# Greatest Hits By (Not the lead singer) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601 "2013-12-17T22:37:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/81 "2013-12-31T03:46:58Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > _[I Can’t Tell You Why]_ was sung by bassist Timothy B. Schmidt, and was, in fact, the first time he’d sung the lead on an Eagles song. Reading Schmidt’s entry on Wikipedia, it sounds like he’s only occasionally been a lead singer throughout his career. He did sing lead on at least one other Eagles song: \*“Love Will Keep Us Alive” \*(from the “Hell Freezes Over” reunion album). > > Schmidt joined Poco when Randy Meisner left the band, then joined the Eagles when Meisner left _that_ band, as well. Ummm… listen to some Poco. Seriously, it’ll get your foot tapping (in a Folk-Rocky kind of way), and improve your faith in people. Timothy B Schmit wrote a number of songs and sang lead on a number of them-- he was one of five vocalists (with Richie Furay and Jim Messina from Buffalo Springfield, Paul Cotton from Illinois Speed Press, and Rusty Young from… [citation needed] well, POCO). I suppose you could call Richie the “lead vocalist”, but he shared… some of their strongest stuff is sung by Paul and Rusty … as well as Timothy. It was fun to find multiple versions of some of his Poco songs… e.g. here’s a more recent Tim doing [_Keep On Tryin’_ with Todd Rundgren, Nils Lofgren, Burton Cummings, Dave Edmunds & Joe Walsh.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEue0o7TjJE) I’ve got to say, he has one of the “warmest” voices I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/82 "2014-01-02T22:06:15Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > The “Death of a Clown” single was released, and was a hit, as a Dave Davies solo record, not a _Kinks_ song (although I believe it may also have appeared on a _Kinks_ album). > > I remember seeing him perform\* it on _Top of the Pops_, when the DJ presenter mistakenly introduced him as “Ray Davies”. Dave howled out “You did that on purpose!” before going into the song. > > \*Actually, _Top of the Pops_ performances were often lipsynced to the record. I do not know whether that was the case in this instance. Thanks – I didn’t know that. Probably because I heard the song for the first time on a Kinks record (can’t remember which one). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/83 "2014-01-02T22:25:42Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Ummm… listen to some Poco. > > Seriously, it’ll get your foot tapping (in a Folk-Rocky kind of way), and improve your faith in people. _Crazy Love_ is one of my all-time favorite songs, though it’s from after Schmidt left the band. I may have to look into their earlier stuff. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fluke\_Starbucker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3e96dc/32.png) [@Fluke\_Starbucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluke_Starbucker)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/84 "2014-01-03T13:24:52Z")
Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold” was sung by Derek St. Holmes ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/85 "2014-01-06T14:23:22Z")
> [@bup](#): > > _ **She’s My Little Rock n’ Roll** _ by the Stones is Keith Richards singing. I don’t know if it counts as a hit - it certainly got airplay when\* Tattoo You\* came out. He also sang lead on _Happy_, which still gets airplay. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/86 "2014-01-06T15:42:04Z")
Joe Walsh only sang on two Eagles tracks (pre-reunion) “Pretty Maids All in a Row” off \*Hotel California \*most notably “In the City” off _The Long Run_. Oasis’ #1 hit in the UK “Don’t Look Back in Anger” was sung by guitarist Noel Gallagher and actually beat out their previous single “Wonderwall” (sung by Liam) which peaked at #2. Iron Maiden’s 1986 b-side “Reach Out” featured guitarist Adrian Smith on lead vocals. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/87 "2014-01-06T17:02:15Z")
> [@Fluke\_Starbucker](#): > > Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold” was sung by Derek St. Holmes This is one of my favourite Ted Nugent songs: I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/88 "2014-01-06T18:56:37Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Joe Walsh only sang on two Eagles tracks (pre-reunion) “Pretty Maids All in a Row” off \*Hotel California \*most notably “In the City” off _The Long Run_. And, in the case of the latter, the Eagles’ version was a re-make of a Walsh solo recording – Walsh had initially recorded it for the soundtrack of the movie _The Warriors_, and the Eagles re-recorded it as a group song shortly thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/89 "2014-01-07T13:09:16Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > And, in the case of the latter, the Eagles’ version was a re-make of a Walsh solo recording – Walsh had initially recorded it for the soundtrack of the movie _The Warriors_, and the Eagles re-recorded it as a group song shortly thereafter. Yes, one of my favorite movies, although I always assumed it was the Eagles on both tracks but upon listening to both tracks there are subtle differences. April Wine’s “Oowatanite” was written and lead vocals by bassist Jim Clench. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/90 "2014-01-07T19:18:54Z")
Alan Clarke was The Hollies’ lead singer and sang lead on most of their hits. Graham Nash sang lead on several album cuts, but also on their hit single “On a Carousel.” He also sings the intro and outro of “Dear Eloise.” On “Carrie-Anne,” all three Hollies vocalists take a lead turn: Alan Clarke on the first verse and the bridge, Tony Hicks on the second verse, and Graham Nash on the third. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/91 "2014-01-08T01:56:16Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > How odd. I’ve seen that video for ‘Making Plans for Nigel’ more than once and never noticed it wasn’t Andy. About that video… people sometimes assume that “Nigel” is guitarist Dave Gregory, but it’s an actor hired for the shoot. Andy is examining “Nigel” and does have the ad libs “in his world.” Later he gets stuck in a paper dice (die?)… The thing about XTC, is that you could argue that Colin Moulding was actually a co-lead vocalist, as he typically had a number of songs in which he sang lead on each album. And at least initially, they were more commercially successful. Partridge is clearly the prolific creative genius but I adore most of Colin’s songs - some of my favorite XTC tracks are written by him: “Ten Feet Tall,” “Fly on the Wall,” “Smokeless Zone…” I had no idea about the Benjamin Orr-sung tracks by The Cars, but it makes sense. I knew he sang lead on “Drive,” but I never made the connection to “Just What I Needed…” but now I can hear it clearly. ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/92 "2014-01-08T03:11:58Z")
Kim Mitchell gets some help from bassist Peter Fredette on the chorus of [All We Are](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsFW4U1hrbw). ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/93 "2014-01-08T03:32:00Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I heard it several days ago at a gas station. Has anyone else noticed that the guy couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket? :dubious: It’s not a very good song for showing off vocally. After “Beth” was a hit they had another top 20 hit with Criss singing, “Hard Luck Woman,” that he sounded pretty decent on. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/94 "2014-01-08T17:30:38Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Peter Criss singing “Beth.” A lot of people thought it was Rod Stewart at the time. > > ETA: It’s a Kiss song in case you whippersnappers don’t know the song. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I heard it several days ago at a gas station. Has anyone else noticed that the guy couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket? :dubious: > [@pravnik](#): > > It’s not a very good song for showing off vocally. After “Beth” was a hit they had another top 20 hit with Criss singing, “Hard Luck Woman,” that he sounded pretty decent on. Geez, good things you guys aren’t KISS fans 'cause I’d hate for you to hear Ace sing.😃 All the original members of KISS took turns at lead vocals, usually for their own compositions. Peter Criss sand lead vocals on alot of their early material including “Getaway”, “Baby Driver”, “Hooligan”, “Kissin’ Time” “Black Diamond”, “Hard Luck Woman”, “Dirty Livin’”, “Nothin’ to Lose”, “Mainline”, and “Strange Ways” ---
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601/95 "2014-01-11T10:32:51Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > The Clash’s “Guns of Brixton” was sung by Paul Simonon. Also, Mick Jones sang lead on a good number of Clash songs, including one of their biggest hits, Should I Stay Or Should I Go? (Joe Strummer and a friend took care of the Spanish backing vocals). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-hits-by-not-the-lead-singer/676601.md?page=4)