Siingles you never heard until years later

[Ron]

I know I can't be the only one.  Do you ever come across a song, and go "HOW THE HELL DID I NEVER HEAR THIS??'

Specifically, singles.  I'm not talking about album tracks that you wouldn't have heard unless you bought the album, i'm talking about singles they had to have played on the radio, things that charted, and maybe you'd heard the title or whatever but never actually heard the song.

Every once in a while, I hear some song and it just blows me away that many other people know about it, but I've never heard it.

Example, this week I heard "Color him Father" by the Winstons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPcsEEvMkks

That songs incredible!  Never heard it before, never even heard OF it. 

[Empire Of Love]

Great topic Ron.  I have a few of these.  If you count all of the Northern Soul tracks I've discovered over the years there would be over 100, but I'll save that for later.

The first that comes to mind is Jackie Blue by The Ozark Mountain Daredevils.  I heard this for the first time just a couple of months ago.  It sounds like a 70s song so I was probably too young to be aware of it when it was released, but its such a great song and so up my alley that I am surprised I didn't hear it until this year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrbNeOEG0GY

Another, which has become an all-time favorite of mine, is "That's Where I Lost My Baby" by Marv Johnson.  Other than a slight disconnect between the feel of the music and the feeling illicited by the lyrics, this is a classic that wasn't.  I can't find a link to it anywhere, but try to track it down if you like Marv or 60s soul.

Here is a fantastic girl group song by The Honey Bees who were, apparently, The Cookies under a different name.  This is what girl group music is all about to me.  One of the greatest tracks of the genre, should have been a million seller:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-3qAHlRj4

mps

[pixletwin]

Not sure if it was a single or nor, but I don't know how I managed to miss The Innocence Mission, their album Glow, and their exquisite song "Happy, The End" in 1993. Heard for the first time earlier this year. I have played that song the last couple months in a way that would rival "Be My Baby" for Brian.

[onkster]

I'll throw in a couple here:
"Everyone's Gone to the Moon" - Jonathan Richman, I think?
"You'll Lose A Good Thing" - Barbara Lynn

Ones I kept hearing about but STILL never heard on the radio (or anywhere else):
"River Deep Mountain High" - Ike and Tina Turner
"Shaving Cream" - that old dude with the razor

It's a weird phenomenon to happen to miss out on stuff that gets loads of airplay.

Though I must also say: I think our Iowan top-40 stations ignored a lot of black music in the 1960s that was popular, as I found out years later when I got outta there. To them, it seemed like only the Supremes and Sam Cooke were allowed.

[Ron]

I'll throw in a couple here:
"Everyone's Gone to the Moon" - Jonathan Richman, I think?
"You'll Lose A Good Thing" - Barbara Lynn

Man, BOTH of these, I had the same experience with!  Never heard them until a couple years ago.  Both excellent songs.

Unfortunately though the guy that wrote "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" is a pervert, so it's hard for me to enjoy that song.  Probably better off listening to the Chad and Jeremy version, lol.

"You'll Lose a Good Thing" I didn't hear until I heard it on Tom Petty's radio show.  I was like "WHAT THE f***??"

Another one in a similar vein is

"Mixed Up Shook Up Girl" by Patty and the Emblems.  Never heard it until about a year ago.  Awesome track. 

[JK]

"Everyone's Gone to the Moon" - Jonathan Richman, I think?

It was Jonathan King.

[Ron]

From now on, I'm going to pretend Alan wrote that song, lol.

[endofposts]

Barry Ryan's "Eloise." I heard it on a European Shoutcast oldies station a few weeks ago.  It was a huge hit in 1968 in Europe but apparently only reached #86 in the US.  It's a bombastic, overblown, long song (almost 6 minutes) in the vein of "MacArthur Park," though more uptempo.  I really liked it.  It reminded me of what Queen was doing years later, and I'd have to think Freddie Mercury heard the song.

[JK]

Barry Ryan's "Eloise." I heard it on a European Shoutcast oldies station a few weeks ago.  It was a huge hit in 1968 in Europe but apparently only reached #86 in the US.  It's a bombastic, overblown, long song (almost 6 minutes) in the vein of "MacArthur Park," though more uptempo.  I really liked it.  It reminded me of what Queen was doing years later, and I'd have to think Freddie Mercury heard the song.

Brilliant song, which still sounds great today. Check out those Beach Boys-style harmonies just before the reprise...

I heard "Last Kiss" by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers for the first time last month! That's 47 years after its release----which I do remember! Of course, it may have been banned from UK radio...     

[bgas]

Here is a fantastic girl group song by The Honey Bees who were, apparently, The Cookies under a different name.  This is what girl group music is all about to me.  One of the greatest tracks of the genre, should have been a million seller:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-3qAHlRj4

mps

A long time ago... this was thought/rumored to actually be The Honeys( maybe before cooler heads prevailed and someone actually tracked the info down) hence it's inclusion in my BBs collection:

   

[sparkydog1725]

I somehow never heard "I've Never Been To Me" by Charlene until VH1 started telling me how totally awesomely 80's bad it was.

[Ron]

Brilliant song, which still sounds great today. Check out those Beach Boys-style harmonies just before the reprise...

I heard "Last Kiss" by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers for the first time last month! That's 47 years after its release----which I do remember! Of course, it may have been banned from UK radio...     

Wow! That is a good one.  You never even heard it when Pearl Jam did their horrid cover of it?  The rest of us were running around being Mr. Smarty Pants telling everybody how the original was Sooooooooo much better. 

[JK]

Members of the band I was in in the late '60s, early 70s used to sing this next song but I only heard the actual record a few years ago! It's by Alan Trajan, an obscure Scottish singer-musician who in 1969 made one equally obscure album called Firm Roots. This track from it, "Speak To Me, Clarissa", haunted me for decades without my ever actually hearing it. Happily it's now on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBEqbagUI_4

[the captain]

Great topic john k (and I guess originally Ron, though I guess I missed it that time around).

The previous sentence is just about all I can contribute at the moment, but I'll keep possible contributions in mind. There are many, many, many songs I could put into this category. It's mostly just a matter of thinking about some good examples. But I--and I think most of us--tend to miss far more than we catch the first time around. It's tiring (and expensive) business being up on everything all the time.