Mainers Favorite Classic Rock Song That Bombed On The Charts

You know the ones you love to sing along with? When they were first released as singles, nobody was around to care. Enjoy the weirdness:

"Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie (1981) - Maybe because it was on Queen's "Hot Space" album, the one where (at least here in America) they "lost the plot" with all that synthy-gimmickry. Super-catchy, yes, and in the U.K. it went to No. 1, but here in the good old U.S.A. nobody could be bothered with two of England's biggest acts teaming up for such a spectacular funk-opera. It stalled out at #29 on the chart.

"Hot For Teacher" by Van Halen (1984) - This one may just simply have been a victim of the success of its own album:  "Jump" was their first (and only) Number One single, with "Panama" and "I'll Wait" both going as high as #13. The seemingly unstoppable roll stopped when "Hot.." could only muster enough interest to make it chart as high as #56.

"Surrender" by Cheap Trick (1978) - God Bless these guys 'cuz Top 40 radio had no idea what to do with 'em no matter how cool they sounded. The "Cheap Trick At Budokan" bandwagon had yet to happen (that would take another entire year), so we're assuming it was Robin Zander's singing about Mommy and Daddy's joint-rolling exploits that kept the single from reaching any higher than #62.

"Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell" by Pink Floyd (1979) - Okay, you got "The Wall" album holding onto the No. 1 spot week after week after week after week...Then you got "Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)" going to the top of singles charts all over the world and an incredibly successful tour that went beyond anyone's dreams. These two tracks were released as single follow-ups to "Brick" and guess what? Neither one of 'em even charted!!! Selling over 20 million copies of "The Wall " here in the U.S. alone more than likely helped ease the pain.