The 411 Music Top 5: Week 11
Posted by Brian Berry on 03.20.2007
411 staffers pick their Top 5 ONE HIT WONDERS in the 11th edition of the Music Zone's Top 5. Do you remember Sir Mix-A-Lot, Chumbawamba, and Soft Cell? Check in to see our favorite bands who had a massive hit and were never heard of again!
Welcome to the 11th edition of 411 Music's Top 5!
In our last column 411 Mania staffers checked in with their Top 5 LIVE ALBUMS. Classic sets by Johnny Cash, Nirvana, and James Brown appeared as did some lesser talked about live albums.
Our loyal fanbase, always aware of our shortcomings, let us know what they think we should've included. This brings us to a segment we call…
READER MAIL
great choices by many of the guys, but here's a few you may have missed:
Allman Brothers Band - Live @ Filmore East, Grateful Dead - Live/Dead, Gov't Mule - Live @ Roseland, Neil Young - Live Rust, SRV - Live @ Carnegie Hall -Mark Sherrick
Hi again. I enjoyed the live cd list. But no one mentioned these: AC/DC -Live, Van Halen-Live: Right Here Right Now , Alice Cooper- A Fistful of Alice, G n' R- Live Era, Anthrax-Live: The Island Years, Ozzy- Randy Rhodes Tribute, Kiss -Alive -1-3, Led Zeppelin- How the West Was Won and the BBC Sessions, Pink Floyd- Pulse, Alanis Morrisette- Unplugged (Yes I admit it) Nirvana- Live from the Muddy Bands..., The Doors-In Concert. If counting live compilations then there is Woodstock 99- Disc 1 (red I think) Family Value Tours 2001 and Ozzfest 2001. A long list but these are among my favorites. Can't believe no one thought of them. Oh well. To each their own I guess. Keep up the great work!-Jeff Osmond
I enjoy the articles (I'm a sucker for lists), but I'm a little shocked at a few albums that didn't make anybody's cuts. Van Morrison - Too Late to Stop Now is great, and a pair of artist's albums from the Phillmore [sic] East, Aretha Franklin and the Allman Brothers, are both automatic picks in my mind. Plus, no one chose any Hendrix at all? (Live at Winterland being my choice) -Lucas Reynolds
Eric Clapton 24 nights…On the pearl jam front, yes state college is an awesome show…but I would prefer Mansfield from the same tour, disc of acoustic, then the regular show. -Mark Reed
…and finally Top 5 reader Tanner Pruitt checks in with his lists: I'd first like to say that I'm very happy with the warm reception of The Who's Live at Leeds as well as Johnny Cash's Live at Folsom Prison. Both of those, IMO, are the best live albums of all-time. Those albums are priceless and always will be. I would also include:
-Johnny Cash: Live at San Quinton- Not as popular as it's counter-part, but is still a great album for anyone.
- RATM: Live at the Olympic Auditorium- This was my introduction to Rage. It is a significant one, too, since this is what could have been (but thank god not) their last performance. Though some people complain about poor sound quality, I don't find any. The set list is great, and I can't see why this isn't the total package.
-MC5: Kick Out the Jams- I see that you had it on your list, but I just wanted to further affirm it. These guys, along with Iggy Pop/The Stooges and The Who, were the innovators and masterminds of punk. Where as The Who were bombastic, live performace killing machines and Iggy was the quintessential frontman, the MC5 were a sonic revolution of Punk and Psychedelia that hasn't been copied or matched since. And to take a step further, this was their debut album! IT TAKES SERIOUS BALLS TO DEBUT WITH A LIVE ALBUM!!!
-The Clash: Live From Here to Eternity- Okay, so I'm gunna cheat on this one. If you really wanna catch a great punk band live, but you also wanna hear a compilation of material over the years, then this is for you. This is the Clash's version of The Kids Are Alright, but later releashed. All the hit/singles are there. I like it, but that could be just me.
-The Band Of Gypsys: The Band Of Gypsys- This is the only album by these guys. The "supergroup" formed between Jimi Hendrix and his friends (bassist) Billy Cox and (drummer) Buddy Miles made history by putting this one out, proving that Hendrix could indeed "stand on his own two feet" so to speak. This album is highlighted by the 13 min. "Machine Gun".
-Led Zeppelin: How the West Was Won- Once again, this albums was spanned over two shows. IT'S ZEPPELIN!!! What else more should I say?
....and soooooooo many others that I don't have the time to list. I think that between all of these and the one's you guys put, we would be set on the best Live Albums
THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS! KEEP 'EM COMING!
This week we look at the bands who shook the radio waves hard…with only one song! That's right, we're listing our…
TOP 5 ONE HIT WONDERS
Brian Berry
[Music Editor/Columnist, "The 411 Music Top 5"/ Reviewer]
I have to preface this list by saying that many of these bands I hold in high regard and I think it's a shame certain bands mentioned here never achieved great commercial success outside of their "one hit". My suggestion to the reader is to check out bands such as The 13th Floor Elevators, The Church, The Knack, Biz Markie, Gary Numan, and The La's to see how much more they are than their one hit wonder.
On the other side of the coin, some of these bands suck balls. With that said, here's a ridiculously labored over list of my Top 50 favorite one-hit wonders.
Honorable Mention:
(50) Brewer & Shipley-"One Toke Over the Line"
(49) Da Brat-"Funkdafied"
(48) Baz Luhrmann-"Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)"
(47) Crash Test Dummies-"Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm"
(46) Toadies-"Possum Kingdom"
(45) The Surfaris-"Wipe Out"
(44) Men Without Hats-"The Safety Dance"
(43) The Vapors-"Turning Japanese"
(42) The Nails-"88 Lines About 44 Women"
(41) 2NU-"This Is Ponderous"
(40) Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs-"Stay"
(39) The Divinyls-"I Touch Myself"
(38) Black Oak Arkansas-"Jim Dandy"
(37) Marcy Playground-"Sex and Candy"
(36) The Proclaimers-"(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles"
(35) Tom Green-"The Bum Bum Song"
(34) King Missile-"Detachable Penis"
(33) Cornershop-"Brimful of Asha"
(32) Luniz-"I Got 5 On It"
(31) Belly-"Feed the Tree"
(30) Kajagoogoo-"Too Shy"
(29) Thomas Dolby-"(She Blinded Me) With Science"
(28) Nena-"99 Luftballoons"
(27) JJ Fad-"Supersonic"
(26) Soft Cell-"Tainted Love"
(25) Monster Magnet-"Space Lord"
(24) MC Breed-"Ain't No Future In Yo Frontin"'
(23) Stealer's Wheel-"Stuck In the Middle With You"
(22) Cannibal & The Headhunters-"Land of 1000 Dances"
(21) Gary Glitter-"Rock & Roll Part II"
(20) Biz Markie-"Just A Friend"
(19) Digable Planets-"Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)"
(18) Dramarama-"Anything Anything"
(17) ? and the Mysterians-"96 Tears"
(16) Dexy's Midnight Runners-"Come On Eileen"
(15) Butthole Surfers-"Pepper"
(14) Rockwell-"Somebody's Watching Me"
(13) The Von Bondies-"C'mon C'mon"
(12) Big Country-"In a Big Country"
(11) The Knack-"My Sharona"
(10) Gary Numan-"Cars"
(9) Modern English-"I Melt With You"
(8) 13th Floor Elevators-"You're Gonna Miss Me"
(7) Kurtis Blow-"The Breaks"
(6) The Church-"Under the Milky Way"
5. Geto Boys-"Mind Playing Tricks On Me" - One of the early gangsta rap megahits…and from guys who really lived what they rap about. This is a brilliant commentary on the paranoia that follows ‘hood life. In a time where so many mainstream rappers glamorize doing dirt, it's too bad we don't have more songs like this that critique criminal lifestyles.
4. Arthur Conley-"Sweet Soul Music" - If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say Otis Redding sang this song, I could retire in my 20's. This staple of oldies radio is an homage to some of the great soul legends, including Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, James Brown, and Sam & Dave. A great rocker straight from the heart.
3. Chumbawamba-"Tubthumping" - This was taken from my Now That's What 411 Calls Music mixtape feature last year, and best explains my devotion to this song:
Consider the following math equation. One part soccer fight song + a dash of an Irish traditional + one part ode to binge drinking= a glass full of "what the fuck" are these former Anarchist Irishmen singing about…and you‘ve got a hunormous hit!!!
How this song became one of the biggest songs on EARTH in 1997 is absurd. Luckily, I hung onto the "Tubthumping" EP so I can blare it when my friends won't leave my apartment on work nights. Is this song about kicking ass on the field? Getting sloshed with friends? Perhaps "Oh Danny Boy" and St. Patrick? Honestly, who gives a shit!? It knocks the piss out of any song to hit the American top 10 singles chart since 1997 and I'm willing to go toe to toe with anyone saying otherwise (and so are my drunken cronies down at ye olde watering hole).
"I get knocked down/but I'll get up again/you're never gonna keep me down"
2. The La's-"There She Goes" - Often mistaken for a sweet song about a man enamored by a girl, this upbeat track is really an ode to heroin. Did Sixpence None the Richer or The Boo Radley's know that when they covered "There She Goes"? Probably not. This remains one of the only songs that portrays heroin positively, albeit thinly veiled as a woman. "There she goes/there she goes again/racing through my brian/pulsing through my vein/no one else can heal my pain". Beautiful yet tragic song on an equally amazing album. Check out "There She Goes" Live on Letterman -->
1. Tom Tom Club-"Genius Of Love"- For my buck, The Tom Tom Club is the best side project of all-time (features members of Talking Heads). This song has been sampled a million times, most popularly on Mariah Carey's hit "Fantasy", but the original version is where it's at. Tinges of funk, reggae, soul, and hip-hop mix to create one of the most enjoyable hits of the 1980's. "What'cha gonna do when you get out of jail?/I'm gonna have some fun/What do you consider fun?/Fun, natural fun" and "I'm in heaven/with my boyfriend/my laughing boyfriend" are the lyrics that should make this hit ring a bell with the casual listener. Pick up their self-titled album while you're at it.
Honorable Mention:
C.W. McCall – "Convoy" - One of the greatest one-hit wonders that incorporated ridiculous lyrics about CB radios and had a chorus that was completely dissimilar to its verses, "Convoy" was an entity all its own. I believe there was a movie called Convoy that was based off of this song too. You can't say that about your average one-hit wonder.
5. Eddie Murphy – "Party All the Time" - Eddie never really faded away after this hit, but his music career also didn't take off. Then again, he was always a better actor. Even so, Murphy does have a tremendous singing voice (see his Stevie Wonder impersonation on SNL or his singing role in the movie Dreamgirls). Fortunately for him, this song became long forgotten except for random nostalgic discussions that fans of the 1980s have concerning absurd music.
4. Blind Melon – "No Rain" - This song will always be remembered for its hippie-tinged video with Shannon Hoon picking sunflowers in a grassy field and the unforgettable tap-dancing girl in the bumblebee outfit. Blind Melon went on to make another album called Soup (which featured the minor hit "Galaxie") but this smash single is this short-lived band's most noteworthy document.
3. Gary Numan – "Cars" - Having fronted the more rock-influenced Tubeway Army, when Gary Numan went solo, the synthesizers that began to creep out on Replicas came out full-force on "The Pleasure Principle". It was one of the more popular hits of the 1980s and was even picked up by Fear Factory for their re-release of Obsolete, which also featured Numan on vocals. Although Numan made several records following The Pleasure Principle (Telekon is excellent and had the minor hit "This Wreckage"), he never recorded a more successful song. [Ed. Note- While "Cars" is Numan's only single to crack the US Top 100 Singles chart, he has amassed over twenty singles onto the UK Singles chart]
2. Soft Cell – "Tainted Love" - Covered by everyone from Hootie and the Blowfish to Marilyn Manson, this is one of the quintessential ‘80s one-hit wonders. Anybody who knows anything about popular music knows of this song and its importance. A catchy synth line and witty lyrics about sex and depravity made this a huge hit in the United States even though this British group still had a successful string of singles in the United Kingdom. Check out the music video here! Live on Letterman -->
1. Sir Mix-A-Lot – "Baby Got Back" - For better or for worse, Seattle's own Sir Mix-A-Lot penned one of the most oft-quoted rap songs of our generation. He had a couple of minor hits from his first album ("Buttermilk Biscuits" and "Posse On Broadway"), but his ode to the "badonkadonk" went straight to number one and is now a favorite at karaoke bars across the country. Every once in a while, Mix-A-Lot still tours and this selection never fails to get the crowd pumped.
Jesse Coy
[Music Columnist, "Notes From the Padded Cell"/ Reviewer]
Explanation: You can probably fill a book with one hit wonders... or at least several beefy pages. Being the collector that I am, I'm narrowing this down to one-hit wonders that have made it into my CD collection. And for an honorable mention, let me mention "Apple Pie" by White Trash. They made a video for it, but I guess it wasn't really a hit. I just loved the horns in the song, and had to pick it up when I saw it for... 99 cents recently.
5. 4 Non-Blondes-"What's Up"- I could be wrong, but I don't
think another song off this debut and only release from these guys (and gals) charted, and of all these one-hit wonder albums, this one is definitely the best. Needless to say, this song was a big hit. I think I got the CD in the mail from a record club before that track went big (I just liked the pretty picture on the cover). And boy, that lady's got some power in those lungs.
4. Dig-"Believe"- This was definitely a minor MTV one-hit wonder in the grunge heyday. I'm not sure how the CD came into my hands at first. I really did like this song, their hit off the album. There were only a few more songs that I liked, so I sold it. But I recently picked it up again for 99 cents. Worth it for that one track.
3. EMF-"Unbelievable"- Say it ain't so! It is so. And doesn't this go so well with #4? Yet another 99 cent purchase, though 99% of the time, if I throw it into the CD player, it's just to listen to their one hit. Though curiosity pushed me into getting an equally used and cheap one by these guys, their follow-up EP actually contains a cover of the Stooges' "Search and Destroy."
2. Ratt-"Round and Round"- In the 80's and 90's, we
thrashers HATED poser bands. That's hair and spandex bands. Ratt would definitely fall into that category. But time heals all wounds. Actually, I don't have the CD from which their one hit originates (or any Ratt CD), though I've been close to getting it. Dust off that old 80's music video, and see what happens when you invite Ratt to a dinner party.
1. Iron Butterfly-"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"- Slayer's version is cool, but the original is a whopper. I bet it's technically the longest one-hit wonder. I once had this CD, but besides the title track, I thought the rest sounded like a watered down, hippyfied version of the Doors, and not too interesting. Well, this past X-Mas, I bought the CD anew, and good thing I did. It comes with two bonus tracks... you guessed it, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (live) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (edited). If that's not the definition of a one hit wonder, call me barnacle bob, and stick me on the side of a ship that's about to go out to sea. Check out a performance of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" here! -->
Honorable Mention "Turning Japanese," The Vapors; "You Gotta Be," Des'ree; "Tainted Love," Soft Cell; "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)," The Proclaimers; "One of Us," Joan Osborn; "No Rain," Blind Melon (yeah bee girl!); "Counting Blue Cars," Dishwalla (God's a woman! Love it!); "Lovefool," The Cardigans; "Naked Eye," Luscious Jackson; "Save Tonight," Eagle-Eye Cherry; "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand," Primitive Radio Gods; "Your Woman," White Town (gender confusion, always hot); "99 Luftballons," Nena, and "The Safety Dance," Men Without Hats.
5. Seven Mary Three-"Cumbersome "- "Cumbersome" is everything that was great about the mainstream rock of the ‘90s exaggerated and shoved into four minutes. It's got deep, grungy, two packs a day vocals, some muddy guitar riffs and a mountain of angst. My god, the angst—"I have become cumbersome to my girl. I have become cumbersome to this world."
4. Wheatus-"Teenage Dirtbag" - In true spirit of one hit wonder-dome you should treat Wheatus as though this is the only song that they've recorded, the rest of their stuff is total filler. This song is great because it's a bit of a novelty track, but it still strikes a sentimental chord. It's the perfect high school scene: misfit boy loves girl from gym class, girl has douche bag boyfriend, a happily ever after scene at prom. And it's ridiculously catchy.
3. Tracy Bonham-"Mother Mother "- Tracy Bonham accomplished a near-impossible feat with this song. She took a phone call from daughter to mother, scored it, recorded it and set it loose on the airwaves. And it seriously rocked. I owned this album when I was in eighth grade (on cassette, baby!) and I played it into oblivion because a. that's what you do with music when you're 14 and b. it's solid. This woman deserved more recognition than she got.
2. Harvey Danger-"Flagpole Sitta "- Oh the cultural critique, "I want to publish ‘zines and rage against machines…" This track makes these guys sound like some certifiable mother effers, and you can almost dance to it.
1. Marcy Playground-"Sex And Candy"- It's hard to separate the objective worth of this song from the nostalgia, but I can't feel that guilty. I think the worth of the one-hitter is fairly tied up in the sentimentality of it all. It picks out a very definite point in time when the song was on every radio station, stuck in your head, being written into notebooks. What does it even mean? What would it be to smell sex and candy? Who cares! Because we love both, their conjunction can't be wrong. Check out the music video for "Sex and Candy" here! -->
Bonus Round! Best one song wonder-A Month of Somedays' track "Forever Mine" is the only song to have been mass-released by this now defunct band. It appeared on the final installation of Deep Elm Records' Emo Diaries series, and is seriously the best song ever recorded— painfully stunning. Drop everything and listen to it immediately (http://www.myspace.com/amonthofsomedays).
Did we miss a one-hit wonder? Send us a line and let us know!
…and don't forget to click on each writer's name to see what else they've been writing at 411 Mania!
That's it for The Top 5 this week. Check us out this time next week for another Top 5 list!
