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

Little Richard's 3rd biggest track on Spotify (behind "Tutti Frutti" & "Long Tall Sally") is "Little Richard's Boogie", a Johnny Otis Collab from Richard's pre-Specialty period that is sourced from an early '90s Duke-Peacock Blues v/a comp.

"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.