» Pop
Honestly – Stryper
Stryper was scarcely the only Christian heavy metal band, but they were one of the few such groups to attract the attention of the general public (even some non-Christians), if only for a brief time. Their 1987 album To Hell With the Devil (early pressings of which sported a cool cover) came out with perfect timing: Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Poison, Bon Jovi and a host of other hard-rocking bands were riding high on both the … Read entire article »
You Could Take My Heart Away Tonight – Silver Condor
Here we have a completely forgotten one-hit wonder from 1980 that sports a tenuous link to a much better-remembered one-hit wonder from 1985 by Autograph. “You Could Take My Heart Away Tonight” really goes nowhere for a really long time. Or at least it feels like a long time as you listen to the song. The biggest problem for Silver Condor is that they sound like at least 100 other Los Angeles bands who garnered a little … Read entire article »
United State of Pop 2011 (World Go Boom) – DJ Earworm
DJ Earworm continues to impress with his amazing mash-ups of popular songs into seamless pop songs. His United State of Pop 2011 (Blame it on the Pop) was a shockingly good song on its own. This year’s entry, “World Go Boom” is equally impressive. Once again he has taken Billboard Magazine’s top 25 songs of 2011 and squished them into another delicious mashup. Here is the complete list of songs in the 2011 DJ Earworm mashup. Adele … Read entire article »
VH1′s 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 1980s
I’m a child of the 1980s. I went to high school in the 1980s. I discovered new wave music and punk rock in the early 1980s thanks to early alternative radio stations and MTV. I love ’80s music. Always have, always will. The big hair. The neon outfits and new romantics. The synthpop songs and the hair-band ballads. The disposable pop song mixed with the lasting anthem. Some of it so bad it’s good. Some of it … Read entire article »
Pass the Dutchie – Musical Youth
1982 was a transition year for music. Sure, my friends and I still had all the Hall and Oates, Toto and Journey we could ever ever dream of hearing on the radio. But for kids in the pop cultural hinterlands of Utah where I lived, there was a new player on the scene. Her name was MTV and she was newly available on basic cable. Why was MTV a she? She had to be. How … Read entire article »
Oh Babe What Would You Say – Hurricane Smith
Author’s note: Let’s take a break from heavy metal one-hit wonders and take a look at this little ditty, almost forgotten now but when it was a hit, it was one of those songs that embedded itself in your ear like an annoying mosquito, and you just couldn’t get the stupid thing out of your head. The seed for this article was sown during an overnight trip I took recently, and as I pulled out … Read entire article »
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm – Crash Test Dummies
And now, dear friends, a candidate for worst one-hit wonder ever. “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” by Crash Test Dummies is a love-it-or-hate-it ditty by beloved Canadian band, Crash Test Dummies (at least they were beloved in Canada for a few years). Hear more: Canadian one-hit wonders The lyrics focus on kids with abnormalities (white hair, birthmarks and Pentecostal parents). A bold move since the song potentially offends all people with white hair, birthmarks and “lurch and shake” religious … Read entire article »
What is Love – Haddaway
If you were Haddaway, do you think you would be embarassed that your song became the centerpiece to a Saturday Night Live sketch that was so popular that it was expanded into a nearly unwatchable movie titled Night at the Roxbury? Or would you be proud? If I’m Haddaway, I’m completely content to have unleashed a pop song that is so relentless, it enters your brain, sits down on the couch, makes a ham sandwich, orders … Read entire article »