#89: One Hit Wonders.
They rise to the top of the charts, making the bands and songwriters who brought them to life disgustingly rich.
Then those same individuals fail to catch lightning in a bottle twice and vanish.
Without a trace.
And while the money keeps rolling in (hopefully), the stigma of being labelled a one-trick pony has to sting for these artists. (Though I’d be happy to have even one BIG project that defines me.)
But here’s the thing…
Every singer, band, and songwriter toiling away in obscurity would kill (and some actually have) for the chance to break through with that one thing that makes them uber-rich and cements their place in music history. Sure, they may feel like a failure when the harsh truth of their limitations becomes impossible to ignore, but eventually the tides of time will reveal the truth:
Artists with one-hit wonders enjoy the same immortality as The Stones, The Beatles and Cher. Not everyone can be Taylor Swift and that’s fine. Take the Norwegian lads known collectively known as A-ha for example…
Tell any European (especially a Norwegian) that A-ha are one-hit wonders and they’ll threaten to kick your arse.
(Trust me on this.)
These guys scored hit after hit and were massively popular on the other side of the world after “Take On Me” (click the link if you’re unfamiliar with the song and video, though I doubt that’s possible) was released. In North America, however, they’ll always be guys with the high voices, the cool hair and the insanely-clever rotoscope video – and nothing else.
So while they’re not technically one-hit wonders, A-ha is still recognized by Rolling Stone magazine and most North Am music fans as such.
But who cares, right?
The song rocks, the video is wicked cool and whether we admit it or not, we all love it.
Kinda Fun Fact: A-ha’s next single/video after “Take On Me” was “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.”
(And yes, you’ve never heard of it.)
But it opens with an epilogue to “Take On Me”. The young star-crossed lovers, having survived the ordeal of the events in “Take On Me”, stand gazing into one another’s beautiful eyes in the woods at night. (Little creepy, but okay.)
Suddenly the young man begins physically reverting to his original cartoon form. (Say goodbye to those real boy parts, pal.) The young woman realizes that he cannot remain in her world. Humiliated and in pain, he flees the scene into the distance back to his comic-book world, and she is left behind to return to the world of computer dating and rousing bouts of “Hello, Kitty”.
The camera rises away from our heroine and Hollywood-style closing credits roll: “The End / A Warner Bros. First National Picture”, followed by a television graphic which reads “you are watching channel 3” and the A-ha logo.
Bummer, am I right?
That downer aside, my point remains valid; one-hit wonders have their place in our collective history and their creators should be swelling with pride.
With one exception. “Who Let the Dogs Out” by Baha Men is a crime against humanity – and they still haven’t identified the culprit.
Alas, their love was not meant to last…
100 Reasons Life Ain’t So Bad: #90
#90: Epic Photo Fails.
I have to admit, this one is going to be hard to hit “Publish” on.
But I intend to own all aspects of my life – especially my mistakes. Even the unintentional ones.
Quick backstory: Years ago during an ill-fated attempt to bring my first book, The Bellman Chronicles, to life I decided it would be a brilliant idea to outfit myself like one of my childhood heroes, Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H*. (Google him, kids.)
As it turns out, my acting ability needed A LOT of polish and I only had the resources to film for one day. To top it off, one particular take captured a slight wardrobe malfunction. (One that fortunately didn’t become as famous as Janet Jackson’s.)
Until now, that is…
But here’s the thing, friends: If we don’t laugh at ourselves and the absurdity of life, it becomes overwhelming and we’ll drown in it. But if we shake our heads and dive headfirst into the joke, it no longer holds any power over us and we can ride the waves to sunny shores.
So that’s what I’m doing.
Sorry you all have to suffer as part of my therapy.