Retro None Hit Track Of The Day

[Razzle Dazzle]

Fleetwood Mac are a good one, criminally low

[Razzle Dazzle]

Dolly Parton - 9 to 5



UK Chart Position: #47
USA Chart Position: #1


Release Year: 1980

Maybe Dolly was a bit too country to chart high in the UK, she had already had a huge #7 hit in the UK with "Jolene" and a #3 hit in the US with "Here You Come Again" before "9 to 5" went to #1 in America but the UK didn't lap it up and it stalled at #47, it is a classic today though and a regular in Flares nightclub, always gets me up dancing

[Earl Purple]

Styx - The Best Of Times



They had loads of big hits in the USA but only "Babe" reached the top 40 in the UK. That came from the Cornerstone album but whilst the follow-up album Paradise Theatre reached a higher position on the album chart going top 10, its lead single didn't make the top 40.

By the way, Paradise Theatre is one of my favourite albums of all time.

[smokeyb]

The Rasperries - Overnight Sensation




UK Chart Position: #DNC
USA Chart Position: #18





Release Year: 1974

I always remember this song being played to death in 1974, but it failed to chart in the UK, in fact none of their songs did. Lead singer was Eric Carmen who would later have solo hits like All By Myself & Hungry Eyes. 

[Razzle Dazzle]

UFO - Doctor Doctor



UK Chart Position: -
USA Chart Position: -

Release Year: 1974

"Doctor Doctor" is a song by the British hard rock band UFO, written by the band's guitarist Michael Schenker and original singer Phil Mogg. It was released as a single from the album Phenomenon in 1974, but it did not enter the UK Singles Chart. The song peaked in Australia at number 97, becoming the group's only charting single in that territory. However, a live recording from the 1979 album Strangers in the Night was released as a single and became the first top 40 hit for the band. It has been covered by several heavy metal bands, most notably by Iron Maiden, who have famously played the song over their PA as the intro to almost every Iron Maiden concert for decades. UFO's influence was strongly felt in the 1980s heavy metal scene and they have been cited as a primary influence of Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Joey Tempest of Europe, Frank Hannon of Tesla, and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, among others.

[raliverpool]

Michael Sembello - Maniac

UK Chart Position: #43
USA Chart Position: #1 (also CAN #1, AUS #2)

Release Year: 1983

"Maniac" appears during an early scene in Flashdance and is used as the backing track of a montage sequence showing Alex (Jennifer Beals, except it is most her body double, French dancer Marine Jahan) training strenuously in her converted warehouse.

Appropriately enough, this song was first written (with some different lyrics) and rejected from the 1980 Horror/Slasher movie "Maniac". Whilst this song was originally going to be recorded by Stevie Wonder for this film... except he had to withdraw due to an exclusivity film deal to provide the soundtrack to 1984 "The Woman In Red", so his frequent 1970s session guitarist & collaborator sung his own composition which became a big hit virtually everywhere, except in the UK.

[Razzle Dazzle]

Mötley Crüe - "Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)



UK Chart Position: -
USA Chart Position: #78

Release Year: 1990

"Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)" is a song by Mötley Crüe from their 1989 album Dr. Feelgood. Released in 1990 as the album's fifth single, it peaked at #78 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #34 on the Mainstream rock charts. By now Mötley Crüe had dropped away from the uk chart with "Dr. Feelgood" peaking at #50 and "Kickstart My Heart" failing to chart, i guess you could feature all 3 here, I love the Dr. Feelgood album

[Whitneyfan]

Tom Petty - Free Fallin'

UK Chart Position: #59
USA Chart Position: #7

Release Year: 1989

To be honest I could list quite a few Tom Petty songs that deserve a place on this thread, but 'Free Fallin'' is one song that seems to have grown in popularity over the years, despite peaking at a criminally low #59.

[Razzle Dazzle]

Yeah Free Fallin' is definitely considered his best song, great tune too

[Razzle Dazzle]

The Cure - Boys Don't Cry



UK Chart Position: -
USA Chart Position: -

Release Year: 1979

It was released in the UK as a stand-alone single in June 1979 but didn't chart. Un April 1986, it was re-released under the title "New Voice · New Mix", in which the original track was remixed and the vocals re-recorded. The new version has not appeared on any subsequent release by the Cure but did chart at #22 in the UK but its not the mix we all love and listen to today, the original 1979 track has gone down as an all time classic

[raliverpool]

Billy Joel - Piano Man

UK Chart Position: #DNC
USA Chart Position: #25 (CAN #10, AUS #20)

Release Year: 1973

Joel's first major hit and his signature song, today it is his most streamed track on Spotify.

"Piano Man" is a fictionalized retelling of Joel's own experience as a piano-lounge singer for six months in 1972–73 at the now defunct Executive Room bar in the Wilshire district of Los Angeles. Joel has stated that all of the characters depicted in the song were based on real people.

[Razzle Dazzle]

Marvin Gaye (with Tammi Terrell) - Ain't No Mountain High Enough



UK Chart Position: #80
USA Chart Position: #19

Release Year: 1967

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a pop/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. This original version of "Ain't No Mountain", produced by Fuqua and Bristol, was a care-free, danceable, and romantic love song that became the signature duet between Gaye and Terrell. Its success led to a string of more Ashford/Simpson penned duets (including "You're All I Need to Get By", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", and "Your Precious Love"). The Gaye/Terrell version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, and is regarded today as one of the most important records ever released by Motown.

[raliverpool]

Suede - The Drowners

UK Chart Position: #49
USA Chart Position: DNC

Release Year: 1992

There are not many songs which can legitimately claim represent the start point of a new genre of music. But Britpop started with the debut single by this London quartet.

[Razzle Dazzle]

The Romantics - What I Like About You



UK Chart Position: -
USA Chart Position: #49

Release Year: 1979

"What I Like About You" is a song by American rock band the Romantics. Written by Romantics members Wally Palmar, Mike Skill and Jimmy Marinos in 1979, the song is included on the band's self-titled debut album (1980), and was also released as a single in late 1979. Marinos, the band's drummer, is the lead vocalist on the song. The band filmed a music video for the song that appeared frequently on MTV during the early 1980s. The song was most successful in Australia, where it reached number two on the Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report) for two weeks and became the 13th most successful single for 1980. It was only towards the end of the 1980s, after the song had been licensed for use in television commercials for Budweiser beer, that "What I Like About You" grew to become one of the most popular rock anthems of all time.

[Razzle Dazzle]

Kiss - I Was Made for Lovin' You



UK Chart Position: #50
USA Chart Position: #11

Release Year: 1979

The song was one of the band's few singles to chart in the UK in the 1970s, though peaking only at No. 50. The song has become a permanent staple in Kiss's live performances. At first Desmond Child said, "Paul wanted to write a good disco song and I decided to help him with that. Paul started to write lyrics and chords then I played the song on the guitar and said 'OK, we'll do something to improve this and make it really a good song.'" "I Was Made for Lovin' You" draws heavily from the disco style that was popular in late-1970s United States. According to legend, the members of the band were in conflict with their producers, who wanted the band to shift to a more commercial sound. In response, the band argued that lucrative disco songs could be written by anyone in a short time frame. The story goes that the song's demo was completed in mere hours after the bet. While the story is unproven, Paul Stanley, who co-wrote the song with Desmond Child and Vini Poncia, has stated that it was a conscious effort on his part to prove how easy it was to write and record a hit disco song.

[Razzle Dazzle]

Tracy Chapman - Baby Can I Hold You



UK Chart Position: #94
USA Chart Position: #48

Release Year: 1988

Fast Car aside Tracy Chapman has been an incredibly underrated artist over the years, "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution" only peaked at #84, Baby Can I Hold You #94 and "Give Me One Reason" #95, all 3 songs should've been huge hits in the uk, to rub salt into the wounds the inferior Boyzone cover version of Baby Can I Hold You got to #2 in the UK, she wrote all her own songs, they were politically relevant, beautiful melodies, they had everything, today she is looked back on as a pioneering artist and her top 4 songs (including the 3 above) have 750 million streams on Spotify

[Thorne]

Nov 10, 2020 12:59:45 GMT 1 Razzle Dazzle said:

Tracy Chapman - Baby Can I Hold You



UK Chart Position: #94
USA Chart Position: #48

Release Year: 1988

Fast Car aside Tracy Chapman has been an incredibly underrated artist over the years, "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution" only peaked at #84, Baby Can I Hold You #94 and "Give Me One Reason" #95, all 3 songs should've been huge hits in the uk, to rub salt into the wounds the inferior Boyzone cover version of Baby Can I Hold You got to #2 in the UK, she wrote all her own songs, they were politically relevant, beautiful melodies, they had everything, today she is looked back on as a pioneering artist and her top 4 songs (including the 3 above) have 750 million streams on Spotify

Her album did sell by the bucketload though, it was really a case if you liked any other songs as well as 'Fast Car' you might as well buy the album as you would like the rest. It is that solid a  record. It just wasn't worth picking up a 7" single for the followups.

[raliverpool]

Pixies - Here Comes Your Man

UK Chart Position: #54
USA Chart Position: DNC

Release Year: 1989

Written and sung by the band's frontman Black Francis, this was the most commercial sounding single the proto-Grunge quartet from Boston, Massachusetts ever produced. Produced by Gil Norton, it was released as the second single from the group's second album Doolittle in June 1989.

[smokeyb]

Talk Talk - Such A Shame




UK Chart Position: #49
USA Chart Position: #89



Release Year: 1984

Talk Talk were a an 80's band with Mark Hollis as lead singer from 1981 to 1991, they had a habit of releasing songs that didn't set the charts on fire, so they re-released them once or twice and eventually they charted higher, this one only reached #49 in 1984 but should have done a lot better.

[Razzle Dazzle]

Meat Loaf - Paradise by the Dashboard Light



UK Chart Position: -
USA Chart Position: #39


Release Year: 1978

"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" is a song written by Jim Steinman. It was released in 1977 on the album Bat Out of Hell, with vocals by the American musician Meat Loaf alongside Ellen Foley. The song is unique in its structure and length, and has become a staple of classic rock radio. According to Meat Loaf on VH1 Storytellers, the original length of the track was to be 27 minutes