High-selling singles that never entered the Billboard top 40

Yeah, Yael Naim was one of the first I thought of. I saw she'd charted (way higher than I ever would've imagined) but I didn't notice that the song didn't go gold.

Grouplove, "Tongue Tied" (#42, platinum)

The Temper Trap, "Sweet Disposition" (did not chart; platinum)

Miike Snow, "Animal" (did not chart; gold)

ooh good ones

uhhh here's another that i thought of from remembering it was charting at around the same time as the regina spektor one, w/ a similarly short and sales-driven chart run: mika "grace kelly" (#57, gold)

Two Door Cinema Club, "What You Know" (did not chart; gold)

Matt & Kim, "Daylight" (#95, gold)

another uk hit that didn't do as well in the us but still sold a lot: corinne bailey rae "put your records on" (#64, uncertified(?) but has sold >945,000)

Wow, surprised that didn't chart higher.

Skrillex, ""Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" (#69, double platinum), "Bangarang" (#72, platinum), "First of the Year" (#85, gold), "Kyoto" (did not chart; gold)
Deadmau5, "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (did not chart; gold)

anna nalick "breathe (2 am)" (#45, gold)

i actually like that song so don't hate :)

Airborne Toxic Event, "Sometime Around Midnight" (did not chart; gold)

one of the nearest gas stations to my house has some kind of incredibly small playlist of like 10 songs in constant rotation and "Breathe (2 am)" is one of them, which is kinda dope

Haha, I am going through someone's Spotify playlist of songs that were on Gossip Girl

I wonder how much "Dancing On My Own" sold ? I'm sure it must have gone gold. She played it on so many talk shows and even the MTV Awards. I was surprised it never became a legit hit à la "Bulletproof", "Lights", "Royals", or "Stay High".

Yeah, I actually just checked Robyn, and nothing has been certified since her '90s output.

Future - "Turn on the Lights" (#50, gold)
Young Jeezy - "And Then What" (#67, gold)
Young Jeezy - "RIP" (#58, gold)

i'm impressed that "RIP" went gold, wasn't even that big of a rap radio song on the scale of a "Turn On the Lights"

Postal Service, "Such Great Heights" (did not chart; gold)

Tegan and Sara, "Closer" (#90, gold)

another adult contemporary person: colbie caillat

"lucky" (w/ jason mraz): #48, gold
"i never told you": #48, gold
"brighter than the sun": #47, platinum

christina aguilera

"tilt ya head back" (w/ nelly): #58, gold
"just a fool" (ft. blake shelton): #71, uncertified but >746,000 sold

rick ross

"hustlin'": #54, platinum
"you the boss" (ft. nicki minaj): #62, gold

speaking of nicki...

"did it on 'em": #49, gold
"beez in the trap": #48, gold
"high school": #64, gold

blake shelton's got plenty of gold singles that reached the 40 to 50 range but more interestingly he also has one that didn't reach the hot 100 at all: "ol' red"

miranda has some impressive singles sales too:

"kerosene": #61, platinum
"famous in a small town": #87, gold
"gunpowder & lead": #52, 2x platinum
"only prettier": #61, gold

plus 3 gold singles that made it to the 40-50 range

The Caesars - Jerk it Out (#70, gold)

Bon Iver - Skinny Love (did not chart, gold)

beyonce "countdown" (#71, gold) :)

another one that's been in a lot of ads:

the ting tings "shut up and let me go" (#55, platinum)

death cab for cutie:

"soul meets body" (#60, gold)
"i will follow you into the dark" (did not chart, gold)

Brad Paisley:

Whiskey Lullaby (#41, platinum)
Waitin' on a Woman (#48, gold)
Water (#42, gold)
Beat This Summer (#46, gold)
River Bank (#54, gold)

a$ap rocky "wild for the night" (#80, gold)

My Chemical Romance

"I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" (#86, gold)
"Teenagers" (#67, gold)
"Sing" (#58, gold)

should have included pistol annies "hell on heels" (#55, platinum) w/ miranda's :)

kreayshawn "gucci gucci" (#57, gold)

The Weeknd, "Wicked Games" (#53, platinum)

limp bizkit "behind blue eyes" (#71, gold)

frank ocean "novacane" (#82, gold)

oh and i lied about yael naim's "new soul," it has been certified gold after all (the riaa site's search function is annoying)

anyway this game is fun but i'm prob done for now :P

OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS THREAD

i kind of can't believe 'i'm in miami bitch' didn't go gold, but maybe the franchising hurt sales of the original

'sorry for party rocking' is gold and peaked at no. 49

foo fighters "everlong" (did not chart [#42 hot 100 airplay]*, gold); "times like these" (#65, gold); "doa" (#68, gold)
the offspring "you're gonna go far, kid" (#63, gold)
red hot chili peppers "californication" (#69, gold); "tell me baby" (#50, gold)
coldplay "yellow" (#48, certified gold but has sold over 2 million [as of this week!]); "the scientist" (did not chart, gold), "fix you" (#59, gold)

* this was from the time when songs that weren't released to retail weren't eligible for the hot 100; it was a promo-only single in the us

never heard the temper trap and two door cinema club songs before today and now am kind of fascinated by that genre of Hip Electronic-Infused Indie Pop-Rock that isn't critically acclaimed. feel like i have a soft spot for lots of stuff in that vein. like i found several of the songs i posted above from a last.fm "RIYL Passion Pit" page.

like phoenix would the respectable version of this stuff. but someone make me a mix of temper trap, two door cinema club, foster the people, grouplove, etc.

like it's Hip™ for basics

the more mainstream end of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indietronica

i've never heard the two door cinema club song but the temper trap one was in a ton of commercials and movies (it plays in 500 days of summer like AT LEAST three times). hip for basics is an apt description lol.

Hip Electronic-Infused Indie Pop-Rock that isn't critically acclaimed.

this is definitely a huge thing rn, really big on the festival scene afaict. kinda feel like that should be a thread tbh

like all the bands that ripped off MGMT that that bands' fans moved to when MGMT suddenly decided they only wanted to make wibbly tuneless psychedelia

Hip™ for basics

otm / big lol

and yeah, this stuff is huge, selling out sizable venues everywhere. detestable.

Paula Abdul - 'Knocked Out'. It peaked at 41!

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - 'Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble'. It peaked at 57!!