The Hits they turned down

Do you know any Singers/ Bands that turned down a song that was then a hit for someone else ?

I know Britney turned down both Umbrella and Telephone which were then huge hits for Rhianna and Lady Gaga

and apparently Janet Jackson turned down both I Wanna Dance With Somebody and How Will I Know both recorded by Whitney

We found love by Calvin Harris with Rihanna on vocals was originally offered to Nicole Shirtswinger

Call Me was originally planned with Stevie Nicks in mind but Debbie Harry ended up working on it.

I think Stevie Nicks was also suppose to record These Dreams which then went to Heart

Cliff Richards was originally offered Smack My B*tch Up but turned it down and the Prodigy took in on instead.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:Cliff Richards was originally offered Smack My B*tch Up but turned it down and the Prodigy took in on instead.

Incorrect - he did actually record it back in 1964 with the Shadows. It was a B Side to "Its Chico Time"

Apparently Gareth Gates turned down Leave Right Now, which went on to be a huge hit for Will Young. God only knows how I know such a thing.

Rowley wrote:Apparently Gareth Gates turned down Leave Right Now, which went on to be a huge hit for Will Young. God only knows how I know such a thing.

Didn't your mum know someone in Hearsay or One Direction or something like that? She sold a cat or a mule to one of them or something along those lines?

You're the 606v2 'go-too' man for pop music.

No Tina, you forgetting this is as hurtful as people forgetting your grasshopper vs hornet story. My mum mated one of her dogs with Mark from Westlife's dogs.

Rowley wrote:No Tina, you forgetting this is as hurtful as people forgetting your grasshopper vs hornet story. My mum mated one of her dogs with Mark from Westlife's dogs.

That's the one. In fairness, Jeff, it was some time ago that you dropped this particular musical bombshell.

That reinforces your image as the 'go-too' man for manufactured pop music.

I'm the go to guy for all musical knowledge Tina, except hip hop and METAL both of which are absolutely foreign worlds to me.

Rowley wrote:hip hop and METAL both of which are absolutely foreign worlds to me.

Same here. I desperately tried to understand Dave and his METAL crew but he rather hurtfully ignored me. I get the feeling they are not the most inclusive bunch.

Hip-Hop hasn't been the same since Boney M stopped playing.

Agree about Dave and his metal types. I have tried to engage him in conversations about EUROPE before and he does not seem in anyway interested. I have similar problems with Hip Hop as I do with Mayweather. I really don't care how much people paid for their watches.

Rowley wrote:No Tina, you forgetting this is as hurtful as people forgetting your grasshopper vs hornet story. My mum mated one of her dogs with Mark from Westlife

 

Il Gialloblu wrote:

Rowley wrote:No Tina, you forgetting this is as hurtful as people forgetting your grasshopper vs hornet story. My mum mated one of her dogs with Mark from Westlife

 

Well spotted IG. Which was the bitch, jeff?

Mark from Westlife's was the bitch. Surprised nobody has asked me this sooner, really adds depth and colour to what was already a zinger of a story.

Rowley wrote:Mark from Westlife was the bitch. Surprised nobody has asked me this sooner, really adds depth and colour to what was already a zinger of a story.

 

Don't edit the story to make it look ridiculous Il, this is my number one anecdote. Without this my whole conversational arsenal is reliant on whoever I am speaking on giving a flying one about Charley Burley.

Sorry Jeff. I thought it was funny the first time.
 
And then even funnier the second.
 
I'm short of celebrity encounter anecdotes myself. I once might have told a girl from Hollyoaks where to get a decent burger in a rural southern Chinese town but I'm not sure if it was her or not. I only thought it might've been after she'd gone.
 
Michaels would despair at me missing the opportunity to end up not banging her. I hope he doesn't read this.

Il Gialloblu wrote:
 
Michaels would despair at me missing the opportunity to end up not banging her. I hope he doesn't read this.

I'm yet to be convinced that michaels should be held up as some sort of a celebrity shagometer, Gia.

So far it amounts to the au pair of a famous person and a quick grope on the dancefloor with the chunky girl from Eastenders.

He is hardly Calum Best is he.

I once met the double take brother who was not Harry Enfield in a night club in Magaluf, I tend to save that though for the unlikely event my Westlife story has not knocked them bandy.

In the brief period I was at university, I managed to meet someone who claimed to have snogged Melinda Messenger on a beach in Southsea, Portsmouth.

Could well of been a lie though.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Il Gialloblu wrote:
 
Michaels would despair at me missing the opportunity to end up not banging her. I hope he doesn't read this.

I'm yet to be convinced that michaels should be held up as some sort of a celebrity shagometer, Gia.

So far it amounts to the au pair of a famous person and a quick grope on the dancefloor with the chunky girl from Eastenders.

He is hardly Calum Best is he.

 
I agree, Tino. Hence 'missing the opportunity to end up not banging her'.   

Il Gialloblu wrote:

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Il Gialloblu wrote:
 
Michaels would despair at me missing the opportunity to end up not banging her. I hope he doesn't read this.

I'm yet to be convinced that michaels should be held up as some sort of a celebrity shagometer, Gia.

So far it amounts to the au pair of a famous person and a quick grope on the dancefloor with the chunky girl from Eastenders.

He is hardly Calum Best is he.

 
I agree, Tino. Hence 'missing the opportunity to end up not banging her'.   

Clever.

I nearly spilled two pints on Ian "Beefy" Botham at the SCG. Didn't shag him though.

Apparenltly Jimmy Osmond turned down..........."God save the Queen" and "Pretty vacant" by the Sex pistols....

Donny Osmond did turned down .... Ben which gave Micheal Jackson his first solo no.1

Michael Jackson in turn turned down "Rock your Body", which gave Justin Timberlake his first snash hit.

If Timberlake was crossing the road I think i'd put my foot on the gas............

T.L.C turned down Hit Me Baby One More Time. Miss Spears didn't do to badly with it.

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez went on to drive her jeep into a tree. Hits all around.

Springsteen gave away 'Because the night' and 'Fire' to artists that I care a lot less about.

Dylan wrote and then gave up on Wagon Wheel which has became a very popular song in the last 2 years.

Manfred Mann never would have had a career If it wasn't for Dylan

They made their money from a cover of subterranean homesick blues!

Frank Ocean turned down a song he wrote "Bigger", for Justin Bieber. The song isn't a smash hit. But it does have a cult status as one of very few male R&B songs which is openly about a male on male love affair.

There was an unknown band from Liverpool who turned down "How Do You Do It?" only to let another band of Scouses make a hit of it.

Interesting idea for a thread. Anyway, not so much a hit that someone turned down, but a dude called Andy Wickett sold a song he wrote (and its rights) "Girls on Film" to the remaining members of Duran Duran before they became famous for £600. Needless to say, I bet he's kicking himself now given that its one of their biggest hits and he gets nothing from it.

Madonna almost didn't record "Like A Virgin" because Nile Rogers (who was her producer at the time) turned it down at first cause he didn't think it was suitable for her, but then changed his mind later on when he couldn't get the hook out of his mind. Speaking of people not liking famous songs, Jon Bon Jovi didn't like "Livin' On A Prayer" originally, but then Ritchie Sambora messed around with it and persuaded him otherwise...not sure if that's a good or bad thing!

Kylie Minogue turned down "Toxic" which later became a massive hit for Britney Spears. Having said that, both S Club 7 and Sophie Ellis-Bextor turned down Kylie's big hit "Can't Get You Out of My Head" which was also written by Cathy Dennis as was "Toxic".

WhiteCamry wrote:There was an unknown band from Liverpool who turned down "How Do You Do It?" only to let another band of Scouses make a hit of it.

Didn't The Beatles turn it down, so they could release their own song? Not sure who had it.

CANNIBAL CORPSE's "She was asking for it" was turned down by Arthur Mullard whose people came up with the pathetic excuse that he'd died about twenty years earlier.

Rowley/Tina, I'm upset by your belief that I am unwilling to allow you to join the metal fraternity. I'm more than happy to give you a few pointers despite the nagging insistance that you'd just take the mick.

The Supremes (who might have been Diana Ross and the Supremes by that point) turned down 'I Want You Back', so it was given to new Motown signings the Jackson Five. The record did quite well.

Cari wrote:Kylie Minogue turned down "Toxic" which later became a massive hit for Britney Spears.  Having said that, both S Club 7 and Sophie Ellis-Bextor turned down Kylie's big hit "Can't Get You Out of My Head" which was also written by Cathy Dennis as was "Toxic".

I heard Gloria Estefan turned down CGYOOMH?

Pretty sure Tom Petty turned down the Don Henley hit Boys of Summer. I believe the tune was written by Mike Campbell the Heartbreakers guitarist who offered it to Tom first who didn't think much of it.

I heard Micheal Jackson was offered boys boys boys back in the 80's but it was turned down for some reason, it went on to become a massive 80's antham for Sabrina.

true story

FreekShow wrote:T.L.C turned down Hit Me Baby One More Time. Miss Spears didn't do to badly with it.

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez went on to drive her jeep into a tree. Hits all around.

Not very classy Mate..

Michael Jackson so did not turn down that song as if!