Albums that spawned four or more hit singles, yet are more or less completely forgotten by now

The one album that inspired me to start this thread is "Silk & Steel" by Five Star. The album contained no less than six singles. Out of those, five made the UK Top 10 while one stalled at #15. An impressive commercial feat even in the 80s where multiple hit singles from albums was usual.
And yet, the album is largely forgotten today, long since deleted and hardly ever mentioned by anyone.

Other examples are "Running In The Family" by Level 42 (four top 10 singles and one that reached number 22) and "Close" by Kim Wilde (initial single "Hey Mister Heartache" flopped although it was massive here in Norway - the next three were all huge Top 10 hits)

Any other albums like these?

"The Wedding Present Hit Parade"

Twelve hits. Can anyone beat that?

LOL. Probably not. Although it was a compilation, really. Kind of. :)

1977 by Ash?

at least 5 singles, I think maybe 6?

This album sold 1.5 million copies in the UK in 1993 and she won the Brit for best female solo artist but I doubt if anyone would recognise her if she passed you on the street.

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Exposé's second album What You Don't Know:

"What You Don't Know" #8
"When I Looked at Him" #10
"Tell Me Why" #9
"Your Baby Never Looked Good in Blue" #17

Their first album also spawned four hits, all top ten, but if people remember Exposé at all it´s for the songs on the first album.

How many people remember the Jets? It's hard to say. But their second album Magic spawned these four:

"Cross My Broken Heart" #7
"I Do You" #20
"Rocket 2 U" #6
"Make It Real" #4

The Jets: Classic or Dud?

M People - Bizarre Fruit

Thanks to Strictly Come Dancing we're being reminded of M People every freaking week at the moment.

When was the last time anyone listened to Culture Club's "Colour By Numbers?"?

In my case, probably 25 years.

What about Ten Good Reasons by Jason Donovan - biggest selling album of 1989 in the UK, four hit singles including three number ones, currently out of print.

I think this is all gonna be pre-1990 stuff, because generation wiki has a habit of canonizing everything.

m people also get trotted out every year as the example of when the mercury prize got it wrong

also i remember dina carroll and wish i had an mp3 of 'don't be a stranger' in my itunes right now

4 top 20 hits, Brit award
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i bumped into shola outside the crazy cousinz' studio the other week!! i got really starstruck and told her i'd listened to her music in school which in retrospect wasn't tactful, but she was a sweetheart. she wasn't even there to record music, she was having a fag while her sister finished off her vocals inside. shola did some good r&g tracks a few years back though.

What about All Saints? In Canada it's hard to get an idea of how vividly they burned out in the UK but I remember so much hype when I Know Where It's At came out, and the few songs after it..

they were big in the uk for quite a while after that though.

Few songs after it? Three years of hits, mate, including four number ones, and a slight return a couple of years ago as well. Qualitatively the best run of UK girl group hits ever.

Are their songs used as material for potential X-Factor contestants? Yeh? Then they aren't forgotten.

Haven't heard too many All Saints interpretations in this current series. Mainly because Cowell doesn't own the copyright on them.

Oh, I was purely guessing. (No, I hadn't thought there'd be any)

OK, mothers of kids who seem to email me whenever I mention junior St3rs in their eyez.. Just get yr kids to go on the show singing 'A moment like this", and at least SCowell will tell the kids they're crap on-camera...

There are a few that spring immediately to mind, mostly early 80's pop stuff, eg Thompson Twins Quick step and side kick and Into the Gap. Also The Riddle by Nic Kirshaw, Human's Lib by Howard Jones, Men at Work's cargo album was huge at the time but can't imagine it's a big seller on cd nowadays, even at budget price.

Wonder stuff, er, Gary Glitter's greatest hits?

And so we get to the good old "list that M&VE won't have at any price" big sellers list:

Paul Young "No Parlez"
Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms"

etc...

Sorry guys, as I said in Canada they virtually disappeared after the first album. Didn't intend to offend all you sycophants!! FYI TLC was the best girl group ofthe 90s ;) Ahh, but they weren't UK, I'll give you that..

haha i was about to agree wholeheartedly there and then i suddenly remembered that en vogue and destiny's child were 90s too and my brain fused at the goodness

Eternal - Always & Forever

Michael Jackson- Bad and Dangerous

Not as much forgotten as completely overshadowed by Off The Wall and Thriller

Fine Young Cannibals, Raw and the Cooked.

REO Speedwagon - Hi Infidelity]

Jagged Little Pill?

Ace of Base, "Happy Nation"

Nickelback, "All the Right Reasons". Seven singles. I desperately hope they'll be forgotten in the near future.

Garbage - Version 2.0, another charity shop staple. Five top 20 hits, three of which got to no. 9...

The Jets' "Make It Real" is a great karaoke ballad... neverforget.jpg

Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam?

Journey's Raised on Radio.

Michael Bolton's Time, Love, and Tenderness.
Jody Watley's Larger Than Life

I can't imagine that "Brothers in Arms" is forgotten.

How about "Push" by Bros?

Who can forget Michael Bolton?

Journey's Raised on Radio.

^^ does this count if a relevant best-of is still doing solid business?

jody watley is a good answer tho

Repeat Offender

Repeat Offender

oooh good one!

actually, Richard Marx's Rush Street is a better one. I disqualify RO: some dickwad in the student lounge is always playing "Right Here Waiting" on the piano.

http://franklarosa.com/vinyl/BigImg/wc.jpg

Cathy Dennis, Move To This

I love all three hits!

"Too Many Walls" is one of my favorite slushy ballads of the early nineties.

Debbie Gibson -- "Out of the Blue"

Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits. Also, all (six? seven?) Scooter albums.

I think this is all gonna be pre-1990 stuff, because generation wiki has a habit of canonizing everything.

I guess you could make a case for Ace Of Base's "Happy Nation" and Aqua's "Aquarium" though. And perhaps also the first couple of Spice Girls albums. But particularly Aqua and Spice Girls were so massive that they will remain remembered as phenomenons if not neccessarily for making great music. Plus "Barbie Girl" remains a classic video.

I think it is stretching it a bit to mention "Brothers In Arms" and "Bad" in this thread though. Both occasionally show up in best albums of all time lists.

But Five Star are still unique. I mean, they were massive. Lifting three top 5 hits from one album in less than a year is no less than impressive. And yet, they are hardly remembered as a phenomenon even today and I think the album has been deleted for years. I checked a couple of Norwegian online shops and even compilations by them are import only here.

While I've noted the occasional (and completely warranted) outburst of love for Technotronic, C & C Music Factory's comparable, and vastly more commercially successful, Gonna Make You Sweat does not seem to have aged nearly as well.

How about Space – 'Spiders' and 'Tin Planet'?

Both albums had 4 top 20 UK (One got to 21 but I'm including it!) singles.

There's probably more britpop dreck if you struggle to remember.

Ocean Colour Scene and Cast for two.

I think mainly the biggest Britpop acts would be able to come up with 4 or more Top 20 singles from one album. But Shed Seven may be an exception.

And Shed Seven!

x-post!

That Ocean Colour Scene album that spawned four hits is fantastic ;), but I know people may disagree with me. It was in the Q Top 100 albums of all time list a couple years later though. :)

But more or less forgotten by now.

Maybe. Five Star surely didn't make Top 100 albums of all time lists two years on with their album though.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d3/Please_Hammer_Don%27t_Hurt_%27Em.jpg

i was going to nominate the shed seven debut but it only spawned three top 40 singles

actually its followup probably fits here, i think it had five top 40 singles

The self titled album by All Saints. It had 5 singles, 3 of which made the #1 spot at the UK charts ("Never Ever", "Lady Marmalade" & "Bootie Call" - followed by '"I Know Where It's At" at #4 and 'war of nerves' at #7) yet I can't remember the last time I heard anything off of that album or anyone mentioning them anywhere.

Worth mentioning that after breaking apart none of them had any success and when they decided to reunite again in 2006 (pushed by a millionaire contract to Parlophone) they could only manage to get one hit on the charts so the contract and the tour was cancelled.

Don't know about UK or USA, but Ace of Base are not completely forgotten in the Nordic countries, and they had a few more hits after "The Sign".

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What about this album (from 1994)? It spawned two UK number 1 hits, one that made it to number 3, plus two more in the top 20, and one that stalled at 27... Yet I haven't heard anyone mention it ever since.

Heart and Soul by Ronnie Milsap spawned five Top 5 country hits:

"Snap Your Fingers": #1
"Make No Mistake, She's Mine" (w/ Kenny Rogers): #1
"Where Do the Nights Go": #1
1988 "Old Folks" (w/ Mike Reid): #2
"Button Off My Shirt": #4

...and yet it's about as forgotten as the other 483 billion albums he's churned out over the decades.

Time isn't generally kind to bestselling country albums, due to the repackage!repackage!repackage! mentality that dominates the genre. What's the point of hanging on to classic albums when you can replace them with doubly classic hits collections every five years? Plus it's hard to spot the peaks and troughs of an artist who puts out two albums a year for twenty consecutive years. Dust on Mama's Casket might have 6 hit singles, The Cactus and the Crabapple might have 5, and Christmas with Molly O'Day and the Jordanaires might have 11, but it all becomes a bit of a blur when you're faced with such a constant stream of product. Artists are spoken about in hushed tones even as their albums are fetching $0.99 apiece in bargain bins. Rolling Stone might succeed in canonizing the odd Johnny Cash or Louvin Brothers album, but those appeal mostly to rock fans who can't stomach greatest hit packages -- and at any rate it's the novelty of the records, not their former popularity, that explains their appeal.

btw Geir, just about every American woman between the ages of 21 and 30 is full of ironic love for Aqua's Aquarium.

Actually most Elvis albums probably qualify here.

Well, Tickle Me!

You'd be hard pressed to find a non-compilation by Elvis containing as much as 4 singles.

Would anyone remember Bobby Brown's solo career if he didn't keep his name in the news with his personal problems?

"Don't Be Cruel", #8
"My Prerogative", #1
"Roni", #3
"Every Little Step", #3
"Rock Wit'cha", #7

Four top ten US hits, one #1 (only "My Prerogative" and "Every Little Step" made the UK top ten)

The UK at that time being more preoccupied with Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers, whose imaginatively titled Jive Bunny - The Album doesn't quite qualify.

Everybody remembers Slippery When Wet, but New Jersey by Bon Jovi is sort of left behind.

Bad Medicine
Born to Be My Baby
I'll Be There for You
Lay Your Hands on Me
Living in Sin

All five reached top 10 in the BBH100

Lightning Seeds - Dizzy Heights

I'm sure the singles still get airtime on local radio but an actual whole Lightning Seeds album?

(Sadly) Lightning Seeds were never massive. "Three Lions" wasn't on the "Dizzy Heights" album.

"Jive Bunny - The Album" did actually contain three hit singles. :)

That Christmas Number 1 from the same year wasn't on the album though, which disqualifies it here.

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"Free Me" #7
"Guiding Star" #9
"Live The Dream" #7
"I'm So Lonely" #14

Yep. And I think "Mother Nature Calls" to a larger extent than their debut, which had at least "Fine Time" and "Alright" on it, two songs that have a bit more standard potential than any of these.

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/123.jpg

I can't see any of those rateyourmusic pics you've posted, Turkey. Even copy-pasting the URL to a new window only gives me a blank screen.

Everybody remembers Slippery When Wet, but New Jersey by Bon Jovi is sort of left behind.

Bad Medicine
Born to Be My Baby
I'll Be There for You
Lay Your Hands on Me
Living in Sin

All five reached top 10 in the BBH100

Good call.

murder she wrote is a stone cold classic still played to this day fyi tuomas

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Cappella - U Got 2 Know

U Got 2 Know (#6)
U Got 2 Let The Music (#2)
Move On Baby (#7)
U And Me (#10)

Altern-8 Full-on Mask Hysteria

28 Altern 8 Infiltrate 202 Single Jul 1991
3 Altern 8 Activ 8 (Come With Me) Single Nov 1991
6 Altern 8 Evapor 8 Single Apr 1992
16 Altern 8 Hypnotic St-8 Single Jul 1992

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Rodney Crowell's Diamonds & Dirt holds the record for most Country #1s from a single album, but you'll never hear any of them on Country radio anymore.

"Heartbeat City" and "New Jersey" are both still rather steady back catalogue sellers. Occasionally see them in best albums of all time lists too, although they are not among the usual contenders.

Otherwise, I guess Stock/Aitken/Waterman could have their own section here. Marcello has already mentioned Jason Donovan, but there is more out there. Bananarama's "Wow!" and Rick Astley's "Whenever You Need Somebody" were both shock full of huge hits. In fact, the four singles from Astley's debut album all went UK Top 3.
Kylie Minogue's first two albums contained four hit singles each, and until "Never Too Late" "stalled" at number four as the last single from the second one, every single one of those singles reached at least UK number two. Now, those albums may not be completely forgotten because she is still a huge act. But "Kylie" and "Enjoy Yourself" are still hardly considered classics, and if available at all I doubt they sell much.

Spandau Ballet's "True" and "Parade" both contained four sizeable hits each. Neither has been deleted ("True" has even been remastered with bonus material), but they are hardly in the canon either.

Don't know about UK or USA, but Ace of Base are not completely forgotten in the Nordic countries

I have superseded them. :)

REO Speedwagon - Hi Infidelity

At least one song from this is surely on the radio every day in upstate NY. (I downloaded their greatest hits just because I heard "Keep On Loving You" alone nearly every day on the campus shuttle bus.)

Jagged Little Pill?

Even my cousin in India had singles from this on her iTunes.

The track list for Raised On Radio is a little surprising, actually. I think "Be Good to Yourself" is the only one I know.

The Wedding Present had, like, actual hit singles??

In 1992, they released one single each month, that was available for one week only and then deleted. This meant that a sizeable enough amount of people bought their singles to be able to get into the UK Top 75. According to the Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles, this qualifies as a hit, which gave them a record 12 hits in one calendar year. (In fact, they were all Top 30 items).
Out of those singles, only "Come Play With Me" reached Top 10 though.

Another important fact is that there were two "Hit Parade" albums, and each contained 6 hits each only (although 12 if you count the b-sides, which were also included)

That's kind of mind-blowing.

Another important fact is that there were two "Hit Parade" albums

after the year was over, they did a Hit Parade with all 12 on.

that was peel session versions tho no?

Men at Work's cargo album was huge at the time but can't imagine it's a big seller on cd nowadays, even at budget price.

The singles from Business As Usual ("Who Can It Be Now?" "Be Good Johnny," "Down Under," "Underground") did pretty well also.

Geir's original mention of Five Star reminded me of these fellas, I always liked 'em, even if they were subject of a pretty negative thread here way back.

Anyway, Go West, UK hits from their first album...
We Close Our Eyes #5; Feb 85
Call Me #12; May 85
Goodbye Girl #25; Aug 85
Don't Look Down #13; Nov 1985

I have plenty of friends who still rep for Nik Kershaw loads so I beg to differ on whoever brought him up. He's an 80s staple.

I can't see any of those rateyourmusic pics you've posted, Turkey.

They were:

Sarah McLachlan's Surfacing
Building A Mystery #13 (Billboard Top 100)
Sweet Surrender #28
Adia #3
Angel #4

Hootie & the Blowfish's Cracked Rear View
Hold My Hand #10
Let Her Cry #9
Only Wanna Be With You #6
Time #14

The other was Book Of Love's self titled debut, but it's four singles mainly did well on the dance charts. I Touch Roses and You Make Me Feel So Good crossed over onto pop radio, but I'm not sure how they charted.

I have plenty of friends who still rep for Nik Kershaw loads so I beg to differ on whoever brought him up. He's an 80s staple.

Surely, I like those albums too. But they aren't really "canonical" (plus, he was always more of a singles act - the albums tended to be a bit patchy while I feel most of his singles were really good)

Hootie & The Blowfish are still loved by those who loved them then. :)

The KLF

The KLF only 'spawned' one single from an album, and that album is not completely forgotten.

that was peel session versions tho no?

nah, Hit Parade 2 came with bonus disc of sessions, later version of Hit Parade had A-sides on first disc, B-sides on second... I think.

KLF have not been forgotten bitchez!!!

(in fact, they are gonna rock ya)

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4 number one singles!

Yeah, was going to mention B-Witched.

BHUT I HAD FORGOTTEN THEM!!

QFD!

http://kore.mitene.or.jp/~jamboree/sexpress.jpg

Only three hits from S-Express I believe.

I have a hard time believing that Surfacing is forgotten.

Yeah, that one made no sense to me, unless Sarah McLachlan's not as big when you get further from the Canadian border. "I Only Wanna Be With You" still gets regular airplay too.

Wilson Phillips released their debut album Wilson Phillips in 1990.

Their debut single, "Hold On", hit #1 (1 week) on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, bumping Madonna's "Vogue" out of the weekly #1 slot and became the surprise 1990 year-end #1. Follow-up singles, "Release Me" (2 weeks) and "You're in Love" (1 week) also reached #1. The singles "Impulsive" and "The Dream Is Still Alive'", peaked at #4 and #12, respectively, on the Hot 100. The album sold over 5 million copies in the US alone and peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

How about Get a Grip by Aerosmith? Probably the most recognized singles of their career, but I didn't know what album it was until I looked it up.

we need more cover art like the S'Express LP again

Heartbeat City is still remembered. "You Might Think", "Magic" & "Drive" are Classic Rock staples.

How about Get a Grip by Aerosmith? Probably the most recognized singles of their career, but I didn't know what album it was until I looked it up.

As long as 2-3 of the singles are still MTV and classic rock staples, it is hard to claim the album as being forgotten too.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000002IU3.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

In the case of Ocean Colour Scene, that is partly wishful thinking from people who never liked them in the first place.

In fact, "Moseley Shoals" is still held high in regard among the people who loved it in the first place, that is those of us who found way more great music in Britpop than just Blur, Oasis, Pulp and Suede, who read Select at the time, read Q today, and are currently fans of Coldplay, Travis and Keane. Us - those who people with no sense of melody and harmony tend to call "dadrockers" - we still see that album as a classic.

BUT..... Ocean Colour Scene also managed to pull four sizeable hit singles from the next album. And "Marchin' Already" is hardly seen as very essential today.

Geir, you are no Obama.

OK. I take it back. Rick Astley is apparently not forgotten. :)
http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/40913