Underrated songs by big name artists?

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  • Multimedia81Multimedia81 Posts: 82,474
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    Thank you Tortfeasor for your positive words and for choosing Wrapped Around Your Finger. A few others:

    Phil Everly/ Cliff Richard:- She Means Nothing to Me
    Howard Jones:- Pearl in the Shell
    OMD:- Forever Live & Die
    The Alarm:- Rain in the Summertime
    Roxette:- Almost Unreal
    Radiohead:- Karma Police
    Travis:- Flowers in the Window
    Shania Twain:- Ka-Ching
    Beyonce:- Halo
    Adele:- Set Fire to the Rain (Why does hardly anyone seem to agree this is her best song?)
  • rfonzorfonzo Posts: 11,771
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    Michael Jackson- Give in to me
    Madonna- Rain, Human Nature
    Blink 182- I Miss You
    Whitney Houston- Saving All Love
    Tupac- Temptations
    Outkast- Rosa Parks
  • Loz_FraggleLoz_Fraggle Posts: 5,757
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    Madonna - Dear Jessie
    Kylie - What Do I Have To Do?

    Dear Jessie is my favourite Madonna song, I also love the Sugababes' Follow Me Home, that along with Conversation's Over are my favourite Sugababes songs.

    The video for What the Water Gave Me, is great, especially the bit with Florence's magical sleeves, where they suddenly shoot up her arms!
  • Littlegreen42Littlegreen42 Posts: 19,963
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    Erm....does she sing about group sex?

    Nope, it was meant to be called Bang Bang - but that would cause confusion with the Nancy Sinatra song, apparently...
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,888
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    Hey Ya & Can't Let It Go - The Goo Goo Dolls
  • tortfeasortortfeasor Posts: 7,000
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    Thank you Tortfeasor for your positive words and for choosing Wrapped Around Your Finger...

    Not a problem! As I said in my other post, you had highlighted 4 of my favourite songs of the 2000s and it was particularly great to see 'Take Back The City' being suggested as an underrated song.

    You then went on to suggest some amazing 80s classics including 'Forever Live & Die' by OMD and 'Pearl in the Shell' by Howard Jones. What can I say? Fantastic!
    Oh, and let me be one who will agree with you that 'Set Fire to the Rain' is Adele's best song to date. It's not been given as much attention as 'Rolling in the Deep' and 'Someone Like You' and perhaps that's been a good thing in some ways though I don't think you can overplay 'Set Fire to the Rain.'

    I also really liked 'Look Mama' by Howard Jones, which is seldom heard. I seem to remember a clip of it being played on Popmaster a year or so ago.

    I love OMD. 'Messages' , 'Electricity' and 'Sailing on the Seven Seas' would be my contenders for some of their underrated singles - they're not underrated by fans of OMD but they're certainly often overlooked generally. I particularly love other versions of 'Messages' and 'Electricity' that they recorded. 'Souvenir' is one of those songs that should be on any best of 80s compilations.

    Whilst I'm on the subject of underrated 80s classics:

    Captain Sensible - Glad It's All Over

    Big Audio Dynamite - E=MC² - hope I can sneak this one in on account of the links with The Clash!

    Boomtown Rats - Banana Republic


    The Imposter (aka Elvis Costello) - Pills and Soap

    SOS Band - The Finest - may be familiar to some Kelis fans. It was their second of only 2 hit to get inside the UK Top 20 but what a song and it features excellent guest vocals from one Alexander O' Neal. I love pretty much everything Jam & Lewis produced in the 1980s.

    Loose Ends - Magic Touch

    Sade - Paradise - my favourite song by this group.

    Scritti Politti - The Word Girl

    Scritti Politti - Absolute - a great example of Arif Mardin's sound in the mid-1980s.

    Scritti Politti - Oh Patti (Don't Feel Sorry for Loverboy)


    Level 42 - Love Games

    EDIT: I initially put examples of underrated 80s classics which were not really from big name artists.
  • tortfeasortortfeasor Posts: 7,000
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    Nope, it was meant to be called Bang Bang - but that would cause confusion with the Nancy Sinatra song, apparently...

    And not to confuse it with the song of the same name by B.A. Robertson? A good song for this time of year no less too with the lyrics of verse 2.

    I can sort of understand why they decided to not call it (Madonna's song 'Gang Bang') 'Bang Bang.' The story within the lyrics is sort of similar. I love Cher's versions of 'Bang Bang' (the original, which I think was recorded before Nancy Sinatra's and the version she recorded in the 1980s, which was produced by Bon Jovi).
  • LW09LW09 Posts: 3,301
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    Adele:- Set Fire to the Rain (Why does hardly anyone seem to agree this is her best song?)

    I completely agree. I hate Someone Like You and Rolling in the Deep. I prefer her earlier stuff, Chasing Pavements etc.

    Florence & The Machine- Kiss with a Fist. Noone seems to know it by name but do when they hear it. Its a brilliant song, its a shame it never got more exposure other than the 4Music advert a few years back.

    No Doubt- Settle Down. Completely bombed when they released it earlier this year but easily one of their best songs.
  • Multimedia81Multimedia81 Posts: 82,474
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    Thank you LW09 for endorsing Set Fire to the Rain and Tortfeasor for endorsing this and other selections. As you are particularly pleased by Take Back the City, I am happy to recall it as my fave song of 2008 and estimated 11th fave of the decade. I also liked these and others from the artists in question:

    Look Mama (my 2nd fave Howie single)
    Electricity, and Sailing on the Seven Seas
    Glad It's All Over (and another Captain Sensible single Wot, especially the instrumental bit 2/3 of the way through)
    Banana Republic (and other Rats' songs Someone's Looking at You and House on Fire)
    Magic Touch
    Absolute

    I may yet add others. Watch this space!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 187
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    Katy Perry - Thinking of You
    Hurts - Devotion
    Scissor Sisters - Kiss You Off
    Kelly Clarkson - Don't Waste Your Time
    Maroon 5 - Give A Little More
    Robbie Williams - Advertising Space & Something Beautiful
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 720
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    Kylie Minogue - Some Kind Of Bliss
    Kelly Clarkson - Already Gone
    Janet Jackson - Every Time
    Will Young - I Just Want A Lover
    Melanie C - Weak
  • Hound of LoveHound of Love Posts: 79,896
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    Nope, it was meant to be called Bang Bang - but that would cause confusion with the Nancy Sinatra song, apparently...

    Or maybe she wanted to avoid confusion with the B A Robertson tune:D

    tortfeasor, great post, with a fab list of oldie-but-goodie tunes!
  • MiresiaVertetaMiresiaVerteta Posts: 1,242
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    To be fair, all of the "Echoes" album by Will Young has been underrated aside from the only hit "Jealousy" which radio stations STILL insist on playing! Do you ever think we're creating an environment of one big (lead) single, and ignore the rest?

    "Losing Myself" could have been massive! Wish "Runaway" was released.
  • tortfeasortortfeasor Posts: 7,000
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    Or maybe she wanted to avoid confusion with the B A Robertson tune:D

    tortfeasor, great post, with a fab list of oldie-but-goodie tunes!

    Cheers! Did you see my other post (#58), which was a few up from yours, mentioning the B A Robertson track too? It's a good one with Halloween coming up tomorrow. I think I may just listen to it tonight. The original video is just as quirky as the track itself.
  • TheWildHeartTheWildHeart Posts: 122
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    Kylie Minogue - Some Kind Of Bliss

    One of my favourite Kylie songs! Gutted it didn't make the top 20.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 117
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    Mariah Carey-H.A.T.E.U.
  • tortfeasortortfeasor Posts: 7,000
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    Thank you LW09 for endorsing Set Fire to the Rain and Tortfeasor for endorsing this and other selections. As you are particularly pleased by Take Back the City, I am happy to recall it as my fave song of 2008 and estimated 11th fave of the decade. I also liked these and others from the artists in question:

    Look Mama (my 2nd fave Howie single)
    Electricity, and Sailing on the Seven Seas
    Glad It's All Over (and another Captain Sensible single Wot, especially the instrumental bit 2/3 of the way through)
    Banana Republic (and other Rats' songs Someone's Looking at You and House on Fire)
    Magic Touch
    Absolute

    I may yet add others. Watch this space!

    That's great! 'Look Mama' is worthy of being a second favourite Howie single. I like 'Wot' too and know the bit you're referring to. I especially like the short instrumental break in 'Glad it's all Over' (my favourite anti-Falklands War song) from 1:51 to 2:06. It's very simple but I love that 80s sound. I'm pretty sure that's one of the parts of the song they used on Trigger Happy TV for some of the sketches.

    You've evidently got quite catholic tastes in music too if you can appreciate U2, Snow Patrol, Captain Sensible and still find time to like some Loose Ends and Scritti Politti.

    I'll be watching the space for any others you may add and it's especially nice to see someone else endorsing the Rats! The Boomtown Rats got a hard time on another thread I contributed to a few months ago but I think they made some great music - 'Someone's Looking At You' is a fine example.
    They had something to say in their songs and ultimately they sold a substantial number of records in 1978 to get two top 10 hits and a top 20 as well.

    Given that there were mean comments about the Rats on the other thread, I think it's fair to say some of their songs are underrated.:D My other favourites are ''Diamond Smiles,' 'She's So Modern,' 'Like Clockwork' and 'Lookin' After No. 1.' It's a shame that 'Rat Trap' and '...Mondays' have tended to dominate most people's impressions of them.
  • tortfeasortortfeasor Posts: 7,000
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    I'm off out shortly but I was going to mention 'Green Shirt' by Elvis Costello in one of my earlier posts this evening and forgot to do so! There's an underrated song by a big name artist if ever there was a good example. Taken from the same album as 'Oliver's Army.'
  • Barney06Barney06 Posts: 123,853
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    My favourite Clash track

    Hitsville UK

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1qeSpe46Hg
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 173
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    I always thought Happy by Leona Lewis was massively underrated. Even though it charted well it was branded another boring depressing ballad when actually it was a beautiful song about strength and taking chances in order to achieve your dreams!
  • joeseeksjoeseeks Posts: 1,022
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    Girls Aloud - Untouchable/The Loving Kind

    Katy Perry - Waking up in Vegas (I actually think it's one of her very best songs - Up there with Teenage Dream and much better than Wide Awake, Last Friday Night & Firework which were all massive songs)

    Britney Spears - Till the World Ends (I'm not much of a Britney fan but this is indeed one of the best pop songs of the past 5 years, it's fantastic and infectious. I wish it had been her lead single, could have been massive.)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 287
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    Most songs that Katy Perry has released off both albums have been bad choices I think most of my favorites are album tracks that should of been released!

    For example:

    Circle the drain - Best song off the Teenage Dream album by far!
    closely followed by Pearl and Who am I living for?

    and I'm Still breathing from the One Of The Boys album is a beautiful song.

    Although many of these can't be classed as underrated as they weren't released but i think they should of been!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 287
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    Kylie Minogue - Some Kind Of Bliss
    Kelly Clarkson - Already Gone
    Janet Jackson - Every Time
    Will Young - I Just Want A Lover
    Melanie C - Weak


    Already gone is an amazing song! Definitely well underrated!
  • tracystapestracystapes Posts: 3,309
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    Leona Lewis - Yesterday
    Lady Gaga - Judas
  • RepublicOfYorksRepublicOfYorks Posts: 3,013
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    Abba - Eagle, I've Been Waiting for You, I Wonder, Should I Laugh or Cry, If It Wasn't for the Nights

    Heart - Wild Child, There's the Girl

    Love these, I'd add Cassandra and Hey Hey Helen for ABBA and Magic Man for Heart.

    Cyndi Lauper - All Through The Night

    Joan Armatrading - All The Way From America

    U2 - October, In God's Country (the short ones that get neglected for the epics)

    Joe Jackson - Kinda Cute

    Billy Joel - Summer, Highland Falls

    Keane - Sunshine

    Culture Club - Victims

    Kinks - Wish I Could Fly Like Superman
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