Cases where the Hit Song is Deemed the Weakest by the Musician

[Laura]

Sometimes, the musician's least favorite song on the album is the one that becomes the smash hit (and the one they are stuck playing for the rest of their lives). What are some examples of this?

One that comes to mind for me is "Don't You Want Me" by the Human League. Philip Oakey hated it and thought it was a weak track because Virgin Records insisted on the song having more of a pop song than he originally intented. He made it the last song on the album Dare in 1981. When the record company wanted to release it as the fourth hit from the album, he didn't want to release it because it was a "poor quality filler track". Sure enough, it became a smash hit in the UK and then became THE quintessential British New Wave/Second British Invasion song in the US.

Another example that comes to mind is James Blunt's "You're Beautiful". He has claimed it is one of the least meaningful songs on that album (and that it is not very beautiful). While he has had other hits in the UK, it is his only major hit in the US.

[spooky]

"Creep" by Radiohead immediately comes to mind.

[Molandfreak]

"Smells Like Teen Spirit." Kurt Cobain hated it.

[hbelkins]

From what I've read, "If You Leave Me Now" was considered a throwaway track by the members of Chicago and they almost didn't record it. It became their biggest hit.

[formulanone]

Shut up, trained monkey, play that famous song we all want to hear!

Unless you're performing for free, I guess it's asking too much for the famous, talented, and rather wealthy to not bitch about their jobs.

[DandyDan]

Probably every power ballad by every 80's hair metal band.

[Laura]

Shut up, trained monkey, play that famous song we all want to hear!

Unless you're performing for free, I guess it's asking too much for the famous, talented, and rather wealthy to not bitch about their jobs.

Hahaha, Jefferson Starship played for free at the Dundalk Heritage Festival last year on my birthday, and no matter how many times people yelled "We Built This City", they did not play it. They like to pretend that the whole Starship era never happened.

Todd Rundgren is pretty up front about the fact that he does not play all of his radio hits at every show. He's been continuously been making music for 45 years and isn't going to dedicate a chunk of his playlist to his 70's hits.

Having a hit in a certain style can put you into a box musically, and people grow and try to do new things. I understand the sentiment.

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[1995hoo]

"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow. She's said it was a throwaway to fill space on the album and she was astonished when it was a hit.

[Pete from Boston]

"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow. She's said it was a throwaway to fill space on the album and she was astonished when it was a hit.

Astonishing, really, considering that without that song Sheryl Crow is not a household name.

[Scott5114]

Shut up, trained monkey, play that famous song we all want to hear!

Unless you're performing for free, I guess it's asking too much for the famous, talented, and rather wealthy to not bitch about their jobs.

My guess is that your hobbies don't tend toward the artistically inclined.

Any form of art, whether it be music, writing, drawing, etc. is very much tied to the mental state of the artist creating it. A checkout clerk, or a fast food cook, or a casino slot attendant can go to work "not feeling it" that day and still muddle through and do an acceptable job. If you're "not feeling it" as a musician, you can go through the motions of playing a piece, but there won't be that spark there that makes it anything more than complicated data entry. You may as well be playing a QWERTY keyboard rather than a musical one.

Musicians don't want to turn in a shitty performance because they feel like they're ripping their audience off, or because it makes them feel incompetent, or any other feeling that you might feel when you do a bad job. So an artist complaining about having to play a song they don't enjoy is more than entitled bitching.

P.S. This isn't limited to musicians, by the way. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle hated Sherlock Holmes to the point that, at one point, he killed him off. He sincerely hoped that he would not be remembered solely as the author of Sherlock, but unfortunately that's what happened.

[gilpdawg]

Shut up, trained monkey, play that famous song we all want to hear!

Unless you're performing for free, I guess it's asking too much for the famous, talented, and rather wealthy to not bitch about their jobs.

Hahaha, Jefferson Starship played for free at the Dundalk Heritage Festival last year on my birthday, and no matter how many times people yelled "We Built This City", they did not play it. They like to pretend that the whole Starship era never happened.

Todd Rundgren is pretty up front about the fact that he does not play all of his radio hits at every show. He's been continuously been making music for 45 years and isn't going to dedicate a chunk of his playlist to his 70's hits.

Having a hit in a certain style can put you into a box musically, and people grow and try to do new things. I understand the sentiment.

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Why would they play that? Starship and Jefferson Starship weren't the same band, they only had a member or two in common.

[Alps]

I had written about Counting Crows, "Mr. Jones," but while the lead singer hated it, I don't think he ever considered it his weakest.

[roadman65]

I believe Obla Di Obla Da by the Beatles was hated by Lennon even though it was popular among Beatles fans.

[golden eagle]

If the artists hated the songs, why sing them?

[roadman65]

If the artists hated the songs, why sing them?

In the case of the Beatles you had both Lennon and McCartney have their names on all of the songs that they each wrote.  Most of the songs Paul sings are written solely by him and those by John are written by John.  Somehow the two of them had a business arrangement where they both decided to use each others names on all their compositions.

It would not be that uncommon for Lennon to hate McCartney's songs and vice versa.  Heck even groups like Supertramp where songs were written by Rick Davies and Roger Hodsen, I believe had the same business arrangement where even though both credited for all the songs, most of them were written by one or the other as well.  There was even one song that Roger Hodsen hated that became a hit, although I am unsure which one it was, it was announced on WMMO in Orlando between songs by the DJ as a point of interest.

[1995hoo]

From what I've read, three of the four Beatles cringed during the recording of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," though I suppose that wasn't really a hit song.

[roadman65]

From what I've read, three of the four Beatles cringed during the recording of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," though I suppose that wasn't really a hit song.

One thing about the Beatles, many songs of theirs gets airplay, but really only half of the songs you hear were actually hits.  They are one group that was so popular, that radio stations and public places could take any of their songs and play them whether it was a hit or not.

[english si]

One thing about the Beatles, many songs of theirs gets airplay, but really only half of the songs you hear were actually hits.

Given their 1 Album has 27 songs that reached the top of the charts on either side of the Atlantic, I can't believe radio stations play 54 Beatles songs (assuming all other songs flopped, rather than were hits that merely didn't top the charts/not singles). They were prolific, but so many of their songs were hits that its hard to believe that the radios play as many non-hits as hits.

[Laura]

One thing about the Beatles, many songs of theirs gets airplay, but really only half of the songs you hear were actually hits.

Given their 1 Album has 27 songs that reached the top of the charts on either side of the Atlantic, I can't believe radio stations play 54 Beatles songs (assuming all other songs flopped, rather than were hits that merely didn't top the charts/not singles). They were prolific, but so many of their songs were hits that its hard to believe that the radios play as many non-hits as hits.

I've heard Maxwell's Silver Hammer on the radio. The local classic rock station here has shows like "go deep", where they'll play more obscure songs and "vinyl frontier", where they'll play the whole side of an album at once. Also, they often have block party weekends. Like previous posters mentioned, the Beatles get a lot of airplay of hits and non-hits.


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[FightingIrish]

Chuck Berry is a rock n' roll icon who practically helped to invent the genre, with hits such as Maybelline, Johnny B. Goode and many others. Unfortunately, his only #1 song came in the early '70s, and was a live novelty track called "My Ding-a-ling", essentially an extended drunken dick joke singalong.

[formulanone]

Having a hit in a certain style can put you into a box musically, and people grow and try to do new things. I understand the sentiment.

Musicians don't want to turn in a shitty performance because they feel like they're ripping their audience off, or because it makes them feel incompetent, or any other feeling that you might feel when you do a bad job. So an artist complaining about having to play a song they don't enjoy is more than entitled bitching.

I can feel for anyone who wants to show a little creativity from their career, but on the other hand...ignoring the medium and means which helped made you a success in the first place, turning your back to fans is a little "entitled". I can understand where a band or musician or singer is tired of playing the same song over and over again - or a song that they just didn't like, as time went on. But some artists change the song around, so it doesn't go stale.

Many recording artists have a hit, and then they release an album that polarizes their fanbase. Or the fans wanted more of the same, but got something different (didn't sound like other albums, for example). Or the so-called bandwagon-jumpers left for the latest thing. A group that's been established for years before having a hit can weather these kids of things; they have a fanbase that supports them through a great deal of their discography. But the Johnny Come-Lately is likely to disappear sooner once the fans or critics don't like the new album.

I can see where it irks a band but I think your fans can be very important, too. Unless a large company is underwriting your latest album, the fans move the sales needle. That's why I think it seems to come off as brash complaining when a band whines about having to play a former over-played hit...most folks would probably love to be in that situation. A bit of a push...

[roadman65]

You know what really surprises me, the fact that She's Waiting by Eric Clapton was the B side of See What Love Can Do in which the latter made it to the top ten, though very briefly, but the former did not make it at all on the charts.  Of course She's Waiting is a good song and better than the other it shadowed, but She's Waiting actually got the airplay, but See What Love Can Do did not that is interesting.

Now back on subject, See What Love Can Do was not on the list to be on Behind The Sun, as it was forced by the record company to have that, Forever Man, and Something's Happening on the album which Clapton did not want.  Apparently Reprise Records had no confidence in Phil Collins production abilities ( he produced most of the Behind The Sun tracks) to bring forth a hit song, so they had Jerry Lynn Williams produce three songs on that album against Clapton's wishes.

Then Tony Orlando did not think that Knock Three Times would get to be anywhere near a hit song, but it ended up being one of his best songs!

[Dr Frankenstein]

Left Hand Free by ∆ (A.K.A. Alt-J).

[Arkansastravelguy]

Rod Stewart wrote the B side song "Maggie May" but didn't push it because he felt it didn't have a beat


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