Songs with a life of their own : Wed Sep 18, 2013 6:01 pm  

I'm biased to this band I know but who isn't biased to something. This song has already been mentioned in another thread but it got me thinking.

The track was written in 1969 and although the lead track of a classic album it was not a single. For many years it was a fans and critics favourite but generally got little airplay and remained a relatively obscure track compared to the bands more well known charts hits - of which there were many.

Then some years back the AA and a well known Hollywood Director used the track in an add and a film and suddenly the track began to get noticed.

In the years that have followed it's been used on countless films, remixes, covers and other things. It is the bands most downloaded track apparently. It is also the bands song most likely to be on someones iPod - for most it will be the only track they have from a band they generally have little interest in.

The track is the Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter.

My question is are there any other records like this.

WE ARE NOT TALKING ONE HIT WONDERS HERE BUT SONGS FROM ESTABLISHED ARTISTS.

The two that I can think of are "Perfect Day" Lou Reed - the story of which is almost identical to Gimme Shelter.

and

Heroes by David Bowie.

Any others ?

Re: Songs with a life of their own : Thu Sep 19, 2013 11:41 am  

Stuck in the Middle with You ?

Tarantino brought it back in Reservoir Dogs and all of a sudden it was everywhere with cover versions in the charts

Re: Songs with a life of their own : Wed Sep 25, 2013 5:30 pm  

Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros, used by countless TV programme makers, heard by nearly everybody in the country, yet most of those people wouldn't have the foggiest who its by or what it is called.

The band themselves have even christened it 'the Money Song', purely on the regularity of its use and the amount of cash it has made them in royalties.

Re: Songs with a life of their own : Fri Oct 04, 2013 12:14 pm  

Chris28 wrote:

Stuck in the Middle with You ?

Tarantino brought it back in Reservoir Dogs and all of a sudden it was everywhere with cover versions in the charts

By Stealers Wheel I believe.

Re: Songs with a life of their own : Fri Oct 04, 2013 3:46 pm  

Dita's Slot Meter wrote:

Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros, used by countless TV programme makers, heard by nearly everybody in the country, yet most of those people wouldn't have the foggiest who its by or what it is called.

The band themselves have even christened it 'the Money Song', purely on the regularity of its use and the amount of cash it has made them in royalties.

Can't say i've heard that before and will be glad to never hear it again, i have known of this group long before pretentious hipsters made them semi famous, i didn't like them then and i don't now

Re: Songs with a life of their own : Fri Oct 04, 2013 7:56 pm  

Baked Bean Boogie wrote:

Can't say i've heard that before and will be glad to never hear it again, i have known of this group long before pretentious hipsters made them semi famous, i didn't like them then and i don't now

I guess somebody who has a liking for Judas Priest is always going to be capable of spouting nonsense when it comes to musical matters...

Re: Songs with a life of their own : Fri Oct 04, 2013 8:42 pm  

Dita's Slot Meter wrote:

I guess somebody who has a liking for Judas Priest is always going to be capable of spouting nonsense when it comes to musical matters...

think what you like, my musical tastes are very diverse

Re: Songs with a life of their own : Fri Oct 04, 2013 9:47 pm  

Baked Bean Boogie wrote:

think what you like, my musical tastes are very diverse

Nothing wrong with diverse - However, you need to accept that other people's tastes are equally diverse and won't always be the same as yours, so to simply slag them off as pretentious surely just makes you equally pretentious??...

Re: Songs with a life of their own : Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:56 am  

Don't Stop Believin' by Journey has to be in there. Didn't even reach the top 40 in the UK singles chart when released in 1981. Featured in a few films in recent years with no real recognition but gained high profile press coverage when it was used in the final scene of The Sopranos. Cue its rise in popularity, its use in Glee and various X-Factor versions which has made it the top-selling catalog track in iTunes history, and you have Journey making an absolute fortune from a song first released over 30 years ago. Ask the majority of people who love this song if they could name another Journey song and you would probably be met by a blank look on their face.

Re: Songs with a life of their own : Tue Apr 21, 2015 2:51 pm  

Hallelujah?

Grace is a truly brilliant album, yet most people will only know of Jeff Buckley via that song (that wasn't even his) after it was picked up by the reality shows.