Five Second Singles That Rocked
When the follow-up single from an album is better than the lead single.
Thanks for spending part of your day with Michael’s Record Collection. This week’s issue has a theme topic rather than a record review, as I dive into some songs released as the second singles from their respective albums that I find more enjoyable than the lead singles from those same records. The idea here is not to find albums with terrible lead singles, but just the opposite — I intentionally picked albums with lead singles that I like a lot, but then they got bested by the album’s second hit (in my opinion…your mileage may vary).
I’ve chosen five such songs and listed them below, but I also spoke to Rob Alley and J.P. Moser from the excellent The Great Song Podcast and got their input. So, between the three of us, we’ve got five outstanding second singles. Rob and J.P. are approaching their 250th episode and they cover a lot of topics, but my favorites are when they talk to artists and break down individual songs to find out what makes them so great. My discussion with them can be seen in the video at the bottom of this issue, or you can hear it on episode 96 of the Michael’s Record Collection podcast.
Before I get to the five second singles that I’ve identified as being better than their predecessors, I’d like to ask all my readers for a favor that can benefit all who love live music: please take a few moments of your free time to write to your senators and representatives in Washington with this simple question:
“What are you doing to stop the attempted manipulation of the live entertainment market by Live Nation and Ticketmaster?”
That’s it. Short and simple. Let the people working for you in Washington explain to you what they’re going to do to stop the monopoly that is currently making live shows (concerts, sporting events, and family entertainment, such as Disney on Ice, etc.) unaffordable for all but the wealthiest. If you include real-life examples from your own personal experiences, that’s even better, but simply asking the question can help.
Quick explainer: since Live Nation acquired Ticketmaster, that combined corporate entity controls the primary and secondary ticket markets, allowing (and even encouraging and assisting) online scalping of tickets through their “verified resale” program. They get to add fees to tickets that have been sold and also to tickets being re-sold, so they are double-dipping. These tickets are often sold well above face value, which is scalping, even if it isn’t some shady-looking guy standing out in front of the arena with a huge wad of tickets fanned out in his hand. Now they’re called “ticket brokers” and it’s just as immoral for them to snatch up tickets and hold an artist’s true fans hostage. There have even been instances of some artists quietly buying their own tickets through such brokers, and then reselling them for more than face value through the verified resale process to increase revenue for both Live Nation / Ticketmaster and the artist!
Live Nation and Ticketmaster also control all the venues where nearly all of the acts of any significance perform — while working to acquire that same control in medium and smaller venues — and that not only causes increased costs to consumers (for example, their venue management usually includes taking a cut of merchandise sales, so artists feel they have to raise prices to avoid losing part of that revenue stream, which is how you get $50 t-shirt prices for shirts that cost very little to make), but it also limits choices that artists have in where to play and our ability as fans to see those artists without being extorted by the unreasonable fees that get tacked onto ticket prices.
Big thanks to all of you who take a moment to write to your senators and representatives. Your voice can still be heard, and you can bet that nothing will be done without making a bit of noise. Let your representatives know this isn’t acceptable or it’ll just be business as usual.
OK, with that said, let’s get to this week’s story.
When a band or record company release a new album, they obviously hope to sell as many units as possible — digital downloads, CDs, vinyl…whatever. In order to do that, they often release one to three tracks in advance of the album going on sale as a tease, building buzz and hype. The idea is to tantalize fans with a good song (or songs) to entice them to preorder the album or buy it from their retailer of choice, whether digital or brick-and-mortar.
In order to pull that off, they generally choose the most commercially pleasing songs on the album that would appeal to the widest possible audience. We’ve all heard the stories of record company representatives taking bands to task because they “don’t hear a single.” In other words, the idea is to present the best and most accessible track from the record first to drive those sales. Usually, that means the first single is the one the record company (or the independent band) believes in most. The first single is their swing for the fences and their attempt to pull you in.
There may be exceptions at times. Some albums may have multiple songs that can serve that purpose, so there may be opportunities to tease fans with a good song and then ramp up the excitement with an even better second single, but that seems unlikely in most cases, because poor initial single sales can result in scrapping a second single or pulling the promotional dollars for an album and using them somewhere else. The first one is usually the one they feel the best about.
And yet…
There are numerous instances throughout the history of popular music where an album’s second single does better in sales, and we all know from our own personal experience that there are instances in which we prefer the second single over the first.
This topic has been on my mind for a while, so I thought I’d share five examples of songs that were second singles from their albums that I prefer over the lead single — even though I like, or even love, that first released track.
For this exercise, I’m going in chronological order by the year the albums were released.
1. The Beatles – “Let It Be” (Released March 6, 1970)
The second single from the iconic band’s Let It Be album, the title track was released before the album (May 8, 1970). It was the second of three singles from the album, following “Get Back” (April 11, 1969) and preceding “The Long and Winding Road” (May 11, 1970). While there’s certainly nothing wrong with “Get Back,” which is a fantastic song in its own right, I simply prefer “Let It Be.”
Written and sung by Paul McCartney, “Let It Be” was inspired by a dream he had about his mother, who had passed away when he was a teenager. The dream occurred during the sessions for the band’s self-titled “white album.” The single version differs from the album version slightly, with the latter having an edgier guitar sound and producer Phil Spector’s chosen orchestral backing is higher in the mix. The B-side for the single was the oddball “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number).”
“Let It Be” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, and peaked at the top spot in the charts in Australia, Austria, Canada, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland, but it stopped at No. 2 in the Beatles’ home country.
As for why I prefer it to lead single “Get Back,” I just love the way Paul sings it. It’s one of his sweetest vocal performances and shows off the quality of his voice. I don’t care whether it’s a stripped-down, piano-only version or it has the full percussion, soft choir, orchestra, and harder/louder guitar in the mix, it’s a fantastic song. It’s just on another level than “Get Back” to my ears.
2. Kansas – “Dust in the Wind” (Released Jan. 16, 1978)
From the iconic Point of Know Return album, which Kansas released on Oct. 11, 1977, “Dust in the Wind” was the second of three singles from the record dropped by the sometimes-progressive, sometimes-AOR group. It followed the album’s title track (October 1977) and preceded the excellent and underrated “Portrait (He Knew)” (May 1978). The single’s B-side was “Paradox.”
“Dust in the Wind” was born out of a finger-picking exercise guitarist Kerry Livgren was practicing. The story goes that his wife liked the melody and encouraged him to write lyrics for it. Livgren wrote lyrics about mortality and the inevitability of everything on the planet eventually returning to dust. What a happy topic!
Steve Walsh’s vocal performance is one of his finest. It’s earnest and vulnerable, perfectly suiting the lyrics.
The song peaked at No. 6 on both Billboard’s Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts and reached No. 3 on the Cashbox Top 100. It reached No. 1 on Canada’s adult contemporary chart. As of last year, it was a triple platinum single in the United States.
A different kind of song from just about anything Kansas ever did, what sets “Dust in the Wind” above the preceding single for me — and puts it among the best songs in the band’s history — is Livgren’s beautiful guitar work and Walsh’s incredibly emotional vocal performance. Walsh just flat-out sells this song, which could have been overwrought in less talented hands. And when the harmony vocal from Robby Steinhardt kicks in, the song soars to new heights. It’s one of those rare songs that can bring tears to my eyes just about every time I hear it.
3. Men at Work – “Down Under” (Released Nov. 2, 1981)
When we first heard from Australian pop-rock outfit Men at Work, it was from the band’s debut single “Who Can It Be Now?” from the Business as Usual album. That first single came out in June of 1981. Second single “Down Under” also came out prior to the album, as Business as Usual dropped a week after the second single, on Nov. 9, 1981. The second of three singles from the album, “Down Under” preceded “Be Good Johnny,” which came out months later, in April of 1982. The B-side for “Down Under” was “Crazy” in Australia and North America and album track “Helpless Automaton” in Europe.
Written by lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Colin Hay and lead guitarist Ron Strykert, the song is undeniably Australian. The lyrics contain slang terms, allusions to drug use, and the introduction to most Americans of something called ‘vegemite.’ It’s catchy and took off in the U.S. largely for its funny video, which received heavy airplay on MTV.
Hay has said in interviews that “Down Under” has some subtle political undercurrents in regard to his feelings on the perceived Americanization and overdevelopment of Australia at that time. There was a feeling that Australia was losing some of its unique identity. There’s an odd ending to the video that is symbolic of that element of the song, as the band marches across sand dunes dressed in white, while others (the band again? roadies? friends and family? extras?) follow in black garb, carrying what looks like a travel case for gear in the manner of pallbearers bringing forth a casket. Given what coffins cost and the budget for promotional videos in those days, symbolism was probably an efficient substitute for the real thing.
Lead single “Who Can It Be Now?” told a catchy musical story of a recluse, hiding from the outside world in his apartment, with an infectious saxophone riff from Greg Ham. It was a great pop song. But “Down Under” really elevated the band from potential one-hit wonder status to a group to be reckoned with. It’s got an infectious chorus, is a fun sing-along song, and gets stuck in your head, but not in a cloying way.
Ironically, and somewhat tragically, Ham’s flute riff, which catches the ear in the best way, turned out to be a mixed blessing. The melody he played was too close to 1932 song “Kookaburra” by Marion Sinclair, and that song’s rights holder, Larrikin Music, sued Men at Work over its inclusion. It’s something that likely never would have even come to light had a televised trivia show not pointed it out, drawing Larrikin Music’s attention. The stress of the lawsuit was a problem for those in the band and Ham reportedly fell into depression and alcohol abuse over thoughts of being perceived as a plagiarist for something he thought he’d created. Hay has said in interviews that he believes the stress of the lawsuit led to a spiral of events that culminated in Ham’s death by heart attack in 2012.
The song itself is a perfect pop song. It reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, and Top Tracks charts, as well as the Cashbox chart. It also peaked at No. 1 in six other countries, including the band’s native Australia.
4. Def Leppard – “Women” (Released Aug. 25, 1987)
I imagine this is the one on my list that might get the most pushback, but that’s OK. This is a subjective subject (as is music, in general). It is also the slimmest margin between first and second single on this list, for me. Already a big-name band, Def Leppard hit superstar status with the release of the band’s Hysteria album on Aug. 3, 1987.
Lead single “Animal” dropped ahead of the album on July 20, 1987. “Women” was the opening track on the album and the second of an incredible seven singles, followed by “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” That latter smash hit was released just 13 days after “Women,” on Sept. 8. Subsequent singles included the title track, “Armageddon It,” “Love Bites,” and “Rocket.” The B-side for “Women” was “Tear It Down,” which the band re-recorded and used later on the Adrenalize album. “Women” was the only one of the album’s seven singles not to appear on Def Leppard’s hits compilation, Vault.
Written by Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Phil Collen, Steve Clark, and Mutt Lange, the song only reached No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 7 on the Mainstream Rock chart. Whether that’s because it was simply not well received or because the release of “Pour Some Sugar on Me” cut its legs out from under it, I couldn’t say, but it’s a much better song than a No. 80 hit.
The lyrics throughout the Hysteria album aren’t great, but on “Women” they are particularly problematic, as there is a clumsy attempt to get somewhat Biblical with regard to the origin of man and woman. It’s a poor paraphrasing of the book of Genesis if we’re being honest. However, the song itself is incredibly infectious and it rocks. Elliott sings the hell out of it and Lange piles on layers of the typical production sheen for which he’s known.
Although I like it better than “Animal,” it’s by a razor thin margin. I don’t love the spoken word part in the middle of “Animal,” so that’s probably what gives the slim edge to “Women” for me.
5. R.E.M. – “Man on the Moon” (Nov. 9, 1992)
From my favorite R.E.M. album, Automatic for the People, “Man on the Moon was the second of six singles. “Drive” kicked things off on Sept. 21, 1992, preceding the release of the album on Oct. 5 of that year. In a strange coincidence, I liked each single from Automatic for the People more than the previous one as they came out, and I still do to this day. Those other singles included “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite,” “Everybody Hurts,” “Nightswimming,” and “Find the River.” That last one is my favorite song in the band’s entire catalog.
The B-side to “Man on the Moon” was album track “New Orleans Instrumental No. 2.”
Vocalist Michael Stipe wrote the lyrics and drummer Bill Berry and guitarist Peter Buck wrote the music for “Man on the Moon,” although, as was the band’s custom, the whole R.E.M. lineup got writing credit.
As much as I love “Drive,” the album’s second single is just utterly fantastic. The catchy chorus, the slidey guitar work, the incredible vocal work going on throughout the song in the background, and Stipe’s lead vocal all jell together so nicely. I think there might be some mandolin in there, but it could just be another guitar. The backing vocals fly in from seemingly everywhere (listen to it on a good set of headphones!), with the beautiful harmony on the word “moon” in the chorus helping to make it an amazing song.
There you have it. Those are five second singles that I find better than the lead singles from their album — even though I love those lead singles. It’s easy to find a second single you like better if you hate the first single, but that’s what makes this such a fun topic. I looked around and found songs I liked a lot, but then the bands’ second singles somehow managed to top them.
What second singles can you think of off the top of your head that you prefer over the album’s lead single, even though you liked that first hit? Send me an email and let me know some of your faves.
For my discussion with Rob and J.P. about The Great Song Podcast and to see what interesting picks they came up with for their favorite second singles, check out the video below. Between the three of us, there was a good variety of different types of songs and artists that fit into this category. We also discussed their podcast, how it started, and some of the guests they’ve had. Find out more about their show at greatsongpodcast.com.
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