Have any "Greatest Hits" albums had bonus songs which become a greatest hit?

January 18, 2006 8:35 PM

Many times a "Greatest Hits" album is released and there is an extra new song or two added as a bonus (and they're usually not very good) . . Have there ever been any of these "bonus tracks" which themselves have gone on to become a greatest hit?
posted by jeremias to media & arts (28 comments total)

No Doubt had a big hit with "It's My Life" off their "The Singles 1992-2003" collection.
posted by smackfu at 9:00 PM on January 18, 2006

Changes by Tupac
posted by cloeburner at 9:01 PM on January 18, 2006

Does a B-side qualify as an extra? There have been many, many famous B-sides that went on to become hits. Wikipedia has a list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-sides
posted by frogan at 9:16 PM on January 18, 2006

Tom Petty, "Last Dance With Mary Jane."
posted by keswick at 9:21 PM on January 18, 2006

I would say that B-sides don't count, and neither do singles compilations.
posted by jjg at 9:46 PM on January 18, 2006

Nirvana, "You Know You're Right".
posted by Danelope at 9:51 PM on January 18, 2006

New Order, "True Faith".
posted by jjg at 9:53 PM on January 18, 2006

Do live releases count as greatest hit compilations? If so, I submit Duran Duran's "Wild Boys" from the "Arena" live disc.
posted by Dreama at 10:01 PM on January 18, 2006

Alan Parsons' "You Don't Believe" first appeared on a greatest hits collection... it got a fair amount of airplay and later appeared on one of their "real" albums.
posted by kindall at 10:24 PM on January 18, 2006

Ummm... define "Greatest Hit".

Iron Lion Zion sucked arse, but it sold well and charted.
posted by pompomtom at 10:44 PM on January 18, 2006

Paul Weller's "Brand New Start" was first released on his Modern Classics (greatest hits) -- it charted in the UK in the Top 10, I believe.
posted by scody at 12:04 AM on January 19, 2006

"The Sweetest Thing" by U2 was only included on their 1980-1990 compilation. It was a pretty decent hit in Australia.
posted by snarkle at 1:11 AM on January 19, 2006

A different recording of The Sweetest Thing (without Boyzone, and with a far more interesting middle-8) appeared as the b-side to a single during The Joshua Tree era (though I can't recall which one this early in the morning)... The song wasn't completely unknown when it appeared on 80-90.
posted by benzo8 at 1:42 AM on January 19, 2006

Britney Spears' cover of "My Prerogative" was a relatively big hit, I think...
posted by antifuse at 2:06 AM on January 19, 2006

REM's Bad Day a greatest hit extra and then reached #8 in the UK
posted by brettski at 2:10 AM on January 19, 2006

The Pet Shop Boys have released two Greatest Hits albums. The first one - Discography - also had "Was it Worth it?" which charted at #24 in the UK charts. And it's one of my favourite songs.

The second one - PopArt - also had two singles, Miracles and Flamboyant which charted at #10 and #12 respectively.
posted by badlydubbedboy at 2:53 AM on January 19, 2006

The earliest example of this I remember was the Cars' "Tonight She Comes."
posted by kimota at 4:03 AM on January 19, 2006

A different recording of The Sweetest Thing . . . appeared as the b-side to a single during The Joshua Tree

I remember this as well, simply because I tortured a friend who was a huge U2 fan all during 8th grade by signing "THe Swedish Thing". Memories.
posted by yerfatma at 4:18 AM on January 19, 2006

- Runnin' (Dying to Live) by Tupac (Sorta - it was actually made from recorded & unreleased material of his after his death)
- When I'm Gone by Eminem
posted by charmston at 5:27 AM on January 19, 2006

Madonna: Justify My Love, from The Immaculate Collection.
posted by misteraitch at 5:51 AM on January 19, 2006

Kimota wins. "Tonight She Comes" was a Top Ten hit.
posted by mojohand at 6:42 AM on January 19, 2006

There's also Billy Joel's "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" which originally appeared on his Greatest Hits vol. 1 & 2 set in '85.
posted by anthom at 7:20 AM on January 19, 2006

"I Believe In You" and "Giving It Up" were both new tracks on Kylie Minogue's Ultimate Kylie, and both charted in the Top 10 in the UK.
posted by bcwinters at 8:51 AM on January 19, 2006

Bruce Springsteen had a couple new hits on his GH album, including "Secret Garden" which was featured in Jerry Maguire.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 9:10 AM on January 19, 2006

"Music is my radar" was on the Best of Blur CD released c.2000. I think it charted, though it's not exactly a 'greatest hit' itself.
posted by patricio at 9:13 AM on January 19, 2006

Sheryl Crow's cover of "The First Cut Is the Deepest" from The Very Best of Sheryl Crow topped or placed highly in many charts.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:40 AM on January 19, 2006

"Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" were released with the Beatles Anthology and both became hits.
posted by Espy Gillespie at 9:51 AM on January 19, 2006

BTW, I stand by my No Doubt suggestion, since while it was indeed on a singles collection, it had not been previously released as a single.
posted by smackfu at 6:53 AM on January 20, 2006