Rockmjd23

Some bizarre #1 songs:
1947: Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) by Tex Williams - doubt you'd hear that one much anymore.
1950: If I Knew You Were Comin' (I'd've Baked a Cake) by Eilleen Barton - lol @ that title.
1952: It's in the Book (Parts 1 & 2) by Johnny Standley - not even a song, just some guy talking like a reverend.

Hokeyboy

When's the last time YOU heard "The Ballad of the Green Berets"?

That was the #1 song of 1966, IIRC.

Buttmunker

Sometimes an artist will cringe when one of their songs becomes a No.1 sensation. And why? Because, in years to come, they know that radio stations will continuously recycle the No.1 hit and forget any other Top 10 successes they might have had.

James Taylor, for instance. Oldies stations will mostly play the No.1 hit You've Got A Friend (or the No.3 hit Fire & Rain - lucky him), but personally, you can burn those two songs now because I'm sick to death of them. I think his No.5 remake of Handy Man is a real cool song. His rendition of it is cool, that is. But you'll only hear that once in a blue moon.

When Hanging By A Moment by Lifehouse became a huge No.2 hit, the band's singer (I believe) bemoaned the song's success, fearing his group would be forever remembered for only that song. Myself, I think people have a point to that fear, but they also have to remember that sometimes you don't even have that one song that is eternal, and to be grateful.

Buttmunker

WCBS-fm in New York will play it.

The Bus

I ask, madcougar, because I hear that song almost every time I go out to a club or dance function, which is at least several times a year.

I've actually been playing "My Posse's on Broadway" to cleanse the "Baby Got Back" out of my system.

If only Paperboy's "Ditty" was played more often.

Sean O'Hara

The same reason "Disco Duck" and "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Ha!"don't get played on the radio -- they're novelty songs that aren't attached to a holiday (unlike "The Monster Mash" or "The Hanukkah Song"). It had its moment in the sun, and now it's gone to join the works of Tiny Tim in Trivial Pursuit Heaven.

As novelty songs go, it's had more afterlife than most, since it's still played at cheesy clubs and bad parties.

Hokeyboy

I always hated "Disco Duck"... Rick Dees sported that horrific pedostache throughout that dopey video.

nothingfails

I hate this too. You could be a megastar and radio can still reduce you to four or five songs max. Look at Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, David Bowie and some of the other megastars of the 70's who carried on into the 80's and 90's. At best you might be lucky to hear two or three of their most overplayed songs while a lot of their classics (and in some cases, even #1 hits... when was the last time you heard You Haven't Done Nothin' or Island Girl on the radio?) are almost totally forgotten unless you have an ipod or satellite radio.

Decker

You know a song I heard recently that I hadn't heard in years? How Deep Is Your Love by The Bee Gees. I certainly wouldn't call it "forgotten", per say, but it had been ages since I had last heard it when it popped up on my Ipod Shuffle while running.
I was floored by how GOOD it really is. It's just a beautiful song, gorgeously produced. Swirling strings, full and rich. Great vocal track. None of the annoying driving 4/4 beat of disco tunes, no loud aggressive falsetto that typify The Bee Gees works. It doesn't sound dated at all. It's just a timeless recording that I found simply beautiful. I was really surprised since it's a song I must have heard a thousand times in the Seventies without ever noticing. Sometimes absence can indeed make the heart grow fonder.

Buttmunker

It is a shame that a group or artist can be reduced to just one song. Crowded House struck gold in 1987 with a No.2 hit Don't Dream It's Over, and now it is the only song by them you hear, despite their having another Top 10 hit. Does that group have other good songs? Who would know? Something So Strong, their follow-up to their No.2 hit which peaked at No.7 the same year, is never played on the radio.

In regards to The Bee Gee's, by ignoring them in the 70's, allows you to appreciate them in the 21st Century. God knows I have, after buying Their 20 Greatest Hits compilation a few years ago. I was really floored by their original version of If I Can't Have You.

A lot of people bemoan TV commercials using old songs for their ads. I used to resent it, especially when it was a song that is continuously played out on radio. I mean, how often do we need to hear The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again? When ads use "obscure" songs, I believe it is a good thing. It is bringing "forgotten" songs back to people's consciousness - and how can that be a bad thing? (with the exception of Da Da Da - ugh). I think it is a little cool that Baby Come Back by Player is used currently (and in its original form, not a cover - unlike when they use Beatles songs). Not long ago, they used Donovan's Catch The Wind, and I thought that was neat because it was only a moderate Top 30 back in 1965, and a lot of people hadn't heard it before. Hey, anyway to get good music to people's ears, I'm all for it.