Biggest hit vs. best song

Topic: Biggest hit vs. best song (Read 5424 times)

Biggest hit vs. best song

2017-02-04, 09:53:14

The one that brings this to my mind is Sammy Davis, Jr.'s "Candy Man," which was boffo!. But surely "In the Shelter of Your Arms" was a better song, and a much better performance.
Your candidates?
(We can skip ABBA's "Dancing Queen" — unless I'm unaware of a better song from them: That seems to be a darned near perfect pop song!)

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #1 – 2017-02-04, 13:00:04

We should return to the time when there were no records. A music that only exists when played is so much more unique and enjoyable than a "hit".
Which also brings a philosophical doubt, does a music exists when not played? A music-in-memory is not the same as a music-in-itself.

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #2 – 2017-02-04, 13:41:18

I'm generally not sufficiently in tune with "hits" to offer much useful input here. Dancing Queen I'm not so sure about. From the same album I prefer Money, Money, Money. But overall I prefer, say, SOS, Fernando and Mamma Mia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvChjHcABPA

It complicates matters even further that what's "obviously" Meat Loaf's biggest hit, Paradise by the Dashboard Light, was only a comparatively minor song in the US.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C11MzbEcHlw

ABBA's SOS

Reply #3 – 2017-02-04, 21:32:09

SOS

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #4 – 2017-02-04, 22:54:55

Meat Loaf's album Bat Out Of Hell, that includes Paradise by the Dashboard Light, it's a major Rock'n Roll album, probably to be considered as a rock'n roll opera. There's a very good documentary about the making of.
It's a hit? who cares...

I don't understand what's supposed to post in this thread.

Well, Im not sure if I ever understood what was supposed to post at any thread...

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #5 – 2017-02-04, 23:41:25

@OakdaleFTL

How about two great hits of your time. I hope you've enjoined them.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InRDF_0lfHk[/video]

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-DkyMXTo5Q[/video]

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #6 – 2017-02-05, 01:43:59

Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing" was a song I appreciated, as did almost everyone else. But their "Sultans of Swing" was great!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tTmpzfyChw&list=RD0tTmpzfyChw
I should post the studio version that I heard and remember. But this live performance is so good…!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pa9x9fZBtY

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #7 – 2017-02-05, 02:11:29

Frenzie says he's "not so sure about Dancing Queen… I can understand that: ABBA had so many hits! But give a listen:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/xFrGuyw1V8s
As a guitarist, I'm sticking with my original assessment.

@krake: I remember and remember liking both those tunes. And the mere fact that they were superimposed on anti-Viet Nam war footage doesn't put me off. (Heck, I can still listen to Flight of the Valkyries…) How many good songs came out of WW II, on the Axis side?

BTW: Anyone care to mention the Who? They perplex me… I'd start with "Happy Jack" and go on to decades of their hits and good songs! (Specially noteworthy early on was "Pictures of Lily".

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #8 – 2017-02-05, 08:53:31

Quote from: krake on 2017-02-04, 23:41:25

How about two great hits of your time. I hope you've enjoined them.

Then there's Rod Mckuen's Soldiers Who Want to be Heroes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-l0o3tOXw0

Which brings to mind Boudwijn de Groot's Meneer de president.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79PH2kYWJAY

At the time people were protesting "Johnson! Moordenaar!" I don't think you need to speak Dutch to understand that.

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-02-05, 02:11:29

As a guitarist, I'm sticking with my original assessment.

As a saxophonist, so do I.

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #9 – 2017-02-05, 14:04:03

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWEv9Q0XQ4[/video]

Those hits were more than a simple musical experience and their messages are valid today as they were decades ago...
Not much has changed since except the songwriter artists...

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #10 – 2017-02-05, 18:53:38

"The House of the Rising Sun" is an old blues number, about prostitution, krake... (And when I say old I mean pre-WW II!)

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #11 – 2017-02-05, 19:57:49

Regardless of age I kind of fail to see a connection with war, Vietnam or otherwise. But pre-WW II is pretty recent. It's a lot older than that, isn't it?

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #12 – 2017-02-05, 20:58:18

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-02-05, 18:53:38

"The House of the Rising Sun" is an old blues number, about prostitution, krake... (And when I say old I mean pre-WW II!)

The origins of the ballade are assumed to be even pre WWI.
However "The Animals" made a worldwide hit of it 1964.
The lyrics and subsequent message might have changed over the years. BTW, you'll find the song even on Military.com.

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #13 – 2017-02-06, 05:09:24

Quote from: Frenzie on 2017-02-05, 11:57:49

Regardless of age […]

Me too. I don't know why krake wants to bring the Viet Nam war into this thread…
Wiki has much to say about "The House of the Rising Sun". And, yes, I heard it first from the Animals version. (Not great; but beginning guitarists could do as well with the arpeggios…

And the chord progression was not I-VIm-IV-V or the more common twelve-bar blues. Heck, back then the very idea of 8-bar blues was relegated to Dixie Land…)

As to ABBA's place in history, I can say that I wasn't a big fan. But, looking back, I'd call them the Beatles of the '70s and '80s. (Which is okay: I don't have a great history predicting boffo! I did not like the Beatles, in 1964 — which is weird, because I later thought and still think that "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" is a great song! I specially like the modulation to the 4th for the mid-verse -C to F, via a IIm chord- about which one of the finest bassists I ever knew argued… But I was right! He was wrong

But he taught me the rudiments of music theory, ages ago.)

So: Can we get back to the topic?

(Hey, Frenzie, you play sax? I tried an alto for a while… I have an amusing story, if you're interested; but I've likely told it before… What players do you listen to now? And given our wonderful technology the last hundred years or so what players would you recommend I listen to?)

I'm a little surprised that no one took me up on my challenge to rate songs by The Who… But they had so many great songs over so many years! I sort of understand. I'd still nominate "Happy Jack" as one of the most creative pop song of it's generation.

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #14 – 2017-02-06, 06:01:04

Another band -not so well known, except to guitarists- that dominated my early listening: The Yardbirds.
They had, as lead guitarists, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page…
Their biggest U.S. hit was (Obviously not the best use of the young Clapton. But -for 20 years- I got a kick out of watching rock drummers trying to fake bongo drums! Yeah, I kept it in my song list…

)
What songs do I think were their best?

"I'm A Man" (Beck)," "Over, Under, Sideways, Down" (Beck), "Shapes of Things" (Beck) and even the under-appreciated "Heart Full of Soul" (Beck) top my list. (Guess you know by now…

) Do I need to link to these?

In my day, the wah-wah pedal was invented. Three guitarists adopted it immediately: Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck.
Here's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqpclYuZabs …

Granted, Hendrix got a lot better! (Clapton never did…)

This is something everyone younger than me (or older…) needs to hear: Dazed and Confused.
But concerning "The House of the Rising Sun" I'd say ~~listen to~~ watch this./i/]
@krake: Why are you still prosecuting the Viet Nam war?
Are you butt-hurt still over WW II? (Get over it: you couldn't have had anything to do with it, and likely wouldn't have. But perhaps you'd like to be a NAZI? )

Songs are what this thread is about… Or didn't you notice

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #15 – 2017-02-06, 06:45:25

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-02-06, 05:09:24

I'm a little surprised that no one took me up on my challenge to rate songs by The Who… But they had so many great songs over so many years!

The request hasn't sunk in yet. This is not Twitter where you can stir reactions in a flash.

But the request probably never will sink in, because we don't have as many members as Facebook and not everybody listens (or hears) the same thing. For example, can you rate songs by Vladimir Vysotskiy? No, you cannot. Not in this life.

My personal musical history includes accordion, trumpet and vocals, but I also very much enjoy percussion nerds at work. Multi-instrumentalists are awesome.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEZK3wOUVCM[/video]

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #16 – 2017-02-06, 08:18:19

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-02-06, 05:09:24

Hey, Frenzie, you play sax? I tried an alto for a while... I have an amusing story, if you're interested; but I've likely told it before... What players do you listen to now? And given our wonderful technology the last hundred years or so what players would you recommend I listen to?

I used to; I haven't touched it in a while.

My favorite player is probably (Hans) Dulfer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGDcZjvQ5-A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7ro2t9o3Bg

His daughter Candy isn't too bad either (the woman's nearly 50; I don't know what's up with the thumbnail — I mean, she looks great & all but not like she's in her 20s or 30s…).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3kKiot7u5Q

Back in the past there'd be Peter Schilperoort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWASv2xliSc

More classically you'd have Eugene Rousseau.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unQbSPoI1yY

And of course these days Amy Dickinson is making the rounds (ignore the stupid video).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-qlv4iwk2Q

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #17 – 2017-02-06, 11:42:13

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-02-06, 06:01:04

This is something everyone younger than me (or older…) needs to hear: Dazed and Confused.
But concerning "The House of the Rising Sun" I'd say ~~listen to~~ watch this./i/]

No way to watch an empty <iframe> tag. Maybe you should keep it dry during posting sessions. Be so kind and check your link.
Never mind, I've looked it up and watched the trailer. I've never heard about that song before and after watching it I realized why.

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-02-06, 06:01:04

@krake: Why are you still prosecuting the Viet Nam war?...

That was only an example. I'd also come up with songs prosecuting more recent wars if there would be some great hits dealing with them...
It's not the destination of a real artist to lick a fat ass or to fill something with empty words. At least that's my personal understanding.
We are still far away from a perfect world and war is not the only cause for human suffering and misery but the most barbarous one. And nobody should be so naive to think that wars are of the table...
I could come up also with other great artists who earned my deep respect and that of millions of people worldwide - e.g. one of the greatest among them, John Lennon.

@ersi
Speaking of vocals - one of my all-time favorites

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qev-i9-VKlY[/video]
---
There are also some earworms I enjoy because of e.g. reminding me of my one youth even so it wasn't exactly Northern Michigan, nor was it exactly whiskey

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwIGZLjugKA[/video][/i][/quote]

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #18 – 2017-02-06, 16:50:50

Quote from: krake on 2017-02-06, 11:42:13

@ersi
Speaking of vocals - one of my all-time favorites

Well, I never understood that phenomenon. In my opinion, the best singer on YT is this one

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it6Ud6PDPes[/video]

Yes, Arab. He probably understands none of the French. He sings unashamedly in a bunch of languages he probably doesn't understand. Just like me when I was six or so. That's why he is the best.

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #19 – 2017-02-06, 20:58:46

The German likes Janis Joplin because she's asking for a Mercedes while all her friends are driving Porches...
Anyway, I like her too

And Pearl's a Singer by Elkie Brooks.

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #20 – 2017-02-21, 19:51:05

My favorite musician. Not exactly a 'hit' or a 'best song', but Mr. Yo-Yo Ma is special.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu9MDqGhIak&t=1520s[/video]

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #21 – 2017-03-10, 15:03:31

Maybe not exactly the biggest hits or the best songs, however it's a solemn moment when listening to the national anthem of your country at special occasions.
Take care, that solemn moment can quickly turn into an awkward one.

Egyptian army orchestra trolling Putin and other world leaders by destroying national anthems

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shMXEM1XyZs[/video]

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #22 – 2017-03-10, 18:38:27

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-7IHOXkiV8[/video]

I like this song. Bit of a shame I can't get into any of their other songs.

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #23 – 2017-03-13, 22:09:10

Well apart from the Beatles I did like Billy J Kramer. In later years after he fell back he moved towards a deeper voice and more upbeat stuff. A few years ago I came across a cd by him and it was a collection he had made at the famous Abbey road recording Centre. The disk hadn't been released and was amongst a pile of such recordings.Met him twice over the years and he was very good at rock and roll stuff. married an American woman and he is on Long Island. Still does singing jaunts over there.

Re: Biggest hit vs. best song

Reply #24 – 2017-05-14, 05:33:28

I've failed to post songs… Perhaps this will succeed: The greatest cover-band ever! https://www.youtube.com/embed/uNOD1686CDg
Enjoy!

(Still don't know why I can't embed videos…)