Classic Songs That Were Never “Hits” [VIDEOS]

I've always been a big nerd when it comes to charts, record sales, etc. Here are some classic songs that you would think did really well on the charts, but didn't turn out to be the case. Some charted very low, some didn't chart at all.

Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated. This was released in August of 1978. Joey Ramone wrote the song in 1977 in result of being overworked by his manager and having to be in London at Christmas time. Here's a song that I've heard my whole life. It's still played frequently here on CYY, sporting events etc, Safe to call this one a classic, right? Oddly enough, it never hit the charts but landed at #145 on Rolling Stone's Top 500 Songs Of All Time. 

R.E.M. - It's The End Of The World As We Know It. Chances are you've heard this one too. The video features 15 year old Noah Ray rifling through and abandoned farmhouse. He received so much negative attention from schoolmates after appearing in the video, it would be one of the reasons he would eventually quit highschool. Noah had never heard of R.E.M. at the time of the video shoot. What was his favorite band at the time? Well that would be The Ramones.  The song was from the band's "Document" album in 1987 and released 26 years ago this past week. It only peaked at #69 on the charts.

Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime. This was the first single off of the bands "Remain In Light" album in 1981. It received a lot of play in the first year of MTV, which let's be honest, didn't mean a whole lot. It wasn't super difficult to get a video on MTV back in '81. Here was a brand new 24 hour music video channel, that needed as many videos in rotation as possible.Despite it's success on MTV, it never charted in the US. A similar story with I Wanna Be Sedated, you still hear this song fairly often. It was one of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century by NPR.