'I'll Stand By You' is the Pretenders' 'One Way Or Another' - like a representation of a universe where the band had been a one hit wonder.
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 08:37 (seven years ago) link
Still think 'Hymn To Her' is an amazing, underrated song though.
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 08:38 (seven years ago) link
CCR - "Fortunate Son"
"Bad Moon Rising" is still more popular in Itunes, though not in Spotify.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 08:47 (seven years ago) link
but "Proud Mary" was the bigger hit?
― niels, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 09:05 (seven years ago) link
I don't know how much they sold, but both "Bad Moon Rising" and "Proud Mary" made it to #2 on the Billboard chart... And I'd argue "Bad Moon" is still their signature tune, or at least the one most people know because of its usage in movies etc. These days "Proud Mary" is better known as the Tina & Ike Turner cover version.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 09:15 (seven years ago) link
Probably so
― niels, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 10:34 (seven years ago) link
I don't think Stevie Wonder has been mentioned in this thread already.Apparently his biggest selling/longest chart topping single is "I just Called to Say I Love You".On Spotify, his top, by far, is "Superstition" (and "Happy birthday" on iTunes).
― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 10:52 (seven years ago) link
lol iTunes users
― niels, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 11:26 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, "Brass in Pocket" is easily their best-known song in North America, right? Never heard of "I'll Stand By You" either.
I'm in the UK and I've never heard of it.
― (SNIFFING AND INDISTINCT SOBBING) (Tom D.), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 11:35 (seven years ago) link
I listened to "I'll Stand By You". It doesn't sound familiar but it also sounds pretty generic so it's believable that I could have heard it a bunch on AC radio without thinking about it. The video was not what I needed to see this morning.
― Spiritual Hat Minimalism (Sund4r), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 11:51 (seven years ago) link
i don't think i knew it was by the pretenders though i've heard it many thousands of times.
this does not count chrissie hynde's dreadful sonny & cher duet with UB40 which also got to #1 and has had 12 million plays on spotify....
this though, ????
― lazy rascals, spending their substance, and more, in riotous living (Merdeyeux), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 11:54 (seven years ago) link
'I'll Stand By You' is easily one of the Pretenders' most recognisable songs - probably more than 'Brass In Pocket'. I don't know how I know it, it's just always been there in the ether.
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 12:02 (seven years ago) link
wait... did it really come out in 1994? wow
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 12:03 (seven years ago) link
so if you're not a fan, most likely that tune is the only one you know.
In America you're pretty likely to have heard "Brass in Pocket" even if you're not a Pretenders fan.
― duped and used by my worst Miss U (President Keyes), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 12:37 (seven years ago) link
I'll Stand By You is the sort of greetings card song which tend to become immortal in the UK at leastprobably got a few spins post-Diana
― PaulTMA, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 13:39 (seven years ago) link
"I'll Stand By You" was used in the pilot episode of Dawson's Creek, probably cemeting it in the hearts of people of a certain age.
― duped and used by my worst Miss U (President Keyes), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 13:42 (seven years ago) link
As has been pointed out, "I'll Stand By You" was big on "American Idol" and other shows like this. It's a beneficiary of massive A/C recurrent play.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 13:48 (seven years ago) link
co-written ty Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, authors of "True Colors" and "Eternal Flame," which explains the sound. I hate the song, but Hynde redeems it, as usual, with her singing. "When you're mad GET MAD."
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 13:49 (seven years ago) link
If you were listening to top forty radio in the '90s, you heard "I'll Stand By You."
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 13:51 (seven years ago) link
Didn't Girls Aloud cover I'll Stand By You?
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 14:00 (seven years ago) link
Really, the same people wrote "True Colors", "Eternal Flame" and "I'll Stand by You" ?I'd never heard of them but they were something like the Stock Aitken & Waterman of big ballads !(What happened to all of them, by the way ?)
― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 14:01 (seven years ago) link
On a Balearic beach counting money
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 14:02 (seven years ago) link
Wow, they also wrote "Like a Virgin" (and "I Touch Myself") !
From wiki :
Kelly lost enthusiasm for songwriting in the mid-1990s, and went into semi-retirement in 1998. He remarried and had two more children with his second wife. As of 2011, he lives in Thousand Oaks, California near Sherwood Country Club where he enjoys playing golf regularly.
― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 14:15 (seven years ago) link
They wrote Heart's "Alone" as well. And "So Emotional" by WH.
― duped and used by my worst Miss U (President Keyes), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 14:25 (seven years ago) link
Oh, interesting. Somehow I thought "Alone" was Diane Warren.
― Spiritual Hat Minimalism (Sund4r), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 15:06 (seven years ago) link
Aphex Twin and "Avril 14th".
― MarkoP, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 18:18 (seven years ago) link
recently billy steinberg also wrote excellent teenpop jams "too little too late" (jojo) and "give your heart a break" (demi lovato)
― dyl, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 18:34 (seven years ago) link
i have to say i really like "i'll stand by you". obv not for the reasons i like other pretenders songs, but just for what it is. i know for some people all one has to hear to decide one hates something is to know that it gets play on ac radio stations, but fuck that, really. (fun fact: "i'll stand by you" didn't reach the top 10 at ac radio during the time of its release, or even the top 20. same story for hot ac.)
― dyl, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 18:45 (seven years ago) link
this site linked earlier in the threadhttp://poly-graph.co/timeless/
wow the 90s look completely dire when under the lens of what people listen to from them
― dr. mercurio arboria (mh đ), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 18:46 (seven years ago) link
I mean, to an extent the songs with the most plays are going to be the ones that aren't exemplary but have broadest appeal. Not too many people are going to point to any of these as a favorite song, they're just the ones that are going to get cycled through regardless of taste, right?
― dr. mercurio arboria (mh đ), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 18:48 (seven years ago) link
For example, in 1961, Bobby Lewisâs Tossinâ and Turninâ spent 7 weeks at #1. For all intents and purposes, Bobby Lewis was the Beyonce of 1961. Yet, have you heard of it? Do you know who Bobby Lewis is?Meanwhile, Etta Jamesâ debut album dropped the same year, with At Last peaking on Billboard at #68.Music historians will regard Bobby Lewis as a pioneer in rock and roll and R&B, yet whatever led to Tossinâ and Turninâs popularity in 1961 has faded over time. His music, for countless reasons, didnât persevere in the same way as Etta Jamesâ.One hypothesis: Tossinâ and Turninâs success had more to do than just the song...perhaps Bobby Lewis was a huge personality. Great looks. Amazing dancer. When we examine pop hits, popularity is so much more than song quality.But future generations donât remember Bobby Lewisâs dancing and good looks. Spotify only catalogues his music. And unfortunately, that quality didnât endure in the same way as At Last. (And of course, we have not even considered the role of covers, samples, and movie soundtracks, etc. â a future project to undertake).And for this reason, it will be weird to hear future generations reverently listen to groups such as Nickelback â the kids only know their music, not what they culturally stood for in 2015.
Meanwhile, Etta Jamesâ debut album dropped the same year, with At Last peaking on Billboard at #68.
Music historians will regard Bobby Lewis as a pioneer in rock and roll and R&B, yet whatever led to Tossinâ and Turninâs popularity in 1961 has faded over time. His music, for countless reasons, didnât persevere in the same way as Etta Jamesâ.
One hypothesis: Tossinâ and Turninâs success had more to do than just the song...perhaps Bobby Lewis was a huge personality. Great looks. Amazing dancer. When we examine pop hits, popularity is so much more than song quality.
But future generations donât remember Bobby Lewisâs dancing and good looks. Spotify only catalogues his music. And unfortunately, that quality didnât endure in the same way as At Last. (And of course, we have not even considered the role of covers, samples, and movie soundtracks, etc. â a future project to undertake).
And for this reason, it will be weird to hear future generations reverently listen to groups such as Nickelback â the kids only know their music, not what they culturally stood for in 2015.
god this writing is just TERRIBLE, i wish this person would just stick to making cute data graphics and leave out the poor, circular attempts at analysis
― dyl, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 21:21 (seven years ago) link
omg later in the article he surmises that the longevity of onerepublic's "counting stars" on streaming services might be because it spread thru 'word of mouth' from 'indie music circles' to the general public lol
ppl who don't know the basics of how radio crossover works, esp on the adult-contemporary side of things (where as a general rule it's VERY slow and steady) should just... not bother with the hand-wavy explanations
― dyl, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 21:28 (seven years ago) link
wow that discussion of bobby lewis is reeeeeeally cringe-inducing. feel like basically any ilm poster chosen at random and asked "why is bobby lewis less well-known than etta james in 2016" could come up with something more educational and insightful with at most five to eight seconds to think about it.
― DOCTOR CAISNO, BYCREATIVELABBUS (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 21:30 (seven years ago) link
anyway i'm getting off topic.
"still d.r.e."! that's an interesting revelation from the data-not-writing presented in that feature
tbh even at the time it felt much bigger than its pitiful hot 100 peak (#93) shows. the billboard chart from the time shows it was vinyl-only at the time it was charting, so i guess that partly explains why it peaked so low, but then again 1999 was kinda the start of the era when songs could chart (sometimes v highly) without even being physically released at all.
― dyl, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 21:36 (seven years ago) link
omg i keep going back to that article. the idea that the culture associations and baggage are shed from songs as time passes is so RONG and stupid lol. and it shows up in a paragraph talking about "at last"!!
ok really i'm done now
― dyl, Tuesday, 4 October 2016 21:40 (seven years ago) link
I'm surprised to learn that Island in the Sun is Weezer's highest ranked song on Spotify.
― MarkoP, Friday, 28 October 2016 02:12 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, that is pretty weird. per wikipedia it's also Weezer's most licensed song.
― skip, Friday, 28 October 2016 05:01 (seven years ago) link
Came across a potential candidate for this thread today: Weezer's most popular song on Spotify by a wide margin is "Island in the Sun," the 9th highest charting single of their career.
It's almost twice as popular as "Say It Ain't So," their second most popular track ("Buddy Holly," which I would have pegged for #1, is third). It's their #1 iTunes song as well.
Not sure if it's their "legacy" song, but I was legitimately surprised that a song I pegged as "moderately well-liked" evidently towers over the rest of their catalogue in popularity.
â intheblanks, 12. toukokuuta 2015 3:51
― Tuomas, Friday, 28 October 2016 06:31 (seven years ago) link
Ctrl+f is your friend.
not sure if there's a separate thread for most played on Spotify, but a song I don't even remember from Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill has 1.4 million plays compared to just over 1 million for "Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping" (expected pick).
― flappy bird, Monday, 7 November 2016 21:43 (seven years ago) link
Despite not being as commercially successful as its predecessor singles, "The Kids Aren't Alright" remains the most-listened to Offspring song amongst Last.FM[5] and Spotify (where it also is the most popular song of the 90s)[citation needed] users, and still receives some radio play.
― dustalo springsteen (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 17 November 2016 05:29 (seven years ago) link
I've never heard of this song... Are they really claiming that it's the most popular song of the 90s in Spotify? Not just the most popular among the songs Offpsring released in the 90s?
― Tuomas, Thursday, 17 November 2016 08:18 (seven years ago) link
In 2014 at least, their most popular 90s song was "Pretty Fly", as you'd expect.
― Tuomas, Thursday, 17 November 2016 08:21 (seven years ago) link
I remember that song, it's a lot better than "Pretty Fly" but I'm still surprised it has 105,138,511 views on Youtube
― niels, Thursday, 17 November 2016 09:56 (seven years ago) link
never heard of it either
― duped and used by my worst Miss U (President Keyes), Thursday, 17 November 2016 13:55 (seven years ago) link
it's a bit the opposite to this thread, sorry, but I just noticed that "crazy in love" is far from being Beyonce's song with the most plays on spotify (far behind "7/11", "Drunk in Love", "Halo", all above 220M while "Crazy in Love" is only at 144M).surprising.
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 17 November 2016 13:59 (seven years ago) link
Songs that were released and become hits in the Spotify era probably have a leg up on catalog songs
― duped and used by my worst Miss U (President Keyes), Thursday, 17 November 2016 14:25 (seven years ago) link
yeah, that's what I thought too but still surprised it's so far behind since it's (arguably) her legacy song.
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 17 November 2016 14:48 (seven years ago) link
I'd put her a lot closer to the Madonna category where one single legacy song just doesn't apply. So Crazy In Love would be her Material Girl or Like a Virgin - early-to-mid-career, huge hit, strongly associated with her, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that Like A Prayer or Papa Don't Preach or Vogue or even Ray of Light were more popular on Spotify.
― dustalo springsteen (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 17 November 2016 15:11 (seven years ago) link
"like a prayer" far ahead (36M) with "material girl" 2nd (21M) ("like a virgin" very far behind with 16M).Nah, like President Keyes said, it's clearly the difference between hits since spotify started/earlier hits.
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 17 November 2016 15:16 (seven years ago) link