I love REM, Automatic for The People had a lot of great songs, the singles included some amazing instrumentals. I listened to Mandolin Strum over and over when i lived in my studio apartment on Oxford St. at 16 while reading Stephen Kings The Wastelands (from The Dark Tower Series). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmL918jingo

I don't know if Martin Page was a one-hit-wonder, but this song actually made me interested enough that I bought the CD of it at Tower Records in Alexandria, VA, which shocked me because it was two songs and cost $5.

This was the one I purchased the CD for:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIa9UEXd98Q[/youtube]
"I will not cry / For the blind man I leave behind / When I go / In the House of Stone and Light."

This was the other song:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_OvSoNcGBY[/youtube]
"She hears the bells ringing / In a town far away / For all of God's children who died / For this day."

IS TOTALLY NOT a one hit wonder.

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yan77UKYcg4[/url]

And walking through light syrup
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_UlbQjN0VY[/url]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAAldg3I3uQ[/youtube]

While converting my old cassette tapes into mp3s I ran across this song. I remember it from the 80s, although I don't remember it being so... weird.

I didn't buy this album back in the day but I have listened to this song 20 times in the past 48 hours and I am dying to find the album now. None of my usual online haunts have it so I might end up ordering it from Amazon or something.

Damn Swedish chicks.

The late 80s saw a slight shift in metal and rock bands. The writing was already on the wall for "hair bands" as grittier acts like Guns N' Roses made the pretty boy bands like Poison look wimpy in comparison. Before grunge came along and complete wiped out hair metal, a grittier side emerged. Motley Crue even traded in their spandex for leather. And then, there were these guys:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Orh6JEjtliE[/youtube]

I'm sure I first discovered this song through MTV's Headbanger's Ball. I love the riff, I love the video, I loved everything about this song. Then I bought the album and discovered that 90% of the band's effort must've been spent on this one single. It's not that their other material was bad, it was just unmemorable.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqYeedwEA4E[/youtube]

I have always had a thing for skateboarding video games. For the PlayStation MTV had one, as did Electronic Arts, but Activision's Tony Hawk series trumped them all, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 was, in my mind, a 10 out of 10.

I played that game every day for weeks, maybe months. The CD technology employed by the Sony PlayStation allowed for musical soundtracks for games in CD quality. This is one of the tracks from that game, one I heard many times while practicing my virtual skating.

I ended up seeing Fu Manchu live once. REO SpeedDealer was supposed to open for them, but bailed after visiting a local strip club and refusing to return to the venue. Fu Manchu did what any other cool band would do -- they took the stage early and played a double set, rocking the house and saving the night. I later taught SpeedDealer a lesson by deleting all their mp3s I illegally downloaded. That'll learn 'em.

Fu Manchu put on a good show and after it was over I bought their CD. And after two or three listens, I discovered that I liked Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 a lot more than I liked Fu Manchu. I tried getting into retro 70s rock albums.

The first time I saw this video for "Grey Cell Green" by Ned's Atomic Dustbin, I thought it was the most awesome song ever. I loved the idea of having two bass players and I loved the drum pattern that's repeated through the intro and choruses.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts_-4iGdSD0[/youtube]

I had just begun buying CDs (as opposed to cassettes) when I discovered this video, so I ran right out to Sound Warehouse only to discover that Ned's Atomic Dustbin hadn't yet released an album. Instead, they had released a five-song EP on CD, so I bought that.

It sucked.

While it wasn't their fault, Ned's Atomic Dustbin was one of those bands that had one catchy single and a bunch of other songs I couldn't get into. Oh well.

You know, if I had ever bought that album, I'm sure it would be on my list. That's definitely in my top 10 of like ... you know those songs that make you remember what it was like to be in 7th grade and have a crush on some popular girl that doesn't even know your name (or worse, probably has a nickname for you, and it ain't a good one) ... whatever that genre is, this is in the top 10 of it for me. Probably top 3.

And to recycle one of my own jokes, I once saw a "T'Pau's Greatest Hits" CD and thought to myself, "What's on there, 10 copies of Heart and Soul?" Actually I just checked Wikipedia and on their official discography they have 7 albums, 3 of which are greatest hits compilations. That's ridiculous. I'll bet if you go ask every single person you work with you couldn't find someone who could name another T'Pau song other than Heart and Soul. Hell, the band might not even be able to!

FUCK YEAH!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwrYMWoqg5w[/youtube]

Urban Dance Squad - "Deeper Shade of Soul"

The year was 1990, and MTV's "120 Minutes" (or maybe it was "Alternative Nation" back then) was busy introducing kids across the globe (including me) to "alternative music" (formerly known as "college rock"). Every week, kids like me hungry for new music were tuning in to discover unique bands and songs that, unsurprisingly, weren't getting regular radio rotation in central Oklahoma.

One such band was Urban Dance Squad. Their song "Deeper Shade of Soul" is a perfect laid back groove. Along with a full band, UDS also contained a DJ and a rapper, which garnered them comparisons to (according to Wikipedia) "Rage Against the Machine, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fishbone." According to the same article, "[t]heir music is described as a blend of genres, including funk, soul, heavy metal, hip hop, reggae, jazz and ska."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw5Gl28Xe5o[/youtube]

The song begins with the comment "mellow ... that's my style," and the song reflects that. It's a laid back jam with a a great chorus and a a fun video that, I'm sure, sold a bunch of the band's albums. I was one of the people that shelled out for the

A huge disappoint for me was that the version/mix of the song wasn't the same as the version they used in the music video (posted above). The album mix is longer, with a lot more saxophone and different break downs in the middle. I have always greatly preferred the video version, but unfortunately every time someone uploads it, it disappears soon afterwards. Watch the one posted above while you can.

So, what's wrong with the rest of the album? Unlike some of the bands UDS was compared to, UDS never developed their own sound. The track immediately following "Deeper Shade of Soul" on the album "Prayer for my Demo," could easily be mistaken for a Red Hot Chili Peppers jam. Other songs ... it's hard to explain, but they either try too hard, or not hard enough. Some are too funky, others are too rappy. "Deeper Shade of Soul" was the perfect jam at the perfect time. For me, nothing else on the album measured up.

I will say that as my tastes have matured, this album has grown on me over the years, but it's still not a favorite, and I'm still comfortable in calling UDS a one hit wonder.

While I'm on the subject of one hit wonders led by female vocalists, here's someone else I spent $15 on.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALHe12x_I0U[/youtube]

Letters to Cleo's 1993 album "Aurora Gory Alice" contained the hit single "Here and Now," which I absolutely loved.

This sentiment will pretty much be repeated in every one of these posts: "then I listened to the rest of the album, and hated it." As part of this series, I am listening to this album today at work and I will post an update if my opinion has changed. So far though, nope.

What's funny is, two years later No Doubt released their debut album and became huge stars. Maybe it's all in the timing or something, but I thought the two bands were pretty comparable. Except the lead singer of Letters to Cleo is currently singing backup vocals in Hanna Montana's band, and No Doubt takes a bath in bathtubs full of cash every night.

--- [EDIT/ADD] ---

I've been listening to Letters to Cleo's "Aurora Gory Alice" for half an hour now, and just hit the hit "Here and Now" at track 6. The funny thing is, I couldn't tell you a single thing about tracks 1-5. "Here and Now" is an upbeat pop song with big layered choruses. Tracks 1-5 sound like low key, soft rock tracks with acoustic guitars and keyboards that drone on. There's no slick production, no cool breakdown, and no memorable hooks. Track 8, "Mellie's Comin' Over" is similar I guess to "Here and Now", but it's still lacking a hook. Everything else here sounds like No Doubt B-Sides, which explains the lack of a second single, or subsequent career.

In this thread, I will be discussing one hit wonders (mostly from the 80s and 90s, but you never know) that specifically cost me money -- as in, I paid money for their album for one song.

First up, for no particular reason, is Tracy Bonham's "Mother Mother".

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xi8NvSetZc[/youtube]

I'm a sucker for vulnerable female vocalists (that'll become more obvious as the list goes on). If you're not familiar with the song, it's basically about a girl calling her mother after moving out on her own and trying to convince her mother that "everything's fine," even though we learn from the chorus that they're not.

This song came out in 1996, just a few months after I had moved 1,800 miles away from home for a new job. And while I wasn't a girl, and I wasn't "freezing or bleeding to death" like the girl in the song, I could still relate to that feeling of talking to people and telling them that everything was coming up roses, even when they weren't.

Tracy Bonham, along with being a great lyricist, also played the electric violin. I don't know why I thought I would enjoy an album full of electric violin, but I didn't.