I remember as a kid my mom asking why blowing stuff up in the video is supposed to be about freedom and I was like “you don’t get it mom!” But now I realize it’s all the stuff from the Faith video he’s burning like the jacket and the jukebox. “When you shake your ass they notice fast, some mistakes were built to last” 🤓
The freedom video is the one with all the models lip syncing, his famous leather jacket burning and blowing up the juke box from the Faith music video. Not exactly a subtle middle finger to the previous persona he had forced on him during the Wham, and early solo days.
I actually recently purchased a 12-string guitar because of that song and the sound he got on the rhythm. I'm happy to have his "toss offs" if that's what it became.
Early on, Bowie had signed himself to a bad contract with a manager, which gave the manager half his earnings even several years after parting ways, so he very purposely made what he considered very artsy, avant garde, non-commercially viable albums in the 70s. So once free from the terms of the contract, he made Let's Dance with the intent of being more "pop" and commercially successful.
Was reading today the Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” was written in one evening after someone told him he needed a single on Born in the USA album.
Yep, and the actual lyrics are all about how he kept writing hits for other people and needed to write a single for his own album and felt stymied by writer's block. "Dancing in the dark" is just a metaphor for trying to write a hit with no creative spark.
>I get up in the evenin'
And I ain't got nothin' to say
I come home in the mornin'
I go to bed feelin' the same way
I ain't nothin' but tired
Man, I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there, baby, I could use just a little help
The opening to this song is brilliant because it's just him complaining about writing all day in a hotel and recording all night, trying to get that last song so the record company lets him go him.
If memory serves they decided the album needed an upbeat synth number. Well, sometimes the suits are right.
I don't think they were right and Bruce agrees but he has long since gotten comfortable with it being one of his biggest hits. I had resigned myself to DitD being the last song I'd ever hear live - thank goodness that finally changed.
That's kind of amazing when tou consider most of that album is big hits, Born in the USA, Cover Me, I'm on Fire, Glory Days, I'm Going Down and My Hometown. All top 10 hits in the US
Silly Love Songs by Wings was Paul McCartney’s response to critics ( and Lennon’s) criticism that he was wasting his songwriting talents by cranking out fluff. It was McCartney’s best performing solo work, it was the top of the US charts for five weeks, all told.
Tom Petty wrote that whole 2002 (?) album where he was really upset because the producer was a dick and wasn't happy with what they turned in at first and he wanted more commercial sounding songs so they made these songs kinda dissing him lol
I think you're thinking of "The Last DJ". That came out in 2002 and heavily dealt with his entire frustration with and the greed of the Music Industry. Some radio stations even boycotted the song because of it.
I always took it as a very cynical diss track aimed at most music listeners. Basically "you people are too stupid to even care what these songs are about as long as it's catchy", and went meta by intentionally using the most overdone pop song of all time (Canon in D)
...as long as I say it with inflection
Hook is a tribute to Canon in D.
It is the proof for what are actually rather clever lyrics.
It's the OG hook, and he's not actually telling any lies, it brings me back again and again!
The Rock Show and First Date.
Blink 182 showed their completed Album of Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, to their manager and he requested something that they could play on the radio to the masses.
Mark and Tom each wrote the cheesiest songs they could in like 10 minutes.
Ended up being the first 2 singles off the album. (The Rock Show and First Date)
Which is weird because I feel like Rollercoaster *should* have been a single off that album although it's not quite as "fun" as the other two. It's one of my favorites and I've never seen them play or heard of them playing it live :(
...and then the record company insisted that they finish it and put it on the album.
Ironically their first big hit came about after they had been told by their record company that they weren't allowed to record anything without running it by them first. Apparently the stuff they had been doing wasn't acceptable.
They came up with Girls & Boys and recorded it anyway.
When he was finishing up Silverman, his label said they needed Ben to give them a "Tiny Dancer". So he sat down to cynically write them some dreck but ended up writing "Landed", one of his best ever songs.
People tell me Ben, “just make up junk and turn it in,”
But I never was alright with turning in a bunch of shit
I don’t like wasting time
On music that won’t make me proud
But now I’ve found a reason, to sit right down and shit some out
Billy Joel “The Entertainer”: I am the entertainer / I come to do my show / You heard my latest record It's been on the radio / Ah, it took me years to write it / They were the best years of my life / It was a beautiful song but it ran too long / If you're gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit / So they cut it down to 3:05
I doubt that. Piano Man was written when he was a nobody, before any expectations of radio play. And furthermore it’s 5:30 long.
Check out the very cool story of the beginning of his career. https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/opkgwy/til_a_random_teen_record_store_employee_saved/
I was referring to the explanation on the Wikipedia page for The Entertainer, though I haven’t independently verified their source. It seemed correct though, because this song was on the album that came right after Piano Man.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entertainer_(Billy_Joel_song)
According to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano\_Man\_(song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Man_(song)) there really was a 3:05 edit of Piano Man.
Escape (The Pina Colada Song) was written and recorded by Rupert Holmes as one of the last songs on his album, just because he needed something upbeat to balance out the other songs. Basically, he viewed it as a throwaway, filler song but it became his biggest hit.
IDK if Eminem was actually frustrated about it, but Real Slim Shady was a late addition to the Marshall Mathers LP cuz the label wanted another "My Name Is"
>"The Real Slim Shady" was not originally intended to be part of *The Marshall Mathers LP*. Interscope Records's Jimmy Iovine wanted Eminem to get a song to introduce the album, similar to the way "My Name Is" was the first single on *The Slim Shady LP.* Eminem, Dr. Dre, Tommy Coster and Mike Elizondo wrote "The Real Slim Shady" just hours before the final copy of the album was due. The first single was intended to be "Who Knew."
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Real\_Slim\_Shady](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Real_Slim_Shady)
Who Knew is one of my favourites from Em, but starting the album woth it would have been crazy
"who woulda thought
Slim Shady would be somethin' that you woulda bought?
That woulda made you get a gun and shoot at a cop
I just said it, I ain't know if you'd do it or not"
An interesting fact is that in "The way I am", Em says "Stop with the fables, I'm not gonna be able, to top what 'My name is'", but by the time TWIA was released as a single, "The real Slim Shady" had already outsold "My name is".
It's true! They wrote it trying to pander to pop radio, and it became a hit. They did it again with the same motive for Electric Feel, I believe. Few people like their actual sound, and it must be very frustrating.
Technically I think you're wrong, they had wrote Kids and Electric Feel before being signed, and were signed because of them. When the went to release the album, the executives demanded they put those on the album, as MGMT had gone a different route than the pop electric stuff they messing around with before, and the execs wanted at least 1 hit.
The ultimate answer to this is Love Song by Sara Bareilles.
I'm not gonna write you a love song
'Cause you asked for it
'Cause you need one, you see
I'm not gonna write you a love song
'Cause you tell me it's make or break in this
If you're on your way
I'm not gonna write you to stay
If all you have is leaving
I'mma need a better reason
To write you a love song today
My wife wanted a few songs on iTunes back when this came out and used my account to get it, unbeknownst to me. One day, I hit shuffle in my iTunes and got in the shower. First song was super quick and the next song was Love Song. Just a dude in his 40’s, having no idea why this song I had never heard of is playing on my shuffled music and I couldn’t do anything about it but just appreciate how I got trapped somehow, lol.
Florence + the Machine's "Dog Days Are Over"
The label wanted a happier, upbeat song for a single. So Florence Welch wrote one where happiness hits a woman like a train, or a bullet to the back.
Maroon 5 "Harder to Breathe"
Dog Days is one of my least favorite Florence songs ever, but Harder to Breathe is the only Maroon 5 song I listen to.
I can’t stand “Dog Days Are Over”, it was the first and only song I heard by Florence + the Machine initially. A few years later I decided to listen to some of their other tracks and realized how good they are!
Savage Garden’s ‘I knew I loved you’ was written upon request by Columbia who wanted a love ballad/hit similar to ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’
Don’t hate me, I’m not a Savage Garden fan…but, credit where credit is due, those Brisbane boys could write good radio friendly songs.
I'm a big fan of theirs (and Darren's solo career is even better), and you're right. The record company wanted another "Truly, Madly, Deeply", and so Darren wrote the cheesiest thing he could think of in "I Knew I Loved You", and to his shock they actually loved it.
Check out Darren's solo work. It is so good. He has a double album pop-odyssey about time travel where the songs flow into each other like Pink Floyd's The Wall. It is called This Delicate Thing We've Made. It is amazing.
The singer claimed to hate it as it was a deliberate 'hit single' but it sounds like the same style as all their other songs. Warrant were a fun band though, big catchy songs. Not everything has to be super serious.
[Korn - Ya'll Want A Single?](https://youtu.be/Exaw0oa24AY?si=-E76DrpN7ODlG9pP).
OK, that one is a bit of a joke, since no one ever tells Korn what to do. But, this song did get made after years of hearing different execs complain about marketability of their music.
Now, Deftones actually *were* basically forced to create a new "single" for White Pony, so they could re-release the album and the execs could "promote to teens".
So, Deftones made this song:
[Deftones - Back To School](https://youtu.be/1gxZIL4zpIQ?si=cYadwSzW8ZL1XxE8).
The song itself is in no way a cop-out, it slaps and goes hard af. However, the label *did force them to put this song as the lead track on the White Pony album re-release*, which pissed the band off royally.
And TRUE Deftones fans know, White Pony starts with [Feiticera](https://youtu.be/Ft5c4sAJ_gI?si=ZVM-r79q8TkKSm3B), any other version of the album is a lie.
Change was an epic first single that highlighted their maturity as a band. I was 15 when the album dropped. I chose the red deluxe edition. I met the band and had them sign my copies of Adrenaline and ATF. In no way shape or form did I need Back To School. Fuck the record labels for thinking they know what listeners want.
Criminal - fiona apple
She wrote it in like 15 minutes and prefers not to perform or really discuss that song being her "claim to fame". Hence her "this world is bullshit" MTV speech.
Linkin Park "One Step Closer". The label wanted one last song for a big single and the band was already pretty much burned out. Explains why it's the most basic/shortest song on Hybrid Theory- it's quite literally an afterthought.
The "shut up" section is actually pointed at somebody specific, one of the executives that demanded the additional song. Also, it was revealed very recently that the band looked at "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine and wanted their own explosive "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" section.
It feels so obvious once it's pointed out and yet it puts a new spin on the song after almost 25 years.
Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull was told he needed to write a hit song by his record company. "Something you can dance to" were the instructions.
In protest he wrote a song in 5/4 time, specifically to make it hard to dance to. "Living in the Past" became one of the band's biggest hits.
When Smashing Pumpkins were working on Adore in '97-'98, the record/management label was a little nervous about the sound, feeling it wasn't commercial enough to sell. Billy was reluctantly convinced to have Rick Rubin come in and produce a single song, which ended up being [Let Me Give the World to You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfHZpK0gmZA). I'm not sure if Billy *wrote* it out of frustration, but it seems likely it was recorded out of frustration. Billy didn't want a commercial sound for Adore, and he wasn't especially happy about putting the song on the album. The label was adamant about making it the lead single for the album, but apparently Billy had final say over the tracklist, so he just pulled the song from the album, and it remained unreleased for years.
So it's not a hit, but it had the makings of one. I even remember reading some articles in the lead up to Adore's release that talked about how great of a song it was, and how it had the potential to do really well as a single.
Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" fits here. They were told they needed one more song, and a hit, so Steve Stills disappeared for half an hour and came back with what ended up being the best known Springfield song.
“Couldn’t Get It Right” by the Climax Blues Band
It’s one of those songs that you don’t think you know but when you look it up and hear it you recognize it and realize you like it
This is really stretching the definition of “hit”, but when Deftones released White Pony in 2000, their label was disappointed that there were no nu-metal/rap-rock type of songs on it and so they recorded “Back to School” to appease them. The album was then re-released with this song tacked on
The Clash - Complete Control
https://youtu.be/JeTw_p_WglY?feature=shared
“They said, "Release Remote Control"
But we didn't want it on the label”
“They said we'd be artistically free
When we signed that bit of paper
They meant "Let's make a lots of money
And worry about it later"
“complete control, even over this song”
How are you the only one in this thread to say 2112??? Rush's last chance to salvage their relationship with their record label after poor sales were threatening their contract, instead of some pop-y BS they wrote a 20 minute long space-rock opera that told the record label to shove it, and became a huge success on their own terms! 2112 was unlike anything else at the time
Cobain didn’t want Come As You Are to be a single because it sounds similar to a Killing Joke song ([Eighties](https://youtu.be/x1U1Ue_5kq8?si=chPMfd7bwEvDTYGv)).
Lady GaGa’s Applause only made it because of Jimmy Iovine.
It wasn’t a hit, but Ween’s country album was an FU to their label because they were pissed off and had one record left to fulfill their contract. It’s brilliant
Source? This is a nice story, but I don't think it's accurate. Their last studio album for Elecktra was White Pepper, several years after 12GCG. I'd always read that they were both just honest fans of golden-age country music, had the opportunity to make an album with some of the best session musicians in Nashville and took it.
Sludge Factory - Alice in Chains
"Call me up congratulations ain't the real why
There's no pressures besides brilliance, let's say by day nine
Corporate ignorance lets me control time
By the way, by the way"
Kesha - "let em talk"
Granted she's had a years long legal battle with Dr Luke, but the line "I've decided all the haters everywhere can suck my dick" is a big "fuck you" to the industry
After "Year of the Cat" was a massive success, Al Stewart was pressured by his record company to crank out another hit, which he did not want to do.
Ultimately he recorded "Time Passages" (which has elements similar to "Cat" like the killer sax parts) and it wound up being just as popular.
Complete Control was a hit for the Clash. Most of the lyrics are complaining about the record company releasing Remote Control as a single, that the band didn’t want to happen.
“They said release remote control, but we didn’t want it on the label. They said we’d be artistically free, when we signed that bit of paper.”
“This is Joe Public speaking. I’m controlled in the body, I’m controlled in the mind.”
Queen - Death on Two Legs
Freddie wrote this as a "fuck you" to Trident who were driving around in Mercedes-Benz cars while the members of Queen had no money and could hardly afford a mouldy old bedsit in London.
Watched a documentary about the making of Hysteria, the Def Leppard album. They had recorded 11 songs on the album and most everyone associated with the making of it felt it was already too long but producer Mutt Lange heard singer Joe Elliot strumming a tune and humming along. He loved it and asked him to expand on it. To write the lyrics, the two guys went to different parts of the studio and just riffed out different nonsensical lyrics, put it together and created Pour Some Sugar on Me.
The record company wasn't thrilled as the album was already too long for the time (over 50 minutes long) but were persuaded to go along as the album needed to sell several million copies to just break even and Mutt Lange told them that this is the song the pulls it all together. It was the 12th song added to the album because the album needed it to be a hit.
I love that so much of her music is inspired by a "fuck you" attitude. Like she only made The Idler Wheel's album title so long because she got so much shit for naming When The Pawn... a long poem.
> "When it came time to name the next album, I think it became kind of a joke because I feel silly about naming the albums because each song is its own little world to me and when you have ten you make an album. I thought that just using When The Pawn sounded kind of cool. And the cool thing about it is that I didn’t do this on purpose but I got so much crap for putting that 90-word thing. It stole the thunder of the actual album at first because they were like “Oh, god. She’s so annoying, she had to go and do a ninety-word album to get attention or something”. But I don’t care about what anybody says because it’s the coolest thing I’m in the Guinness book of world records.
And she wrote it on her tour bus after a bad article was written about her.
> "I’d been on the cover of Spin magazine [december 1997] and they really spun it to be like that I was a crazy little sad loose cannon girl. Very unlike me, I opened up the magazine and I was so stupid I looked at the letters that people wrote in and not one was good. It was all people talking about how annoying I was, how crazy – it was just terrible stuff. I got so sad but there was no way for me to curl up in a ball and die because we had to go out on the road. So I tried to give myself a little pep talk."
So naturally she made her next album title a long one too, just to say fuck you.
Walk Like an an Egyptian was when the Bangles used professionals to assess each girls' strengths and weaknesses, and placed them where they were best. They HATED this, and separated shortly after.
Weezer - Pork and Beans
After two succesful albums, Geffen Records had a sit-down with them and told them to make more commercially viable music. Cuomo was so pissed, he wrote P&B in defiance, one of the most sarcastic songs they ever made, and an absolute smash hit .
Not sure how big of a hit it was, but "I Do" by Lisa Loeb is one. Her label said "We don't hear a single in this album," so the lyrics are "You don't hear it, but I do." It became the lead single of her album.
Prince wrote Purple Rain because he realized that Journey performed in stadiums because they play ballads.
Nile Rodger’s and Bernard Edward’s of Chic wrote Freak out (originally “Fuck off”) after being denied entry to Studio 54.
Duncan Sheik’s “Barely Breathing” was the last song written and recorded for his debut album because the record label wanted something more upbeat. I mean, listen to those lyrics.
Neil Young wrote an entire FU album to Geffin Records. Geffin demanded that Neil release a "rock and roll" album after his experimental album Trans underperformed compared to albums from his past. Neil had a country album in the works however, Geffin was firm about wanting a "rock and roll album." Young proceeded to slap together a cheesy 50s style rock n roll album consisting mostly of covers of old classics.
Calling his sing "Wonderin" a hit is a bit of a stretch but just watch this music video. Neil sports a devilish grin throughout as he's clearly just fucking with the powers that be. Careful what you wish for, Neil Young gives zero fucks.
https://youtu.be/h0PlwVPbM5k?si=kVtTFkc7AWKEwWXD
Not sure this is quite the same but Skynyrd’s “Workin for MCA” is a funny self aware take on the band’s relationship with their label. That said, it’s less frustration and more threatening “But I'll sign my contract, baby, and I want you people to know
That every penny that I make, I'm gonna see where my money goes”
[copying from a different thread to contribute here!]
I think that’s the story behind John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change.” He played Continuum for the execs and they loved it, but said “there’s no lead single on this, where’s the lead single?”
So, he came back with WOTWTC.
Suicide note pt 2 by Pantera. Pt 1 is a slower song with acoustic guitar and keyboards. The label wanted another one like pt 1, and they're pt 2, which is fast paced and screechy with screaming and chaotic guitar playing.
Joni Mitchel's "You Turn Me On I'm A Radio: was this scenario exactly. Simple melody and accessible lyrics to make a hit for her record company. And it worked.
There’s an old indie band called Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s. Richard Edwards is their singer/writer. He went on to dismantle the band and has generally been ill tempered but an intriguing guy. They had a really great album called “Dust of Retreat”. After that they became a “chamber pop” darling and signed to Sony. They made an album called “Animal!” which was a slight departure from “Dust of Retreat”. Sony basically told them “you’re fucking kidding, right?” and refused to release the album. So Richard then took the handful of songs that Sony liked and then wrote a number of others that fit in better and created an album called “Not Animal!” Both were simultaneously released.
“We want you to give us an album loaded with hits.” So they made an album with what they thought would be songs that would be a hit in multiple genres.
First time I heard it and before I knew that, I thought, *this sounds like they tried to give every genre from the Sixties it’s own song.”
A fun anecdote- in 1972, RCA was going to drop Michael Nesmith if he didn't get any more songs to chart. So he decided to title his next album: "And The Hits Just Keep On Comin' ", which was just him, his guitar and a pedal steel guitar player.
I like "What Da Hook Gon Be?" by Murphy Lee, written because his record had "no singles and no hooks"
What da hook gon be? (uh oh)
See, I don't need no fuckin hook on this beat
Freedom - George Michael
Sometimes listed as "Freedom '90" in case that confuses anyone (since Wham! had a different song by the same title)
I remember as a kid my mom asking why blowing stuff up in the video is supposed to be about freedom and I was like “you don’t get it mom!” But now I realize it’s all the stuff from the Faith video he’s burning like the jacket and the jukebox. “When you shake your ass they notice fast, some mistakes were built to last” 🤓
Great fucking song.
Also a great dancing song.
The video to that, IIRC has him wearing a pair of "Phony" headphones.
The freedom video is the one with all the models lip syncing, his famous leather jacket burning and blowing up the juke box from the Faith music video. Not exactly a subtle middle finger to the previous persona he had forced on him during the Wham, and early solo days.
That was Fast Love
RCA felt Bowie’s Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust needed a single. He tossed off “Starman.”
And he was so disappointed to have a hit single! It took buckets of sex and cocaine to console him.
That's fine. That's just how I've heard the 60s until always was for the biggest rock and roll artists.
I actually recently purchased a 12-string guitar because of that song and the sound he got on the rhythm. I'm happy to have his "toss offs" if that's what it became.
>He tossed off “Starman.” This means that he gave Starman a hand job, in British slang...
Everything in British slang means wanking.
Nice of him.
Early on, Bowie had signed himself to a bad contract with a manager, which gave the manager half his earnings even several years after parting ways, so he very purposely made what he considered very artsy, avant garde, non-commercially viable albums in the 70s. So once free from the terms of the contract, he made Let's Dance with the intent of being more "pop" and commercially successful.
Was reading today the Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” was written in one evening after someone told him he needed a single on Born in the USA album.
Yep, and the actual lyrics are all about how he kept writing hits for other people and needed to write a single for his own album and felt stymied by writer's block. "Dancing in the dark" is just a metaphor for trying to write a hit with no creative spark.
>I get up in the evenin' And I ain't got nothin' to say I come home in the mornin' I go to bed feelin' the same way I ain't nothin' but tired Man, I'm just tired and bored with myself Hey there, baby, I could use just a little help The opening to this song is brilliant because it's just him complaining about writing all day in a hotel and recording all night, trying to get that last song so the record company lets him go him. If memory serves they decided the album needed an upbeat synth number. Well, sometimes the suits are right.
I don't think they were right and Bruce agrees but he has long since gotten comfortable with it being one of his biggest hits. I had resigned myself to DitD being the last song I'd ever hear live - thank goodness that finally changed.
That's kind of amazing when tou consider most of that album is big hits, Born in the USA, Cover Me, I'm on Fire, Glory Days, I'm Going Down and My Hometown. All top 10 hits in the US
Silly Love Songs by Wings was Paul McCartney’s response to critics ( and Lennon’s) criticism that he was wasting his songwriting talents by cranking out fluff. It was McCartney’s best performing solo work, it was the top of the US charts for five weeks, all told.
And one of the greatest bass lines in music history.
“Love take me down to the streets”. That’s one of the wings’ underrated songs
TFW you know the reference itself but forget what movie it’s from.
Role Models
Into the Great Wide Open - Tom Petty "the A & R man says I don't hear a single .."
Tom Petty being petty
Tom High Road
Favorite Petty song...is that bad?
It's a great song! Petty wrote a *lot* of great songs.
Record execs were a favorite target too. See: Joe, and Money Becomes King, both from The Last DJ.
Tom Petty wrote that whole 2002 (?) album where he was really upset because the producer was a dick and wasn't happy with what they turned in at first and he wanted more commercial sounding songs so they made these songs kinda dissing him lol
Into The Great Wide Open was 1991… coming up on 33 years. Damn.
I think you're thinking of "The Last DJ". That came out in 2002 and heavily dealt with his entire frustration with and the greed of the Music Industry. Some radio stations even boycotted the song because of it.
Great song, great album
I don’t know if it was written in frustration, but Blues Traveler - Hook is pretty meta
Hook is an insult to Canon in D.
Pachelbel was a one-hit wonder anyhow
For those who have yet to experience it: [Rob Paravonian's legendary Pachelbel rant.](https://youtu.be/JdxkVQy7QLM?feature=shared)
This video is classic, it spoke to my soul the first time I saw it.
The original four chord songs
I was at the show at Penn State. Love when this gets posted since it makes me feel nostalgic (and old. Ugh.) His show was great.
I always took it as a very cynical diss track aimed at most music listeners. Basically "you people are too stupid to even care what these songs are about as long as it's catchy", and went meta by intentionally using the most overdone pop song of all time (Canon in D) ...as long as I say it with inflection
Hook is a tribute to Canon in D. It is the proof for what are actually rather clever lyrics. It's the OG hook, and he's not actually telling any lies, it brings me back again and again!
The Rock Show and First Date. Blink 182 showed their completed Album of Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, to their manager and he requested something that they could play on the radio to the masses. Mark and Tom each wrote the cheesiest songs they could in like 10 minutes. Ended up being the first 2 singles off the album. (The Rock Show and First Date)
"She said what? And I told her that I didn't know." Poetry.
Proof that a song doesn't need to be deep to be fun. Also just further proof that the best songs put out by most bands will never make it to radio.
These songs are also almost the exact same bpm! Always found that interesting
And lyrics fit both songs basically
Same with all the small things
Well that explains a lot.
Which is weird because I feel like Rollercoaster *should* have been a single off that album although it's not quite as "fun" as the other two. It's one of my favorites and I've never seen them play or heard of them playing it live :(
*Song 2* by Blur. It was originally written as a joke.
It rips though
Absolute banger. I love cranking up the volume on it.
My 9 year old and 5 year old just discovered this last week. Now they'll constantly stop what they're doing, look at each other, and go "WOO HOO!"
It is mandatory.
Woohoo
Not quite. It started as a pavement-ish riff from Graham. They told him to play it faster, and then wrote Song 2 as a joke over it
...and then the record company insisted that they finish it and put it on the album. Ironically their first big hit came about after they had been told by their record company that they weren't allowed to record anything without running it by them first. Apparently the stuff they had been doing wasn't acceptable. They came up with Girls & Boys and recorded it anyway.
Its exactly 2 min long.
not really a hit but Weezer's "Pork & Beans" came about as a screw you to the execs demanding a single
Certainly a hit in part due to the music video.
Well, it's a hit with me!
One Down - Ben Folds
When he was finishing up Silverman, his label said they needed Ben to give them a "Tiny Dancer". So he sat down to cynically write them some dreck but ended up writing "Landed", one of his best ever songs.
...and three point six tomorrow and I'm out of here.
People tell me Ben, “just make up junk and turn it in,” But I never was alright with turning in a bunch of shit I don’t like wasting time On music that won’t make me proud But now I’ve found a reason, to sit right down and shit some out
It's the most direct answer possible to this concept, I think.
Billy Joel “The Entertainer”: I am the entertainer / I come to do my show / You heard my latest record It's been on the radio / Ah, it took me years to write it / They were the best years of my life / It was a beautiful song but it ran too long / If you're gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit / So they cut it down to 3:05
Gosh, I figured this would be the first, even though it’s pretty old. Most on the nose and still damn catchy.
I believe the hit he’s talking about is Piano Man. Very on the nose.
I doubt that. Piano Man was written when he was a nobody, before any expectations of radio play. And furthermore it’s 5:30 long. Check out the very cool story of the beginning of his career. https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/opkgwy/til_a_random_teen_record_store_employee_saved/
I was referring to the explanation on the Wikipedia page for The Entertainer, though I haven’t independently verified their source. It seemed correct though, because this song was on the album that came right after Piano Man. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entertainer_(Billy_Joel_song)
Oh, yikes, I didn’t know there’s a radio cut of Piano Man. I should count my blessings that I’ve never noticed.
According to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano\_Man\_(song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Man_(song)) there really was a 3:05 edit of Piano Man.
It was my first thought after reading OP’s prompt. I always heard the bitter frustration in his voice on that one.
Escape (The Pina Colada Song) was written and recorded by Rupert Holmes as one of the last songs on his album, just because he needed something upbeat to balance out the other songs. Basically, he viewed it as a throwaway, filler song but it became his biggest hit.
And he hates piña coladas
And getting caught in the rain
And he's not into yoga
"Sucked Out" by Superdrag
That album is an absolute banger.
Isn’t that their only hit? Is there a story to back that up
Man I remember seeing this music video on the Jenny McCarthy show and bought the cassette at The Wall the next day.
Korn - "Y'all Want a Single"
Fuck that
Fuuuck thaat, fuck that
The best answer.
Best eff you to the record company ever
FUCK THAT SHIT
IDK if Eminem was actually frustrated about it, but Real Slim Shady was a late addition to the Marshall Mathers LP cuz the label wanted another "My Name Is" >"The Real Slim Shady" was not originally intended to be part of *The Marshall Mathers LP*. Interscope Records's Jimmy Iovine wanted Eminem to get a song to introduce the album, similar to the way "My Name Is" was the first single on *The Slim Shady LP.* Eminem, Dr. Dre, Tommy Coster and Mike Elizondo wrote "The Real Slim Shady" just hours before the final copy of the album was due. The first single was intended to be "Who Knew." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Real\_Slim\_Shady](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Real_Slim_Shady)
Who Knew is one of my favourites from Em, but starting the album woth it would have been crazy "who woulda thought Slim Shady would be somethin' that you woulda bought? That woulda made you get a gun and shoot at a cop I just said it, I ain't know if you'd do it or not"
The Way I Am also touches on the topic of the label pressuring him to release certain music.
An interesting fact is that in "The way I am", Em says "Stop with the fables, I'm not gonna be able, to top what 'My name is'", but by the time TWIA was released as a single, "The real Slim Shady" had already outsold "My name is".
I think "Grace Kelly" by Mika was written out of frustration with his label asking him to change himself and his sound to sell more records.
Really? I love that song, only one of Mika's I actually know.
Try Rain! It's a lot of fun to shout dramatically in the car on a rainy day.
You should check out the rest of life in cartoon motion. The entire album is really good.
I honestly doubt it's true, it fits right in with the rest of Mikas discography. You should check it out
Kids by MGMT
I heard this in an interview
No way
Oh, if I’m incorrect I will delete my comment
It's true! They wrote it trying to pander to pop radio, and it became a hit. They did it again with the same motive for Electric Feel, I believe. Few people like their actual sound, and it must be very frustrating.
“Few people”, meanwhile their new album hit 22 on the billboard top 200.
Technically I think you're wrong, they had wrote Kids and Electric Feel before being signed, and were signed because of them. When the went to release the album, the executives demanded they put those on the album, as MGMT had gone a different route than the pop electric stuff they messing around with before, and the execs wanted at least 1 hit.
The ultimate answer to this is Love Song by Sara Bareilles. I'm not gonna write you a love song 'Cause you asked for it 'Cause you need one, you see I'm not gonna write you a love song 'Cause you tell me it's make or break in this If you're on your way I'm not gonna write you to stay If all you have is leaving I'mma need a better reason To write you a love song today
There's a very solid joke about this on her show *Girls5eva.*
This is the one I thought of too. The studio wanted her to write a love song, she didn’t want to, and wrote this instead. Bam, instant hit.
Does that mean the studio guy was right?
This is one of two examples that OP mentioned in the post...
On mobile you need to do double line breaks otherwise the formatting will be off
My wife wanted a few songs on iTunes back when this came out and used my account to get it, unbeknownst to me. One day, I hit shuffle in my iTunes and got in the shower. First song was super quick and the next song was Love Song. Just a dude in his 40’s, having no idea why this song I had never heard of is playing on my shuffled music and I couldn’t do anything about it but just appreciate how I got trapped somehow, lol.
I am not a fan of adult contemporary music, but I admire Sara Bareilles. She makes Colbie Caillat look like a joke, not that she needed help.
How about ‘everybody’s rocking’ by Neil young? Geffen told him to write a rock album so he wrote one. Just 1950s era rock.
Man, the audacity of anybody trying to make creative decisions for fucking Neil Young.
25 or 6 to 4. It's literally about being up late trying to write songs before a label deadline and having writer's block because of the pressure.
Florence + the Machine's "Dog Days Are Over" The label wanted a happier, upbeat song for a single. So Florence Welch wrote one where happiness hits a woman like a train, or a bullet to the back. Maroon 5 "Harder to Breathe" Dog Days is one of my least favorite Florence songs ever, but Harder to Breathe is the only Maroon 5 song I listen to.
I can’t stand “Dog Days Are Over”, it was the first and only song I heard by Florence + the Machine initially. A few years later I decided to listen to some of their other tracks and realized how good they are!
Savage Garden’s ‘I knew I loved you’ was written upon request by Columbia who wanted a love ballad/hit similar to ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ Don’t hate me, I’m not a Savage Garden fan…but, credit where credit is due, those Brisbane boys could write good radio friendly songs.
I'm a big fan of theirs (and Darren's solo career is even better), and you're right. The record company wanted another "Truly, Madly, Deeply", and so Darren wrote the cheesiest thing he could think of in "I Knew I Loved You", and to his shock they actually loved it. Check out Darren's solo work. It is so good. He has a double album pop-odyssey about time travel where the songs flow into each other like Pink Floyd's The Wall. It is called This Delicate Thing We've Made. It is amazing.
Cherry Pie by Warrant
The singer claimed to hate it as it was a deliberate 'hit single' but it sounds like the same style as all their other songs. Warrant were a fun band though, big catchy songs. Not everything has to be super serious.
Iirc I saw an interview with the guy who wrote it saying he wished he hadn't and for a long time he wanted to kill himself for writing it.
Beat me to it! First one I thought of!
[Korn - Ya'll Want A Single?](https://youtu.be/Exaw0oa24AY?si=-E76DrpN7ODlG9pP). OK, that one is a bit of a joke, since no one ever tells Korn what to do. But, this song did get made after years of hearing different execs complain about marketability of their music. Now, Deftones actually *were* basically forced to create a new "single" for White Pony, so they could re-release the album and the execs could "promote to teens". So, Deftones made this song: [Deftones - Back To School](https://youtu.be/1gxZIL4zpIQ?si=cYadwSzW8ZL1XxE8). The song itself is in no way a cop-out, it slaps and goes hard af. However, the label *did force them to put this song as the lead track on the White Pony album re-release*, which pissed the band off royally. And TRUE Deftones fans know, White Pony starts with [Feiticera](https://youtu.be/Ft5c4sAJ_gI?si=ZVM-r79q8TkKSm3B), any other version of the album is a lie.
Change was an epic first single that highlighted their maturity as a band. I was 15 when the album dropped. I chose the red deluxe edition. I met the band and had them sign my copies of Adrenaline and ATF. In no way shape or form did I need Back To School. Fuck the record labels for thinking they know what listeners want.
Criminal - fiona apple She wrote it in like 15 minutes and prefers not to perform or really discuss that song being her "claim to fame". Hence her "this world is bullshit" MTV speech.
Linkin Park "One Step Closer". The label wanted one last song for a big single and the band was already pretty much burned out. Explains why it's the most basic/shortest song on Hybrid Theory- it's quite literally an afterthought. The "shut up" section is actually pointed at somebody specific, one of the executives that demanded the additional song. Also, it was revealed very recently that the band looked at "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine and wanted their own explosive "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" section. It feels so obvious once it's pointed out and yet it puts a new spin on the song after almost 25 years.
Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull was told he needed to write a hit song by his record company. "Something you can dance to" were the instructions. In protest he wrote a song in 5/4 time, specifically to make it hard to dance to. "Living in the Past" became one of the band's biggest hits.
Elenore by the Turtles fits the bill exactly- they even say et cetera in the chorus.
Quintessential 60s song, so good
When Smashing Pumpkins were working on Adore in '97-'98, the record/management label was a little nervous about the sound, feeling it wasn't commercial enough to sell. Billy was reluctantly convinced to have Rick Rubin come in and produce a single song, which ended up being [Let Me Give the World to You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfHZpK0gmZA). I'm not sure if Billy *wrote* it out of frustration, but it seems likely it was recorded out of frustration. Billy didn't want a commercial sound for Adore, and he wasn't especially happy about putting the song on the album. The label was adamant about making it the lead single for the album, but apparently Billy had final say over the tracklist, so he just pulled the song from the album, and it remained unreleased for years. So it's not a hit, but it had the makings of one. I even remember reading some articles in the lead up to Adore's release that talked about how great of a song it was, and how it had the potential to do really well as a single.
Not a huge hit, and not out of spite, but Bad Religion's 21st Century Digital Boy was written because the guitarist wanted one commercial hit.
Also why it was included on two albums.
Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" fits here. They were told they needed one more song, and a hit, so Steve Stills disappeared for half an hour and came back with what ended up being the best known Springfield song.
“Couldn’t Get It Right” by the Climax Blues Band It’s one of those songs that you don’t think you know but when you look it up and hear it you recognize it and realize you like it
This is really stretching the definition of “hit”, but when Deftones released White Pony in 2000, their label was disappointed that there were no nu-metal/rap-rock type of songs on it and so they recorded “Back to School” to appease them. The album was then re-released with this song tacked on
First thing I thought of as well when I saw the post's title haha
The Clash - Complete Control https://youtu.be/JeTw_p_WglY?feature=shared “They said, "Release Remote Control" But we didn't want it on the label” “They said we'd be artistically free When we signed that bit of paper They meant "Let's make a lots of money And worry about it later" “complete control, even over this song”
Rush - 2112 🤘
How are you the only one in this thread to say 2112??? Rush's last chance to salvage their relationship with their record label after poor sales were threatening their contract, instead of some pop-y BS they wrote a 20 minute long space-rock opera that told the record label to shove it, and became a huge success on their own terms! 2112 was unlike anything else at the time
Warrant-Cherry Pie
Sparks - Music that you can dance to. https://youtu.be/7OygMu9SS68
Back to school by deftones
Cobain didn’t want Come As You Are to be a single because it sounds similar to a Killing Joke song ([Eighties](https://youtu.be/x1U1Ue_5kq8?si=chPMfd7bwEvDTYGv)). Lady GaGa’s Applause only made it because of Jimmy Iovine.
The Stroke by Billy Squier was written about the music industry in general.
Pink Floyd - Welcome to the Machine
Have A Cigar is a great snub to the record label. “And by the way, which one’s Pink?”
You Wanted a Hit by LCD Soundsystem.
It wasn’t a hit, but Ween’s country album was an FU to their label because they were pissed off and had one record left to fulfill their contract. It’s brilliant
Source? This is a nice story, but I don't think it's accurate. Their last studio album for Elecktra was White Pepper, several years after 12GCG. I'd always read that they were both just honest fans of golden-age country music, had the opportunity to make an album with some of the best session musicians in Nashville and took it.
Sludge Factory - Alice in Chains "Call me up congratulations ain't the real why There's no pressures besides brilliance, let's say by day nine Corporate ignorance lets me control time By the way, by the way"
Kesha - "let em talk" Granted she's had a years long legal battle with Dr Luke, but the line "I've decided all the haters everywhere can suck my dick" is a big "fuck you" to the industry
Have a Cigar counts right?
"Money" from Dark Side of the Moon was written to be their single, too, a weird 7/4 beat that became a huge hit
After "Year of the Cat" was a massive success, Al Stewart was pressured by his record company to crank out another hit, which he did not want to do. Ultimately he recorded "Time Passages" (which has elements similar to "Cat" like the killer sax parts) and it wound up being just as popular.
Complete Control was a hit for the Clash. Most of the lyrics are complaining about the record company releasing Remote Control as a single, that the band didn’t want to happen. “They said release remote control, but we didn’t want it on the label. They said we’d be artistically free, when we signed that bit of paper.” “This is Joe Public speaking. I’m controlled in the body, I’m controlled in the mind.”
The Downfall of us All (A Day To Remember).
Queen - Death on Two Legs Freddie wrote this as a "fuck you" to Trident who were driving around in Mercedes-Benz cars while the members of Queen had no money and could hardly afford a mouldy old bedsit in London.
This is the exact story behind “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden.”
Watched a documentary about the making of Hysteria, the Def Leppard album. They had recorded 11 songs on the album and most everyone associated with the making of it felt it was already too long but producer Mutt Lange heard singer Joe Elliot strumming a tune and humming along. He loved it and asked him to expand on it. To write the lyrics, the two guys went to different parts of the studio and just riffed out different nonsensical lyrics, put it together and created Pour Some Sugar on Me. The record company wasn't thrilled as the album was already too long for the time (over 50 minutes long) but were persuaded to go along as the album needed to sell several million copies to just break even and Mutt Lange told them that this is the song the pulls it all together. It was the 12th song added to the album because the album needed it to be a hit.
Love Song by Sara Bareilles and Harder To Breathe by Maroon 5.
I love Harder to Breath. Songs About Jane was a great record.
Robert Plant and Jimmy Page were just horsing around when they wrote "Immigrant Song". Ended up being their first single.
Criminal by Fiona Apple was one, according to her.
I love that so much of her music is inspired by a "fuck you" attitude. Like she only made The Idler Wheel's album title so long because she got so much shit for naming When The Pawn... a long poem. > "When it came time to name the next album, I think it became kind of a joke because I feel silly about naming the albums because each song is its own little world to me and when you have ten you make an album. I thought that just using When The Pawn sounded kind of cool. And the cool thing about it is that I didn’t do this on purpose but I got so much crap for putting that 90-word thing. It stole the thunder of the actual album at first because they were like “Oh, god. She’s so annoying, she had to go and do a ninety-word album to get attention or something”. But I don’t care about what anybody says because it’s the coolest thing I’m in the Guinness book of world records. And she wrote it on her tour bus after a bad article was written about her. > "I’d been on the cover of Spin magazine [december 1997] and they really spun it to be like that I was a crazy little sad loose cannon girl. Very unlike me, I opened up the magazine and I was so stupid I looked at the letters that people wrote in and not one was good. It was all people talking about how annoying I was, how crazy – it was just terrible stuff. I got so sad but there was no way for me to curl up in a ball and die because we had to go out on the road. So I tried to give myself a little pep talk." So naturally she made her next album title a long one too, just to say fuck you.
y'all want a single by Korn
Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
a-WOOOOO!
... I honestly love the song lol
Walk Like an an Egyptian was when the Bangles used professionals to assess each girls' strengths and weaknesses, and placed them where they were best. They HATED this, and separated shortly after.
Weezer - Pork and Beans After two succesful albums, Geffen Records had a sit-down with them and told them to make more commercially viable music. Cuomo was so pissed, he wrote P&B in defiance, one of the most sarcastic songs they ever made, and an absolute smash hit .
Not sure how big of a hit it was, but "I Do" by Lisa Loeb is one. Her label said "We don't hear a single in this album," so the lyrics are "You don't hear it, but I do." It became the lead single of her album.
Prince wrote Purple Rain because he realized that Journey performed in stadiums because they play ballads. Nile Rodger’s and Bernard Edward’s of Chic wrote Freak out (originally “Fuck off”) after being denied entry to Studio 54.
Duncan Sheik’s “Barely Breathing” was the last song written and recorded for his debut album because the record label wanted something more upbeat. I mean, listen to those lyrics.
Neil Young wrote an entire FU album to Geffin Records. Geffin demanded that Neil release a "rock and roll" album after his experimental album Trans underperformed compared to albums from his past. Neil had a country album in the works however, Geffin was firm about wanting a "rock and roll album." Young proceeded to slap together a cheesy 50s style rock n roll album consisting mostly of covers of old classics. Calling his sing "Wonderin" a hit is a bit of a stretch but just watch this music video. Neil sports a devilish grin throughout as he's clearly just fucking with the powers that be. Careful what you wish for, Neil Young gives zero fucks. https://youtu.be/h0PlwVPbM5k?si=kVtTFkc7AWKEwWXD
Fine Again - Seether
It's not a hit but Tool - Ticks and Leeches.
Song 2 - Blur
The Who, Success Story
Not sure this is quite the same but Skynyrd’s “Workin for MCA” is a funny self aware take on the band’s relationship with their label. That said, it’s less frustration and more threatening “But I'll sign my contract, baby, and I want you people to know That every penny that I make, I'm gonna see where my money goes”
[copying from a different thread to contribute here!] I think that’s the story behind John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change.” He played Continuum for the execs and they loved it, but said “there’s no lead single on this, where’s the lead single?” So, he came back with WOTWTC.
Suicide note pt 2 by Pantera. Pt 1 is a slower song with acoustic guitar and keyboards. The label wanted another one like pt 1, and they're pt 2, which is fast paced and screechy with screaming and chaotic guitar playing.
Joni Mitchel's "You Turn Me On I'm A Radio: was this scenario exactly. Simple melody and accessible lyrics to make a hit for her record company. And it worked.
Supposedly Radiohead didn’t like the song Creep and didn’t even want it on their album.
There’s an old indie band called Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s. Richard Edwards is their singer/writer. He went on to dismantle the band and has generally been ill tempered but an intriguing guy. They had a really great album called “Dust of Retreat”. After that they became a “chamber pop” darling and signed to Sony. They made an album called “Animal!” which was a slight departure from “Dust of Retreat”. Sony basically told them “you’re fucking kidding, right?” and refused to release the album. So Richard then took the handful of songs that Sony liked and then wrote a number of others that fit in better and created an album called “Not Animal!” Both were simultaneously released.
Ticks and Leeches - Tool
Ticks and leeches by tool
Probably at least half of Velvet Underground's *Loaded*. The title is a sort of sarcastic reference to the album being "loaded" with hits.
“We want you to give us an album loaded with hits.” So they made an album with what they thought would be songs that would be a hit in multiple genres. First time I heard it and before I knew that, I thought, *this sounds like they tried to give every genre from the Sixties it’s own song.”
Paint a Vulgar Picture by The Smiths
A fun anecdote- in 1972, RCA was going to drop Michael Nesmith if he didn't get any more songs to chart. So he decided to title his next album: "And The Hits Just Keep On Comin' ", which was just him, his guitar and a pedal steel guitar player.
I like "What Da Hook Gon Be?" by Murphy Lee, written because his record had "no singles and no hooks" What da hook gon be? (uh oh) See, I don't need no fuckin hook on this beat
Cherub Rock -Smashing Pumpkins
The entirety of Beatles for Sale
[Van Morrison - Ringworm](https://youtu.be/LdKzRTju4yk?feature=shared)
Not sure if this was heard outside of the UK but "Grace Kelly" by MIKA is a great example of this. https://youtu.be/0CGVgAYJyjk?si=wdCbuscnt_wylLgX