Great songs which weren’t big hits

[Cartman]

i was running through my playlists earlier on and it struck me that there are quite a few really good songs which weren’t big and deserved to be. 

Heres a few examples, there are probably loads more:

Madness Bed and breakfast man
Heart Magic man
Intaferon Steam hammer Sam
Freshies Fasten your seat belts
Flash and the pan Down among the dead men
Waitresses Christmas Wrapping
Babys isn’t it time 
Robert John Sad eyes
Starbuck Moonlight feels right

Conversley, you can turn the thread upside down and list stuff that was big and was shite! Any advance on Robson and bloody Jerome or Joe Dolce?

[Dirty Epic]

Good post Cartman. Here's a few from me to add to the list.

The Cult – She Sells Sanctuary
Lamb – Górecki
Laurent Garnier – The Man With The Red Face
The Aloof – One Night Stand
Iggy Pop – I’m Bored
Future Sound of London – Cascade
Hot Chip – Over And Over

Goldfrapp - Human
Selecter – Three Minute Hero
Cabaret Voltaire – Here To Go
The Farm – Stepping Stone
Tom Tom Club – Genius Of Love
Editors – Munich
The Fall – Hit The North
Massive Attack – Protection
INXS – New Sensation
LFO – Tied Up

Echo And The Bunnymen - Silver
Art Of Noise – Moments In Love
The Stone Roses – She Bangs The Drums
Beastie Boys – Hey Ladies
New Order – Procession
Young Disciples – Apparently Nothing
The Clash – The Callup
Moby – Bodyrock
Section 25 – View From A Hilltop
Depeche Mode – Home
ESG – Moody
Incognito – Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing
Throbbing Gristle – Hot On The Heels Of Love
Happy Mondays – WFL (Wrote For Luck)
Faithless – Don’t Leave
Primal Scream – Higher Than The Sun
Kraftwerk – Music Non Stop
Public Image Limited – Death Disco
The Chemical Brothers – Believe
The Jesus And Mary Chain – Some Candy Talking
Nightmares On Wax – Aftermath
Arthur Baker/Rockers Revenge – Walking On Sunshine
Inspiral Carpets featuring Mark E Smith – I Want You
Underworld – Dark & Long
Doves – Catch The Sun
LCD Soundsystem – North American Scum
Leftfield – Not Forgotten
Hard-Fi – Hard To Beat
Fluke – Atom Bomb
A Certain Ratio – Wild Party
Money Mark – Hand In Your Head
Joy Division – Atmosphere
Saint Etienne – Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Mantronix – Simple Simon
Orbital – Are We Here

Suppose some of these are of personal taste and I'm sure there's plenty more that can be added to the list across the genres too.

[Cartman]

Another of your Epic lists there Dirty!

Quite a few on there i havent heard of, but will check out through the medium of You Tube  
 

[Gene Hunt]

May 10, 2019 10:01:21 GMT Cartman said:

i was running through my playlists earlier on and it struck me that there are quite a few really good songs which weren’t big and deserved to be. 

...

Starbuck Moonlight feels right

A brilliant track with it's stand out xylophone solo. It's on a "long journey through the night" playlist in the Quattro.

Along with another great track that wasn't a hit by England Dan & John Ford Coley - Love Is The Answer.

Great idea for a thread Carty 

Gene.

[Vienna]

One that springs to mind for me is Pulling Mussels (from the Shell) by Squeeze 




Vi

[Sam Tyler]

I've been playing this a lot recently. For me it is the best single that The Hollies released and yet it was their lowest charting single only achieving no.32 in the charts:



Sam.

[Batgirl]

May 10, 2019 10:01:21 GMT Cartman said:

i was running through my playlists earlier on and it struck me that there are quite a few really good songs which weren’t big and deserved to be. 

Heres a few examples, there are probably loads more:

Madness Bed and breakfast man
Heart Magic man
Intaferon Steam hammer Sam
Freshies Fasten your seat belts
Flash and the pan Down among the dead men
Waitresses Christmas Wrapping
Babys isn’t it time 
Robert John Sad eyes
Starbuck Moonlight feels right

Conversley, you can turn the thread upside down and list stuff that was big and was shite! Any advance on Robson and bloody Jerome or Joe Dolce?

That's interesting as some of those songs were massively big in Australia.
You've picked three that I remember vividly as a kid.   

'Down among the Dead men' so popular here.
'Magic Man' was played constantly on the radio. 
'Isn't it Time' by The Babys was a number One hit for two weeks in Australia.

[John Steed]

Some great tracks listed in this thread. The two that I like the most are "Magic Man" by Heart, and "The bed and breakfast man" by Madness, which I have got a copy of on 7" vinyl. 




Steed