Songs that didn't chart on the Hot 100
 

I was just wondering why the following singles didn't chart on the Hot 100:

~ 'Long Way to Go' 1989 - The follow up single to 'Rooms on Fire' which peaked at #16 on
the Hot 100 earlier on in '89. 'Long Way to Go' reached #60 on
the UK singles chart but only ever reached #11 on the US 'Album
Rock Tracks' chart. That's strange to have a very successful first
single that reached the Top 20 and then have the follow up single
not even make the Top 100. :shrug:

~ 'Two Kinds of Love' 1989 - The third single, I believe, from 'The Other Side of the Mirror'
which was a collaboration with Bruce Hornsby. A catchy song
which failed to chart on any chart, including the Hot 100. Not
really sure why because I think it's more commercial than 'Long
Way to Go' but obviously wasn't very popular. :shrug:

~ 'Whole Lotta Trouble' 1989 - The fourth single, I believe, from TOSOTM which featured a
music video filmed at a concert on the TOSOTM tour. The
single also earned Stevie a Grammy nomination for 'Rock
Vocal Performance' in 1991 but surprisingly never graced the
Hot 100. The single did however reach #62 on the UK singles
chart. After the music video and the Grammy nomination,
why didn't it hit any charts? :shrug:

~ 'Blue Denim' 1994 - The second single from the commercial flop 'Street Angel' which was
the follow up single to 'Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind' which
reached #57 on the Hot 100 and is Stevie's last Hot 100 single to date.
'Blue Denim' is a very catchy song and arguably should've been the
first single off the album. The commercial failure of 'Street Angel'
could be held responsible for the lack of success for 'Blue Denim' but
shouldn't a catchy single with an accompanying video chart on some
chart? :shrug:

~ 'Every Day' 2001 - The first single off 'Trouble in Shangri-La', the album that reignited
Stevie's solo career and returned her to the Top 5 since 'The Wild Heart'
in 1983. So why did 'Every Day' only chart at #17 on the 'Adult
Contemporary' chart, to where most of Stevie's songs of the 21st century
reside. Some could argue that it wasn't the right choice for the first
single, and I agree, but still it should've charted somewhere on the Hot
100, shouldn't it? :shrug:

~ 'Planets of the Universe' 2001 - The second and best, in my opinion, single off 'Trouble in
Shangri-La'. The single did reach #1 on the 'Hot Dance Club
Play' chart and earned Stevie yet another 'Rock Vocal
Performance' Grammy nomination, So why didn't it chart
on the Hot 100? :shrug:

~ 'Sorcerer' 2001 - The third and final single off 'Trouble in Shangri-La' which was a
collaboration with Sheryl Crow who helped produce the album. The
reason I included this single is because even though it was the third single
off the album, it had a very good accompanying music video, as did 'Every
Day', but this one featured Sheryl who was at that time extremely
successful and popular, so why did it only reach #21 on the 'Adult
Contemporary' chart? :shrug:

~ 'Secret Love' 2011 - The first single off 'In Your Dreams' which featured a good music video
and is very catchy. Though it did make the Top 20 on the 'Adult
Contemporary', and only just, I feel as though it should've done better.
Though I know it's virtually impossible for an artist in their sixties to
reach the Hot 100, I feel as though it should've at least made the 'Adult
Pop Songs' or 'Rock Digital' chart. I do think however that this single
contributed to 'In Your Dreams' entering the album charts at #6 with a
very respectable 52,000 copies sold but I think the choice for the
second single, 'For What it's Worth' really ruined the album's sales as
within six weeks the album was out of the Top 100. I think if
'Moonlight' had been chosen as the second single, then the album
would've sold quite a bit more as it also had a good accompanying
video.

There are probably a few other contenders that I've missed including some possible 'Hot 100 should've beens' from FM. What I have noticed though is that Stevie's singles have really affected the sales and reception of her albums.
'Bella Donna' had 4 Top 40 singles, with 2 Top 10's which is why it stayed within the Top 40 for nearly a year.
'The Wild Heart' had 3 Top 40 singles with her Top 5 'Stand Back' being arguably her most successful single. This is why the album spent more than six months within the Top 40.
'Rock a Little' had 2 Top 40 singles with 'Talk To Me' being her highest charting solo single (Stop Draggin' My Heart Around reached #3 but was with Tom Petty) and also featured 'Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You' which reached #60 the following year and was the reason for the album's longevity. Even though the album only reached #12, the perfect choices for singles and the fact that they were spread out over practically a year, meant that the album stayed within the Top 20 for three months.
'The Other Side of the Mirror' only had 1 Top 100 single which was 'Rooms on Fire' which charted as high as #16. This was the reason that the album reached the Top 10 but soon began to fall as there was no successful follow up single, unlike her three previous albums. Because of this TOSOTM spent four months within the Top 100, much less than her previous albums.
'Street Angel' only had 'Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind' which charted at a disappointing #57 and due to the fact that there was no successful follow up single, within ten weeks the album disappeared from the Billboard 200 altogether.
'Trouble in Shangri-La' didn't have any Hot 100 entries but due to Stevie's popularity, the album was successful anyway. From this point on, singles didn't really affect Stevie's albums as much as they did in the 80's.
'In Your Dreams' had 'Secret Love' but like TISL, Stevie's popularity made sure that it made the #6 position but I think the second single choice DID affect sales of the album as it plummeted shortly after debuting within the Top 10.

So Stevie and Dave. Make sure you get the singles and the order of them right for the upcoming album as I want to see it sell well and last on the Billboard 200!!!

If any of you guys have any views on my findings and Stevie chart stuff, please post!!! ;)

None of the ones you mentioned are surprises to me. I think If I were You, If You Ever Did Believe, Sleeping Angel and Italian Summer are better examples.

I can understand 'If You Ever Did Believe', but the others you mentioned weren't actually singles......

If I were you should have been a single

The answer is easy - radio play...they didn't get any. The reason? Ageism.

I agree. ;)

Two Kinds of Love was actually the second single off TOSOTM in the US.Long Way to Go was never a single here but as the rock airplay chart indicates it did get quite a bit of airplay on FM rock stations at the time.

I second that. :nod:

dunno about the others but Two Kinds of Love… while I like the music, the lyrics kinda don't make batsh*t sense. "two kinds of love/one for the way you walk/one for the way you love me" Wtf? It's just so nonsensical- to me,anyway. And even lines like "I talked to my famous friend last night" can be weirdly off-putting. And it's not rock and roll. It's pretty lame adult contemporary-- not the image of Stevie Nicks. I know some people love it, and it's by far not her worst song, but it just really misses the mark. IMHO.

Whole Lotta Trouble-- another one where the lyrics do it in. I actually sorta like this one, and really want to like it more but can't. I love the idea of it-- I always saw it as kind of her reveling in being a rock star and having her way with men-- "He says when will I see you/she says 'I don't think tomorrow baby" and "you're not my friend/you're not my love/and this is something/that we really don't discuss" "when I want something/I get it" and that she could be a whole lotta trouble for a man.

But it gets bogged down in freaking lazily repetitive lyrics-- especially the live version where she sings
"would you change your mind/at the very last second/I think you should stop for a second/and think for a second"

Even on the recorded version she sings "well you must have had a dream/and you remember it/til the dream followed through/to the end of the dream/and the dream came true". Really? You need to say dream 4 times in a row??

Sloppy songwriting.

I too am puzzled by the fact that they chose "Every Day" as the first single for TISL. I like the video and the song is okay, I guess...but I would have chosen something else. The title track for example ~ that would have been a great lead single. I was happy that both "Planets" and "Sorcerer" were chosen as singles. You really couldn't go wrong with those two. "Fall From Grace" would have also made a great single, IMO. :)

Sadly I have to agree with you. Stevie has some shining moments in her lyrics, but she has a lot of peculiar lyrics that really reveal her limitations. Or is it just being lazy?

The thing is, she can make perfect sense of questionable lines, even if the rest of the world can't. I recall her explaining the lyric in Two Kinds of Love, saying that "One for the way you walk" meant something about walking away from someone in a sexy way...I can't really recall exactly what she said, but it made perfect sense to her.

I think there is a weakness in her lyrics because she doesn't self edit. Writers can be oblique and still be effective at communicating a thought, but Stevie isn't the most nimble writer. and can be so self-absorbed that the connection she is trying make between her and the listener is lost.

I've just come to accept that she's so weird and true to herself, she transcends common logic.

Hahaha! Right? And she's STILL doing it! Case in point - "You May Be The One" on her last album...

And then there was the kiss
Right out there in the universe
How did that happen
No, it could not have been worse
You forgot yourself
It could not have been worse

Could we not have written another line and picked a word to rhyme with "worse", Miss Nicks?

Maybe sloppy writing but I always loved those lyrics, especially the "dream" repetition. Together with the crazy-house blare of horns, it all sort of makes a package. A weird, loopy kind of package - a feeling of being on the verge of collapse.

I think for most of her post 1996-singles, it has to do with her record company's PR campaign (or lack thereof) and Billboard's revised chart policy. "If you ever did believe" was only released as a promo track and obviously did not get enough airplay to chart. "Every day", if I remember correctly, was released only to AC radio, while "Planets" was the track supposed to target the Pop charts (no idea why it didn't chart). It was not unusual in those years to have two first singles off a CD to appeal to different audiences simultaneously. Although I realize that this doesn't explain why "Planets" and, later, "Sorcerer" didn't make a bigger impact and, above all, why "Planets" didn't get a video.

No - she had to emphasize. :nod: Did you know this is speculated to be about a real-life moment, where, during The Dance tour, Lindsey just walked up and layed one right on her. Right out there in the Universe.

Man, I love that song. My favorite from In Your Dreams