Songs that didn't chart on the Hot 100

[StevieNicksfann]

Originally Posted by sorcerer999

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.

I agree with this. Love Changes was rumored to be the first single when the original press releases were coming out. I think either this or TISL would have made great first singles.

[KarmaContestant]

The problem I have with many of the singles choices from Stevie's albums since Rock A Little are that they are often such mundane selections. Every Day? Love Changes? I like Love Changes well enough, but as a single? Snoozefest. They've been trying to repeat the success of Talk To Me, and it's not going to work, because Talk To me was in another era, where Stevie still had clout with DJs who would play her stuff just because it was hers.

If you exclude the rabid hardcore fan base, like us, you are left with a radio listener who has a general expectation of what Stevie Nicks is supposed to sound like. Stevie Nicks is a little witchy, a little ethereal, a little mysterious, a little bit angry and often scorned. It's the same expectation that casual fans have when they go to a concert. It's the reason Stevie always plays the same stuff - she knows what these people expect, and she caters to them because they outnumber us. Her biggest hits reflect these things - Dreams, Rhiannon, Gypsy, Edge of Seventeen, Stand Back, Rooms On Fire -

Stevie's singles should reflect this expectation. Every Day was an awful choice for a single, because it doesn't fit the geneal public's perception of what Stevie Nicks should sound like. Love Changes would have been just as bad in that regard. Had the time and money for a video been spent on Planets of the Universe instead of Every Day, I'm betting the chart successes would have been much greater for that song. It hit number 1 on the dance charts - a cool video would have carried the song much further. I actually heard Sorcerer played many times here in Denver on KBCO. I never heard Every Day, anywhere except the grocery store years later. Both Planets and Sorcerer fit that Stevie Nicks mold that casual fans expect her songs to fit.

It's no wonder that Two Kinds of Love was a flop. Two kinds of this-doesn't-sound-like-Stevie-Nicks-to-me is more like it. Long Way to Go might have done better, but was a Europe-only single. Stupid choices were made; failure did follow. Ooh My Love might have been an even better choice, but pickings were slim on The Other Side of the Mirror.

Maybe Love. Duh - doomed to fail. The whole Street Angel album, as much as I love it, flopped because there are no stereotypical Stevie Nicks songs there. Again, I mean stereotypical in the mind of a casual fan. Casual fans make chart successes. Hardcore fans do not. We are too few. The closest you get on Street Angel is the title track, or Love Is Like A River, but it was ruined in the studio. Both would have been every bit the radio flop that Blue Denim was, had they been released the way they were.

Secret Love? Why?!!?!? The first single from In Your Dreams should have been Moonlight, and it should have had a KILLER video guest staring Mr. Dreamy Eyes Pattinson instead of the documentary montage we got later on. Moonlight is the stereotype of a successful Stevie Nicks tune. It's got scorned love, it's got mystery, it's got that witchy vibe, it's got ethereal qualities. It also has great vocals - some of the best she's done since 1983.

If there are to be singles from 24 Karat Gold, they need to be songs that fit the expectations of casual fans and radio. They need to be interesting, and they need to be catchy. None of this arm-chair-therapist Stevie stuff that belongs on the old-folks stations like Maybe Love and Every Day.

Lastly, they need videos - no matter what your opinion of videos and the function they serve, I'll offer this up - it is generally accepted that Lady Gaga's Artpop was a flop because there were no videos ready at release, and by the time she did one, it was too little too late. Stevie needs to bite the bullet and make good videos. Another example - as the quality of Madonna's videos have declined, so have her album sales and radio chart sucesses. Videos matter. They offer a visual representation of music to a generation that is obsessed with appearances. People *do* watch them. New fans are made with videos. Videos sell records. That's what they're for, but even a great video can't help a bad song. The video for Every Day was -OK- but the song itself was a terrible choice for a single. It would have been like using Gate and Garden as the lead single for The Wild Heart, or I Sing for The Things as the lead single from Rock A Little.

[wheart]

Originally Posted by StevieNicksfann

I agree with this. Love Changes was rumored to be the first single when the original press releases were coming out. I think either this or TISL would have made great first singles.

I think TISL would have made an excellent first single choice...that song has a lot of power and she wrote it, unlike Every Day.

To add to the list, Reconsider Me was released as the first and perhaps only single to support the Enchanted Box Set. To my knowledge it never charted.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by wheart

I think TISL would have made an excellent first single choice...that song has a lot of power and she wrote it, unlike Every Day.

To add to the list, Reconsider Me was released as the first and perhaps only single to support the Enchanted Box Set. To my knowledge it never charted.

TISL is the only song from that album that really made an impact on me. It's like one of her hits to me. I crave it every once in awhile. It has a killer chorus and is totally unique. That song stood my test of time.

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

No - she had to emphasize. 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

mine too!

though there was also that kiss he planted on her (head) during a band interview ….

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

TISL is the only song from that album that really made an impact on me. It's like one of her hits to me. I crave it every once in awhile. It has a killer chorus and is totally unique. That song stood my test of time.

I love TISL… it has an epic quality, like the song Bella Donna did. And I love that it opens the album, like BD as well.

[wheart]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

TISL is the only song from that album that really made an impact on me. It's like one of her hits to me. I crave it every once in awhile. It has a killer chorus and is totally unique. That song stood my test of time.

it is pretty fabulous, isn't it? great lyrics, strong vocal, good production. That song has it all. I think when I do another Stevie solo playlist it will start with TISL.

[wheart]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

The problem I have with many of the singles choices from Stevie's albums since Rock A Little are that they are often such mundane selections. Every Day? Love Changes? I like Love Changes well enough, but as a single? Snoozefest. They've been trying to repeat the success of Talk To Me, and it's not going to work, because Talk To me was in another era, where Stevie still had clout with DJs who would play her stuff just because it was hers.

If you exclude the rabid hardcore fan base, like us, you are left with a radio listener who has a general expectation of what Stevie Nicks is supposed to sound like. Stevie Nicks is a little witchy, a little ethereal, a little mysterious, a little bit angry and often scorned. It's the same expectation that casual fans have when they go to a concert. It's the reason Stevie always plays the same stuff - she knows what these people expect, and she caters to them because they outnumber us. Her biggest hits reflect these things - Dreams, Rhiannon, Gypsy, Edge of Seventeen, Stand Back, Rooms On Fire -

Stevie's singles should reflect this expectation. Every Day was an awful choice for a single, because it doesn't fit the geneal public's perception of what Stevie Nicks should sound like. Love Changes would have been just as bad in that regard. Had the time and money for a video been spent on Planets of the Universe instead of Every Day, I'm betting the chart successes would have been much greater for that song. It hit number 1 on the dance charts - a cool video would have carried the song much further. I actually heard Sorcerer played many times here in Denver on KBCO. I never heard Every Day, anywhere except the grocery store years later. Both Planets and Sorcerer fit that Stevie Nicks mold that casual fans expect her songs to fit.

It's no wonder that Two Kinds of Love was a flop. Two kinds of this-doesn't-sound-like-Stevie-Nicks-to-me is more like it. Long Way to Go might have done better, but was a Europe-only single. Stupid choices were made; failure did follow. Ooh My Love might have been an even better choice, but pickings were slim on The Other Side of the Mirror.

Maybe Love. Duh - doomed to fail. The whole Street Angel album, as much as I love it, flopped because there are no stereotypical Stevie Nicks songs there. Again, I mean stereotypical in the mind of a casual fan. Casual fans make chart successes. Hardcore fans do not. We are too few. The closest you get on Street Angel is the title track, or Love Is Like A River, but it was ruined in the studio. Both would have been every bit the radio flop that Blue Denim was, had they been released the way they were.

Secret Love? Why?!!?!? The first single from In Your Dreams should have been Moonlight, and it should have had a KILLER video guest staring Mr. Dreamy Eyes Pattinson instead of the documentary montage we got later on. Moonlight is the stereotype of a successful Stevie Nicks tune. It's got scorned love, it's got mystery, it's got that witchy vibe, it's got ethereal qualities. It also has great vocals - some of the best she's done since 1983.

If there are to be singles from 24 Karat Gold, they need to be songs that fit the expectations of casual fans and radio. They need to be interesting, and they need to be catchy. None of this arm-chair-therapist Stevie stuff that belongs on the old-folks stations like Maybe Love and Every Day.

Lastly, they need videos - no matter what your opinion of videos and the function they serve, I'll offer this up - it is generally accepted that Lady Gaga's Artpop was a flop because there were no videos ready at release, and by the time she did one, it was too little too late. Stevie needs to bite the bullet and make good videos. Another example - as the quality of Madonna's videos have declined, so have her album sales and radio chart sucesses. Videos matter. They offer a visual representation of music to a generation that is obsessed with appearances. People *do* watch them. New fans are made with videos. Videos sell records. That's what they're for, but even a great video can't help a bad song. The video for Every Day was -OK- but the song itself was a terrible choice for a single. It would have been like using Gate and Garden as the lead single for The Wild Heart, or I Sing for The Things as the lead single from Rock A Little.

Great post! I agree with most of what you said, especially the video bit. I think there was a time after the hey days of MTV/VH1 when videos weren't as important, say in the 90's but I do agree that their importance has returned and returned in a big way, thanks to YouTube. Stevie needs to up her game in the video department. Secret Love was fair but not great. The video for Moonlight is terrible. The song is a slow builder but that video is going a mile a minute. It totally takes away from the song, instead of enchancing it. Those rapid fire shots and crazy effects do nothing for the song. And Stevie is in the same outfit in the whole video. No.

And since you brought up Gaga, wasn't the video for Applause out before the album was? I do remember waiting for the second video, for G.U.Y., which is a fairly catchy song but that video was just a mess.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

The problem I have with many of the singles choices from Stevie's albums since Rock A Little are that they are often such mundane selections. Every Day? Love Changes? I like Love Changes well enough, but as a single? Snoozefest. They've been trying to repeat the success of Talk To Me, and it's not going to work, because Talk To me was in another era, where Stevie still had clout with DJs who would play her stuff just because it was hers.

If you exclude the rabid hardcore fan base, like us, you are left with a radio listener who has a general expectation of what Stevie Nicks is supposed to sound like. Stevie Nicks is a little witchy, a little ethereal, a little mysterious, a little bit angry and often scorned. It's the same expectation that casual fans have when they go to a concert. It's the reason Stevie always plays the same stuff - she knows what these people expect, and she caters to them because they outnumber us. Her biggest hits reflect these things - Dreams, Rhiannon, Gypsy, Edge of Seventeen, Stand Back, Rooms On Fire -

Stevie's singles should reflect this expectation. Every Day was an awful choice for a single, because it doesn't fit the geneal public's perception of what Stevie Nicks should sound like. Love Changes would have been just as bad in that regard. Had the time and money for a video been spent on Planets of the Universe instead of Every Day, I'm betting the chart successes would have been much greater for that song. It hit number 1 on the dance charts - a cool video would have carried the song much further. I actually heard Sorcerer played many times here in Denver on KBCO. I never heard Every Day, anywhere except the grocery store years later. Both Planets and Sorcerer fit that Stevie Nicks mold that casual fans expect her songs to fit.

It's no wonder that Two Kinds of Love was a flop. Two kinds of this-doesn't-sound-like-Stevie-Nicks-to-me is more like it. Long Way to Go might have done better, but was a Europe-only single. Stupid choices were made; failure did follow. Ooh My Love might have been an even better choice, but pickings were slim on The Other Side of the Mirror.

Maybe Love. Duh - doomed to fail. The whole Street Angel album, as much as I love it, flopped because there are no stereotypical Stevie Nicks songs there. Again, I mean stereotypical in the mind of a casual fan. Casual fans make chart successes. Hardcore fans do not. We are too few. The closest you get on Street Angel is the title track, or Love Is Like A River, but it was ruined in the studio. Both would have been every bit the radio flop that Blue Denim was, had they been released the way they were.

Secret Love? Why?!!?!? The first single from In Your Dreams should have been Moonlight, and it should have had a KILLER video guest staring Mr. Dreamy Eyes Pattinson instead of the documentary montage we got later on. Moonlight is the stereotype of a successful Stevie Nicks tune. It's got scorned love, it's got mystery, it's got that witchy vibe, it's got ethereal qualities. It also has great vocals - some of the best she's done since 1983.

If there are to be singles from 24 Karat Gold, they need to be songs that fit the expectations of casual fans and radio. They need to be interesting, and they need to be catchy. None of this arm-chair-therapist Stevie stuff that belongs on the old-folks stations like Maybe Love and Every Day.

Lastly, they need videos - no matter what your opinion of videos and the function they serve, I'll offer this up - it is generally accepted that Lady Gaga's Artpop was a flop because there were no videos ready at release, and by the time she did one, it was too little too late. Stevie needs to bite the bullet and make good videos. Another example - as the quality of Madonna's videos have declined, so have her album sales and radio chart sucesses. Videos matter. They offer a visual representation of music to a generation that is obsessed with appearances. People *do* watch them. New fans are made with videos. Videos sell records. That's what they're for, but even a great video can't help a bad song. The video for Every Day was -OK- but the song itself was a terrible choice for a single. It would have been like using Gate and Garden as the lead single for The Wild Heart, or I Sing for The Things as the lead single from Rock A Little.

Everyday was the only possible POP single from TISL. The song TISL should have been released to rock and alternative radio. It could of gotten a lot of airplay in those formats. Love Changes was a real snoozer. That song would not have made a good single at all.

With or without a video Planets would not have charted on the HOT100. It was turned into a powerful, muscular song that works but it lost its beauty in the process. They made the right choice with alternative radio.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

Everyday was the only possible POP single from TISL.

I just don't agree. Many strange and un-formulaic songs have charted well over the years from various artists. Everyday is bland and unmemorable.

Originally Posted by Jondalar

Ever The song TISL should have been released to rock and alternative radio. It could of gotten a lot of airplay in those formats. Love Changes was a real snoozer. That song would not have made a good single at all.

Total agree on both accounts. TISL would have been a great single.

Originally Posted by Jondalar

With or without a video Planets would not have charted on the HOT100. It was turned into a powerful, muscular song that works but it lost its beauty in the process. They made the right choice with alternative radio.

Songs can cross over - Planets wasn't released to dance format radio, and yet charted to number one on dance charts. Off topic, but consider this - nearly every one of Madonna's first couple dozen singles charted on the R&B charts - from Everybody all the way to Take A Bow, and yet she was squarely a pop artist. Back to Planets, I don't agree that a video wouldn't have helped, but who knows? The opportunity is lost. I just believe that more is more in situations like this. Release it to A/C, release it to Alternative, and make a video - why settle for less and hope you succeed, especially when you're lumped into the 'comeback" category like Stevie was at the time? In the world of marketing, more is almost always more.

[PenguinHead]

'Everyday' is a pleasant, innocuous song, akin to wall paper/elevator music. The record executives, in all their high-mighty marketing insight, likely convinced or pressured Stevie into recording the song and releasing it as the lead single, reasoning that it would appeal to the banal masses.

Under obligation, she had to promote and perform it on TV show appearances. It was destined to be a "one-tour-only" song. I don't hate the song at all. It just doesn't have much impact -- it's more corporate rock than genuine Stevie.

I can't believe that 'Love Changes" was even in consideration to be a single. That song is definitely a bonafide album track, just like 'Unconditional Love' was.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

I just don't agree. Many strange and un-formulaic songs have charted well over the years from various artists. Everyday is bland and unmemorable.



Total agree on both accounts. TISL would have been a great single.



Songs can cross over - Planets wasn't released to dance format radio, and yet charted to number one on dance charts. Off topic, but consider this - nearly every one of Madonna's first couple dozen singles charted on the R&B charts - from Everybody all the way to Take A Bow, and yet she was squarely a pop artist. Back to Planets, I don't agree that a video wouldn't have helped, but who knows? The opportunity is lost. I just believe that more is more in situations like this. Release it to A/C, release it to Alternative, and make a video - why settle for less and hope you succeed, especially when you're lumped into the 'comeback" category like Stevie was at the time? In the world of marketing, more is almost always more.

You guys keep forgetting that Planets was remixed and changed into a dance song and that's how it became a dance hit.

Stevie did not have song that was promotable for the HOT 100 besides Everyday. I f she she would of searched for good material she probably would have many great songs offered to her. Too Far From Texas was A good song but her vocal is God-awful. She ruined it.

TISL petered out because of the quality of the album. She ruined a golden comeback opportunity.

[He's So Unusual]

I'm not surprised Two Kinds of Love flopped, it's an insipid, cheesy and forgettable ballad that features a sax solo from Kenny G. It doesn't even sound like a Stevie Nicks song, it sounds like something a post-Beaches Bette Midler would have sung (no offense against her, I'm a big fan). The Other Side of the Mirror doesn't really contain many songs that were destined to be hits, most of it is forgettable and weak. Ooh My Love would have made a nice single, it's a billion times better than TKOL.

I can understand why Every Day was released as a single, it's in the same style as a lot of that faceless and straight forward female guitar pop/rock that was selling well at the time, i.e. Jewel, Michelle Branch and Sheryl Crow.

[James89]

Originally Posted by He's So Unusual

I'm not surprised Two Kinds of Love flopped, it's an insipid, cheesy and forgettable ballad that features a sax solo from Kenny G. It doesn't even sound like a Stevie Nicks song, it sounds like something a post-Beaches Bette Midler would have sung (no offense against her, I'm a big fan). The Other Side of the Mirror doesn't really contain many songs that were destined to be hits, most of it is forgettable and weak. Ooh My Love would have made a nice single, it's a billion times better than TKOL.

I can understand why Every Day was released as a single, it's in the same style as a lot of that faceless and straight forward female guitar pop/rock that was selling well at the time, i.e. Jewel, Michelle Branch and Sheryl Crow.

I totally agree with all of this.

[pryderi]

I agree about "Ooh My Love", it had the WilsonPhillips type vibe that was to take over the charts at that time.