“Hey! How Could They Leave Out …? ”

A few weeks ago, I saw Croce Sings Croce, a wonderful concert where A.J. Croce, son of the late Jim Croce, performed his father’s hits.

A.J. did great, covering, Bad Bad Leroy Brown, Time in a Bottle, Operator, You Don’t Mess Around with Jim, I’ll Have to Say I Love You in – ”

“Wait a minute,” I thought to myself.

“A.J. didn’t do I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song.” 

Hmmm. Why sing all his father’s other songs that made the pop top 60, yet decline to sing one that was a top 10 hit?

Then I remembered the 1990s VH1 documentary, Jim Croce: Behind the Music.

It revealed that Jim’s widow Ingrid was upset about Jim touring all of the time, yet having little money to show for his effort. He wrote the tune to placate her. So, I can understand if A.J. is uneasy singing a love song written by his father for A.J.’s mother.

That prompted me to recall another recent concert I attended starring Three Dog Night. They scored 11 top 10 hits and did them all…

Well, almost all. Except for The Show Must Go On, which was in fact, their last top 10 hit. 

What gives with that omission? Your guess is as good as mine. 

I know I’m not the only one sometimes curious about why acts don’t include songs associated with them. For example, I remember leaving a Bette Midler concert roughly 25 years ago where afterward one attendee wailed:

“Why didn’t she sing Friends?” 

Again, I have no idea. Although, Bette does seem to have a wariness regarding most of her hits. At that same concert, after finishing performing The Rose, she half-seriously quipped that it was the only song that didn’t come back to bite her in the,

well, you can guess where.

So, exactly why don’t artists perform all their hits if their hardcore fans expect to hear them? I have three guesses.

1.
The Song No Longer Fits the Artist’s or Group’s Image

I’m thinking this probably was the case with Three Dog Night. In line with its circus theme, The Show Must Go On has a stylized intro and outro that sounds like a calliope. Those parts may be hard to recreate on stage or just don’t work along with the harder rocking sound of the band’s other hits. And I’d bet it probably gets the least amount of airplay on oldies radio and online services for the latter reason too.

As I understand from the grapevine, Kool and the Gang usually play only a couple of slower songs like Too Hot, Cherish and maybe Joanna because most concertgoers view them as a party band, and expect as many upbeat songs as possible. Because of this, I seriously doubt they’ve done Take My Heart (You Can Have It If You Want It) that often since 1981, even though it was a top 20 hit for them.

And Elton John has said, Little Jeannie is not on his setlist because it just doesn’t work well when done live.

Of course, he has another situation going on that leads to our second reason for leaving out a hit or two…

2.
The Act Has Had Too Many Hits to Play

Along with Sir Elton…

Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Drake, Rihanna, and probably a few others I’ve unintentionally left out have had at least 25 top 10 hits alone.

Doing those 25 or so would take up at least an hour and a half each in a performance by them individually. And you know dang well they had plenty of other hits near the top 10 that fans would recognize as well.

When you’re in that stratosphere, even if you’re Bruce Springsteen playing concerts for four hours or more, something has likely got to give. The superstars simply have too much to choose from and not enough time or energy to do them all.

3.
The Performer Actually Hates the Song(s)

Though it was a top five hit for her, Helen Reddy grew to loathe Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress).

Maybe because she sang “leave me alone” 43 times in the original record.

She reduced it to part of a medley in concert before refusing to do it at all in her last few stage appearances this century.

In some cases, a song becomes so well known and associated with an artist that he or she must include it, albeit reluctantly. Frank Sinatra had a hard time making the key change in the studio for the last chorus in “Strangers in the Night,” so he just left it out in concert and ended the song early to placate those expecting to hear it.

Similarly, Dionne Warwick has gritted her teeth and included Do You Know the Way to San Jose in her nightclub act, despite it being her least favorite hit composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

It’s because she hates the “whoa, whoa whoa whoa, whoa whoa whoa, whoa” intro and outro. 

(Interestingly, in the book Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs, the back cover blurb mocked other tunes that used “whoa” a lot, such as “Feelings” and Paul McCartney’s “My Love.”) 

Dionne also didn’t like “Heartbreaker,” her 1980s comeback hit written by the Bee Gees. However, I’m not sure if she still does it or has dropped it from her show.

Are there any other reasons you know why an artist won’t play a hit in concert?

Have you experienced a “Hold on, where was …?” moment yourself with an artist too?

If so, please share below, and let’s talk some more about it!

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