1 of 1- aflem
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The Opposites of Top 40 hits
I’ve done a number of these ridiculous “lists” over the past few weeks and if you’ll indulge me, here’s one more that I really like: the opposites of Top 40 rock.
These are songs whose titles seem to directly contradict each other. It would be great to hear some station play them back-to-back.
Here’s what I managed to come up with so far:
Uptown - Crystals
Downtown - Petula Clark
I Am Woman – Helen Reddy
I’m A Man – Spencer Davis Group
There Goes My Baby – The Drifters
Here Comes My Baby – The Tremeloes
Hello, Hello – Sopwith Camel
Goodbye – Mary Hopkin
(Not to mention Hello, Goodbye by The Beatles, which contains both in one song!)
Baby Come Back – The Equals
Go Now- Moody Blues
(Another tune that has a contradiction in a single title: Come Go With Me – Del Vikings)
I’m Free – The Who
Chains – The Cookies
And perhaps my favorite because it comes from the same legendary artist:
Tell Me Why - Beatles
Ask Me Why - Beatles
- Lorne
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Re: The Opposites of Top 40 hits
Smokey Robinson wrote My Guy, which was a #1 hit for Mary Wells in 1964. Then later in the year, he co-wrote My Girl (with Ronald White), and it became a #1 hit for The Temptations in 1965.
After Gary U.S. Bonds had a #5 hit with School Is Out, he released School Is In as a followup and it reached #28.
And to take this in a different direction, I thought it was interesting that after Dawn started having hit records in the early 1970s, there was a group called Dusk that had a minor hit here with I Hear Those Church Bells Ringing. I thought at the time that it might just be a coincidence, but eventually I read that Dusk was named after Dawn.
- aflem
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Re: The Opposites of Top 40 hits
I can't believe I missed the My Girl/My Guy one. That's a fantastic example and the fact that both were written by the same guy - Smokey Robinson, no less - makes it even better.
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