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8 Hit Songs That Almost Weren't


August 16, 1980: Diana Ross' Upside Down hit number one on the R&B charts and remained in that spot for a month. By September 6 it hit the top of the Billboard 100. A hit song can either make or break an artist's career. If you're already established (as Diana was), that hit song could take you to the next level. For newer artists, that hit song could forever solidify your name in the hearts of music lovers. Why do you think we remember the names of so many one-hit wonders? LOL

Quite a few of the hits we know and love today almost weren't hits at all... at least for the artists we know them by. Whether they were passed on because of scheduling, subject matter, or simply given away because of industry disputes, here are eight hit songs originally intended for someone else:

1. Upside Down (1980)


Even the Queen of Soul has made a mistake or two in her career. In 1980, disco was KING and Chic led the pack. Wanting to make the move into disco, Aretha Franklin reached out to Chic members Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards for a hit song. They brought Upside Down to her, but things didn't quite work out...

“When Nile and his partner brought it to my house and played it for me, we disagreed on how it should be recorded. They wanted me to record it without sitting with it. No rehearsals, no nothing. Just go into the studio cold, and I don’t like to work like that. I like to sit with a song for a while.” - Aretha Franklin

So displeased with their presentation of the song, Aretha kicked them out of her home. They then took the song to Diana Ross. After it's release, Aretha realized that she'd made a BIG mistake in not recording the song. Upside Down went on to become an international hit and Diana's biggest since 1971. Today, the song is a staple in her catalog!

2. Nobody's Supposed To Be Here (1998)


Shep Crawford & Montell Jordan (yes, THIS IS HOW WE DO IT Montell Jordan co-wrote this song) originally pitched this song to Patti LaBelle.

"The song was originally written for Patti Labelle. So a lot of the words in the song were crafted specifically because of I thought the song was going to go to Patti Labelle. In the second verse, when I say in the song, “This time I swear I’m through, and if only you knew”, that “if only you knew” is from a song Patti LaBelle had. So I was playing off of words from her song to try and make sure that she knew that the song was crafted for her." - Montell Jordan

Patti, however, passed on the song and it went to Canadian songstress Deborah Cox. It turned out to be JUST the hit she needed. The song spent 14 weeks at the top of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart (a record for most consecutive weeks charting at the time).

3. How Will I Know (1985)


The song was written with Janet Jackson in mind, but her team passed on it, as they felt it was "weak" and didn't really go with the flow of the album she was working on at the time (Control). The song made it's way to Narada Michael Walden and he changed it up a bit to better suit Whitney's voice. They changed the key of the song and had Whitney's mother Cissy Houston do the background vocals. She released it on her debut album and the rest is history. How Will I Know is also, in my opinion, one of Whitney's finest vocal performances. I mean... can you hear Janet whispering her way through this record? It definitely would have been interesting to hear.

4. All That I Can Say (1999)


Whitney hasn't always been as lucky (or smart) as she was in 1984. Fellow Newark, NJ songstress Lauryn Hill wrote All That I Can Say with Whitney in mind, but other things prevented her from recording it. The song then went to a close friend of both Lauryn & Whitney's... Mary J. Blige. Lauryn laid down background vocals for Mary and it was released. The song earned Mary Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and helped establish her as an artist who could sing anything, from hip hop-infused R&B to soulful adult contemporary ballads.

5. What's Love Go To Do With It (1984)


It took a while for this song to find a proper home. It was first pitched to Cliff Richard, but he rejected it. Soon after, it found itself in the lap of Phyllis Hyman who LOVED the song, but Clive Davis (head of Arista) wouldn't let her record it (we will talk more about Clive in future posts...smh). The song then went to Donna Summer, who sat with it for years but never got around to actually recording it.

It traveled a bit more and somehow it ended up with Tina Turner. Tina HATED the song but was convinced to record it by her manager. The song became an international hit, giving Tina her first number one since the early 1970s. It also became the title of her autobiographical film, starring Angela Bassett and Lawrence Fishburn. What's Love Got To Do With It won Tina three Grammy Awards in 1985 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2012.

6. Weak (1992)


This is a story that's been told time and time again. Brian Alexander Morgan wrote the song about his feelings for Chante Moore. He intended for former GAP Band lead vocalist Charlie Wilson to sing it, but before Charlie had a chance to record it, Brian was introduced to an up & coming R&B girl group.

Cheryl Gamble, Tamara Johnson, and Leanne Lyons were three girls from NYC trying to break into the business. Sisters With Voices (SWV) needed the right material for their debut album and Brian thought Coko's voice would sound amazing on Weak. The song went on to become a number one pop hit for SWV and helped Brian to blow up as a writer as well.

7. Ain't Nobody (1983)


This is one where the artist didn't necessarily pass on a song, but the writer threatened giving it away. Ain't Nobody was written by Rufus band member David Wolinsky (he also wrote their hits Hollywood, Do You Love What You Feel, and Everlasting Love). The group didn't like the song but recorded it anyway with Chaka Khan on lead vocals. Turns out, that Quincy Jones wanted the song for Michael Jackson's Thriller album. Warner Brothers wanted to release another song as the first single for this Rufus album, but Wolinsky threatened to give it to Michael if it wasn't released as their first single. Warner Brothers gave in to his demands and the song became one of the groups' last hits. It also became one of Chaka Khan's signature songs.

FUN FACT: Ain't Nobody was written around the LM-1 Drum: the world's first programmable, sampled-sound drum machine. Wolinsky used the machine to create the piano loop played throughout the song. Got that? Ok... well guitarist Roger Linn invented the LM-1 Drum. In the late 60s, Rufus rejected Roger Linn because he couldn't sing, but his invention would be used almost 20 years later to give Rufus one of their biggest hits.

8. All This Love (1982)


El DeBarge wrote this song with Marvin Gaye in mind, as both DeBarge and Marvin Gaye were both signed to Motown. Marvin Gaye ended up leaving Motown because of "creative differences" (we'll DEFINITELY talk more about artists who've had issues with Motown at a later date) so DeBarge ended up recording the song themselves with El on lead vocals. If you listen closely, you can hear the Marvin Gaye influence all throughout the record. I mean... it sounds almost exactly like Marvin's After The Dance.

It worked out perfectly. The group of siblings were on album number two with Motown and their first didn't yield any hits. All This Love helped the album reach gold status and has been especially influential among the hip-hop community. It's been sampled over 30 times.

I wouldn't say it was a TOTAL loss for these artists . They all went on to release projects with hits, and some even bigger than those they passed up on. I'll have to do a special post for those songs next week. :)

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