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welcome to watch mojo and today we're
counting down our picks for the top 10
hit songs that were almost never
released
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for this list we'll be looking at
beloved songs that for whatever reason
almost didn't see the light of day which
of these songs are you most grateful for
let us know in the comments
if you like what you're hearing be sure
to check out the full song at the link
below
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number 10 where the streets have no name
you too
u2's the joshua tree is one of the
group's crowning achievements but its
opening track almost didn't happen or at
the very least could have been
completely different
[Applause]
guitarist the edge came up with the
arrangement though the band struggled
with its complexities according to
co-producer brian eno recording this
song took about half the recording time
of the whole album
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eno was so frustrated in fact that he
planned to accidentally erase the tapes
to force the band to start from scratch
thankfully this never happened as
engineer pat mccarthy caught him in the
act and stopped him
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the single is now a staple for the
group's live shows and its music video
earned them a grammy
number nine hallelujah leonard cohen
we've all heard the beautifully somber
hallelujah at some point likely from
different artists but when it comes to
the original version leonard cohen
struggled immensely with writing it and
getting it released
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it took him around five years to write
coming up with 80 different verses
before he narrowed it down additionally
the album it first appeared on various
positions was rejected for u.s release
by cohen's record label columbia as it
didn't think it would be commercially
successful
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cohen luckily partnered with the indie
label passport even still the song
wouldn't find success until much later
when other artists began covering it
it's now an important piece of pop
culture having appeared in a variety of
movies and tv shows
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number eight somebody that i used to
know gautier featuring kimbra gautier's
chronicle of a messy breakup still makes
us scream its chorus whenever we hear it
the singer-songwriter initially hit a
block while riding thinking just the
male's perspective wasn't as interesting
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he knew he needed to include a female
vocalist to complete the story but after
his original choice suddenly dropped out
he almost dropped the song from the
album he even tried using his girlfriend
but their happiness didn't fit with the
song's tone
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[Applause]
thankfully he connected with new zealand
singer kimbra and the two created one of
the best pop songs of the 2010s despite
making mirrors being gauchier's third
album this single introduced him to a
much wider audience
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nothing else matters italica metallica
is justifiably a world-renowned heavy
metal band though one of their most
famous tracks is significantly calmer
than anything that came before
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front man james hetfield wrote nothing
else matters while he was on tour
missing his girlfriend at the time but
he didn't think of it as a song for the
band and was initially hesitant to even
play it for the other members
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it was drummer lars ulrich that
convinced hadfield to consider the song
for their next album the group's
self-titled fifth album would go on to
become one of the band's biggest
bringing them a wave of mainstream
success nothing else matters signaled
the band's ability to evolve and is
still among their most famous singles
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number six kiss prince prince's now
iconic kiss almost wasn't a prince song
at all
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he had given the song then an acoustic
demo to funk group maserati as a favor
to one of its founding members and his
former bassist mark brown but after
maserati gave it some much needed funk
prince decided he wanted to keep the
song for himself
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prince could see something in the song
that even the execs at warner brothers
couldn't the label was hesitant to
include a more minimalist song and was
definitely wary about making it a single
[Applause]
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but how can you argue against prince
well you can't prince got his way and
earned one of his many grammys in the
process
number five i can't get no satisfaction
the rolling stones together since 1962
the rolling stones have had more hits
than most others i can't get no
satisfaction was the first song to bring
them international acclaim
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but if keith richards had gotten his way
it wouldn't have been the story goes
that richards woke in the middle of the
night and recorded the main riff not
thinking much of it
[Applause]
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he never wanted the song to be a single
and thought it sounded too similar to
martha and the vandela's dancing in the
street and after recording it as a group
mick jagger agreed but they were
outvoted by the other members their
producer and the sound engineer
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needless to say they were pretty
surprised when it went number one
multiple places around the world
number four sweet dreams are made of
this eurythmics it's a miracle that the
rhythmics even exist let alone we're
able to create this 80-synth hit sweet
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annie lennox and dave stewart formed the
group not only after their previous band
the tourists had broken up but also
after they had broken up as a couple
with their first album a flop they took
out a bank loan to afford new equipment
the duo was exceptionally unhappy yet
somehow persevered and stayed together
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good thing they did steward improvised
the synth beat one night prompting
lennox to come up with the now iconic
lyrics rca didn't believe in the song
and it was the fourth and final single
released for their sophomore album
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but now it's by far their most famous
track
number three what's going on
marvin gaye marvin gaye's melodic
anti-war anthem went through several ups
and downs before it was released
there's too many of you crying it was
written by obi benson in al cleveland
after the former witness police violence
against anti-war protesters at berkeley
in 1969.
after benson's group the four tops
declined to record the track it was
given to gay inspired by events in his
own life gay made the song his own but
motown founder barry gordy was highly
against it
he reportedly called it the worst thing
he'd ever heard and refused to release
it gay stuck to his guns however and
threatened to stop recording unless it
was released
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its status and lyrics are unfortunately
for the world timeless
number two billie jean michael jackson
there are a plethora of hits that help
michael jackson earn the title of king
of pop and billie jean was one of them
jackson was inspired by women who would
fawn over his brothers while they toured
as the jackson five and later claimed to
be carrying their children jackson knew
he had a hit on his hands but producer
quincy jones disagreed
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although jones had denied that he felt
it was too weak for thriller he disliked
the lengthy intro and baseline he also
felt the listeners would think the song
was about tennis legend billie jean king
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jackson got to keep everything his way
in the end and it's now a standout track
on what is arguably his best album
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number one smells like teen spirit
nirvana the opening track to nirvana's
masterful nevermind defined an entire
era of music
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but the band members including kurt
cobain himself were initially dismissive
of it cobain admitted the signature riff
came from him trying to rip off the
pixies a band he greatly admired drummer
dave grohl and bassist chris novacelic
weren't too impressed with novacelic
calling it ridiculous
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it could have ended right there as
cobain had only begun writing the song a
few weeks before recording the album but
he made them play it for 90 minutes with
all three members bringing something
different to it
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it's now considered one of the best
songs of all time and is certainly one
of the groups most enduring
do you agree with our picks let us know
in the comments and hey if you're a fan
of the song playing right now be sure to
check out the music video for it right
here
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you