mrblue wrote: Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:34 pm
Not quite true: you forgot Take A Chance On Me (and WNLLT Hamburg Mix, though it went unnoticed in the US).
I did. However, I don't recall Elektra pushing that EP like Always, but anyhoo...
mrblue wrote: Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:34 pmI have to agree with Mikey that RttS isn't what US radio wanted by that time. By 1994, there was only going to be room for 1 Erasure song on the radio, if any, so it had to be Always. RttS was just too dancy and uptempo compared to poppy, mid-tempo Ace of Base and the like. It seemed like "dance" music existed on another plane from Erasure (think, What Is Love and all that unce-unce-unce kind of stuff). I know it's not that cut & dry of course, but after Nirvana/Pearl Jam/Smashing Pumpkins, the US got very picky about what electronic music they'd allow. It sucked! Even DM, who were/are wildly more popular were being shunned by US radio and it was really only the devotion of the fans that kept them popular here until PTA-era/Precious.
Well, I sadly agree there was only room for one track, but my argument has been that was due to how much Elektra was going to spend. In fact, you kinda make the point with so much crap on rotation in '94. Money is what got it there. My opinion then, and it still holds true for me, is that RTTS's bpm would have carried it far enough that there would have been the audience for a second single to make radio then.
mrblue wrote: Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:34 pmAnother point we all likely agree on is that Always is just a better song. You always want to put your best song out there first. At the time, Always just seemed like the right song at the right time (spring) with RttS coming later at it's right time (summer). It all just made sense. Should have been a perfect formula for success as far as I'm concerned!
We all agree about Always being better, but I believe you're wrong about best first. At times, it's almost even the rule
not to put the strongest first, but that seems more in keeping with established artists whose singles have a fair shot on the whole. Budgeting out promotion, sandwiching the strongest track between two less certain ones can give all three a fair shot, while one may not be worth release if released according to strength. Looking back at singles and albums from many artists, you can see this theory in action. It's the smaller artist, especially on the smaller label, that has to put first best.
I do agree about the seasonal nature of the tracks, at least the art, as Blues Away was going to have that Winter art. That kind of schedule may work better in the UK, but we always screw things up over here.
