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One-Hit Wonders

rootabaga

Android Expert
Aug 11, 2014
2,908
7,986
Crazyville, CA
I thought it would be fun to have a thread collecting one-hit wonders of the musical realm. You know, the breakout artist whose name is synonymous with one song...and only one song, at least to the vast majority of people.

And vice-versa...even though covered by others, you hear the song title, and that recording artist comes to mind...and you wonder why they were such a flash-in-the-pan.

If possible, please embed the song or post a link to the audio track.

I'll start the thread with Tasmin Archer's "Sleeping Satellite," which I think is a terrific tune...nearly hypnotic music and lyrics, blended perfectly by her voice.

Enjoy...

 
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Talking of buying music. On Saturdays I used to meet my friends "in town" (in the UK the major shopping centres were, and still are to a certain degree, in the middle of our city centres, or on the "High Street") and we'd trawl the music shops. There were chains - HMV, Virgin, Our Price etc. Department stores that sold records Woolworths, WH Smiths, and independent, often tiny stores. We used to buy 7" singles and the occasional album.

Anyone remember "A Flock of Seagulls"? Brought back to mind by the film "The Wedding Singer" a few years ago. They were very cool in 1982, but only had one big hit "Wishing (I Had a Photograph of You)" :
 
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Pop Muzik - "M"
(1979)

"M" was known for other stuff which charted (outside of America) as well, but most known for "Pop Muzik", (note spelling, for later in the blah, blah, blah.) The only song to chart in America, where it went to #1. Among the very first new wave tracks to reach the top spot.
I always enjoyed this odd song, I find much of the whole concept interesting and humorous.

(Mostly) direct quote:

I was looking to make a fusion of various styles which somehow would summarise the last 25 years of pop music. It was a deliberate point I was trying to make. Whereas rock and roll had created a generation gap, disco was bringing people together on an enormous scale. But that's why I really wanted to make a simple, bland statement, which was, "All we're talking about basically (is) pop music."

The track was written as a result of his experiences in the U.S. where he came into contact with the music company called the Muzak Organisation.
He described it as "a very weird experience. There were all these white collar workers conscientiously putting together music with the precision of chemists. Way before Brian Eno was doing it, these guys were doing it for real."

Performer says to himself:
I have an idea.....I'll create an alternate persona, try and blur reality and character; And ensure the character represents little more than style over substance; The persona will be known not simply by a mononym, but by a single letter of the alphabet. And that letter shall become the self promoting logo...... The single graphic design element linked to the persona. While I'm at it, I'll create a "viral" campaign to spread the popularity of this logo......Plaster it all over the video, along with a repeated demonstration within the video, of how to "tag" buses, billboards, and buildings with the logo. A simple, three second samurai gesture, spray paint not included.
Guy says to himself;
Tongue very much in cheek, and sense of humor intact, I will strip the music down to its bare, sterile, synth-pop essentials....And then I'll re-inject some robotic soul back into that hollowed out framework, with saxophones, memorable hooks, a disco bass line, and elements of early rap music........All the while making a bigger statement about how bland, homogenized, and corporatized much of the medium, format, and industry have become;

And how image oriented the whole music video world is about to become.

If you can make it that far, the best sight gag of the video IMHO, is near the very end.
And favorite line: "Wanna' be a gun slinger?.......Don't be a rock singer,"
 
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Kirsty MacColl..........Probably deserved a lot more success than actually came her way. A lot of talent, did a lot of work after that first glimpse of success.......... But had bad luck.

Her biggest "hit" (over here) was the 1983 Trace(y) Ullman cover of "They Don't Know". Never #1, but top 10 here and UK charts. Kirsty's "original" version (1979) had a moment of success in the UK, (but the story is) labor strikes kept copies of the record out of stores, and prevented it from being more widely noticed. The Tracey Ullman version is fun, steeped in the Brill Building / Girl group sound of the '60s, and a cute video......And (the story is) that the high notes in Tracey's version were beyond her range, so Kirsty did some of the back-up work, on the better known version of her own song, most notably the "bridge" moment.

I have a complicated relationship with this song; The real life story of Kirsty just kills me. And I'll confess I have a bit of a thing for Tracey Ullman; Her version of this song is the first one I was aware of, and she will always be inextricably linked to "The Simpsons" in my mind. Bedrock comedy.
Also, while Tracey isn't conventionally "pretty", I find her very attractive; As talented and hard working as the day is long, and a total "ham"; She seems incapable of taking a truly glamorous photograph, but at the same time incapable of appearing anything less than happy, charming, and "ON" for the camera. And within the video, there is old childhood footage of her, suggesting she has always been so, a born performer. Throw in a brief cameo by some other random washed up pop star, and a cheeky, sad/happy ending, and I'm hooked.

I definitely like complicated......but this is a great example of "less is more" lyrics....... A simple love song, originally penned by Kirsty.
 
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