Thanks Dennis for all the great info you have given to us it really means a lot!
Few questions about the band's singles.
1) Who chose the Straight singles the band or the record label and what do you think of Reflected and Shoe Salesman as choices? Personally the b side Return Of The Spiders seemed much stronger despite the poor production.
2) The Warner 45's. Who chose them band, Bob or the label.
3) Caught In A Dream has different vocals and some nice keyboards from Bob. What was the reason for the changes from the album version.
4) Under My Wheels had hit written all over it but didn't quite make it. Did Warner not get behind it or not know what they had in their hands?
5) What was it like seeing Schools Out race to No 1 in England.
6) No More Mr Nice Guy probably should have been the choice for the third single from BDB's but we got Hello Hurray which is not quite so catchy. Who made that decision and what did you think of the big edit in the song?
7) Halo of Flies was a hit single in Holland. Did you know about that and if so how did it come about?
The Singles
Moderators: Si, SickThings, Shoesalesman, Dreary
Re: The Singles
I have always felt that if I knew what a hit single was, 90% of what's on the radio wouldn't be there. Alice Cooper relied on experts for that - likely friends in the business considering Zappa wasn't interested in singles.
I might have chosen "Living" over "Reflected" but "Shoe Salesman" had a definite ending, where "Return of the Spiders" had the false ending and re-entry thing that isn't radio friendly.
Warner Bros., Jack Richardson, Bob, and likely some Disc Jockey friends were all a part of deciding what would be the best singles. "Eighteen" was an easy choice, but it broke out of Canada, so you never know.
I thought "Caught in a Dream" would have done better, and so did they. A hit single is so important that songs could be edited or whatever was needed to give the song a better chance.
They say, getting a hit single is very hard, then getting a second hit single is even harder, but then, if you can get a third, you've made it as an established artist.
I might have chosen "Living" over "Reflected" but "Shoe Salesman" had a definite ending, where "Return of the Spiders" had the false ending and re-entry thing that isn't radio friendly.
Warner Bros., Jack Richardson, Bob, and likely some Disc Jockey friends were all a part of deciding what would be the best singles. "Eighteen" was an easy choice, but it broke out of Canada, so you never know.
I thought "Caught in a Dream" would have done better, and so did they. A hit single is so important that songs could be edited or whatever was needed to give the song a better chance.
They say, getting a hit single is very hard, then getting a second hit single is even harder, but then, if you can get a third, you've made it as an established artist.