Anyone else see this and have issues with some of the choices?
I loved it when they'd put artists like Men w/o Hats, Big Country, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, A-Ha, and Falco up there and then explain away their 2nd hit by calling them "minor." I guess they had to fill out the list with good songs somehow, and these people were sacrificed for the good of the list.
And where do they get off putting "Relax" at #41? That song is top 10 easy. Men w/o Hats got screwed too.
I thought for sure Gloria Gaynor would be on there with "I Will Survive." Surely she didn't have another hit did she?
Otherwise, a fun series of shows and not bad viewing on a lazy weekend. Plus, since VH-1 Classic was showing all of the videos this weekend, I got to add a few new ones to my 80's videos compilations.
The problem I have with it is there is a difference of perception between bands with one hit, and one hit wonders. To me, some bands are along for quite sometime, and just happen to have a hit record. One hit wonders have a hit relatively early in their career, and usually seem to break up right after it. For example, Iggy Pop only had one hit, yet I wouldn't consider him a one hit wonder.
With all that said, the Macarena is probably the worst choice they could make. Unless the criteria was most annoying one hit wonder.
I'm not sure that they were judging so much the best as the biggest one-hit wonder. And even though everyone hates the song nowadays, everyone on earth knew the song a few years ago, and almost all of us did the dance if we were drunk enough.
My question is where the hell was Kim Carnes? For the life of me I can't think of anything she did other than "Bette Davis Eyes".
"You used it to shove your miserable daughter down our throats week in and week out...not anymore!" - Ric Flair gives me hope, Raw 3/18/02
"I thought it was cool how HHH just tossed Jericho out of the ring and made him vanish, possibly into another dimension, at the end of the match." - Dr. Unlikely says the funniest thing I've ever read on Wienerville
Where in the holy heck was "My Sharona"?!? Did the Knack ever have any other hits? Before this thing aired, that would have been my pick for #1!!
There's a ton of other things they left out, too: Louie, Louie, I Will Survive, Walking on Sunshine. On a personal note, it was painful to see Faith No More on the list.
Also, can anyone figure out what criteria they were using to rank this stuff? I thought it might be record sales, but "Achy Breaky Heart" was way down on the list, and that had to have sold a lot more copies than most of the stuff before it.
Now I'm bothered that I was actually compelled to write on this...
"That's what you get for not hailing to the chimp."
Faith No More was on the list? I could've sworn that "Falling to Pieces" and "Midlfe Crisis" got at least some radio play after Epic. Not to mention "We Care a Lot" which came before "Epic".
Not that I'm a big fan of Billy Ray Cyrus, but he's had more hits than "Achy Breaky Heart." "Some Gave All" was a pretty big hit right after that and he still gets good airplay, since it seems that every time I see CMT or VH1-Country, he's got a video playing. And with that immaculate mullet of his, he'll probably have more hits to come. Generally, one-hit wonder specials are just a chance to play old songs that were really big for ratings pops, so credibility of the claim "one-hit wonder" is usually skewed.
"Louie, Louie" was a hit for at least two bands. Richard Berry (not to be confused with Chuck) had a hit with it, as did Paul Revere and the Raiders. I think there were a couple of other bands that charted a cover of it, but the Raiders had a number of other hits. I don't know about Berry.
I would think the biggest one-hit wonder ever in terms of sales would be Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby," although it's popularity was matched by the Macarena.
The "Louie Louie" that I speak of would have been the original version, recorded by The Kingsmen. In regards to Billy Ray Cyrus and Faith No More, there were actually quite a few other bands on there that you could argue had more than one hit (Twisted Sister, Ratt, A-Ha, Falco). I think they just sort of put this thing together for their own amusement, and dismissed it as "the band was able to score one other minor hit, etc." Speaking of Falco, the coolest part was learning that he had also been a member of the band After the Fire, who created the classic one-hit wonder "Der Kommisar." Which, of course, did not make the list.
"That's what you get for not hailing to the chimp."
Louie Louie was originally written and recorded by Richard Berry, and not a nationwide hit. Paul Revere and the Raiders and The Kingsmen both recorded the song (they dispute who did first. It was within a day of one another), and the Kingsmen had a national hit with it, which is the version everyone's familiar with. Paul Revere and the Raiders had some other hits, and the Kingsmen had one more minor hit (Valley of the Green Giant) before fading into obscurity. Louie Louie was never a one hit wonder, then, strictly speaking. Although VH1 seems to care less about actual number of hits a "one hit wonder" had.
"Louie, Louie" is a song and not a band, though, so it doesn't figure into the One Hit Wonder terminology anyway. I don't think anyone was arguing that the song was only a hit once, just that the Kingsman with "Louie, Louie" kind of fit the profile. I think "96 Tears" was thrown in to cover all the short-lived garage bands, which is fine, since it's a great song. Plus, I guess it's easier to get an interview with ? than it is to find Moulty.
I agree that the whole thing seemed put together poorly, from not being able to figure out in what kind of order they were supposed to be ranked to the inclusion of people who clearly had more than one hit. Hell, didn't Vanilla Ice have at least one more Top 10 hit? It's annoying when they rewrite history like that (MTV does it all the time, too) despite having plenty of other songs they could have put on. It's like "Principal's Office" and "Pop Goes the World" never even existed. Damn you!
Where was Flock of Seagulls with "I run", that 80s song ruled, Don't think they had another hit. Was "I ran" considered a hit?? So many questions.
Dee-lite groove is in the heart made it to the top 20. I hear that song I must start dancing.... Also liked the chumawanba song (23), errr I get knocked down and i get up again.
Isn't it a little early to put people like the Cardigans (love fool #45) even though I loved her "favourite game" song and video of her speeding down the highway.
thanx to His heelness for the modification to make it PG
Originally posted by astrobstrdFaith No More was on the list? I could've sworn that "Falling to Pieces" and "Midlfe Crisis" got at least some radio play after Epic. Not to mention "We Care a Lot" which came before "Epic".
Not to mention... oh hell, what's the name of that song... track 2 on King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime... That was the first I had heard of them.
But at least they were right about Dexy's Midnight Runners. How "Mickey" was as low as it was, I'll never know, but you did tear them enough of a new one to suffice.
And who else laughed at what Chumbawamba did with the car licensing deal? Let a car company use a song, get half a million, then donate that check to raise awareness of abuses by car companies.
Originally posted by Cactus AdamSpeaking of Falco, the coolest part was learning that he had also been a member of the band After the Fire, who created the classic one-hit wonder "Der Kommisar." Which, of course, did not make the list.
Falco was not a part of the band After the Fire. They only did an English cover of "Der Kommisar" which was originally a Falco song in German.
Cowboy Spike
"Fear will keep them in line!" --Grand Moff Tarkin, "Star Wars: A New Hope"
I missed this travesty of a list. Did Harvey Danger make the list, or was their cover song for that cruddy MTV movie enough to stave off "one-hit wonder" status?
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