# These 3 Songs by The Byrds Should Have Been Bigger Hits at Radio

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/these-3-songs-by-the-byrds-should-have-been-bigger-hits-at-radio/
- Published: 2026-08-03T00:00:00+00:00
- Original publisher: American Songwriter
- Original article: https://americansongwriter.com/these-3-songs-by-the-byrds-should-have-been-bigger-hits-at-radio/
- Topics: AI, Entertainment, Music, Technology

## Key points

- American Songwriter revisits three underrated Byrds singles.
- "All I Really Want To Do" and "Mr. Spaceman" both missed the Top 40.
- "So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star" was later covered by Tom Petty.

## Summary

This piece from American Songwriter looks back at The Byrds, the influential 1960s folk-rock band, and highlights three of their singles that the writer argues deserved to be bigger radio hits than they were. The retrospective serves as an appreciation of the group's often-overlooked catalogue beyond their well-known chart-toppers, noting how each song underperformed relative to its artistic merit.

The article covers "All I Really Want To Do", a Bob Dylan cover from the 1965 debut album Mr. Tambourine Man that failed to crack the Top 40; "So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star", a 1967 single written by Jim McGuinn and Chris Hillman about the downsides of fame, later covered by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Patti Smith; and "Mr. Spaceman", a 1966 McGuinn-penned track from Fifth Dimension that also only just reached the Top 40 despite becoming a fan favourite.

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