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Some of the greatest songs ever recorded almost never made it to our ears. Join us as we count down iconic tracks that were shelved, rejected, or nearly scrapped by the very artists and executives behind them. From label disputes to last-minute creative doubts, these legendary hits came dangerously close to disappearing forever β and music history would never have been the same.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're remembering 10 iconic songs that were almost not released
00:05because of reservations from bands, producers, or even radio executives.
00:15Creep, Radiohead.
00:23When Radiohead released Creep in 1992, it looked like a spectacular misfire.
00:28BBC Radio 1 reportedly deemed the track too depressing,
00:32while brutal UK reviews led EMI to eventually delete the single, after it sold only about 6,000 copies.
00:45However, the song found an unexpected second life overseas.
00:49Listeners connected with the song's wounded self-loathing, just as grunge was breaking into the mainstream.
01:00By 1993, Creep had reached number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100.
01:05EMI then reissued it in Britain, where it climbed into the top 10.
01:20Ironically, Johnny Greenwood disliked the quiet verses so much,
01:24that he deliberately slammed his guitar during the loud sections, trying to sabotage the recording.
01:31Those explosive dead notes accidentally became the sound, that catapulted Radiohead into superstardom.
01:45Nothing else matters.
01:47Metallica.
01:54Speed, aggression, and songs about war built Metallica's reputation,
01:58which is exactly why James Hetfield never intended Nothing Else Matters to become a Metallica song.
02:03The lyrics were intensely personal, but when Lars Ulrich heard it, he was immediately struck.
02:08Forever trusting who you are
02:13And nothing else matters
02:17Realizing the song's potential, Ulrich pushed hard to get it on the album despite Hetfield's reluctance.
02:22The song became part of the self-titled fifth album, and reached number six on the UK singles chart.
02:28The track expanded the band's fanbase from hardcore metalheads to global stadium audiences.
02:38In August 2021, the track hit another remarkable milestone.
02:42The music video surpassed one billion views, becoming Metallica's first ever song to reach that mark.
02:48So much for a song the band initially felt didn't meet their standards.
02:51Nothing else matters.
03:04A song originally handed away to another group somehow became one of Prince's defining singles.
03:10Initially a bare, one-minute acoustic demo given to funk band Maserati.
03:14David Zee and the band reworked it into a driving funk groove.
03:25Deciding it was too good for them, Prince reclaimed it and stripped out the bass line almost entirely.
03:30Warner Bros. executives were reportedly stunned by the sparse result,
03:34insisting it sounded unfinished, and were hesitant to release it at all.
03:42Prince had enough clout to force the label's hand, and the gamble paid off spectacularly.
03:47He reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, stayed there for two weeks, and even later won a Grammy.
03:58In the end, the song didn't need the label's polish to become a hit.
04:07What if Prince didn't fight so hard for the release of Kiss?
04:10What if WatchMojo's 24-7 live stream was never launched?
04:13Well, I guess we'll never know.
04:15Scan the QR code on screen to join us live for more pop culture fun.
04:25I Can't Get No Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones
04:36The opening riff sounds inevitable, but Keith Richards initially regarded it as a little more than a rough sketch.
04:42He famously woke up in a hotel room with the riff in his head, grabbed a cassette recorder, captured it,
04:47and fell back asleep.
04:48The Rolling Stones recorded the song with a fuzz-heavy guitar tone.
04:51Richards imagined that fuzz as a placeholder for a horn section,
04:55believing it sounded too abrasive and tricky for commercial radio.
04:58I Can't Get No Satisfaction
05:04Though Satisfaction was initially censored in the UK for being sexually suggestive,
05:08it later became a number one hit, and helped transform the fuzz box into an essential guitar effect.
05:13I'll try, I'll try, I'll try, I'll try, I'll try, I'll get it through.
05:21Had the band followed his original plan, one of Rock's most recognizable riffs might have arrived buried under a brass
05:26arrangement.
05:29My Heart Will Go On
05:29Hey! Hey!
05:30Hey! Hey!
05:53My Heart Will Go On
06:19When Horner first played it for Dionne, she wasn't immediately enthusiastic,
06:23but her husband and manager, RenΓ© Angelil,
06:26persuaded her to record one demo.
06:28Horner carried the tape around for weeks, waiting for the right moment to play it for Cameron,
06:32who eventually relented after hearing it several times.
06:35I believe that the heart will go on
06:44My Heart Will Go On won the Academy Award for Best Original Song,
06:48and turned Titanic's soundtrack into a phenomenon.
06:51What's Going On?
06:52Marvin Gaye
07:00Motown founder Barry Gordy saw Marvin Gaye's What's Going On as a dangerous detour for a label built on polished,
07:07romantic pop hits.
07:08Inspired by the Vietnam War, police brutality against protestors, and the experiences of Gaye's brother Frankie after his military service,
07:15the song was deliberately controversial and reflective.
07:18Picket lines, and picket sides, don't punish me with brutality.
07:26Yet, it sold out within days, becoming Motown's fastest selling record, and climbed to number 2 on the Billboard Hot
07:33100.
07:34Its parent album became a landmark of socially conscious soul, and one of the label's most acclaimed releases.
07:39The release also marked a turning point for Gaye personally.
07:42It became the first Motown album to credit him as producer, handing him far greater creative control going forward.
07:48Oh, what's going on?
07:50What's going on?
07:51What's going on?
07:52What's going on?
07:53Yeah, what's going on?
07:55Billie Jean
07:56Michael Jackson
08:03During the making of the album, producer Quincy Jones wanted to shorten the long instrumental intro to Billie Jean.
08:09He was worried that radio programmers would skip a track that took nearly 30 seconds to reach the vocal.
08:14Jackson reportedly disagreed, telling Jones the introduction was exactly what made him want to dance, and that instinct ultimately won.
08:25Jones also disliked the song's title, fearing audiences would confuse it with tennis star Billie Jean King.
08:30But Jackson refused to change that either.
08:40When the song was released as a single in 1983, its hypnotic bass line and spacious arrangement helped propel it
08:47to number one.
08:48Jackson Lear performed on the television special, Motown 25, debuting his moonwalk in front of more than 50 million viewers.
09:03Smells Like Teen Spirit
09:05Nirvana
09:13Before Smells Like Teen Spirit became the anthem of a generation, Kurt Cobain himself wasn't convinced the song belonged on
09:19Nevermind at all.
09:20The polished Come As You Are was considered the likelier mainstream breakthrough from the album, so Teen Spirit was released
09:26with little promotional push.
09:34The college and alternative radio responded immediately.
09:38MTV soon followed, spun the video, and an unprecedented cultural explosion erupted, sending the song well past the label's expectations.
09:54Ironically, the iconic titles stemmed from a funny misunderstanding.
09:58Cobain's friend Kathleen Hanna spray painted Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit on his apartment wall, referring to a women's deodorant
10:04brand.
10:05He mistook it for a rebellious slogan, and used it as the title for a track that blew grunge into
10:10mainstream culture.
10:19Bohemian Rhapsody
10:20Queen
10:27A six-minute rock song with no conventional chorus sounded like a terrible idea on paper, but Queen refused to
10:33compromise.
10:34EMI and the band's manager John Reed worried radio DJs would refuse to play something so unconventional
10:40and pushed for a shorter edit.
10:42Is this the real life?
10:45Is this just fantasy?
10:48To get around the gatekeepers, the band leaked an advanced copy to BBC DJ Kenny Everett,
10:53with the understanding that he wasn't supposed to play the complete track on air.
10:57Everett did the opposite, teasing listeners with it repeatedly, and reportedly playing it 14 times over one weekend.
11:03Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality.
11:10UK record shops were flooded with loads of requests for a single that hadn't even been released yet.
11:16Mama, just killed a man.
11:22What executives dismissed as an overlong, unclassifiable mess became one of Queen's defining hits.
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12:03Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan.
12:13An unlikely test audience changed everything for rock music.
12:16Sean Considine, release coordinator for Columbia Records, took a discarded phonograph recording disc to a New York nightclub, and asked
12:24the DJ to play it.
12:25The crowd exploded, demanding it again and again, until the record literally wore out.
12:38By morning, radio programmers were calling Columbia, demanding copies of the mysterious track.
12:44Cornered by public demand, they released Like a Rolling Stone in July 1965.
12:48The song reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and became Bob Dylan's biggest hit.
12:53But its impact went far beyond sales.
12:55It helped Dylan's transformation from folk singer to electric rock star, while its length challenged the assumption that pop songs
13:02needed to be shorter.
13:11Which other hits were almost never released?
13:13Let us know in the comments section.
13:15This looks like something sold.
13:16That came a dark downhill, but the Customer walked away.
13:16That was a great shrieved, night world was not unless now when you're following the finale.
13:16We have happened.
13:17We will have a radio band December When The 29th of the Day one day.
13:19Please take care.
13:20Subban, babe.
13:20If you have anyε
, you're kind a host or your dog's best if you focus,