Happy Friday.
What’s your favourite album track that you felt should have been released as a single but never was?
Here’s mine.
Best answer wins a hallowed €25 Golden Discs voucher.
The winner will be chosen by my personal trainer.
Please include video links if possible.
Lines close at Midnight.
Nick says: Good luck!
Last week’s winning ‘opener’ here.
Sponsored Link
Pixies – Where is My Mind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_aBmrYChfQ
Looking forward to the replies on this one, trying to pick just one was a struggle
Darn, I type too much! Wanted to see if I could get the first post again :-)
Nice post. I am not really familiar with The Pixies, so must go down that rabbit hole over the weekend.
But I agree that it is hard to choose just one. Even on the album I chose, it was a close call with For Crying Out Loud, but I thought that was a bit risque for this hour, before the watershed :-D
Every song on Dolittle is a classic.
Mr Michael Franti & Spearhead – bomb the world
https://youtu.be/9Skg9z_nPHg
I am going to suggest a flip side also – cheeky I know, at the mercy of the moderator.
Everyone deserves music
https://youtu.be/OP5WrGyUqmc
Happy Friday – One Love
Where did this post come from?
Oh, yeah. 2 links = moderation :-)
Guess I will settle for 3rd place
Saw him live a few years back. He’s a very attractive man indeed. Great show too.
Heaven Can Wait from Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-SllzH8D4A&ab_channel=daveinprogress3
May not have made a #1 but would have made a great slow dance on the disco floor. Moody, evocative, perfect for a teenager’s angst. I wanted to learn piano just so I could that I could play this to my crush.
Still does not get enough airplay in my opinion.
Still can’t play piano.
The Beatles: Here Comes the Sun
https://youtu.be/KQetemT1sWc
I’m waiting for the man off The Velvet underground and Nico by The velvet underground.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbigVkiAe0s
George Clinton The Flag was Still There from the album Hey Man Smell My Finger, an album that sank without trace.
https://youtu.be/reAZUcT_o0M
Also saw George Clinton and P-Funk. I’ve never been in the company or so many stoners. Gas. The drummer had to be carried off and replaced by one of the (approx) 50 other musicians on stage.
Morrissey – Late Night, Maudlin Street
https://youtu.be/EJW5ZjJbgM0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z0cKtSlHOU
I don’t think this was a single – if it was then I would nominate, state of love and trust by Pearl Jam.
Madness – The Liberty of Norton Folgate
https://youtu.be/7X8BDcn-rSA
The best song Bowie never released as a single, “The Man Who Sold the Word”, the title track of his third album of the same name. There have been some wonderful covers of it not least Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain’s version who’s vocals grasped the darker side of it.
The Man Who Sold the Word
Bowie singing live in Dublin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTND-NN3MtA
Nirvana Kurt Cobain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fregObNcHC8
It was the B side of Life on Mars on 7″ Vinyl way back when
it is one l of a song, alright!
:-)
This little cracker!!
https://youtu.be/PLK3FYbUMes
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m only Bleeding) – Bob Dylan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CJHbfkROow
I must say I do enjoy his long rambling dreamscapes, this probably most of all.
Happy long weekend BSers
Hey Joe MacKenzie by Vicky Leandros, from her album I Am. It was released as a single in its original German, but this is the English version which, as far as I can tell, was not released.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a8pLegIG0I&ab_channel=wodisi
I always liked its bright and cheerful tone, coupled with the threat of violence if the thirsty crowd did not get their beer. Given it be a Friday of a bank holiday weekend, I thought it might be appropriate.
She was name checked in a song by Half Man Half Biscuit (Whit Weekend Malarkey)
I always thought the line was “We just got back from Greek isle Kos, Didn’t see no Vicky, Lee, and Ross”
Thinking it was a reference to 18-30 crowd. You learn something new every day.
She was quite famous particularly in the 70s. She represented Luxembourg in the Eurovision twice, winning on the second occasion with Apres Toi (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka89ORFu_Tc&ab_channel=hermioneGreek) in 1972, the year before Janet’s least favourite band won for a song about a famous war.
She is really big in Germany, and apparently has had The Hoff open for her. I do recommend checking out some of her songs.
My Dad fell in love with her… singing… after a tour with the UN in Cyprus. For many years, her records and those of a band that shall not be mentioned were the only ones allowed be played on my Dad’s stereo – a 3 in 1 Sanyo bought with some of the proceeds from that tour, I think specifically to play Vicky’s records that he brought back with him.
I got indoctrinated early :-)
Note to Janet: Apologies, but I will be posting one later that you should probably avoid. I will wait, hoping you read this in time.
you’re a gent, don’t let anyone tell ya any different :)
+1 very much so :)
My Dad did a whirl in Cyprus too!
Great choice
Jeff Buckley – “Lover, you should’ve come over”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vLHcHWDvgfQ
Just heartbreaking, and in register that I can sing along to in the car.
Another Vicky Leadros song I think worth resurrecting, particularly in light of the homeless crisis. From the same album (I Am), and hopefully for your listening pleasure, I offer Mouth Organ Boy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXXn7szT2jY&ab_channel=wodisi
This Is The One – Stone Roses
https://youtu.be/DbyrOBVDtR4
That album, like Hunky Dory is one of the few records where every track could have been a singe. It’s a masterpiece and this track hits me in the feels every time I hear it….
Great choice :)
+ One
A cracking album that every track could have been a single!, but this was a stand out track,
https://youtu.be/M-TA_4-Uijg
Enjoy
Violent Femmes — Good Feeling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhedKAhHqK8
although there’s a good few off that first album
Pretty much every song on that album is a banger. I love it.
Might be too obvious a selection but Stairway To Heaven from Led Zeppelin. https://youtu.be/QkF3oxziUI4
Roxy Music – In every dream home a heartache
https://youtu.be/LSniBxXjK_8
I Ludicrous – Fabulous
https://youtu.be/AL2npP4rjBw
I just can’t countenance a single with a blank b side . It could have been a double “a”
I Ludicrous – a Pop Fan’s Dream
https://youtu.be/dDOjYIDa0Y4
Why this wasn’t a single amazes me??
https://youtu.be/FuYzsrYSQx4
Gold Dust Woman-Waylon and Willie’s cover of Mac’s homage to blow, RIP Peter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0lpkvK2qEo
…take your silver spoon and dig your grave.
(Fleetwood Mac-did release it as b side, but was left off greatest hits,Waylon stole this from Stevie.)
Manfred Mann Chapter Three – Snakeskin Garter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTi7Bykg7L0
Gimme Shelter – The Stones
https://youtu.be/CKGU-tpN2H8
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant – Billy Joel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxx8IWIvKg0
Just because…
Riding on the Equator – Felt
https://youtu.be/MXyiw58R6k0
Dig a Pony
The Beatles
Let it Be
Green Eyes – Hüsker Dü
https://youtu.be/ot8QPToaFZA
Always wait for your music contribution, O blue.
Also, give me your record collection now.
Cheers, Papi.
Drop over. We’re open 24 hours, longer at weekends.
Janet, this is the one to be careful about. If you wish, enjoy the post. Links are at the bottom.
From the album Waterloo, one of my favourite songs of this band, and that was not released as a single was Another Town, Another Train. As a kid, it evoked in me a sense of wanderlust, and exploration. I was too young, and the themes of not settling and even of abandoning everything and everyone went right over my head.
Over the years, I have hummed this in my head as I went from airport to airport in a lifestyle that in some ways mimicked both my childhood dreams and the theme of the song. In particular, the opening line (Day is dawning and I must go – darn, I should have used that last week!) reflect in how many times I had to leave my home and head for the airport at horrible o’clock to be off to another country, at the start of what were often multi-day trips to my end destination. I think my record is 6 days, 7 plane journeys and a multi-hour/two day car trip that included a ferry crossing. Can I count that as a boat trip?
And then at the end of a mission, a few weeks, or months, and occasionally years later, it was back to the airport for another town. A short while ago I realised I was still constantly reusing the same clothes from the suitcase I came home in, nearly 2 years ago now, just rewashing them as needed and stacked on a chair. Despite my wardrobe being full, just as described in this song.
The song is also one of the few where Bjorn was the lead singer, with the ladies on vocals.
Years later, they put out their last recorded (albeit second last released) song, which has proven to be my favourite: The Day Before You Came. This time sung by Agnetha, former wife of Bjorn who abandoned her in Another Town, Another Train. It speaks of a life empty and full of routine until the arrival of someone. It is very poignant and wistful.
I saw a documentary (link below) in which Benny describes how they made it. One thing he said that struck me was they instructed Agnetha to not sing as well as she could. I thought that spoke volumes.
Blancmange did a good version, for those who like the song but not the artist. I will not link here.
Many years after that, in one of those airports, humming in my head as I waited for another plane, it struck me that in many ways these songs are bookends, both of their career, and in a way of my life. And both songs began, and ended, with trains. My journeys began, and ended, with planes, occasionally one being a plane back home again.
No trains, though.
Another Town, Another Train by ABBA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCDwOuuGprg&ab_channel=ABBFridalicious
Documentary on making of The Day Before You Came (first minute or so in Swedish, then English):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgynuWyHoJI
Thanks for that post BS. I share your (not so secret) love of they who shall not be named; and The Day Before You Came is one of my favourites too.
You home for good now or are there more planes, trains and automobiles in your future?
Apologies for the late reply, Lush. Yesterday turned into an unexpected family day.
Home for now, mostly due to travel restrictions, but who knows? I have a few years left in me yet :-)
Enjoy the downtime.
And thankyou for your candour and the Muppet posts.
Crowded House “Italian Plastic” from Woodface. A great album track and a live favourite.
https://youtu.be/tp1J2V7FaZo?t=24
I remember crying through their farewell concert in Sydney (saw it on the telly). I LOVE Crowded House. So goddamn musical.
Agreed. Real emotion, sensitivity and artistry.
A rare combination.
This from a brilliant album, that he never released a track as a single, it’s such a good album well worth investigating!!!!
https://youtu.be/nfhx2fo2Vr0
Enjoy.
Eight Dayz – What’s So Strange About Me (1989)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfvxFc0Tkfc
David Bowie – Always Crashing in the Same Car
From the album Low.
Melodic and technologically cutting edge with a phenomenal riff. Almost like a futuristic Motown classic.
https://youtu.be/hv7Y7F-Q2KE
Excellent choice.
Was Sons of the Silent age ever released as a single?
Truth No. 2 from Home by The (Dixie) Chicks
When the Levee Breaks. led Zeppelin
https://youtu.be/FFDYuO53BUk
+1
A B-side that could have easily been the A-side, one of their best!!
https://youtu.be/cK5G8fPmWeA
If Nick Cave was backed by Pixies…
A Private Understanding – Protomartyr
https://youtu.be/yWdLpIITqsQ
Oasis – Slide Away
https://youtu.be/GX0o7SFVeHM
Scott Walker – The Amorous Humphrey Plugg
https://youtu.be/JFXuMljSY7g
Heaven by Talking Heads, from Fear of Music
https://youtu.be/sZpZuIWu1tw
Roxy Music – Mother of Pearl
https://youtu.be/GhCOqj4Pyb8
Foo fighters exhausted
https://youtu.be/7wmoAm0b3QY