A&M Acts' Songs that SHOULD'VE or COULD'VE been Hits...

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AM Matt said:
The title track to Pablo Cruise "Worlds Away" from 1978 should have been released as a single because the group was on the Wonderful World Of Disney "Christmas At Walt Disney World" back in December 24, 1978.

Good pick! I agree - "Worlds Away" could have made a great single! I probably would have gone with that one as the third single myself. As much as I like Pablo Cruise and Peter Allen both, Pablo Cruise's version of "I Go to Rio" just doesn't do much for me, and I think "Worlds Away" sounds like a more obvious Top 40 record.
 
Come to think of it, Ron Davies' "It Ain't Easy" coulda been a minor hit, if there'd been any justice. Three Dog Night did a pretty strong version of it and titled an album after it(albeit its 2nd title)...


:ed:
 
Ed Bishop said:
Come to think of it, Ron Davies' "It Ain't Easy" could'a been a minor hit, if there'd been any justice. Three Dog Night did a pretty strong version of it and titled an album after it (albeit its 2nd title)...

:ed:

Did you know that David Bowie actually covered it, too? Three Dog Night's version (and probably Davies' version--haven't heard either, since I was a young 'un!) had a pretty thundering quality that fit "Ziggy Stardust's" style very much.

Dave
 
I'm kind'a wondreing why Renee Armand's The Rain Book never achieved any commercial acclaim. Some, if not, most of the tracks were produced by Jack Daughtery (who is thanked on the back cover for his "time and care") and you'd think A&M actually had another Karen Carpenter!

Her sole LP for A&M, as well as her contribution to the Soundtrack for Bless The Beasts & The Children, really sort'a made her a force (though unjustly minor) to be reckoned with, just as much as hear appearance on Hoyt Axton's Life Machine.

Dave

...thinking Renee would be a good contender for an "Another Karen?" thread in our Carpenters forum, if anyone's interested...
 
In addition to the ones posted above(especially "Zazuiera", "Sandbox", "Let Me Be The One" and "For Me"), there are these (which I played on the radio...but not enough other stations did):

* Herb Alpert/TJB: "The Robin"

* Paul Williams' "Look What I Found"

* The Sandpipers' "Let Go"

* Renee Armand "Raining In L.A."

* Lani & Herb "Come What May"

* Burt Bacharach/Carly Simon "I Live In The Woods"

---Michael Hagerty
knowing I'll remember others throughout the day, online....
 
A couple of BMB tunes that should have been singles: CAST YOUR FATE TO THE WIND[love the piano...], GOIN' OUT THE SIDE DOOR, MOONGLOW...


Shawn Phillips DO YOU WONDER?....



Dan
 
OK, this one's really, really recent compared to everything else on the thread so far, but I forgot about another A&M favorite of mine: S Club 7's "The Colour of Blue" (and sung by once-rumored-to-be-collaborating-with Richard-Carpenter Jo O'Meara). They were really insane to not put this one out as a single, especially after they managed to finally break onto the U.S. charts with "Never Had a Dream Come True." If you've never heard "The Colour of Blue" and you like insanely catchy pop, I highly suggest it, but just a warning - it WILL be lodged in your head for weeks. Trust me. Undoubtedly one of my picks for the most annoyingly catchy songs to never be released as singles by any label!

Jeff F.
 
Dapper Dan Bolton said:
I thought HURT SO BAD was released as a single...

It was. Backed with "Darlin'" if memory serves. I think the problem here was A) TJB was on it's way out in popularity and B) I believe the single was a "Double A-Side Promo" which menat stations that were playing it were not all on the same side of the record, diluting hit potential in half.


Dapper Dan Bolton said:
I'd liked to have seen QUIEREME TAL COMO SOY relesaed as a single, at least in the latin-American market...

It was. But, alas, no picture sleeve. A lot of singles came from AyM. In fact, most of my Lani Hall 45s are AyM instead of A&M. Not surprising since she sold better in the Latin market...

--Mr Bill
 
Disc Jock Jeff Eff said:
S Club 7's "The Colour of Blue" (and sung by once-rumored-to-be-collaborating-with Richard-Carpenter Jo O'Meara). They were really insane to not put this one out as a single, especially after they managed to finally break onto the U.S. charts with "Never Had a Dream Come True."

Never heard of S Club 7! Was there an LP? SP#? Single#? Tell me more about this group -- I'm intrigued!

--Mr Bill
 
Mr Bill said:
Never heard of S Club 7! Was there an LP? SP#? Single#? Tell me more about this group -- I'm intrigued!

They're a British teen-pop band - three guys, four girls - that emerged in the late '90s and split up about two years ago. Their success was pretty much confined to the U.K., where they had a really successful run on the charts - but their success Stateside - only two of their CDs I'm positive were released Stateside ("S Club 7" and "7") - was pretty much limited to a really campy teen-sitcom on the Fox Family channel and one lone chart hit ("Never Had a Dream Come True") which crept into the U.S. Top Ten in 2001 just as the band slowly started to unravel, and I don't think A&M ever bothered releasing a follow-up single in the U.S.
It's definitely not for everybody - it's teen-pop, for one thing, and their earliest singles were so overly peppy and effervescent, you had to wonder if you were listening to a legitimate act or a teen-pop parody ("Bring It All Back," for one, never fails to reduce me to giggles), but, by their second album, they had reined it in considerably and "The Colour of Blue" is actually one of my all-time favorite songs (All-Music Guide compares it to something Sheena Easton or Olivia Newton-John might have sung, which I think is a pretty good comparison), though I'm not sure I'd ever admit that to anyone my age who knows who S Club 7 is; they didn't exactly have the hippest of reputations over here! (I can't say that the album it's from has much else to recommend on it, though, aside from "Never Had a ..." and a pretty decent remake of Stevie Wonder's "Lately".)
Rumour was going around on the Carpenters forum here back in the beginning of the year that the girl who sings "The Colour ..." (she also sang lead on "Never Had a ...", too) was going to collaborate with Richard, which ultimately didn't happen, though I really wish it had, 'cause I think she's one heck of a singer!
 
On another Peter Frampton kick, and just listened to his Where I Should Be LP (featuring "I Can't Stand It No More"), and heard a song there that I STRONGLY feel, should have made it onto the 7" format!

The last song, "It's A Sad Affair"-- The Waters Family (Julia, Maxine, Luther [not to be confused with VANDROSS] and Oren) sing excellent background vocals, Gene Page arranged his amazing strings and Peter gives it the same outstanding vocal treatment as his other ballads.

An incredible track--ranks with "Lines On My Face", "(All I Wanna Be) Is By Your Side" and even "I'm In You"! Why didn't "Sad Affair" make it onto the 2-disc, Shine On: A Collection, or even the 1-disc, History Of or Universal's 20th Century Masters? Given the irony of how Universal puts its stuff together, it could have, but it approaches its "10 or 11 song-60-Minute Limit", as it is. :cry:

Dave
 
I was just looking over this post and realized after reading my own again, that I pegged "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" as a single from "The Beat Of The Brass" instead of "Warm".
Boy, is my face red.
 
This is kind of an old thread, but I was making a disc of favorite obscure 80s tracks for a road trip last week and ended up including two A&M singles that I think should have been bigger hits: Billy Rankin's "Baby Come Back" and Gun's "Better Days".
 
daveK said:
This is kind of an old thread, but I was making a disc of favorite obscure 80s tracks for a road trip last week and ended up including two A&M singles that I think should have been bigger hits: Billy Rankin's "Baby Come Back" and Gun's "Better Days".

I've never heard Gun's "Better Days," but I'm in total agreement with you about Billy Rankin! I actually love that whole album [GROWING UP TOO FAST] - "A Day in the Life," "Never in a Million Years," "Call Me Automatic," "I Wanna Be Alone Tonight" ... a lot of good ones on that album! But "Baby Come Back" was a definite should-have-been-Top-40-hit. Everytime I play it for anyone, I always get a really great reaction to it.

Do you know if he ever released a second single? I only know of "Baby Come Back," but there were definitely a handful of potential singles on there. I'd have gone with "Never in a Million Years" for the follow-up.
 
A Nazareth discography that I found online only lists one single from GROWIN' UP TOO FAST: "Baby Come Back" b/w "Part Of The Scenery". It does show two earlier singles by Rankin from 1979 though.
 
daveK said:
A Nazareth discography that I found online only lists one single from GROWIN' UP TOO FAST: "Baby Come Back" b/w "Part Of The Scenery". It does show two earlier singles by Rankin from 1979 though.

Ooh, I should try to find that then! I've never heard "Part of the Scenery" before - it's not on the album. I'd have guessed that "Baby Come Back"'s flip side was the remake of T. Rex's "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" that's on the cassette copies of the album but not the vinyl copies.
 
IMHO, these are some Herb Alpert & TJB titles that should have been hits: First, I will take this opportunity to AGREE with Steven!
"Sandbox" should have been a hit instead of the B side of "Without Her". Other obvious jewels were:
CINCO DE MAYO
BRASILIA
FLEA BAG
FRECKLES
MEXICAN ROAD RACE
GOTTA LOTTA LIVIN' TO DO
BO-BO
LOLLIPOPS AND ROSES
THE GREAT MANOLETE
STRUTTIN WITH MARIA
A BEAUTIFUL FRIEND
PANAMA
MOMENTS
MAGIC TRUMPET
MONTEZUMAS REVENGE
UP CHERRY STREET
LADY GODIVA
These immediately come to mind. You gotta admire Herb's boldness. Who else would put "Gotta Lotta Livin' To Do" and "Lady Godiva" on the same album and make them sound like they belong together!
I also thought of a couple of Baja Tunes:
HECHO IN MEXICO
GUACAMOLE
SPANISH MOSS
JUAREZ
These were all spectacular arrangements. Still would like to know who played trumpet on those early BMB recordings. In spite of what Julius told us, I suspect that Herb did at least some of it.

David,
NP: Baja Marimba Band-"Rides Again"
 
thetijuanataxi said:
IMHO, these are some Herb Alpert & TJB titles that should have been hits: First, I will take this opportunity to AGREE with Steven!
"Sandbox" should have been a hit instead of the B side of "Without Her". Other obvious jewels were:
CINCO DE MAYO
BRASILIA
FLEA BAG
FRECKLES
MEXICAN ROAD RACE
GOTTA LOTTA LIVIN' TO DO
BO-BO
LOLLIPOPS AND ROSES
THE GREAT MANOLETE
STRUTTIN WITH MARIA
A BEAUTIFUL FRIEND
PANAMA
MOMENTS
MAGIC TRUMPET
MONTEZUMAS REVENGE
UP CHERRY STREET
LADY GODIVA
These immediately come to mind. You gotta admire Herb's boldness. Who else would put "Gotta Lotta Livin' To Do" and "Lady Godiva" on the same album and make them sound like they belong together!
I also thought of a couple of Baja Tunes:
HECHO IN MEXICO
GUACAMOLE
SPANISH MOSS
JUAREZ
These were all spectacular arrangements. Still would like to know who played trumpet on those early BMB recordings. In spite of what Julius told us, I suspect that Herb did at least some of it.

David,
NP: Baja Marimba Band-"Rides Again"
Love 'em all!
 
thetijuanataxi said:
"Sandbox" should have been a hit instead of the B side of "Without Her".

"Sandbox" could have been the "comeback" hit Herb needed. The fans I think, wanted another instumental, rather than vocal from the TjB. Reminds me of :"The Work Song", in the treatment.
It has "the beat of the brass", if you know what I mean. :D
 
What "The Sea Is My Soil" is to most people, "Sandbox" is definitely to me...!! I like the guitar work, the piano solos, the horn charts, the drum breaks and that "whooshing" of vocals in the background! Who did them, besides (suppossedly) Herb?

Neat how both of those two songs "bookend" the Warm album, though only one made it to a '45'!

Dave
 
A&M hits that were ignored or missed out include :

Captain & Tennille- The Wedding Song (1976) , Circles (1977) , Dream (1978)....

Supertramp -Crime of The Century Tracks -Dreamer / Bloody Well Right ...other singles from Famous Last Words & Free As A Bird ....

Herb Alpert -tracks from Coney Island album , Come Blow Your Horn , Bullish albums ands later Almo Sounds 1990's sets ....!

Rita Coolridge - One Fine Day , I'd Rather Leave , All Time High ....

Paul Williams -An Old Fashioned Love Song , Phantom tracks , Ordinary Fool ....

Burt Bacharach -Close To You (Instrumental 1971/1972 ) , Pacific Highway , Trains , Boats & Planes....Butch Cassidy tracks .....

Karen Carpenter ...re-issue Magic Lamp single on A&M , Make Believe , If I Had You , All Because Of You , Making Love ....from KC solo album ....either in 1980 / 1981 or after official release (1996) .... :o

Richard Carpenter (& friends !) ....Something In Your Eyes , In Love Alone , Calling Your Name Again , I'm Still Not Over You , Karen's Theme , All Those Years Ago ....plus Let Me Be The One with Matthew Sweet ... :shock:

Carpenters...All Of My Life, BabyIt's You , Reason To Believe , Let Me Be The One , One Love, Sometimes, A Song For You , Bless The Beasts , This Masquerade , I Can't Make Music , Desperado , Goodbye & I Love You , Happy , You , I Have You , Two Sides , I Just Fall ....plus more from later albums / box sets..... Ave Maria , Merry Christmas Darling , Santa Claus (original 45 mix) , Little Altar Boy, Do You Hear ...Adeste Fideles from xmas albums / out-takes etc ......:cool:

For starters ...... :shock:
 
A Taste Of Honey...!!!

...In addition to Herb Alpert & TjB, there are others:

...by Chris Montez -- ...who spends a little more than 2-Minutes on his version and who could'a backed it with "Girl Talk" or "Because Of You"... Wonder why he leaves out the last line and I wonder if Pete Jolly and the musicians on his own albums are the ones who also back Chris?

...and Shango -- ...whose 'take' is over FIVE!

Those are a couple versions, on A&M, that I wish had made it to the SEVEN-INCH!! :agree:

Being the "Taste O' Honey" collector I am, I have versions by Floyd Cramer (modeled after the TjB version, actually) and Andy Williams (from The Shadow Of Your Smile, but I have it on a 7" EP with five other songs from different albums; you can hear how anxious he is to really "sing-out" the "rock songs" he started covering more of, with a more elaborate production, from his next album, Born Free, onward...) and The Kingston Trio spends just over One-Minute on their reeindition of it, and it was covered by John Davidson, Johnny Rivers, Mel Carter and even The Beatles, as well!


Dave
 
I always thought the Carpenters version of 'Baby It's You' from the 'Close To You' album would have been a great follow up to Only Just Begun. It has a 'Superstar' kind of edginess and would have gone far in creating a more mature image for the duo. It's always been overlooked in the compilations which makes me think that Richard is not a big fan of the recording but it is one of my all time favorites.
 
After reading this thread I remember:
My Senior year in high school I did a taped report on St. Paul and used the "Treasure of San Miguel" as the back ground music. My teacher loved it. (memory lane)

For years one of our Phoenix TV stations would go off the air with "Sandbox"

I wish instrumental songs could become top 40 hits again. In the 1960's Herb Alpert gave school bands endless material to play and was great for school band recruitment. "Poof Daddy" etc. are great at recruiting gang members. :twisted: Later amigos.............Jay
 
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