Neil’s Top 30 Songs That Didn’t Make The Australian Top 40
The national charts are an interesting creature. While, these days, the charts are much more the domain of marketing companies than record shops, back in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, the charts were managed on a state-by-state basis which meant that some songs made it to each of the state charts but not the national charts. Others were great songs, now that we turn back time, but weren’t as commercially successful as you might imagine.
In this countdown, Neil selects his favourite songs that, according to our reference book, didn’t make the Australian Top 40. How many of these would you include in your list?
- Khe Sanh – Cold Chisel
- Hotel California – Eagles
- Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
- California Dreaming – The Mamas and The Papas
- Leaps And Bounds – Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls
- California Girls – Beach Boys
- Be My Baby – The Ronettes
- True Love Ways – Buddy Holly
- Living In The 70s – Skyhooks
- Capricorn Dancer – Richard Clapton
- Pretty Vacant – Sex Pistols
- My Way – Frank Sinatra / Elvis Presley
- Born To Run – Bruce Springsteen
- (Until) Your Love Broke Through – Marcia Hines
- Romeo And Juliet – Dire Straits
- Dancing In The Street – Martha and The Vandellas
- Turn, Turn, Turn – The Byrds
- Stop In The Name Of Love – The Supremes
- You Are So Beautiful – Joe Cocker
- We’re All Alone – Boz Scaggs
- My Girl – The Temptations
- The Days Of Pearly Spencer – David McWilliams
- 12lb Toothbrush – Madder Lake
- Red Rubber Ball – The Cyrkle
- Living In The Past – Jethro Tull
- Go All The Way – The Raspberries
- She’s Gone – Daryl Hall and John Oates
- Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl) – Looking Glass
- My Cherie Amour – Stevie Wonder
- Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf
The next 10 cabs off the rank if we had taken it to number 40 – in chronological order:
- Do You Believe In Magic – The Lovin’ Spoonful – 1965
- Solitary Man – Neil Diamond – 1966 / 1970
- Windy – The Association – 1967
- Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple – 1973
- Letting Go – Paul McCartney & Wings – 1975
- The Killing Of Georgie – Rod Stewart – 1976
- More Than A Feeling – Boston – 1977
- You Make Loving Fun – Fleetwood Mac
- Night Moves – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – 1977
- Solsbury Hill – Peter Gabriel – 1977
As well, there are some songs that didn’t reach the charts when first released but did so on a subsequent release. For this reason, they are not included in the countdown – that said, they probably would have been included if they hadn’t been re-released:
- Please Please Me – The Beatles – number 54 in 1963 (reached number 32 in 1964)
- Hold On, I’m Coming – Sam and Dave – number 87 in 1966 (reached number 12 in 1968)
- Space Oddity – David Bowie – number 94 in 1969 (reached number 6 in 1974)
- Because I Love You – Masters Apprentices – number 42 in 1971 (reached number 25 in 1988)
- Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again – The Angels – number 42 in 1976 (reached number 23 in 1988)
Finally, one other song that won’t appear in the top 30 but probably would have under other circumstances is Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin. It didn’t chart because it was never released as a single!