Hello, music fans! Our loyal scribe Jon is back!
And he’s ready to accept your challenge to come up with a brand new Friday Flash Review!
You all know the drill:
I randomly select a genre, category, or some other musical common denominator for you all to think on… and then Jon will talk about the song that you choose.
OK, so what’s up for this Friday?
I’m in a verbose mood, so let’s go with:
A pop song…
From 1970 to the present…
That never made the Billboard Top 10…
but should have gone to Number One.
And so we have a category!
In the comments below: nominate ONE favorite that you’d like to see in the next Friday Flash Review. Definitely chat and reply with each other about the choices, but remember:
The comment with the most upvotes gets the nod for Jon’s FFR!
Come see what Jon has ready on Friday, February 2!
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I’d like you to rate the song with the single biggest chart run in America, to my knowledge, that will never get a rating from Tom:
Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait.”
Would also make a great eulogy for the CW (formerly the WB), which was utterly gutted last summer.
I know someone is going to ask how I got this info. My source is this spreadsheet by Pulse Music Board user tanooki:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ycSIqRrI1lMiVtPQQM85G2P63hayLgHhZuICTv9f0Ls/edit#gid=0
These are the biggest songs (using Billboard’s multipliers) that fit Jon’s category of songs that never reached the top 10 and were released post-1970.
I wasn’t alive for half of these, and was only an avid pop fan during the run of “If I Die Young” (which I can confirm was gigantic), but I wouldn’t be surprised if people said they felt like #1’s at the time.
1. Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait” (#11 in 1998)
2. Kris Kristofferson’s “Why Me” (#16 in 1973)
3. Duncan Sheik’s “Barely Breathing” (#16 in 1997)
4. Benny Mardones’s “Into the Night” (#11 in 1980)
5. Crystal Waters’s “100% Pure Love” (#11 in 1994)
6. The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young” (#14 in 2011)
7. Sister Hazel’s “All for You” (#11 in 1997)
8. Digital Underground’s “The Humpty Dance” (#11 in 1990)
9. Heavy D & the Boyz’s “Now That We Found Love” (#11 in 1991)
10. Mac Davis’s “One Hell of a Woman” (#11 in 1974)
For the love of humanity, don’t make it Why Me. I’ve only heard that song during replays of American Top 40, and once you endure its dreary atmosphere, you’ll understand why as well.
I agree. Joey, Pacey, & Jen’s theme is my choice anyway.
Maybe I’m too late for this conversation, but from this list I absolutely love “Now That We Found Love”.
Whatever song that you choose will be fine.
That’s a HUGE category — we could wrestle with this one for ages.
But in light of today’s Number One, I’ve gotta put forward Psy’s “Gangnam Style”
https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0?si=g3aAMJ5Stf8VMcS1
I was thinking exactly the same thing so you’ve got my vote.
But “Gangnam Style” did reach the top 10…
Whoops, I got confused… I retract the nomination
“Gangnam Style” reminds me of Iowa State. Those basketball fans, like no fans before or after them, danced, when “Gangnam Style” played during a timeout against my alma mater. We lost. But my cousin and I walked out of the arena pretty happy. I didn’t feel at all stupid by giving them a standing ovation. And I wasn’t the only one.
I’ll be Mr. Obvious and pick:
“SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT” by NIRVaaaNA!
This also reached the top 10
Oh well, whatever, never mind!
Seems obvious
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkF3oxziUI4
Yes.
This gets my vote.
I used science and googled ‘best song never to make Billboard top 10’ and the first result was from Billboard itself with songs that never made the Hot 100 let alone top 10. They suggest Into The Groove by Madonna. Which is OK but we had enough Madonna rating in the 80s and 90s at SG so I’ll nominate their number 2 choice which is Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield.
“Move On Up” didn’t even chart in the U.S., which is criminal. I’ll upvote it any day and it would be a fun one for Jon to review.
“A Girl Like You” by Edwyn Collins.
It stalled at #32, despite killing it on Conan.
Man do I love that song.
My first thought was “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. It’s so well known I probably didn’t have to mention Jimi’s name, but it only peaked at #65. However, I can’t quite picture it hitting #1, soooo…
Let’s go with “What I Like About You” by The Romantics. While it got to #2 in Australia, it peaked at #49 on Billboard and #53 on Cash Box. Yet if “My Sharona” can hit #1, this should have, too.
I’m good with “What I Like About You”!
This one’s for mt:
“Melt With You” by Modern English
Would be interesting one to review considering it has two “hit” versions 7 years apart.
We got Jon to review “Just A Friend” a few months back, so why not “The Humpty Dance” this go around? 😁
“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue Öyster Cult got to #12, so it qualifies.
The list of #12 songs that could be amazing review topics is long. “If You Want Me to Stay”! “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for You”! “Insensitive”! “Breakeven”! Pandemic-era smash “The Bones”!
And DFTR, of course.
Blitzkrieg Bop, Ramones.
It’s a three way tie as of right now. Does that mean Jon would have to review 3 songs?
This is such a broad category that Jon ought to return to it. For now, I’ll submit the strongest contender I can think of offhand, “You Get What You Give” by the New Radicals.
Nice one… this song’s been on my brain lately, as Gregg Alexander is back on the charts as a songwriter (thanks to the resurrected “Murder On The Dancefloor”).
It’s a tight race right now…please get your friends and fam to vote (no need to login to upvote anymore!) by WEDNESDAY at 6PM ET.
Thank you!
So, it’s 7PM ET and we currently have a TIE! Voting is EXTENDED til 9PM ET!
VOTE as if your right to a good review depends on it!
So many entries from the Jersey Devil alone. Born to Run peaking at #23, Prove It All Night (33), Badlands (42), and One Step Up at 13. I actually liked Human Touch (16) the single, but many didn’t because of Human Touch the album, so I’ll leave it off. And of course Rosalita, Thunder Road, Cadillac Ranch, and Atlantic City weren’t even released as singles.
But even with all that, I’ll still vote for the Paula Cole tune (and her Happy Home is even better, but I don’t think it came within earshot of any chart).
Too late?
https://youtu.be/8bmuMcjN0rQ?si=RycUw2KFsRRUgh4Y
It’s never too late in my world for Big Star, but for this contest, yeah, a little.
In a just and perfect world, this wins.