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Loudmouth

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The one that got away
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In a similar vein to the post I just made, the official videos on You Tube for The Elephant's Graveyard and Never in a Million Years have received just under 6000 and just over 10,000 hits each respectively. How can this be? Graveyard reached 26 on the charts and Million Years disappeared after flirting with position 62! 

Geldof was, like many, utterly bewildered that Million Years failed to hit the top 30 and vowed to re-release it, although when that happened it was not as was initially implied and it was attached to the b side of the 4th single to be lifted from In The Long Grass. I just wonder with a non-Christmas release date and an identifiable sleeve cover, could this song, if You Tube is anything to by, the one that got away? I'd have tagged Drag Me Down like that with 15,000+ views of the official video and good feedback during the Live Aid performance and tour performances from early '85.

So which is the one that got away? Or was it both? Or anything else? 



-- Edited by Mark L on Saturday 30th of August 2014 03:54:42 PM

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You Tube views depend on what hits on a search. Never, Million and Years are words that would be searched more than Elephants and Graveyard. But having Love on your song wouldn't help distinguish it. As an example, this forum has twice as many viewers in recent months. As much as I'd like to give credit to the regular posters being so witty and intelligent, I suspect it is more to do with the Rats November date in Kentish Town.


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Loudmouth

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That could be the answer re the You Tube videos for Graveyard and Million Years, but nowhere on the net is it categorically stated to be so. Even YouTube's FAQ's don't reveal the answer and I sense there's a caginess about it.

To apply the word search theory to the TFAOS songs conundrum, I would have thought there were more searches for 'Keep It Up' in these more 'enlightened' times that we live in, than for 'Wind' or 'Chill' or 'Factor'.  Having said that, Geldof managed to get 3 pharmaceutical words into a song title so maybe you're theory is right and there's an 'medical search' boost going on!

 

 

 

 



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Mark L wrote:

That could be the answer re the You Tube videos for Graveyard and Million Years, but nowhere on the net is it categorically stated to be so. Even YouTube's FAQ's don't reveal the answer and I sense there's a caginess about it.

To apply the word search theory to the TFAOS songs conundrum, I would have thought there were more searches for 'Keep It Up' in these more 'enlightened' times that we live in, than for 'Wind' or 'Chill' or 'Factor'.  Having said that, Geldof managed to get 3 pharmaceutical words into a song title so maybe you're theory is right and there's an 'medical search' boost going on!


 There has been a yellow pages mentality in album titles recently.  Kasabian's 48:13 often shows at the top of an alphabetic list and Ed Sheeran's + likewise.

So if the Rats ever release an album they should name it !!!!

 There is a band called !!!  so best use the four exclamation marks to avoid confusion.



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In the Long Grass

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Mark L wrote:

In a similar vein to the post I just made, the official videos on You Tube for The Elephant's Graveyard and Never in a Million Years have received just under 6000 and just over 10,000 hits each respectively. How can this be? Graveyard reached 26 on the charts and Million Years disappeared after flirting with position 62! 

Geldof was, like many, utterly bewildered that Million Years failed to hit the top 30 and vowed to re-release it, although when that happened it was not as was initially implied and it was attached to the b side of the 4th single to be lifted from In The Long Grass. I just wonder with a non-Christmas release date and an identifiable sleeve cover, could this song, if You Tube is anything to by, the one that got away? I'd have tagged Drag Me Down like that with 15,000+ views of the official video and good feedback during the Live Aid performance and tour performances from early '85.

So which is the one that got away? Or was it both? Or anything else? 



-- Edited by Mark L on Saturday 30th of August 2014 03:54:42 PM


 All 3 in my opinion should have been bigger hits. Didn't get this. When you look back at the charts at time of release the songs that did get into the charts were not up to much, Some really crap songs coming out about then



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Loudmouth

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I agree. Based on previous material from the Rats,  and what was around,  Graveyard should have peaked around 5 to 10, Million Years 10 to 15 and Drag Me Down top 3. 



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In the Long Grass

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Sadly it doesn't depend entirely on the merits of the songs, as I'm sure we've touched on in previous threads.

The Rats just suddenly weren't cool enough to get the sheep purchase factor.  Probably various reasons for the change in public perception, but they were on that slippery slope post peak that very few bands successfully avoid, even if it's beyond their control (e.g. music press vilification, so-called trendy teens etc etc).

 



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suss wrote:

Sadly it doesn't depend entirely on the merits of the songs, as I'm sure we've touched on in previous threads.

The Rats just suddenly weren't cool enough to get the sheep purchase factor.  Probably various reasons for the change in public perception, but they were on that slippery slope post peak that very few bands successfully avoid, even if it's beyond their control (e.g. music press vilification, so-called trendy teens etc etc).


They had the music press vilification from Surfacing onwards!  

Post Banana Republic,  House on Fire was the only really great single and the only one that made any impact, four weeks in the UK top 30.  Dave and Drag Me Down may have done better had they been released four or five years earlier, and although I like both the songs, neither were likely to get a lot of radio play.  The other singles were not up to scratch, even if they were pretty decent album tracks.

I must admit that as far as singles charts are concerned, I don't think they matter too much once a band is established.  Even bands like Kasabian who are pretty much one of the biggest bands in the UK right now have had nine consecutive singles out that haven't troubled the top 20.  Three  of them didn't even make the top 100.

Also the chart position isn't necessarily an indicator of the quality of the song.  Teenage Kicks by The Undertones didn't even make the UK top 30.



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In the Long Grass

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ArrGee wrote:
suss wrote:

Sadly it doesn't depend entirely on the merits of the songs, as I'm sure we've touched on in previous threads.

The Rats just suddenly weren't cool enough to get the sheep purchase factor.  Probably various reasons for the change in public perception, but they were on that slippery slope post peak that very few bands successfully avoid, even if it's beyond their control (e.g. music press vilification, so-called trendy teens etc etc).


They had the music press vilification from Surfacing onwards!  

Post Banana Republic,  House on Fire was the only really great single and the only one that made any impact, four weeks in the UK top 30.  Dave and Drag Me Down may have done better had they been released four or five years earlier, and although I like both the songs, neither were likely to get a lot of radio play.  The other singles were not up to scratch, even if they were pretty decent album tracks.

I must admit that as far as singles charts are concerned, I don't think they matter too much once a band is established.  Even bands like Kasabian who are pretty much one of the biggest bands in the UK right now have had nine consecutive singles out that haven't troubled the top 20.  Three  of them didn't even make the top 100.

Also the chart position isn't necessarily an indicator of the quality of the song.  Teenage Kicks by The Undertones didn't even make the UK top 30.


 The Undertones only ever had one top ten hit getting to number 9 with Jimmy, Jimmy. Yet in all you can get everything they ever put out on cd



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Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams is another classic that in fact failed to even get in the top 40. Same as Pretty in Pink by the Psychedelic Furs. Bob Clearmountain mixed Summer of '69, who the Boomtown Rats turned to for In the Long Grass mixing.



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manatthetop wrote:

 The Undertones only ever had one top ten hit getting to number 9 with Jimmy, Jimmy. Yet in all you can get everything they ever put out on cd


 Actually, it was My Perfect Cousin.  By way of total coincidence, I have a cousin called Kevin as well



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Mark L wrote:

Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams is another classic that in fact failed to even get in the top 40. 


Classic? That's a matter of opinion  Anyway, he more than bl00dy made up for it with the Robin Hood song.

The Damned only breached the top ten in 1986 and The Clash didn't have a top ten UK single until 1990.  They both made bl00dy good records though.

I was amazed that Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder never made the UK chart at all as it was never released as a single.

 



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Loudmouth

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I meant classic example of something well known and which has the feel of having been a big hit, when in reality it wasn't.  That said,  I think it's quite a good song,  but being the 4th lift from Reckless wouldn't have helped. 

I like some of The Clash material but can pass on The Damned. Opinions,  opinions! 

 



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Mark L wrote:

I meant classic example of something well known and which has the feel of having been a big hit, when in reality it wasn't.  That said,  I think it's quite a good song,  but being the 4th lift from Reckless wouldn't have helped. 

I like some of The Clash material but can pass on The Damned. Opinions,  opinions! 


 There aren't many acts from the punk/new wave genre I really dislike aside from Generation X.  And even then I quite like the single Dancing With Myself.



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Loudmouth

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Just dropped some friends off at Mcr Airport this morning and found In The Long Grass in the boot whilst lifting cases. I really feel Drag Me Down and Dave were ones that got away. I listened to the whole of that side on the way back with no interruptions from the pigging Blackberry,  being Saturday,  and what fine form they were in,  in '84. Another Sad Story is also superb. 



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