music

Second hits by alleged one-hit wonders

Saw #NationalOneHitWonderDay trending on Twitter and figured I would spot several bands and musicians unfairly labeled as such. Ever since I saw a TV special label Suzanne Vega a one-hit wonder just because one of her songs was bigger than the many great ones in her catalog, I’ve taken this a bit personally.

I’m not going to argue Crash Test Dummies or Rednex (all together now — “if it weren’t for Cotton-Eyed Joe …”). I won’t even argue Thomas Dolby, Modern English, Kajagoogoo or even The Buggles. Not even Bobby McFerrin, who is best known for one of his worst songs. But some of the nominees just show our short-term memory.

I’m not going to post the tweets, but I’m simply going to list those I spotted and name other songs/albums that were certainly in my consciousness and others.

And before checking, I’m going to bet that someone says a-ha.

Here goes …

Tiffany: Could’ve Been (hey, I’m not saying I LIKE these songs) went to No. 1.

a-ha (yep, second one I spotted): The Sun Always Shines on TV and a JAMES BOND themes, The Living Daylights

Rick Astley: Sure, all his songs sounded the same, so I can’t think of any other titles. But they existed.

And this tweet was funny:

Flock of Seagulls: Seriously? Space Age Love Song and Wishing hit the Top 40 and got steady airplay on MTV.

Sinead O’Connor: Won a MTV Video Music Award for You Made Me The Thief of Your Heart. I thought The Emperor’s New Clothes was bigger than it apparently was.

Cyndi Lauper: You know what’s funniest about that tweet? The hit they mentioned was She Bop, which was neither her biggest hit nor the song most people will remember if you mention Cyndi Lauper to them.

‘Til Tuesday: This is a tough one. Aimee Mann has had such a great career, even if her songs didn’t hit the Top 40. Not even Save Me, which is ingrained in public consciousness (and perhaps proves how irrelevant the “Top 40” really is).

Toto: No. Just … no. Just because Africa is going through some sort of hipster revival doesn’t mean Rosanna, Hold the Line and their late-career ballads didn’t exist.

Falco: Tricky one, because Der Kommissar got as much attention for the English version (recorded by someone else) as for the original German.

Katrina and the Waves: Do You Want Crying hit the Top 40, but it’s admittedly pretty far behind the one big song. What was that called again?

The Cardigans: My Favourite Game did pretty well. And while it wasn’t a hit in the USA, I have to toss in this terrific video, which does have 928,000 views on YouTube.

Baby you’re foul in clear conditions, but you’re handsome in the fog …

OK, where was I?

Devo: The tweet shows them playing Satisfaction. Shape it up. Get straight. Go forward. Move ahead. Try to detect it. It’s not too late. To …

 

 

 

 

 

 

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