That the New Wave genre in the 80’s is remembered not only for bad hairs but for having many “one hit wonders” is one of the biggest misconception in music, as far as I’m concerned.
In music, a “one hit wonder” refers to bands or artists who have only one hit single or one song that overshadows their body of work.
But this “one hit wonder” moniker can be misleading because it implies that bands or artists who have had only one hit single in a specific region or country, are only known or recognize for their one and only hit.
Many of the bands or artists labeled as “one hit wonder” may have other hits or well-known songs that never charted elsewhere because those were album tracks and were never released as singles in the first place.
The fact is, many bands or artists listed as “one hit wonder” in a country like the U.S., are popular ( some massively, like A-ha) and successful in other parts of the world like in Europe, South America, Australia and Asia.
And an internationally renowned band or artist popular in Europe or in other parts of the world may not even have a single chart hit in the U.S. Billboard (Morrissey).
Let me cite five among the many New Wave-associated bands erroneously branded “one hit wonder”:
Aha: Of the bands cited as “one hit wonder” by American firm VH1, nothing touches my nerves more than A-ha. Their U.S. Platinum-selling debut album,"Hunting High And Low", produced a no.1 hit “Take on me” and a top-20 hit, “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.”, in the U.S. Billboard chart. They shouldn’t even be on the list. That their most popular song “Take On me” overshadows their whole work is ridiculous. Did VH1 survey the more than a million fans who bought (even only) their debut album in U.S.? Perhaps, the person/s responsible for putting A-ha on VH1's list , knew only one song of them.
The two aforementioned songs were also chart toppers or top 10 hits across Europe and Australia. Other singles from their debut album such as “Train of Thought” and “Hunting High and Low” were also chart hits in Europe. Here in the Philippines, “Love is Reason” was heavily played on FM radio too. Another song from the album, “Living A Boys Adventure Tales” is a classic among New Wavers here. In fact, most of the singles from their first three albums are hits in many regions of the world.
Throughout their career, A-ha produced 9 albums, 39 singles and sold millions and millions of records worldwide. How’s that for a band referred to as “one hit wonder”?
A Flock Of Seagulls: Listed in VH1 with their supposedly single hit, U.S. top-10, “I Run (So far Away)”.The fact is, they have several international hits such as ‘Space Age Love Song”, “Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) ( U.S Top-20! ), “Transfer Affection” and their most famous song here, ” The More You Live, The More You Love”.
The Church: Although having just one U.S. charting single, “Under The Milky Way Tonight” which went no. 24 in the U.S. chart in 1988, here in the Philippines they are also known among New Wavers for “The Unguarded Moment”, “No Explanation” and “Already Yesterday” which were all played in New Wave radio stations in the 80’s like the legendary WXB 102. They are of course popular in their homeland, Australia. Their discography consists of 20 studio albums, 9 extended plays and 33 singles.
Modern English: Famous for the New Wave classic, “I Melt With You”(U.S. no. 78). Two of their songs that were heavily played on FM radio here in the 80’s were, “Hands Across The Sea”( U.S. no. 93) and “Ink And Paper”. ”The Border”, “Someone’s Calling”,"After The Snow", ”Gathering Dust”, and “Smiles and Laughter” among others, are also favorites among fans here. The band has seven albums, the latest, released in 2010.
Soft cell: Although famous for their 1981 remake of “Tainted Love” which went to no. 4 in the U.S. Billboard chart, they have in fact ten top-40 hits in their home country, the U.K., five of which are top-10 with “Tainted Love” hitting no. 1. In addition , they placed several songs across the European Charts.
I could go on and on… But what is the purpose of being recognize as a “one hit wonder”? Is it to pay tribute or respect? Is it to preserve in our memory such act/s remembered only for a single song? Is it just a trivial matter, a nice to know? Is it a form of mockery?
One thing I’m sure of, is that many of the New Wave bands and artists often referred to as “one hit wonder” had in fact more than one hit and their careers are not defined by one famous song. Many are successful and highly regarded, many have several albums, some are prolific and many are still active.
No comments:
Post a Comment