I love it when I’m listening to a cd for the first time and hear a great song that no one has ever seemed to have heard of. For some odd reason, these great songs never got the air time they deserved, so it’s like finding a hidden treasure.
Here’s a few of my favorite “unheard” treasures:
“Stronger Now” - Warrent (got it off NAPSTER. Oh, how I miss Napster!!)
“Everytime We Say Goodbye…” - Annie Lennox (Prelude to a Kiss soundtrack)
“I’ll Be Your Lover, Too” - Van Morrison (played at the end of “Proof of Life”)
What are some of your “hidden treasures”?
The list can go on forever, simply because if you don’t record the right type of songs, you’ll never get airplay. Indeed, it’s a wonder that people like Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, or the Greatful Dead ever got airplay at all.
It’s even worse now, with the paucity of album rock.
Of those that fit into the type of song you hear on the air, Emitt Rhodes “She’s such a beauty” or “Live Till You Die” should have been hits. Ditto for Spirit’s “I Got a Line on You.”
Are we talking singles that never got air play, or just any songs that should’ve have? Well, on the radio in my computer, I listened to Hole’s “Boys on the Radio”. That should’ve gotten lots of time. Like you, I’m not a fan of Hole. In fact, I’m a bit disgusted by Courtney Love (yes, I can admit it.) This song, however, is awesome. I can imagine singing it around a campfire with all your close friends. ::sigh::
On the new Zwan cd is a song called “Yeah!” that I hope gets released. Their song “Honestly” is playing, and its good, but “Yeah!” needs to be released and top the charts… And thats the News for now…
I feel that way about most Counting Crows songs that don’t get air time. I like most of their stuff, and when I hear the CD for the first time, I’ll skip over the top 40 hit to listen to a hidden gem. Very rarely will my ear pick up a clinker of a song. Most bands have no problems throwing in a song or two I can’t stand, but the CC’s don’t do that. (Bruce Hornsby had that same affect on my ears. I wonder what that says about me?)
Also, a while back I stumbled onto the Judybats, and there was a song I enjoyed called Wasting Time (I think).
Great tune. And a pretty good band.
“Never Too Popular” - Crash Politics. The only time I heard a version that wasn’t on a sampler CD I own was as an acoustic performance on the Richard Wilkins-hosted MTV.
Well, I don’t know what it’s like for them in Europe, but I know that I’ve never heard any In Extremo in North America. They rock! I wish more people knew about them. And Rammstein, I just loved ‘Seemann’.
When I was program director of KDLX in St. George, UT, I played Mary’s Prayer, in fact it remained in our recurrent list for well over a year. Great song!
My favorite that never got airplay was Danny’s All-Star Joint by Rikki Lee Jones - yes, from the same album that gave us Chuck E’s In Love.
Check it out if you can find it - good swing tune with lots of Rikki Lee’s personality thrown in - shows off her vocal prowess better than Chuck.
I have given up on radio - not much i like ever gets airplay. The joys of liking non-mainstream music I guess. The alternative stations do not seem to pick it up much either
Semisonic’s “Chemistry,” the first single off of their follow-up to their massive album Feeling Strangely Fine, got absolutely no airplay. And it’s an awesome song - one of the most witty, bouncy, radio-friendly Top 40 songs I’ve heard in years. I have no idea why it tanked like it did.