# It's their most famous song, but hardly their best. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222 "2005-03-25T16:49:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Trillionaire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Trillionaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trillionaire)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222/41 "2005-03-26T02:10:01Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Really? Most people I know would classify “Jeremy” as their biggest hit, which, while again not their greatest song, does encompass their sound. no cite sorry, but I think _Last Kiss_ was their first and only #1 single. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222/42 "2005-03-26T02:18:28Z")
Jethro Tull is widely known for Aqualung but it was not their best work. Strangely enough their #1 Charting Album, Thick as a Brick, isn’t as reknowned. BTW, I would have thought Alison is the song most people would associate with Elvis Costello; and it’s a decent enough song. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222/43 "2005-03-26T02:21:57Z")
> [@Trillionaire](#): > > no cite sorry, but I think _Last Kiss_ was their first and only #1 single. It peaked at #2 on Modern Rock Tracks, but it’s their highest-charting single. Jeremy got as high as #5. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222/44 "2005-03-26T02:25:27Z")
Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222/45 "2005-03-26T02:29:34Z")
I think **Steely Dan** definitely has a place within this thread. As far as I know, they are most famously known for three songs: _Do It Again_, _Reelin’ In The Years_, and {i]Rikki Don’t Lose That Number\*. All three were from early in their career, when they were still a ‘band’, per se. From parts of Pretzel Logic (on which _Rikki_ appears)to throughout the rest of their career, however, they adopted a more profound, sophisticated sound that, were it not for Donald fagen’s distinctive vocals, I find very distinguishable from what I know them for: the entire _Katy Lied_ album, _Aja_, _Hey Nineteen_, and many others. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222/46 "2005-03-26T03:06:54Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Bonnie Raitt definitely is more hard-core R&B than her most famous songs would make you think. I think you’re mistaken here. Bonnie Raitt is not R&B. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222/47 "2005-03-26T03:16:22Z")
**Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s** best-known song would probably be “Karnevil Number 9” (“Welcome my friends to the show that never ends…”). Also add “Lucky Man” and “From the Beginning”. They’re all good songs, but the band members in ELP demonstrate their musical talents better in their lesser-known songs. A lot of people probably only know **Genesis** from “Turn It On” and forward. The earlier days of Genesis were much better, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222/48 "2005-03-26T04:27:44Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > I would have thought Alison is the song most people would associate with Elvis Costello; and it’s a decent enough song. A quick jaunt to [allmusic.com](http://allmusic.com) reveals that “Veronica” and “The Other Side of Summer” are his only #1 Billboard hits, both on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. “Everyday I Write the Book” hit #36 on Pop Singles. The only other songs that show up are “…This Town…,” “13 Steps Lead Down,” “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “From a Whisper to a Scream,” and “The Only Flame in Town.” I suspect that most people who’ve heard much Costello know “Alison” and some of his other early hits best, but the average music fan knows him for “Veronica.” Which is odd, to me, but there you go. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222/49 "2005-03-26T04:30:40Z")
**Dancing Queen** by ABBA ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222/50 "2005-03-26T05:02:43Z")
Zappa’s _Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow_. I still like it, mind you. Also, J. Geil’s _Angel in the Centerfold_ and _Freeze Frame_. I had an 8-track\* of their first album, and it is way, way different than that stuff. \*My first car, an '81 Dodge Mirada, had an 8-track player. And by gum, I used it 'till it broke. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222/51 "2005-03-26T05:02:51Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Really? Most people I know would classify “Jeremy” as their biggest hit, which, while again not their greatest song, does encompass their sound. “Last Kiss” made it higher in the charts (thanks in part to greater crossover appeal) than any of Pearl Jam’s other songs. However, with Pearl Jam this is a more complicated issue than it is with most bands, as many of their songs were never released commercially as singles in the US in the first place. “Last Kiss” was originally a fan club only single, but was made available to the general public as a charity fundraiser. But since the question is most famous, not highest charting, song, “Jeremy” probably is the one most readily associated with Pearl Jam. I doubt many people think Pearl Jam as “That band that covered ‘Last Kiss’”. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222/52 "2005-03-26T05:13:50Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > Cheap Trick’s only #1 hit was their comeback song “The Flame”. Most Trick fans loathe the song. (In their defense, they didn’t write the abomination). The members of the band aren’t crazy about it, either. They were forced by the record company to record it, I believe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-their-most-famous-song-but-hardly-their-best/296222.md?page=2)