What about Michael Jackson?

 

'Thriller' was the 7th single from the album of the same name and it was just as big, if not bigger, than the singles before it (and the album is/was the best selling album of all time - so I'm sure sales of the album were huge before the release). The same can be said for 'Smooth Criminal' from the album, 'Bad'. It was also the 7th single from that album.

 

These are just guesses as I'm not sure what his sales are for each song or whatever.

 

Not sure if Thriller counts but his next two albums are definitely a good examples of late hits.

 

From Bad:

1 Michael Jackson I Just Can't Stop Loving You Aug 1987

3 Michael Jackson Bad Sep 1987

3 Michael Jackson The Way You Make Me Feel Dec 1987

21 Michael Jackson Man In The Mirror Feb 1988

4 Michael Jackson Dirty Diana Jul 1988

15 Michael Jackson Another Part Of Me Sep 1988

8 Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal Nov 1988

2 Michael Jackson Leave Me Alone Feb 1989

13 Michael Jackson Liberian Girl Jul 1989

 

So you could count Leave Me Alone as a late hit, chart-wise it did better than all but one of the previous 7 singles off the album.

 

From Dangerous:

1 Michael Jackson Black Or White Nov 1991

3 Michael Jackson Remember The Time Feb 1992

8 Michael Jackson In The Closet May 1992

10 Michael Jackson Who Is It Jul 1992

13 Michael Jackson Jam Sep 1992

2 Michael Jackson Heal The World Dec 1992

2 Michael Jackson Give In To Me Feb 1993

9 Michael Jackson Will You Be There Jul 1993

33 Michael Jackson Gone Too Soon Dec 1993

 

Heal The World and Give In To Me out-performed all but one of the previous 5 singles off the album.

Born To Make You Happy was the 4th single from Britneys debut album, and went to #01 doing considerably better than Sometimes and You Drive Me Crazy.

 

"Sometimes" is still ahead of "Born To Make You Happy", sales wise.

Still, its very impressive considering how much the album sold in between Sometimes and Born To Make You Happy. I'd say BTMYH had a bigger impact in Europe than Sometimes

Still, its very impressive considering how much the album sold in between Sometimes and Born To Make You Happy. I'd say BTMYH had a bigger impact in Europe than Sometimes

 

I still find it quite astounding how that never even got a release in the US. :o

I still find it quite astounding how that never even got a release in the US. :o

 

They went with From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart over there, reached the top15 thanks to a CD release, but BTMYH would've been a lot bigger, especially if they also released it with a CD, probably top3.

URGH, what a bizarre decision to make. That song is vile!

Similarly, Rihanna's Don't Stop The Music and Disturbia were quite late into the era but still managed to do better than the singles that came before them.

From Bad:

1 Michael Jackson I Just Can't Stop Loving You Aug 1987

3 Michael Jackson Bad Sep 1987

3 Michael Jackson The Way You Make Me Feel Dec 1987

21 Michael Jackson Man In The Mirror Feb 1988

4 Michael Jackson Dirty Diana Jul 1988

15 Michael Jackson Another Part Of Me Sep 1988

8 Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal Nov 1988

2 Michael Jackson Leave Me Alone Feb 1989

13 Michael Jackson Liberian Girl Jul 1989

 

So you could count Leave Me Alone as a late hit, chart-wise it did better than all but one of the previous 7 singles off the album.

 

Iirc, 'Leave Me Alone' was only available on the CD version of 'Bad' and back then the majority of its sales were from the LP in which 'LMA' wasn't actually included. So it was almost like a bonus track for the CD version. I guess the reason the track got to #2 was that people who bought the LP were able to finally get 'LMA' as a single. The music video no doubt would've helped boost its sales at the time (even if single sales in general were pretty poor in early 1989)

That's correct, as far as I know, Hits.

The obvious one for me is Human League's Don't You Want Me?

 

4th single- Oakey argued against its release calling it filler and saying people didn't want to hear anything else from the album. Number 1, broke them in US and now their signature tune

Similarly, Rihanna's Don't Stop The Music and Disturbia were quite late into the era but still managed to do better than the singles that came before them.

 

Wasn't Disturbia off a rerelease? Does that count? If so, Maroon 5 could count with Moves Like Jagger/Hands All Over.

The obvious one for me is Human League's Don't You Want Me?

 

4th single- Oakey argued against its release calling it filler and saying people didn't want to hear anything else from the album. Number 1, broke them in US and now their signature tune

 

Wow, I never knew Don't You Want Me was the fourth single from the album! Probably the best example in this whole thread.

Wasn't Disturbia off a rerelease? Does that count? If so, Maroon 5 could count with Moves Like Jagger/Hands All Over.

It was, but still the fourth single of the rerelease so I'd say it counts

re: Michael Jackson

Not a very late hit from the album as it came out the same year as the album did, but 'Earth Song' is his best seller of all time in the UK and was third single from HIStory.

 

'Turn' by Travis was fourth single from The Man Who and their highest charting song by then.

 

'Let's Wait Awhile' was fifth single from Janet's Control and peaked at #3 matching the peak of WHYDFML (1st single). 'Whoops Now/What I'll Do' reached top ten as a 7th single from 'janet.' while three of its predecessors didn't.

 

'Don't Look Back in Anger' was fourth single from (WTS)MG and a huge #1, although Wonderwall (#2) sold more.

 

'It's Alright' by East 17 was the fifth single from Walthamstow and the highest charting one.

 

911's sixth single 'The Journey' taken from the debut album of the same name reached #3 matching the peak of 'Bodyshakin''

 

'Could It Be Magic' was the fifth single from Take That's debut and their first top 3 hit.

Edited August 2, 201311 yr by SKOB

Big Girls Dont Cry was also the 4th single from Fergies album, and was by far the biggest seller and peaked the highest too.

The obvious one for me is Human League's Don't You Want Me?

 

4th single- Oakey argued against its release calling it filler and saying people didn't want to hear anything else from the album. Number 1, broke them in US and now their signature tune

 

 

We have a winner!

If you count remixes (on the precedent of Lana and Florence) then Lou Reed's 'Satellite Of Love 04' was a hit just under 32 years after it originally appeared on his album Transformer, though it was only the third single release. Special mention also to Iggy Pop's Lust For Life album, which was released in 1977 but its only hit singles were in 1996 (the title track) and 1998 ('The Passenger'). I can't think of anyone else who's produced multiple hits from an album that long after release. I suppose the lesson is, if you want to have hits several decades after your album, get to know David Bowie.

 

Obviously lots of oldies charted for the first time or set new peaks from some external event like a cover on X-Factor or the singer dying (since Bad's already been mentioned, there's 'Man In The Mirror' of course) but I suppose only songs with some sort of single release should count.

 

 

Iirc, 'Leave Me Alone' was only available on the CD version of 'Bad' and back then the majority of its sales were from the LP in which 'LMA' wasn't actually included. So it was almost like a bonus track for the CD version. I guess the reason the track got to #2 was that people who bought the LP were able to finally get 'LMA' as a single. The music video no doubt would've helped boost its sales at the time (even if single sales in general were pretty poor in early 1989)

 

Why were sales poor in 1989?

According to Wikipedia, 'This Is The Life' was Amy Macdonald's 4th single from her album of the same name and even though it only reached the top 30 here, it was top 3 in many countries all over Europe. Her previous 3 singles were nowhere near as successful it seems!

Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal, Leave Me Alone. 6th and 7th UK singles. Released well over a year since album release. Yet, obviously these are different times... but still.

 

LOL - ah someone already mentioned it. I made a 1989 playlist today and noticed some 1987 pop up.

Edited August 2, 201311 yr by compil.