One-Hit Wonders: An Oblique History of Popular Music

Description

The one-hit wonder has a long and storied history in popular music, exhorting listeners to dance, to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony, to ponder mortality, to get a job, to bask in the sunshine, or just to get up and dance again. Catchy, memorable, irritating, or simply ubiquitous, one-hit wonders capture something of the mood of a time. This collection provides a series of short, sharp chapters focusing on one-hit wonders from the 1950s to the present day, with a view toward understanding both the mechanics of success and the socio-musical contexts within which such songs became hits. Some artists included here might have aspired to success but only managed one hit, while others enjoyed lengthy, if unremarkable, careers after their initial chart success. Put together, these chapters provide not only a capsule history of popular music tastes, but also ruminations on the changing nature of the music industry and the mechanics of fame. Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Figures Acknowledgments The Chart of the Book: One-Hit Wonders’ Top Hits Introduction Chapter 1: Buchanan and Goodman, “The Flying Saucer” Parts 1 & 2 (1956) Chapter 2: The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” (1963) Chapter 3: ? and the Mysterians, “96 Tears” (1966) Chapter 4: The Easybeats, “Friday on My Mind” (1966) Chapter 5: Norman Greenbaum, “Spirit in the Sky” (1969) Chapter 6: The Archies, “Sugar Sugar” (1969) Chapter 7: Serge Gainsbourg, “Je t’aime moi non plus” (1969) Chapter 8: Blue Swede, “Hooked on a Feeling” (1974) Chapter 9: Wild Cherry, “Play That Funky Music” (1976) Chapter 10: Althea and Donna, “Uptown Top Ranking” (1977) Chapter 11: Plastic Bertrand, “Ça plane pour moi” (1977) Chapter 12: Nick Gilder, “Hot Child in the City” (1978) Chapter 13: The Vapors, “Turning Japanese” (1980) Chapter 14: Aneka, “Japanese Boy” (1981) Chapter 15: Toni Basil, “Mickey” (1981) Chapter 16: Trio, “Da Da Da” (1981) Chapter 17: Nena, “99 Luftballons/99 Red Balloons” (1983) Chapter 18: The Grateful Dead, “Touch of Grey” (1987) Chapter 19: A View from the Ground: Latin Quarter, “Radio Africa” (1986) Chapter 20: A View from the Desk: Product Management Chapter 21: Shakespear’s Sister, “Stay” (1992) Chapter 22: OMC, “How Bizarre” (1996) Chapter 23: The Butthole Surfers, “Pepper” (1996) Chapter 24: Chumbawamba, “Tubthumping” (1997) Chapter 25: Meredith Brooks, “Bitch” (1997) Chapter 26: New Radicals, “You Get What You Give” (1998) Chapter 27: Las Ketchup, “Aserejé” (2002) Chapter 28: Gotye ft. Kimbra, “Somebody That I Used To Know” (2011) Contributors Index