rolling "why is this old song suddenly on a digital sales chart" thread

i like to look at the Billboard digital songs charts that measure what's selling on iTunes and whatnot every week, and inevitably there's some random song from 5 or 10 or 30 years ago that just entered the chart. and i know these things are often easily explained by the song being featured in Glee or American Idol or a movie trailer or something, and some old songs like "Don't Stop Believin'" are I guess so perennially popular they will always be moving units, but this will just be the rolling thread for me (or anyone else) to point out these kinds of things and wonder aloud in case somebody can explain it.

i'll start with the Rock Digital Songs chart because invariably older rock songs sell better than a lot of current rock hits, which isn't the case so much with the main chart or the R&B digital charts or whatever:
Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" entered the chart 4 weeks ago
R.E.M.'s "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" entered this week (is this entirely because of the fake rapture thing!?)
"Losing My Religion" also entered the chart 3 weeks ago
two later Red Hot Chili Peppers hits, "Dani California" and "Snow (Hey Oh)" entered the chart 2 weeks ago

re r.e.m.: yes

re: everything else, probably glee

the awful Gary Jules version of "Mad World" also re-entered the charts this week, but i think sadly that thing's become kind of a perennial favorite

There's getting to be quite a few "MargThatch's dead" songs now available, ready for the occasion. I know that's not necessarily covered by this thread, but hey.

donnie darko related activity? xps

pretty sure "don't stop believin'" is due to glee too, I went to a grade school dance and it was all katy perry and miley and then journey came on and every kid knew all the words

Yeah, but "Don't Stop Believin'" was already selling lots of digital units before Glee used it; in fact, that's probably a big part of why it was used.

true, modern day "don't stop believin'" resurgence can be traced back to this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnT7nYbCSvM

And this (bonus: movie dubbed into Italian):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODan_ac7Qf0

And this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=504B3iR5M_8

imo those are all just byproducts of "Don't Stop Believin'" being a huge ubiquitous song and none of them really deserve much credit for its continued or rising profile

Really? I really feel like there was a groundswell sometime in the last decade. This may say more about me than the song, but I had honestly never heard it until I saw Monster.

same, but then i'm not american so maybe that has something to do w/ it

there was a groundswell, but i dunno, feels like a chicken-or-egg thing. if it wasn't THOSE shows/movies/pop culture events it would've been other ones.

NYTimes, two days ago:

As (Chingo Bling) reached for a second taco, he talked about the work ethic of his parents. And he talked about how songs like “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” the power rock anthem by Journey, resonate with Mexican-American audiences.
Such talk brought him right back to tamales.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/dining/rapping-about-tamales-and-deportation.html

But yeah, my recollection from being at Billboard back then is that it was really the Sopranos finale that brought "Don't Stop" back to the digital sales chart.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/dec/16/dont-stop-believin-2010

all i'm saying is it was a top 10 hit and the lead single from an album that sold like 6 million copies in its first 2-3 years years of release. it was in the bloodstream of pop culture from the beginning, certain things just helped cement its place in the canon.

It was horribly ubiquitous back in its day, yeah. And the same shmaltzy appeal it had back then destined it to return.

Not over here it wasn't: Journey had a bunch of hit albums in the eighties, that was it.

yeah, the guardian article points out that it reached #62 on the singles chart in the UK so it was relatively unknown

all i'm saying is it was a top 10 hit and the lead single from an album that sold like 6 million copies in its first 2-3 years years of release. it was in the bloodstream of pop culture from the beginning, certain things just helped cement its place in the canon.

But why "Don't Stop Believin'" and not, for example, "Legs" by Z.Z. Top? (Also a top 10 song, from an early '80s album that sold even more than Journey's Escape.)

same shmaltzy appeal

It's like saving Tinkerbelle by 'believing'

The last scene of the Sopranos would have been pretty awesome if it was "Legs" on the soundtrack

well yeah obviously lots of big '80s hits were not in the last episode of Sopranos. not really my point, though, just saying you're a weirdo for not hearing it throughout the '80s and '90s :)

i wish i could remember some of the songs i saw on the digital charts last week that fell off this week, i would do anything to steer this thread off of Journey.

Earlier this spring here, "Tonight" by Rubettes suddenly went straight into #5 in the Norwegian chart. I dunno why, suppose it was used in some commercial or something, but the strange thing was, the week after, it fell right out of the Top 20.

the awful Gary Jules version of "Mad World" also re-entered the charts this week, but i think sadly that thing's become kind of a perennial favorite

Ha, I crashed my bike the week before Christmas 2003 (when it went to #1), and even from my hospital bed, that song was inescapable. Problem was I had one arm hoisted up in a sling and another attached to a drip, so I couldn't get up and change the station, on the TV or the radio. No amount of morphine could numb the pain. Eventually one of my friends brought me in my Minidisc player and a big pair of closed headphones, and all was well.

yeah, i find it interesting to see what's in the top 100-200 range on itunes, since older songs do show up quite often there. for example, last weekend i saw "hold on" by wilson phillips in there, most likely due to its prominent appearance in the movie bridesmaids.

right now a lot of the older songs in that range are unsurprisingly american idol-related

real question here is why is e3 hanging out at grade-school dances?

unfortunate byproduct of reproduction

I suppose Manchester United and Barca tunes may be riding high in the iTunes charts today....

which ones?

Great thread covering some similar ground - songs that weren't a bands biggest hit, but have gone on to be their legacy song and biggest iTunes seller

xpost, maybe this one http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/freddie-mercury-montserrat-caballe-barcelona-mp3-69p-amazon/947608

thanks, Casino, i kept meaning to link back to that thread

I went to one site that was compiling digital sales week to week and I didn't see any recurrents charting in the US, but that particular US chart seemed to end at Top 100 or so. Judging by the chart I did see however, it looks like we're repeating the trendy period like we did at the beginning of the last decade.

I was also under the impression that the "Don't Stop Believing" resurgance could also be traced to these as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rHOpkKFm5k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4BJ-gm5cRs

an unfortunate trend of the 00s

this is still classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fCWD1PFkFQ

I was also under the impression that the "Don't Stop Believing" resurgance could also be traced to these as well:
http://www.youtube.com/v/5rHOpkKFm5k&fs=1&hl=en
http://www.youtube.com/v/K4BJ-gm5cRs&fs=1&hl=en

― MarkoP, Monday, May 30, 2011 9:01 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

see to me this just reaffirms my "it's a popular song that's always going to be popping up one place or another"

the awful Gary Jules version of "Mad World" also re-entered the charts this week, but i think sadly that thing's become kind of a perennial favorite

― some dude

I like this version better than the original, making it a minimal piano piece sort of gives it a certain levity which I feel fits the song much better.

Some re-entries on Rock Digital Songs Chart this week

27 RE-ENTRY 11
I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, Aerosmith
"Columbia" Legacy | 7

32 RE-ENTRY 55
Smile, Uncle Kracker
"Top Dog" Atlantic | 3

39 RE-ENTRY 4
Landslide, Fleetwood Mac
"Reprise" Rhino | 21

41 RE-ENTRY 5
The Golden Age, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
"Small Giants" 10

45 RE-ENTRY 32
Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
"Hollywood" 8

49 RE-ENTRY 7
Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance), Green Day
"Reprise" 32

I actually have no idea who or what "Asteroids Galaxy Tour" is, but maybe somebody does. Also surprised to learn that Adele is considered "rock" (she's at #1!), and never heard of Foster The People (at #4 with "Pumped Up Kicks") before. I am so out of it these days.

Also looks like Leann Womack's "I Hope You Dance" re-entered Country Digital Songs this week too, at #26, and some of the "New" entries on that chart (Josh Turner "Your Man," Lone Star "Amazed", Martina McBride "Anyway") are actually old songs that I guess just never charted as downloads before.

Not familiar enough with the re-entries on the Latin Digital Songs to know which, if any, are oldies. But "La Bamba" by Los Lobos is at #19 (on chart for nine weeks) and "Oye Como Va" by Santana at #38 (on for 72 weeks). And about every third song on the chart, otherwise, seems to be by Shakira.

I think some of those rock re-entries (Fleetwood Mac, Green Day) have to do with Graduation season.

all i'm saying is it was a top 10 hit and the lead single from an album that sold like 6 million copies in its first 2-3 years years of release. it was in the bloodstream of pop culture from the beginning, certain things just helped cement its place in the canon.

This is true. In 1982, Chicago's WLS did this "Rock Wars" thing over a holiday weekend, where they'd pit bands against each other and have listeners call in and vote. Journey beat the Beatles by a 2-to-1 margin. I remember this vividly for my mom's "What?!" when we heard the results on the car radio.

But why "Don't Stop Believin'" and not, for example, "Legs" by Z.Z. Top? (Also a top 10 song, from an early '80s album that sold even more than Journey's Escape.)

― jaymc, Friday, May 27, 2011 11:45 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark

Because in 1981, "Don't Stop Believin'" was something of an anthem for the recession-ravaged midwest/rust belt. In 1984, "Legs" was just another massive hit alongside Prince and Springsteen.

the awful Gary Jules version of "Mad World" also re-entered the charts this week, but i think sadly that thing's become kind of a perennial favorite

― some dude

I like this version better than the original, making it a minimal piano piece sort of gives it a certain levity which I feel fits the song much better.

― ◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝ (Moka), Monday, May 30, 2011 12:21 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

setting aside personal opinion, uh how does a slow mopey piano arrangement have more levity than an upbeat synth pop beat with wacky horn blasts?

some oldies that entered the Rock Digital Songs chart this week:

John Mayer - "Waiting On The World To Change"
Europe - "The Final Countdown"
Pearl Jam - "Last Kiss"
The Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
Incubus - "Drive"
Toto - "Africa"
Men At Work - "Down Under"

Yeah, I noticed that "The Final Countdown" was #190 or thereabouts on iTunes last week.

i think that's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhnYPecc1YE

Maybe it helps that "Don't Stop Believing" didn't have a video. That probably killed "Separate Way"'s chances for immortality.

i think that's

http://www.youtube.com/v/zhnYPecc1YE&fs=1&hl=en

― caek, Thursday, June 2, 2011 5:53 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

if that was the case, then why this week?

i watched it on DVD and bought 1000 copies

As (Chingo Bling) reached for a second taco, he talked about the work ethic of his parents. And he talked about how songs like “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” the power rock anthem by Journey, resonate with Mexican-American audiences.
Such talk brought him right back to tamales.

The fake music video for this song at the Japanese karaoke place down the street has a Mexican-American girl in it. (And is set in Chicago.)

Final Countdown is another graduation song, possibly relaunched in this role by Gob some years ago but definitely a perennial at this point. Very popular in any program that has big big final deadlines - it was inescapable in architecture school!

v.i.c.'s "wobble"???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

uh how does a slow mopey piano arrangement have more levity than an upbeat synth pop beat with wacky horn blasts?

I suspect he means gravitas

kelly clarkson's "breakaway" randomly jumped into the top 200 on itunez recently. i thought maybe it had been featured on a tv show or something, so i looked at the youtube vid to see if there would be any "thumbz up if [tv show] brought you here" comments, but i got nothing

More graduation vibes!

this week:

Sarah McLachlan - "Angel"
Train - "Meet Virginia"
Dave Matthews Band - "Crash Into Me"

this week:

Van Morrison - "Brown-Eyed Girl"
The Black Crowes - "Hard To Handle"
The Fray - "Over My Head (Cable Car)"

Why am I suddenly hearing "Dub Be Good To Me" by Beats International all over the shop??

because it's jam hot.

that may be so (my first favourite song that wasn't introduced to me by parents/school), but I've heard it about 6 times in the last fortnight.

band of horses - "the funeral" is selling quite a bit right now; according to comments on the youtube video likely due to recent feature on how i met your mother

Noticed Vance Joy's 2013 song "Riptide" on a few international charts, and then found this Australian news article from a few months ago:

"A representative for Vance Joy says there is no specific reason for the success of Riptide since May. While the song is up 46 per cent compared to last year, they stress that there is no one TikTok video, pop culture moment or playlist responsible for the song gaining considerable momentum. Instead, the song has become ubiquitous across platforms over the last decade."

lol, campfire stomp 4 eva

that song has been weirdly persistent on radio playlists, and it's now as old as "jeremy" or "in bloom" was when i was in high school.