Quad Releases Following Hit Albums (With No Quad Release)

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Long forgotten this one, but as it is generally accepted to be single-inventory QS it does belong on the list, a #56 dud following the #20 hit album. I never once took out my copy for a play. Why would I?



I wouldn’t include it. Why wait five releases after the first gold record? Following the #20 James Gang Rides Again Atco skipped Thirds (#27) for no obvious reason, and two more perfectly good candidates — Straight Shooter and Passin’ Thru. By 1973’s Bang their chart peak was down to #122. The album finally settled on for the band’s quad debut, Miami, sputtered and died at #97. So this belongs more on the unexplained quad mysteries list.

If anything, it’s a double mystery as they moved to Atco from ABC in 1972. Record companies only grab successful acts from other labels. By definition, they’ve already proven they can sell records. The usual custom, at least at CBS, was to welcome the newly signed act with a quad version of their first release on the new label. Examples include first CBS releases by Herbie Hancock (Sextant) and Tower of Power (Ain’t Nothin’ Stoppin’ Us Now), plus Burton Cummings’ self-titled CBS debut after leaving RCA in 1975. Where was James Gang’s “welcome quad”?

Speaking of Atlantic Records, J. Geils Band is another strange case. Had they followed the “post-hit” rule, their first Gold record Bloodshot should have made its antecedent Ladies Invited a quad release, but it was passed over in favor of the #26 Nightmares. Stranger still, Bloodshot was at some point announced for quad release. Go figure.

And there’s this one we missed:

Donny Hathaway - Extension of a Man (#69) after Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway (#3).


Yeah I kinda thought J . G. had a couple of hits with "Funk 49 " and with "Walk Away " . Well at least they got a fair amount of airplay , but likely on FM .

*The Eagles might count what with Desperado prior to On The Border . (Although I'm not a fan of that 'un )
 
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maybe its a stealth Quad!? :eek:


"Only the Shadow knows ", F.B. :unsure:

We need a " Sherlock " on the case , I reckon.


I always wondered about a couple of Dave Mason 's that were on Blue Thumb/ABC (same time as Dan Hicks/Sun Ra QS discs), and wondered .....and pondered .....still do.
 
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Latest Update:
  • Wild Cherry - Electrified Funk after Wild Cherry
  • Redbone - Beaded Dreams Through Turquoise Eyes after Wovoka
  • Return To Forever - Musicmagic after Romantic Warrior
  • O'Jays - Ship Ahoy after Back Stabbers
  • BT Express - Energy To Burn after Non-Stop
  • Johnny Nash - My Merry-Go-Round after I Can See Clearly Now
  • Sly & The Family Stone - Small Talk after There's A Riot Goin' On and Fresh
  • Arlo Guthrie - Last Of The Brooklyn Cowboys after Hobo's Lullabye
  • Michael Murphey - Swans Against the Sun after Blue Sky Night Thunder
  • Manhattans - It Feels So Good after The Manhattans
  • Miracles - Love Crazy after City of Angels
  • Aerosmith - Get Your Wings after Aerosmith
  • Maria Muldaur - Waitress in a Donut Shop after Maria Muldaur
  • James Taylor - One Man Dog after Mud Slide Slim and Sweet Baby James
  • Phoebe Snow - Second Childhood after Phoebe Snow
  • Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies after School's Out
  • Pure Prairie League - Two Lane Highway after Bustin' Out
  • Ringo Starr - Goodnight Vienna after Ringo
  • Argent - In Deep after All Together Now
  • Mott The Hoople - The Hoople after Mott and All The Young Dudes
  • Staple Singers - Be What You Are after Be Altitude: Respect Yourself and Let's Do It Again
  • Dan Fogelberg - Captured Angel after Souvenirs
  • Curtis Mayfield - Back to the World after Superfly
  • Donny Hathaway - Extension Of A Man after Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
  • Gloria Gaynor - Experience after Never Can Say Goodbye
  • J. Geils Band - Nightmares after Ladies Invited and Bloodshot
 
The usual custom, at least at CBS, was to welcome the newly signed act with a quad version of their first release on the new label. Examples include first CBS releases by Herbie Hancock (Sextant) and Tower of Power (Ain’t Nothin’ Stoppin’ Us Now), plus Burton Cummings’ self-titled CBS debut after leaving RCA in 1975.

Just occurred to me- I wonder why Bob Dylan wasn't "welcomed" back to Columbia with a quad release of Blood On The Tracks? Instead the following album Desire gets the quad treatment. Wikipedia tells me both albums hit #1.
 
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Lots of great examples of smart and/or stupid marketing schemes.

I'll cloud the issue with a few facts:

In the early '70's, several titles were (re)issued as singles long after their initial release, and became big hits:

Aerosmith - Dream On
This was not a hit initially and the album was a stiff at first. Dream On stalled at #59 in '73, but went to #6 in its' late '75 re-release. How many LP's were printed with the old orange cover? Probably not all that many, likely most of those ended up in Boston. CD's from 1993 on featured the original cover, i.e. in Box of Fire. The originals ALL list "Walking the Dig" instead of dog. Album peaked at #21, although that was in '76. So, Get Your Wings didn't follow an album with a hit at that point.

Chicago - Beginnings and Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is
Beginnings was issued on 45 in '69 and did not chart. In it's '71 re-release, it went to #6. This was after 25 or 6 to 4 and Chicago II were big hits
Does Anybody Really ... was not relesed as a single in '69, but in late '70. It went to #7. BTW: that piano intro is nearly a note-for-note copy of a Bill Evans song.

Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin
When issued in '67 as a single, it peaked at #103 (US.) When rereleased in '72, it went to #2 (US.) Days of Future Past originally didn't chart very high in the US. It did peak at #3, but that was in '72. Likely the rerelease of NIWS helped.

Both Chicago & Moody Blues got the Quad treatment in one fell swoop.

As to why CBS (US Columbia, Epic, etc.) only released many later titles in SQ only, they likely knew that sales of Quad were on life support. So, they were releasing SQ only titles in an attempt to keep it alive. Several of those later SQ's are quasi-Quad, others have nice mixes.
 
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