The Recycled Hits: Some Are Bigger the Second Time Around

This is the season of “born-again” hits.

Record executives have long realized the wide demographic appeal of “oldies.” For older pop fans, the re-release of an old hit (say, Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me”) evokes nostalgic memories, while young pop fans may be attracted by the same inviting textures that made the record a hit the first time around.

Rather than simply re-issue old records, the tendency in recent months has been to send contemporary recording artists into the studio to remake the old tunes.

The latest upswing in this trend began Nov. 7 when Tiffany’s version of “I Think We’re Alone Now”--a 1967 hit by Tommy James & the Shondells--went to No. 1 on the Billboard magazine sales chart.

Two weeks later, Billy Idol took over the top spot with “Mony Mony,” a remake of another Tommy James hit from the ‘60s.

The streak continued this week as two more “born-again” hits checked into the Top 10: the Bangles’ “Hazy Shade of Winter” and Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind.”

“Hazy,” a 1968 Paul Simon composition, fits the pattern of current artists redoing another writer’s old song, but the John single is something special. “Candle” is John’s own song.

Co-written by lyricist Bernie Taupin, “Candle” is a tender tribute to Marilyn Monroe that also reflects on the way superstars are often victimized by their own celebrityhood.

Sample lyrics from the song that was introduced on John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” album in 1973:

And it seems to me, you lived your life

Like a candle in the wind

Never knowing who to cling to

When the rain set in.

Connie Hillman, the singer’s U.S. representative, said she spoke to John in Rome this week and said he was “thrilled over what has happened with the record.”

“The interesting thing,” she continued, “is that a lot of people are so familiar with the song from the ‘Yellow Brick Road’ album and the live shows that they can’t believe it wasn’t a hit single years ago.

“They’ve also heard the song a lot over the years whenever anyone on television or radio has done a report on Marilyn Monroe. I heard it on three of the morning news shows last summer because it was the 25th anniversary (Aug. 5) of Marilyn’s death.”

Richard Palmese, executive vice president of marketing and promotion for MCA Records, said the public fascination with the late actress may have helped the MCA single pick up airplay, especially on adult-oriented stations, when the single was released in August. But he believes the main reason for the success of “Candle” was the strength of the record.

“To me, the Marilyn Monroe issue was always secondary--both in our decision to release ‘Candle’ and in the success of the record. When you are looking for a hit record, you are looking for a hit melody and a hit lyric--and that’s what we felt we had in ‘Candle.’

“We always knew it would have good acceptance among older listeners, but the research we’ve seen shows that the record did just as well among teens--which is why the record eventually crossed over from adult contemporary stations to (Top 40-oriented) stations.”

“Candle” resurfaced last summer as one of several old John-Taupin compositions on a live album that John had recorded in December, 1986, in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The LP, a two-record set, marked the return of John from Geffen Records to MCA Records, which released all his albums through 1980.

MCA had planned to celebrate the re-signing of John by releasing a new studio album, but throat surgery after the Australian tour prevented John from going into the studio until last October.

Rather than wait until this year for the studio album, MCA decided to release the live album. It was a bold move because it’s dangerous for veteran artists, like John, to appear to be concentrating on old material rather than serving up new songs. But MCA proceeded with the live album because John believed strongly in it and it wasn’t simply a rehash of his hits. Only three of the 14 songs had been Top 40 hits in this country.

With sales already past the 500,000 mark, according to MCA, the album experiment is clearly a success. The marketing strategy has also helped refocus attention on the excellence and depth of the John-Taupin song catalogue.

Because record companies rarely released more than two or three singles per album in the ‘70s, several potential hit singles by John never got released. Those tunes ranged from the vigorous “Take Me to the Pilot” (1970) to the winsome “Roy Rogers” (1973) to the stark “Tonight” (1976).

The continuing potential of these songs--as demonstrated by the “Candle” success--isn’t lost on MCA. Ready in the wings as soon as “Candle in the Wind” starts slipping on the charts is a second single from the live album: “Take Me to the Pilot” on one side and “Tonight” on the other.

MCA, however, has no plans to delay the scheduled April release of the new studio album in hopes of releasing a third single from the live album.

“This album has done its job,” Palmese said. “We want to get the new product out. Elton is a contemporary artist--and we want him to be viewed that way.”

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Asked in Q magazine about why he continues to study singing, piano and arranging, Sting responded, “It’s the only way to get better. A lot of rock stars have hit records and then get no better. They read in the L.A. Times that they are geniuses and so they think they no longer need to work at it. . . . I’m close friends now with Gil Evans, who’s 76 (this May) and still learning.”

(Q magazine, incidentally, has emerged in recent months as the most helpful and intelligent of the many English pop journals, both in its frequently revealing profiles and in its even-tempered reviews. Not only is virtually every important LP reviewed each month, but there are also special sections devoted to vinyl/cassette re-issues and CD re-issues.)

LIVE ACTION: John Cougar Mellencamp will be at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on Feb. 28. Tickets go on sale next Saturday. . . A Feb. 6 stop at the Long Beach Arena has been added to Aerosmith/Dokken’s Southern California visit. Tickets for this show are on sale now. . . . Roberto Carlos will be at the Universal Amphitheatre on Feb. 26 and 27, while Gene Loves Jezebel will be there March 5. . . .Johnny Cash and June Carter will be at El Camino College’s Marsee Auditorium next Saturday and at the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Jan. 19. . . . The Manhattans, the Dramatics and the Chi-Lites will be at the Wiltern Theatre on Feb. 6 and at the Celebrity Theatre in Anaheim on Feb. 7. . . . Delbert McClinton returns to the Palomino Jan. 22.