 14:59.
I still remember buying Floored in the summer of 1997 based off Fly and wondering what the hell did I just buy.
Grateful Dead - Touch Of Grey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzvk0fWtCs0
I’m not a Dead fan, but I love that song.
It is not, not ever, the correct choice when someone asks you what your favorite Dead song is. Just say Shakedown Street.
Man even Grateful Dead fans are gate keepers now?
Grateful Dead infighting is insane. Only rivaled by Phish fans hating other Phish fans.
Grate keepers
Now?
I don’t know, I feel like Touch of Grey is more representative of the Dead catalogue than disco Shakedown Street.
Yeah, but there's never been a 27 minute, barn burning Touch of Grey.
Whos out here trying to impress grateful dead fans?
Whoever is trying to score some free shrooms I guess haha
They’re called Touch Heads. We accept them as our own, but we are slightly disappointed with them.
I'd say Alabama Getaway, or their version of Not Fade Away.
Can I say Scarlet Begonias? Jimmy Buffett did a great cover. :)
Absolutely. The thing about Scarlet Begonias is that every Deadhead is confused when it ends without going straight into Fire on the Mountain.