Capitol Records 'A Kind Of Magic' US Singles Fail

No 'Who wants To Live Forever'
No 'Friends Will Be Friends'

Yes 'Princes Of The Universe'
Yes, and maybe the worst choice, 'Pain Is So Close To Pleasure'

What was going on with Capitol Records at that time? I know the soundtrack... but Princes Of The Universe, while a huge part of Highlander... it wasn't really a song that'd be a great single. I mean it should have been a single, but maybe at the end. Not a radio format track.

'Pain Is So Close To Pleasure' is alright, but in the USA for American buyers who usually preferred their hard rock stuff or ballads? Americans are very black or white... one or the other... something else, they get nervous.

I think both Friends Will Be Friends and Who Wants To Live Forever could have been fucking HUGE in the USA. Who Wants To Live Forever maybe could have been a bigger hit than A Kind Of Magic!

I was thinking about PISCTP and thought 'well, it was 1986 and that sound was in' and give Chain Reaction by Diana Ross as an example. Then I realised they are almost exactly the same :/

Wow, your right mate. Incredibly similar.

Putting Pain so close... as a single would only make you a sellout in the eyes of the people who know you are a rock band at the core.

I think it should have been considered. Nothing wrong with mixing it up a bit.

Good call on CHAIN REACTION

Not in the sense thaT it's a good song but I'm the sense it might have fit the template pretty well. Released as a then tribute to old school Motown on 11/28/85 and written by the Brothers Gibb....


Definitely explains a lot of their 80's filler. ...it was stolen from dance tracks.


Although WHAM! And others had brought back Motown into vogue that song is quite a bit similar. I've always defended it saying it would sound better with a girl group.

Dang.


As for complete plagiarism nah. This stuff is all a spin on HOW SWEET IT IS TO BE LOVED N YOU and the stuff written for the Supremes

I've been singing a weird mash up of PISCTP and Chain Reaction all day. They morph seamlessly into each other at so many points.

You and me both Dysan!

I think the single choices mostly work. You just never know what's going to work at a certain point. Nice to have different selections in different countries too. If a bit pricy if you're a collector.

The magic of the tracks 'that should've been a single' is that they retain kudos - rather than falling into the possibility of being a flop tarnishing them.

Ahem.
http://www.queenzone.com/forums/314322/pain-is-so-close-to-pleasure-.aspx?page=2

On the subject of singles, the album is too weak to generate more that 2 or 3 at best. Of course, sometimes poor songs equal successful singles -- there's no accounting for popular taste. But I see the 'experimentation' here of releasing different singles in different markets more as a recognition of the weakness of the songs rather than any bravery on the band's part.

Haha great minds and all that *thumbs up gif*

Should've put out AKOM bw PRINCES/dozen red

then WWTLF/GIMME/forever

Since 45's were kinda out of fashion already

I like A Kind of Magic as an album, I have a soft spot for it because it's a big part of my childhood, but objectively it's dated pretty badly, and it's not a strong singles album. Who Wants To Live Forever is not radio friendly, A Kind of Magic is great though, including the video, and I'm surprised One Vision wasn't a number one hit in the UK to be honest. Pain Is So Close to Pleasure, yeah it's total Diana Ross, but it's a nice song nonetheless. I think Friends will be Friends is pretty weak though. Princes of the Universe works well in the context of the film, it's very Freddie, but it's not a single. Gimme The Prize has an outrageously good vocal but it's not a single, and One Year Of Love is really not a song I ever rated. Don't Lose Your Head is meh.

I love the album, I don’t think it’s dated. 80’s sounding, but is that bad? If you listen to a track from the 60’s do you say, “that sounds terribly dated?” I don’t think music can sound dated... aside from Van Halen tracks.

I love ‘Friends Will Be Friends’ and I’m not sure why you think it’s weak.