songs that weren't a bands biggest hit, but have gone on to be their legacy song and biggest iTunes seller

I think I've heard those 2 about an equal # of times--but I guess "Like" is more of a party song.

what about "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond....again, i'm a lil ignorant of his history but wiki says "Song Sung Blue" was a bigger chart hit

Yeah, I think "Sweet Caroline" and "Cherry Cherry" are both more famous today than "Song Sung Blue" or "Cracklin' Rosie" -- but they were all in the top 5.

Freebird? That's certainly Skynyrd's legacy song, but probably not their biggest iTunes seller (Sweet Home Alabama?).

(Meant to add "Song Sung Blue" and "Cracklin' Rosie" were his only two solo #1s.)

oh wow here's the ultimate one:

according to wiki, "Dancing With Myself" by Billy Idol only reached 102 on the U.S. charts and FAILED to chart in the U.K.

usually a soundtrack or placement in a television show will raise a song out of the bands "hits" into a totally different demographic

Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes (wasn't even a single from So)

This was released as a single off of the "Say Anything" soundtrack and received massive amounts of radio play.

oh wow here's the ultimate one:

according to wiki, "Dancing With Myself" by Billy Idol only reached 102 on the U.S. charts and FAILED to chart in the U.K.

― stank pony (M@tt He1ges0n), Friday, March 27, 2009 1:27 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah but "Rebel Yell" and "White Wedding" are both bigger iTunes sellers

i mean this could very easily turn into "early hits that established a band's identity but didn't chart as high as later singles when they were more famous" list and get away from the original idea

yeah that's true

i was more just shocked that that hadn't even charted at the time, being how catchy it was and all

"Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes (wasn't even a single from So)

...

This was released as a single off of the "Say Anything" soundtrack and received massive amounts of radio play.

"In Your Eyes" was released as a US single, peaking at #26 Billboard Hot 100 and #1 Billboard Mainstream Rock in 1986.

Say Anything gave "In Your Eyes" a second chart run in 1989, but it peaked at #41. No Top 40 for you!

...and became PG's first certified Gold single in 2005 lol

"Only You" did marginally better than "Situation" on the US charts (67 vs. 73) and much better on the UK charts (2 vs. wasn't even released), but "Situation" seems much more like Yaz's legacy song.

"Born to Run!" Peaked at #23.

(Well, technically it's outsold by "Radio Nowhere" on iTunes, but I think that was thanks to some "Magic" promotion)

yeah acts with recent singles kinda skew this, but i think it's safe to assume "Born To Run" ultimately sells more than "Radio Nowhere"

Oh oh oh!

"American Girl" was the second single off Tom Petty's debut album, after "Breakdown," but did not even chart.

Radiohead. Creep is their biggest hit, but probably not their "signature" song. NOt sure what is, though.

Bruce's biggest chart hit is Dancing In The Dark

"Creep" is Radiohead's legacy song to millions of non-Radiohead fans

I'm not sure what Bob Marley's legacy song is, but I have a feeling that "Roots, Rock, Reggae" (his only U.S. Hot 100 hit, peaking at # 51) isn't it. It might not even be in the Top 10.

(Well, Marley has lots of Legacy songs, obviously. Or at least an album full of them.)

Cheap Trick's only #1 is "The Flame." ("I Want You to Want Me" was #7, "Surrender" #62.)

What about remixes doing this with a song? Because Run DMC's It's Like That was just a b-side until it became like their biggest song (v. walk this way obv.)

Also presumably this must have happened by tunes that were sampled a bunch, although none come to mind immediately.

'Hallelujah' wins this thread, surely?

Run DMC's It's Like That was just a b-side

Not really. It was on side one of the 12-inch, and came before "Sucker MCs"; ditto with the instrumentals on side two:

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=257372

How do I find out Itunes sales numbers? Is there some page for them?

Talking Heads. Their biggest charting US single is Wild Wild Life. Biggest in UK is Road To Nowhere. Their signature/legacy song is clearly Once In A Lifetime, which never even charted.

I tried to a search for a specific tune on the Itunes store, but when I click on the song name, I'm thrown back to the Apple store home page.

Anyway, I suspect "Oh Yeah" by Yello is their biggest download seller, even though it wasn't their biggest hit.

Which of course is due to it being used in that movie.

i dunno how iTunes store works in your country, but here every artist page has their top songs listed. but what i've been doing is just googling "(artist name) top itunes sales" and going to the browser cache of the store page since i don't have iTunes on my work computer.

"Born to Run!" Peaked at #23.

(Well, technically it's outsold by "Radio Nowhere" on iTunes, but I think that was thanks to some "Magic" promotion)

I'm pretty sure "Radio Nowhere" was also the iTunes Free Single of the Week when it was released, and that iTunes counts free downloads as sales. (Or at least as volume for measuring popularity.)

One problem is that, with lots of these artists (Neil Diamond, Skynyrd, Billy Idol, Springsteen, Petty, Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, Radiohead), it's a real stretch to say they "clearly" have just one legacy song. (So with them, the formulation only really works if their biggest hit has been totally lost in the dustbin of history. "Wild Wild Life" might actually come close to that, though. "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Creep" definitely don't. Chuck Berry's only #1 "My Ding-A-Ling" probably does.)

I tried to search "Yello", but the Itunes home page doesn't even allow me to click the band name, so I don't know how to see the artist page.

(xx-post)

fwiw, "Oh Yeah" (at #51) was the only Yello song ever to chart in the U.S. No idea about the rest of the world, where I assume they were bigger. ("Bostich" will always be their legacy song in my house.)

Likewise, Boney M's only U.S. hit was "Rivers of Babylon," but the rest of the planet would presumably disagree.

I think in Europe at least "The Race" and "Bostich" were bigger hits than "Oh Yeah", maybe some others too.

My bad, I thought Sucker MCs was Side A.

..just googling "(artist name) top itunes sales" and going to the browser cache of the store page since i don't have iTunes on my work computer.

Talking Heads top 5 appear to be: Once In A Lifetime, Burning Down The House, And She Was, Psycho Killer, Take Me To The River

I don't look at iTunes but I would assume Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah?

I saw the Prodigy last night and was surprised to find out that the biggest reaction wasn't for "Breathe" or "Firestarter" or "Poison", but for "Smack My Bitch Up." I checked on iTunes and it's their biggest selling track! Sometime in the last 10 years it became their legacy track.

i am pretty sure that every single person in the world except for you was aware of this.

and the title of this thread is confounding...if a track is their legacy song and their best seller period (i will assume that the iTunes best seller is generally the overall best seller) then doesn't that make said song their biggest hit by default? do you mean songs that were someone's biggest hits but didn't necessarily peak as high as others (like Wonderwall, as referenced above)? because that list would go on forever. or songs that were totally unknown at the time and later came out of nowhere (like Hallelujah)?

But what was Leonard Cohen's bigger hit?

He never had a real "hit" in the U.S., but I would assume "Suzanne," right?

Top 5 Peter Gabriel itunes:

In Your Eyes, Down To Earth, Solsbury Hill (2002 remaster), Solsbury Hill, Sledgehammer

Top 5 Leonard Coehn itunes:
Hallelujah, Everybody Knows, Suzanne, Everybody Knows, Hallelujah

suzanne was his signature song, no?

oh look chuck sez the same

and the title of this thread is confounding...if a track is their legacy song and their best seller period (i will assume that the iTunes best seller is generally the overall best seller) then doesn't that make said song their biggest hit by default? do you mean songs that were someone's biggest hits but didn't necessarily peak as high as others (like Wonderwall, as referenced above)? because that list would go on forever. or songs that were totally unknown at the time and later came out of nowhere (like Hallelujah)?

― lil waynes babymama (musically), Friday, March 27, 2009 2:11 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

you're thinking too hard about this. it's really about songs that become more popular well after the initial single release, whether as a live staple, a cover by another aritst, or because of licensing for a commercial, movie, Guitar Hero, etc.

Also guessing Randy Newman's legacy song is not the #2 "Short People," but not really sure what it would be instead. (Strangely, "I Love L.A." didn't chart Hot 100; weird, its video seemed popular at the time. But I doubt that's his legacy song either. So..."Louisiana 1927," by now? "Mama Told Me Not To Come"? The theme from Toy Story? Who knows.)

according to wiki, "Dancing With Myself" by Billy Idol only reached 102 on the U.S. charts and FAILED to chart in the U.K.

― stank pony (M@tt He1ges0n), Friday, March 27, 2009 1:27 PM (48 minutes ago) Bookmark

something that doesn't get factored in here is that the video was played about every 10 minutes on MTV when it came out

Where Is My Mind? is the first thing I thought of - I've seen rooms full of young college kids who probably have no idea who the Pixies are freak out when this gets played, thank you Fight Club.

"little dark age" by mgmt is on its way to become their #1 on spotify which makes no sense at all to me

those three oracular spectacular songs were everywhere back then, can't say I ever heard something from subsequent albums in the wild (although "me and michael" is my personal jam)

In late 2020, it experienced a resurgence in popularity due to a viral TikTok trend where hundreds of thousands utilized the song.[7] A report published in August 2021 by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found that "Little Dark Age" was "by far the most popular Sound among extremist creators on TikTok" and was central to videos promoting "Hyperborea and a wider trend of esoteric Nazism."[8] The song has also been used in social media video edits glamourizing the Nazi Party and US Army

well then

They Might Be Giants' Istanbul is their most-streamed song on Spotify, 93.7m to Birdhouse's 39.5m. Afaict heavy licensing to TV and film is behind its popularity?

That one isn't too surprising to me. I think a lot of people know that song who might not otherwise be familiar with TMBG, especially since it is a cover. It feels like a standard, whereas "Birdhouse" feels rooted in early '90s college rock.

I heard a pop radio station play "Sure Thing" twice within an hour a couple months ago

Without checking any charts I would have guessed Istanbul is TMBG’s best known song. I remember MTV playing that video heavily in the early 90s.

"Hit The Road Jack" is the top Spotify track for Ray Charles, with over 100 million more spins than "I Got A Woman", which in itself shouldn't be surprising...other than that the former's only been available on the service since the late summer of 2021.

From the CVS thread:

Same place, today got "Heading For The Light" and whatever that Jim Croce song is about him walking to Georgia.

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, February 3, 2024 4:29 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

"Walking Back To Georgia", surprisingly.

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, February 3, 2024 4:30 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

His third biggest Spotify track for some reason.

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, February 3, 2024 4:31 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

wow. maybe on some Georgia playlists or something.

― not the one who's tryin' to dub your anime (Doctor Casino), Saturday, February 3, 2024 7:40 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

That one wasn’t even a single.

More streams than “Operator”!

Huh, wow - that's not the way it feels at all.

when did “althea” become one of the most popular grateful dead songs? it’s not on a major album or any of the greatest hits, not one of the 50 most played according to jerrybase. yet it has 20 million more streams on spotify than “sugar magnolia.” what gives? is it a john mayer thing?

I just noticed that Love & Rockets'second most streamed song on Spotify after "So Alive" isn't "No New Tale To Tell", "Ball Of Confusion", or "All In My Mind", but a B-Side from the "Kundalini Express" single called "Holiday On The Moon". Anybody know where it got it's popularity from ?

Not sure. It was covered by that guy from Tool in his band Puscifer though.

That must be it, thanks !

I wonder what's caused this surge for Got My Mind Sey on You Those kids and their TikToks?

Funny how George now rules the roost for both Beatles and post-Beatles work

https://x.com/beatlesspotify/status/1788743397454250087?s=46

It was featured in the "Fishes" episode of The Bear last year (the episode everyone talked about) so may have snowballed from there?

common's "invocation" is his top track on spotify. it was a single b-side for like the third single from the album it originally appeared on. it's a sick jimmy ponder smooth jazz guitar loop + the one where he says 'on a quest for love like the proceed drummer' but otherwise - HUH!? how did that get to be so popular??

(i mean i used to put that beat on at least 90% of my mixtapes back in the day, so maybe that affinty has carried over? it's not a song i'd quite call a deep cut, but again: it wasn't even a single and it's beating out stuff like "the light" and "go")

it's on Spotify's I Love My 90s Hip-Hop playlist

(although these days all Spotify-branded playlists seem to be "made for you," so I have no idea whether other people are seeing what I'm seeing)

I really wish there was a way to turn that 'made for you' feature off (perhaps there is?!) as it means probably 60-70% of those playlists are now populated by stuff I already know/listen to

Just searched that playlist and the only Common tracks on it for me are Resurrection and The Bizness (with De La) xp

it's on Spotify's I Love My 90s Hip-Hop playlist

― jaymc, Wednesday, May 22, 2024 1:54 PM

see but this is what i mean -- how would it have ended up there in the first place? other than it just being an old school fan favorite of much larger significance than i would have thought?

(it does appear on my version of that playlist upon looking, but i don't think i've ever actually played it from there)

How do Spotify playlists even get made, is it just one person, do they have meetings, rough drafts?

remember that scene in _the show_ where russell simmons is on the treadmill listing off which songs are to be on the def jam 10th anniversary box set?

it's kinda like that, except daniel ek isn't on a treadmill. he's in an underground war room somewhere carrying out his process to world domination.

just noticed a satisfying example... in the 90s, i'm pretty sure i wanna be sedated and sheena is a punk rocker were played on alt radio more than blitzkrieg bop. i remember a key moment in my so called life when the edgy girl's band covers sedated. at college i certainly heard the ramones a lot more than most first wave punk bands, songs ranging from teenage lobotomy and pinhead to kkk took my baby away, bonzo goes to bitburg and pet sematary, a band sort of always in the background with a stronger legacy than the dolls, pistols, damned, even iggy.

the ramones' highest selling single was the 1980 reissue of sedated, which didn't chart but was apparently a steady seller. the highest charting song (top ten in the UK) by the band was their terrible cover of baby i love you, supposedly demo'd at gunpoint by phil spector and recorded with session musicians... so it's pleasant to see that blitzkrieg bop is now firmly well ahead of sedated in the streaming list, and baby i love you is down to #5. perhaps the turning point was 1994 when bop was included on jock rock volume 1.