Oh no! I turned it down and it was a hit!

[luke]

Dusty Springfield turned down Killing Me Softly with his song! Others? Oh yea. The Shirelles turned down He’s a Rebel! Or their management did.

[TomatoTom123]

Hey luke... well, of course, The Marvelettes turned down “Where Did Our Love Go?” and we all know what happened there... lol. But they did get “Too Many Fish In The Sea” which kinda makes up for it. Kinda. :D

[sansradio]

Patti LaBelle turned down “Rush Rush” before Paula Abdul had a smash with it; Patti famously said she felt “like a penny waitin’ for change.” 😄

[luke]

Lol Patti. HDH and the Marvelettes have all gone back and forth whether they were offered Where Did Our Love Go!!

[Luciano]

Patti LaBelle turned down “Rush Rush” before Paula Abdul had a smash with it; Patti famously said she felt “like a penny waitin’ for change.” 😄

Patti LaBelle also turned down "I Feel Good All Over" which Stephanie Mills took to #1 on the R&B charts. The writers wanted Patti to do the song.

[Motown Eddie]

Reminds me of that story in Mary Wilson's Supreme Faith that said she was offered "Holiday" by producer Jellybean Benitez. Mary turned the song down and it went to Madonna. As I like to say, "stuff happens".

[144man]

Sandie Shaw turned down recording "Alfie".

[Motown Eddie]

Aretha Franklin initially turned down "Son Of A Preacher Man" until it became a major hit for Dusty Springfield.

[smallworld]

Hasn't it been also said that Dusty turned down "Nobody Does It Better" from the James Bond movie "The Spy Who Loved Me"?

[luke]

Yes , that is quite true.

[Motown Eddie]

Hasn't it been also said that Dusty turned down "Nobody Does It Better" from the James Bond movie "The Spy Who Loved Me"?

Wow! I didn't know that Dusty Springfield turned down "Nobody Does It Better" and I can imagine her doing a great version of the song [[and having a big hit with it).

[Bluebrock]

Wow! I didn't know that Dusty Springfield turned down "Nobody Does It Better" and I can imagine her doing a great version of the song [[and having a big hit with it).
Dusty turned down so many great songs. Often she was not in a good place and perhaps not in the correct frame of mind to make a fair minded decision. She really did not have great faith in her immense talent, and it ultimately affected her career in a negative way. For me she is , and always will be one of THE great voices of the 20th century. She was quite magnificent and i miss her so very much.

[copley]

That info re Dusty comes from a very unreliable source so take it with a pinch of salt!

[alexstassi]

Heatwave turned down Rock With You !!

[arr&bee]

Aretha also turned down[inseprable-this will be]so they were given to natalie cole and we know what she did with em.

[copley]

Aretha also turned down[inseprable-this will be]so they were given to natalie cole and we know what she did with em.

Can you please state your source? Natalie's 1st 7 singles were co-written by Charles Jackson, Marvin Yancy the latter of whom she was dating at the time before marrying him the following year. Under the circumstances it seems odd that Aretha would have been offered the aforementioned titles first! Thanks.

[Quinn]

Maurice White turned down "Love Ballad",which was a hit for L.T.D.Skip Scarborough presented that for EWF first.
Berry Gordy also allowed The Osmonds to acquire "One Bad Apple" presented for the Jackson 5.

[sansradio]

Can you please state your source? Natalie's 1st 7 singles were co-written by Charles Jackson, Marvin Yancy the latter of whom she was dating at the time before marrying him the following year. Under the circumstances it seems odd that Aretha would have been offered the aforementioned titles first! Thanks.

Not so odd considering Aretha recorded Yancy and Jackson's "You" [[the last track on Natalie's solo debut) the same year; it was the title track of Aretha's LP.

[Quinn]

Heatwave turned down Rock With You !!
Sure did and it's a shame that a finished recording or even a demo isn't in the Sony Music Vaults.

[luke]

Janet Jackson’s management turned down Whitney’s How Will I know

[Boogiedown]

Sylvia wrote PILLOW TALK with Al Green in mind. When he turned it down because he found it to be too much for him , Sylvia released it herself [[on her own record label) and had a #3 Billboard Hot 100 hit with it .


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h3ACIlVpIc

[arr&bee]

can you please state your source? Natalie's 1st 7 singles were co-written by charles jackson, marvin yancy the latter of whom she was dating at the time before marrying him the following year. Under the circumstances it seems odd that aretha would have been offered the aforementioned titles first! Thanks.it was stated in the last book written on her life and career.

[copley]

Thanks for the info.

[Luciano]

TLC turned down "Baby One More Time" that went to Britney Spears and launch her career.

[dylan]

Hi everyone,
This topic came up during an interview with Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. in the late70's/early80's [[possibly on "The Mike Douglas Show" or "The Dinah Shore Show"- 'can't remember which). They mentioned having a chance to record, "Too Much Too Little Too Late [[Johnny Mathis/Deneice Williams,1978) but they didn't jump on it soon enough. They also mentioned that Ellitot Willensky's "Got To Be There" [[Michael Jackson, 1972) was a song that The 5th Dimension considered recording. Side note: Willensky was a friend of the group. He and Lamonte McLemore wrote, "The Singer" which appeared on the 5D's 1971 album, "Love's Lines, Angles, and Rhymes." According to Lamonte, they wrote it with Frank Sinatra in mind. Gladys Knight and Pips recorded a version which ended up on, "All I Need is Time" [[1973). Oddly, Lamonte is not listed as co-writer on the GK&P album credits.

Re: The Spy Who Loved Me / Dustry Springfield
[[Composed by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager)

"Now we needed to find someone to record it.
We both loved Carly Simon, so Marvin flew to New York City and played the song for her in her living room. She loved it as soon as she heard it, and they laid it down immediately on a tape recorder in her home. Marvin flew out to Los Angeles before returning to London to finish the scoring, and we both played the demo for Richard Perry, who proclaimed it a hit. Knowing the added plus that it was going to be the new Bond theme, he agreed on the spot to produce it.
Richard recorded the basic track in LA and put Carly on it. Then he and I traveled from LA to London for Marvin to record his orchestra on the song..."



from "They're Playing Our Song: A Memoir" [Carole Bayer Sager] Simon & Schuster
|
October 2016

[copley]

Thanks. I knew that it was crap. Dusty never turned down either song mentioned. It's wishful thinking and comes from a very badly researched source - Karen Bartletts book about Dusty. No evidence to back it up, so no idea where she got the info from!!!

[lakedistrictlad1]

Sandie Shaw turned down recording "Alfie".

Where did you get this information from? As a big Cilla fan, I always thought it was George Martin's connection with Bacharach that brought this to Cilla. I've never heard of the Sandie connection.

[smallworld]

I turned down Alfie. I let Cilla [Black] have that one. I just couldn’t sing a song about a man called Alfie. [[http://metro.co.uk/2013/05/01/sandie-shaw-3708004/)
- Sandie Shaw, Metro, 1 May 2013


When Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote 'Alfie', the title track from the movie of the same starring Michael Caine, Sandie Shaw had first refusal.
- Sharon Davis, Every Chart Topper Tells a Story: The Sixties.

It makes sense that Sandie Shaw was offered the song first. She had three Top 10 UK hits in 1965, one of which went to number 1. Cilla only had 1 Top 10 UK hit in the same time period. Shaw had been denied a Visa to enter the US, whereas Cilla had gone there and relatively flopped. It's not surprising the producers put their money on Shaw doing better with the song.

[dylan]

'Just ran across this from a Karen Carpenter website,
http://leadsister.com/


The Making of Karen Carpenter Solo

http://leadsister.com/?page_id=1113


The Ramone household welcomed a new resident from Europe who ended up staying in the guest house. This guest was one that would become an integral part of Karen’s solo album. His name was Rodney Lynn Temperton [[better known as Rod Temperton). At that point in time Temperton had been successful with his disco/funk/jazz/soul band Heatwave who had scored the major hits, “Boogie Nights,” “The Groove Line” and the classic, slow jam “Always and Forever.” Ramone invited Temperton to come to New York to write for Karen. He moved in with only a keyboard and a set of headphones. Before long the Ramone household became Karen Carpenter’s musical commune. Almost immediately Rod offered Karen his songs “Off The Wall” and “Rock With You,” which Karen turned down. At that point the songs were in very raw form and lacked direction. It was Phil Ramone that introduced Rod to Quincy Jones which led Rod to offer the songs to Michael Jackson. Karen visited Michael Jackson in the studio while he was recording “Get On The Floor” for his “Off The Wall” album. This led to another connection of bassist Louis Johnson [[of the funk band Brothers Johnson), Louis co-wrote “Get On The Floor” with Michael Jackson. Subsequently Louis Johnson was hired to play bass for Karen’s solo album and in the process he developed a huge crush on Karen Carpenter. Initially Phil was upset that Karen did not want to record Rod’s songs. Though soon enough Rod wrote a few songs tailor made for Karen’s voice. The songs that transpired were: “If We Try,” “Lovelines” and the unreleased “Midnight Never Lets You Down.”