Favorite Worst Single

Which is your favorite non-hit single?

  • Ticket To Ride

    Votes: 14 42.4%
  • Goofus

    Votes: 3 9.1%
  • I Believe You

    Votes: 2 6.1%
  • (Want You) Back In My Life Again

    Votes: 9 27.3%
  • Those Good Old Dreams

    Votes: 10 30.3%
  • Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore

    Votes: 6 18.2%
  • Now

    Votes: 8 24.2%
  • Little Altar Boy

    Votes: 4 12.1%
  • Honolulu City Lights

    Votes: 6 18.2%
  • Tryin' To Get That Feeling Again

    Votes: 12 36.4%
  • Ave Maria

    Votes: 1 3.0%
  • Karen's Theme

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The Rainbow Connection

    Votes: 1 3.0%

  • Total voters
    33

Simon KC1950

Well-Known Member
I thought this would be interesting, what are your favorite singles which didn't reach the Top 40 on at least 1 main countries chart. So I have created a list of the main singles for you to choose which ones are your favourites. You get 3 choices. Do you feel these singles should have done better or perhaps you know why they maybe didn't do so well ?
You may notice songs like "Beechwood 4-5789" are missing that's because although it was a poorly performing single in America, it did reach Number 10 in New Zealand.
 
The first two were easy for me: "Ticket To Ride" and "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore". When I first heard "Ticket To Ride" on the radio, I knew I was listening to something special, and though it took awhile to track the song down, I was quite happy when I did.

"Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore" struck me as I listened to VOICE OF THE HEART early on. I liked it a lot and made a cassette tape of it that would put it on constant repeat (that's the kind of thing we had to do in the old LP days!). The more it played, the better it sounded, and more like a radio hit.

Finally I chose "Goofus". I know that many fans abhor the notion that Carpenters even recorded the song let alone released it as a single. Yet when I played A KIND OF HUSH through for the first time, I was looking for a new hit that sounded like the good old Carpenters records of the early 70s. I took to the corn-fed chords in "Goofus" with the sublime overdubbed harmonies, and I was happy when it was released as a single - though I can't say I ever heard it played on radio. It's one where I wish more Carpenters fans would just lighten up a bit and find the fun in the record.
 
Simon, you make this difficult with the multiple choices:confused:! But Here Goes:

Those Good Old Dreams - I love the catchy melody of the song, the Karen/Richard harmonies, and lead vocal (sung very sweetly by Karen). I like the video of the song with the photos of their childhood tied-in.

Ticket To Ride - Was not a big hit, but it charted. Their first real public exposure and put them on the map, so to speak. I like what they did with the song to make it their own and really showed their early creativity. Karen had that "brashness" to her vocals back then and she played drums on the track (which is another big plus for me).

Now - A final goodbye from Karen. It is absolutely lovely. It went on a little too long (IMHO), but lovely nonetheless.
 
"Ticket to Ride" is a legendary effort and a great pick as the first appearance of our duo! Unlike @Harry, I didn't hear it on the radio and was unaware of it until after the "Close to You" phenomenon. It's an incredible remake that takes the Beatles' song in a different, but welcome, direction. I think that a re-release of the song as a single during the 1971-1975 period could have significantly improved upon its chart performance.

Speaking of taking a song in a "different, but welcome, direction," "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again" was a fresh look, with some new lyrics, on the Manilow smash. I also picked "Honolulu City Lights," also a remake --- imagine that! --- as it's an enjoyable listen. And it's clearly in contention for best single packaging --- the original sleeve was beautiful.
 
"Ticket to Ride" should have been a bigger hit. It probably didn't chart any higher than it did because the Carpenters were a new, unknown group when it was released. Had it been released a few years later after the Carpenters were established, it might have been a monster.
 
I'm such a Goofus fanatic !
So, that one, an easy choice for me.
Little Altar Boy and Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again....
love them !
 
You may notice songs like "Beechwood 4-5789" are missing that's because although it was a poorly performing single in America, it did reach Number 10 in New Zealand.
According to Wikipedia, it actually hit #9 in New Zealand.

I went with (Want You) Back In My Life Again, Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore & Honolulu City Lights.

I'm surprised that you didn't list Something In Your Eyes & If I Had You, which only appeared on the American A/C chart (#12 & #18 respectively, according to Wikipedia), and yet you included Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore which only hit #12 on the American A/C chart, or Those Good Old Dreams, (Want You) Back In My Life Again, I Believe You, Goofus & Ticket To Ride which were all, according to Wikipedia, Top 20 American A/C hits.
 
I like them all but the treasure is Tryin To Get The Feeling Again for me. Ticket To Ride is nice in the Singles collection but I think it's only a fan favorite and non fans hate they did a remake of a Beatles song and it may have done damage if it was released again with the newer version.
The two Christmas songs would be my next favorite and I love the ninth chord overdubbed harmony in I Believe You. Your Baby has that Lou Christie sound and Honolulu has that Your Hit Parade ballad sounding period in pop music.
 
I like them all but the treasure is Tryin To Get The Feeling Again for me. Ticket To Ride is nice in the Singles collection but I think it's only a fan favorite and non fans hate they did a remake of a Beatles song and it may have done damage if it was released again with the newer version.
The two Christmas songs would be my next favorite and I love the ninth chord overdubbed harmony in I Believe You. Your Baby has that Lou Christie sound and Honolulu has that Your Hit Parade ballad sounding period in pop music.

I'm fascinated Craig. In layman's terms, can you explain where and what this "ninth chord overdubbed harmony" is in I Believe You?
 
I'm fascinated Craig. In layman's terms, can you explain where and what this "ninth chord overdubbed harmony" is in I Believe You?

The ninth chord can be heard on the note "ooh ooh I believe you", where Richard and Karen made up the chord using their overdubbed harmonies. You can hear it at 0:51 on the below video:



 
Cheers Stephen but perhaps if you tell me where the example is in the actual song it'll help me.

At 0:31 into the song and then each time they sing the same line after that throughout (0:59, 2:08 and so on). The chord is constructed by Richard and Karen singing all the constituent parts.
 
I voted for "Ticket To Ride". I was stuck between Ticket To Ride, Goofus, Ave Maria, and The Rainbow Connection. They're all just such beautiful songs!
 
"Honolulu" is a bit underrated I think.
Cool how they both felt inspired after a trip to Hawaii and nice for fans as an outtake from '78.
The way she hits "again" before the chorus. And the outro too "bring me back again". How she croons on the verses. Quite nice. There's a lot good going on there.
I can see how "You're baby" may take the cake as far as posthumous release goes on this list. Especially if you're anti-choir intrusion and more sold on classic KC and RC overdubbed sound. :tongue:
 
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I've always liked "Honolulu City Lights." I'm surprised it was considered "not good enough" to be on an album. But, it hasn't aged well for me; I haven't listened to it in quite a while.

"Want You Back In My Life Again" is a nice latter-days single - it might have done better had it been released a couple years sooner.

"Ticket To Ride" is once of those rare instances where an outside artist interpreted a Beatles song better than the Beatles did. The Beatles version seems kind of like a yeah-yeah-yeah throwaway to me, where the Carpenters version turns the song into a classic.
 
Honolulu City Lights is a gem when you listen to the the unpolished version on YouTube without the OK Chorale. I remember how excited I was when I found a DJ who gave me his promotional copy with the record sleeve. I have since passed it on to another.
 
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