A key ingredient of one-hit wonder status is how big that one hit is in relation to the rest of the artist’s output. By that standard, the Belgian-born Australian singer-songwriter Gotye is the one-hittiest of one-hit wonders.
Gotye’s marvelous ‘Somebody That I Used to Know‘ topped my own list of the best songs of 2012 and scores of critics’ lists as well. It reached #1 in 26 countries and remains one of the top-selling digital singles of all time. It was massive.
Hozier’s ‘Take Me To Church’ was one of the biggest hits of 2014, going five times Platinum and topping Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart for a then-record 23 straight weeks.
Powered by that single, the Irish rocker’s self-titled debut LP sold a million copies worldwide. I think I heard it a couple of times and enjoyed it well enough, but I couldn’t name another of its songs.
The other day, my daughters and I were talking about one-hit wonders, specifically the idea that some one-hit wonders must have started out with a lot of long-term potential.
When A-Ha had a huge hit with ‘Take On Me,’ their fans probably thought the band would enjoy international success for years to come. And in Europe, they did have a strong run of several Gold albums. But 33 years later, can anybody reading this blog name another A-Ha song without using Google?
It’s bittersweet to see Tom Petty pop up as a Random Weekend selection, just a few days past the one-year anniversary of his death. ‘A Higher Place’ is an appropriate title, I suppose, even if the song is not about heaven but rather a flood.
This is Petty at his Byrds-ian best, all jangly guitars and sweet harmonies. ‘A Higher Place’ is a standout track on one of Petty’s most special albums, Wildflowers.
I don’t have much patience for songs like this one from Sufjan Stevens’ 2010 album The Age of Adz.
This reminds me of Radiohead post-OK Computer. Many critics would call that a great thing, but I think Radiohead was just swell right through OK Computer and then turned into total garbage.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was one of this summer’s unexpected hits, grossing more than $120 million at the domestic box office and another $270 million overseas.
My own reaction to the film was equally unexpected, and in fact as of this writing it still sits atop my 2018 list as my favorite movie of the year so far. I am counting down the days til the Oct. 8 streaming release like a kid in the walk-up to Christmas.
John Legend might be a recent addition to the EGOT ranks, but I have never found him very engaging. He seems like a lovely man, but his music bores me.
His wife, model Chrissy Teigen, on the other hand, is a goddamn marvel. She is witty as hell, wielding her Twitter feed like a scalpel against the deplorables, and charmingly self-deprecating to boot.
