| qrock 14.07.2011 11:28 |
Songs that should have been hits or singles and estimated chart position in the UK or US. Chart position for my estimations are UK. Queen: Keep Yourself Alive - If the song had been promoted better it should have done well. #7 Doin Alright - The song has a catchy chorus and good enough theme to be a single: #20 at best Liar - If released as a single in the UK and if the band had been promoted well it could have charted: #34 The Night Comes Down - A light, quiet song, good enough for the TOP 40. Queen II: Father to Son - So let's say that Queen's debut was a succes a so was the Seven Seas of Rhye. This song would be worthy of a single release. #25 White Queen - Powerful and emotive. Considering if Queen's debut had made it, this song would have done well. #20 Someday One Day - A soft Brian song. #27 Funny How Love Is - Cheery with repetitive lyrics. Following previous success - #20 Sheer Heart Attack: Flick of the Wrist - As a stand alone single - #15 Tenement Funster - Heavy and fun - #20 Lily of the Valley - Worldwide released - #45 Misfire - Catchy, short and fun song - #22 In the Lap of the Gods Revisited - Powerful - #20 A Night at the Opera: '39 - Great song following Bohemian Rhapsody success - #10 Love of My Life - Lovely track following Bo Rhap - #20 I'm in Love With My Car - A power ballad - #15 Sweet Lady - A Great rocker, potential hit following Bo Rhap - #30 A Day at the Races: Tie Your Mother Down - Although it was a hit it should have been Top 20: #18 You Take My Breath Away - Classic example of an elegant 1976 ballad. #25 You and I - Worthy of a massive hit - #6 Long Away - Another great Brian song - #17 Teo Torriatte - Good enough to be popular - #22 News of the World: Spread Your Wings - Should have been a Top ten hit - #8 Sheer Heart Attack - During the time of punk - #24 It's Late - Classic rock song - #17 Jazz: Jealousy - UK release - #19 If You Can't Beat Them - #20 In Only Seven Days - #14 Dead on Time - Great rocker - #30 The Game: Dragon Attack - Following recent success - #16 Need Your Loving Tonight - After Dust - #18 Rock It - Worthy of a hit - #20 Sail Away Sweet Sister - #14 Coming Soon - Poppy tune - #16 Flash Gordon: The Hero - #22 Hot Space: Staying Power - A song that you would expect MJ to do - #17 Back Chat - Could have been top 30. Calling All Girls - UK release - #25 Dancer - #10 Cool Cat - #27 Action This Day - #36 The Works: Man on the Prowl - Following success of Ga Ga, Break Free and Hard Life - #25 Keep Passing the Open Windows - Great pop tune - #13 A Kind of Magic: Princes of the Universe - UK release - #12 One Year of Love - UK release - #23 Pain is so Close to Pleasure - UK release - #28 The Miracle: Rain Must Fall - #38 Was it All Worth it - #27 Innuendo: I Can't Live With You - #10 Don't Try So Hard - #24 Made in Heaven: Made in Heaven - #17 I Was Born to Love You - #14 Mother Love - #21 My Life Has Been Saved - #33 |
| malicedoom 14.07.2011 12:46 |
I still get annoyed at the singles that WERE released in the US when I see some of their peak chart positions. So many great songs that didn't even reach the Top 40! Insane. Look at this crap: Don't Stop Me Now: #86 (!) Play The Game: #42 Flash: #42 Under Pressure: #29 (I kid you not...) I Want To Break Free: #45 It's A Hard Life: #72 Hammer To Fall: Did Not Chart (!) One Vision: #61 (shoot me - are you kidding??) A Kind Of Magic: #42 I Want It All: #50 Breakthru: Did Not Chart Scandal: Did Not Chart |
| ggo1 14.07.2011 15:26 |
malicedoom wrote: I still get annoyed at the singles that WERE released in the US when I see some of their peak chart positions. So many great songs that didn't even reach the Top 40! Insane. Look at this crap: Don't Stop Me Now: #86 (!) Play The Game: #42 Flash: #42 Under Pressure: #29 (I kid you not...) I Want To Break Free: #45 It's A Hard Life: #72 Hammer To Fall: Did Not Chart (!) One Vision: #61 (shoot me - are you kidding??) A Kind Of Magic: #42 I Want It All: #50 Breakthru: Did Not Chart Scandal: Did Not Chart Under Pressure #29? That is amazing given the amount of play it gets these days on classic rock radio and sports events. I'm sure if you asked Joe public if it made #1 back in the day, most would say yes. In fact I'm fairly certain most classic rock station programmers think it did. Graham in Ottawa |
| qrock 14.07.2011 15:57 |
Queen struggled to really make it in the US as they did have some big hits like the anthems in 1977 and the Game era in 1980. The rest of Queen's music was incredibly ignored. It was either Queen's slow progress in the early 70s, the failure of the Jazz singles and I Want to Break Free that made Queen's performance in the US charts variable. I do believe that Queen lost most of their fans in the 1980s. From their debut right up to the Game/Hot Space, Queen had an ever growing fan base with increases in new fans a little activity in fans being left disapointed or even stop buying their albums. The Game was a more poppy and straightforward record however it wasn't a massive transition from their earlier work. At this time Queen had their moment in the US with the rock fans appreciating the new album aswell as fans who are not associated with rock music begining to buy their album. However with Hot Space, Queen saw a massive decline in their fanbase and sales for many reasons: the music they promoted from Hot Space didn't have the same edge as on the Game, it focused more on a genre that most people don't associate with Queen and the fact that they used drum machines. So the fans that liked Queen's rock side disapeared and the next two albums wouldn't have impressed them and ofcourse I Want to Break Free so more fans moving away from Queen. So Queen did have a disjointed career with sales in the US: Queen sold officially 41 million records in the US out of a confirmed 90 million records sold worldwide. Compare this to other artists such as the Beatles - 207/250 million records sold in the US, Elvis - 182/200 million records sold in the US, MJ - 90/153 million records sold in the US. Most major artists have the majority of their sales in the US whereas Queen had not even half of their sales in the US. So they never quite made it there. |
| Djdownsy 14.07.2011 16:18 |
Was It All Worth It, if it had been released after IWIA, would have been massive, a top ten at least. It's the peak of 'The Miracle', and it's amazing that it wasn't even released as a single. :O |
| brENsKi 14.07.2011 16:35 |
qrock wrote: Songs that should have been hits or singles and estimated chart position in the UK or US. Chart position for my estimations are UK. Queen: Keep Yourself Alive - If the song had been promoted better it should have done well. #7 Doin Alright - The song has a catchy chorus and good enough theme to be a single: #20 at best Liar - If released as a single in the UK and if the band had been promoted well it could have charted: #34 The Night Comes Down - A light, quiet song, good enough for the TOP 40. Queen II: Father to Son - So let's say that Queen's debut was a succes a so was the Seven Seas of Rhye. This song would be worthy of a single release. #25 White Queen - Powerful and emotive. Considering if Queen's debut had made it, this song would have done well. #20 Someday One Day - A soft Brian song. #27 Funny How Love Is - Cheery with repetitive lyrics. Following previous success - #20 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ i am going to humour your thread...but be really honest. you know very little about the music business or what makes a commercial hit...that's obvious from your post.... KYA - no way never top 10, and how much promostion did you want ? queen were hyped enough with music biz people attending specially arranged gigs...adn still the single/album didn't become a hit doin' alright - no. the tune belonged in 1968....everything about it suited the era of free love and flower power....by 1973 it was too late for this song to be a hit of any kind liar - again - NO NO NO... song was so zeppelinesque...and everyone knows zep never released UK singles...cos their sound didn't lend itself to singles...so it's a huge NO for liar night comes down....again see Doin Alright comment father to son - would need a single edit and a remix...wopuld need to sound either more glamrock or more poppy to fit in with the charts fo the time white queen / FHLI - see doin alright comments some day one day - bollox.....never in a million years..commerical suicide to release the worst trakc off queen II as a single.... |
| rhyeking 14.07.2011 16:41 |
It was not Hot Space that singlehandedly brought about the downfall of Queen in the US during the '80s (if it had anything to do with it at all, which I doubt). The following reasons largely contributed: The '80s was a time of one-hit wonders. Some bands and artists had enough talent to make it through with a string of hits, and even careers beyond, but most of what made stations like MTV huge were flash-in-the-pan artists and bands that barely had two good songs to string together (more often just one). Reportedly, Freddie taking the advice to not tour the US in the '80s without a big hit, not understanding (or ignoring) that touring is a band's bread and butter, whether your up-and-coming or established. For Queen to remain successful in a market like North America, they needed to keep touring. They stayed big in Europe, broke through live in South America and would likely have had several successful tours in the US. It's a system that feeds itself: Release music, sell records, tour, sell more records, garner hits, tour the hits, sell more records, record new music and repeat. Capitol Records did very little to support the band, which certainly didn't help. Greater promotion could have done a lot to get the MTV generation to take notice of Queen. Say what you will about the Hollywood Records remasters and remixes, it's impossible to deny that the company made a massive push in the early '90s when they signed with the band. The 1991 remasters with bonus tracks, dozens of promos, Brian's radio tour, Classic Queen & the red Greatest Hits blitzed the market. They got free publicity, sadly, with Freddie's death and Wayne's World, but HR was all ready to capitalize by sending out radio friendly promo CDs everywhere. Many fans hate the remixes, but HR was honestly trying to reach other markets. If they failed, it was not for a lack of effort. And that's WAY more than Capitol ever did. All of these reasons contributed to Queen not having much impact on the US in the '80s. However, I have very clear memories from 8 years old of "Radio Ga Ga," both on the radio and on MuchMusic. I don't have its US chart # in front of me, but I could reasonably say that if Queen toured the US in 1984 or 1985, they would have driven The Works and the single up the charts here. That would have fed into the promotion of AKOM, especially if Capitol had promoted them more. Things could have turned out very differently if one or all of these elements had been handled much better. |
| paulosham 14.07.2011 16:45 |
Spread Your Wings should have been a hit single. |
| Hangman_96 14.07.2011 16:52 |
All mentioned songs above should have been the hit singles. |
| MERQRY 14.07.2011 17:08 |
ggo1 wrote: malicedoom wrote: I still get annoyed at the singles that WERE released in the US when I see some of their peak chart positions. So many great songs that didn't even reach the Top 40! Insane. Look at this crap: Don't Stop Me Now: #86 (!) Play The Game: #42 Flash: #42 Under Pressure: #29 (I kid you not...) I Want To Break Free: #45 It's A Hard Life: #72 Hammer To Fall: Did Not Chart (!) One Vision: #61 (shoot me - are you kidding??) A Kind Of Magic: #42 I Want It All: #50 Breakthru: Did Not Chart Scandal: Did Not Chart Under Pressure #29? That is amazing given the amount of play it gets these days on classic rock radio and sports events. I'm sure if you asked Joe public if it made #1 back in the day, most would say yes. In fact I'm fairly certain most classic rock station programmers think it did. Graham in Ottawa ----------------- At least in Argentina Under pressure was #1 for some weeks... And Love of my life too |
| Your Fairy King 14.07.2011 17:52 |
ggo1 wrote: malicedoom wrote: I still get annoyed at the singles that WERE released in the US when I see some of their peak chart positions. So many great songs that didn't even reach the Top 40! Insane. Look at this crap: Don't Stop Me Now: #86 (!) Play The Game: #42 Flash: #42 Under Pressure: #29 (I kid you not...) I Want To Break Free: #45 It's A Hard Life: #72 Hammer To Fall: Did Not Chart (!) One Vision: #61 (shoot me - are you kidding??) A Kind Of Magic: #42 I Want It All: #50 Breakthru: Did Not Chart Scandal: Did Not Chart Under Pressure #29? That is amazing given the amount of play it gets these days on classic rock radio and sports events. I'm sure if you asked Joe public if it made #1 back in the day, most would say yes. In fact I'm fairly certain most classic rock station programmers think it did. Graham in Ottawa As a US Queen fan since 1975 I would have to say that I find all of these songs, with the exception of Under Pressure, to be examples of Queen at their most crass. They simply aren't the kind of songs that "classic rock" stations in the US would embrace. Queen's 80s output was drastically different from their 70s catalog. I remember buying The Game, The Works, Magic, and the Miracle and being disappointed that there were no Brighton Rocks, It's Lates, Somebody to Loves, nor anything as quirky as Bicycle Race, nor the sublime vaudeville/rock infusions of Killer Queen and The Millionaire Waltz. |
| Bo Alex 14.07.2011 19:03 |
Dragon Attack!! Powerfull and catchy at the same time!. Great funky riff. |
| ksimpson1960 14.07.2011 19:32 |
See 'brENsKi's post; ...pretty well sums it up , timeings everything |
| malicedoom 15.07.2011 07:39 |
Agree 100% with rhyeking. For USA fans, Hollywood Records 'rescued' Queen. All of a sudden, we were able to get all this GREAT material never available before. Remasters, videos... it was such a relief. Christ, I was going broke from importing stuff over - LOL. Queen is the friggin' reason I bought a laser disc player (to get my hands on the Japanese Greatest Flix II release, which played on USA players). And Radio Ga-Ga hit #16 here - it did fairly well. A shame they didn't even tour a little here... |
| Rick 15.07.2011 10:54 |
Spread Your Wings. Maybe the best song from NOTW. |
| malicedoom 15.07.2011 11:11 |
I really love that song. I just heard Freddie sing it at Chicago Stadium live for the first time (a recent download I finally burned to CD - 7/12/78) and he sounded freakin' incredible (big shock, I know...) |
| Wilki Amieva 15.07.2011 11:36 |
Hey, Merqury! You have a PM. |
| Thistle 15.07.2011 12:09 |
At least in Argentina Under pressure was #1 for some weeks... And Love of my life too ============================================================================================= Yeah, but didn't the Argentinian album chart have ten Queen albums in the top 10 simultaneously at one point (perhaps during the '81 visit??). |
| master marathon runner 15.07.2011 12:44 |
Hey folks, dont beat yourselves up too much about Queens record in the U.S.- The legendary Beach Boys' reads even worse. The legend wins through in the end, endless quotes as inspiration, rock and roll hall of fame, etc etc.. Master marathon runner |
| brENsKi 15.07.2011 16:28 |
Thistleboy 1980 wrote: At least in Argentina Under pressure was #1 for some weeks... And Love of my life too ============================================================================================= Yeah, but didn't the Argentinian album chart have ten Queen albums in the top 10 simultaneously at one point (perhaps during the '81 visit??). +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ so you are saying queen albums occupied ALL of the top ten slots at the same time?...that's never been achieved anywhere in thw world...not even when JOhn Lennon or Elvis Presley died |
| ole-the-first 16.07.2011 12:27 |
Actually I think that The March of the Black Queen should be released as a single. Such a great piece remains mostly unknown. And I think that it could be a hit, just like Bohemian Rhapsody. The Millionaire Waltz could be a great single too. Keep Passing the Open Windows is a great song. But I think that it should be edited for a single: second half of this song is not as catchy as two verses in the beginning. Was It All Worth It. Fantastic song. Best on the album. Could be a popular single. |
| Djdownsy 17.07.2011 18:12 |
ole-the-first said: Actually I think that The March of the Black Queen should be released as a single. Such a great piece remains mostly unknown. And I think that it could be a hit, just like Bohemian Rhapsody. The Millionaire Waltz could be a great single too. Keep Passing the Open Windows is a great song. But I think that it should be edited for a single: second half of this song is not as catchy as two verses in the beginning. Was It All Worth It. Fantastic song. Best on the album. Could be a popular single. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I don't think MOTBQ or MW would make good singles at all, I can understand where you're coming from when comparing it to BR, but they're just not catchy enough to be singles, even back then, to the average listener, they're very 'pouncy' songs on first listen, No-one would ever buy them, except for us Bigger fans. KPTOW? Yeah actually, if the edit was tasteful, it would have been a good single. :) And WIAWI? Ive already put my two cents out there earlier in the thread. :D |
| Michael 17.07.2011 18:49 |
OK, I'll play along. Try these on for size: "If You Can't Beat Them" and "Need Your Loving Tonight" - John Deacon |
| *goodco* 18.07.2011 08:49 |
As to 'Under Pressure': it was released in the US about the same time as 'Greatest Hits', which included UP. Why buy the single if you are buying, or bought, the album? And please don't say for the nonalbum B side.... I'm sure UPs inclusion helped sell a few more GH records. |