"fhrblig" (fhrblig)
05/02/2016 at 13:04 • Filed to: Old Man Yells At Cloud
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"fhrblig" (fhrblig)
05/02/2016 at 13:04 • Filed to: Old Man Yells At Cloud | 1
| 22 |
So, last week SiriusXM added a new channel called Onederland, and it’s (supposed to be) all one-hit-wonders. Decent idea, I think, so I’ve been listening to it for a bit.
The first one that rankled me a bit was “She Blinded Me With Science” by Thomas Dolby. It was definitely the only song he had that charted high, though I can name a few other singles by him that I remember hearing a bunch in the 80's, like “Europa and the Pirate Twins” and “Hyperactive”, and also “I Love You Goodbye” came out when I was in high school and got some decent airplay. Fine, I guess I can accept that.
Then they played “Closing Time” by Semisonic. What? “If I Run” and “F.N.T.” were pretty popular on modern rock radio, and “Closing Time” isn’t even the only hit from the album it was on. There was “Singing In My Sleep”, and “Secret Smile” which was top 40 on both the Modern Rock and Adult Top 40 charts. And also a later hit called “Chemistry” on the Modern Rock chart.
Ok, so maybe you think it’s restricted to a certain list like the Hot 100 charts? NOPE. They played Lisa Loeb’s “Stay (I Missed You)“. Both “Do You Sleep?” (#18) and “I Do” (#17) were top 20 hits on the Hot 100. ARGH.
I’m not trying to be pedantic about this (though that does come naturally to me...), it just pisses me off how half-assed this channel is programmed. If you’re going to do something, do it right for fuck’s sake. Besides, there’s lots of great one-hit wonders out there that could fill out a playlist without there being a lot of repeats.
Jcarr
> fhrblig
05/02/2016 at 13:12 |
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I was listening to this a bit as well over the weekend. One that surprised me was Epic by Faith No More.
Um, have you not heard Last Cup of Sorrow?
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fhrblig
> Jcarr
05/02/2016 at 13:19 |
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“Midlife Crisis” was played a lot, too.
Also “We Care A Lot” (different singer), “Falling to Pieces”, “Easy” (Commodores cover)...
Rainbow
> fhrblig
05/02/2016 at 13:24 |
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I’ve heard both Devo and Men At Work referred to as one-hit-wonders, for “Whip It” and “Down Under” respectively.
There are very few true ones out there I can think of. Dexys Midnight Runners, New Radicals, uhh.... Huh. I dunno.
I’m gonna have to listen to this and see what else comes on.
Eric @ opposite-lock.com
> fhrblig
05/02/2016 at 13:25 |
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The problem is that it would become a loop station if you only played one-hit-wonders from ~1970 to today.
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fhrblig
> Rainbow
05/02/2016 at 13:29 |
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The New Radicals thing is interesting. That album is great, and “Someday We’ll Know” was just starting to move up when Gregg Alexander broke up the band because he didn’t want to be famous.
RyanFrew
> fhrblig
05/02/2016 at 13:30 |
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Are there really enough true one-hit wonders to create an entire radio station?
PotbellyJoe and 42 others
> fhrblig
05/02/2016 at 13:31 |
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As a guy who came of age in the 90s, Closing Time is a one hit wonder in the same way No Rain and Girlfriend are one hit wonders. Radio stations were too focused on boy bands to realize there were better songs on the albums and everyone else was too disenfranchised to call them on it.
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fhrblig
> Eric @ opposite-lock.com
05/02/2016 at 13:34 |
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There’s more of them than you think. I think that Sirius just doesn’t want to bother with actual effort. I feel like their quality has gone way downhill since the merger.
Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> fhrblig
05/02/2016 at 13:36 |
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Yeah... and the name of the channel isn’t all that great either... On-Eder-Land.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eder
:-)
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fhrblig
> RyanFrew
05/02/2016 at 13:42 |
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There’s a lot, actually. The biggest problem is there’s also no clear-cut agreed-upon definition for one-hit wonder, though.
functionoverfashion
> fhrblig
05/02/2016 at 13:54 |
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I think the lack of a clear definition for one-hit wonder is the exact problem.
For me, “One Hit Wonder” can be a band that has maybe a handful of hits, but that’s it. Any band decent enough to have a hit *probably* has some other decent songs. Some of those will even get decent air time. But that doesn’t mean the band’s career wasn’t made largely due to that one hit song that will then forever define that band for most people.
That’s quite different from a prolific group like, say U2. Like them or not, they have had a zillion “hits.” But yeah, Thomas Dolby was (perhaps increasingly IS) mostly known for that one song.
Also I think Sirius/XM stations ALL get a bit repetitive, if you listen to one long enough. The same is true for Pandora.
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RyanFrew
> fhrblig
05/02/2016 at 14:08 |
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I agree re: the definition. When I think of a one-hit wonder, I think of a band who is really known for one song. Semisonic is actually a great example. Closing Time , on YouTube, has 36mm views. If I Run has just over 500,000.
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RyanFrew
> fhrblig
05/02/2016 at 14:09 |
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Since it looks like you enjoy Semisonic, you might enjoy this. Here is Dan Wilson describing the fact that he wrote Closing Time about the birth of his child, which is a surprisingly well kept secret.
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fhrblig
> PotbellyJoe and 42 others
05/02/2016 at 15:05 |
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Radio got really bad in the late 90s for sure. I feel like it’s gotten a bit better but I still think Sirius is better. Plus they have all the NFL games so I’m going to keep paying for it.
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PotbellyJoe and 42 others
> fhrblig
05/02/2016 at 15:22 |
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Agreed, except Sirius screwed up the greatest of channels on XM, Lucy. Lithium just isn’t as good.
You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
> fhrblig
05/02/2016 at 21:25 |
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But how many times can a person listen to “My Sharona”?
gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> RyanFrew
05/03/2016 at 00:53 |
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http://www.11points.com/Music/11_Music…
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gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> fhrblig
05/03/2016 at 00:53 |
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http://www.11points.com/Music/11_Music…
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Rainbow
> fhrblig
05/03/2016 at 11:42 |
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So I’ve been looking at this recently, since you got me all curious, and, although it is Wikipedia so it should be taken with a grain of salt, it does make sense. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_o… This list, and presumably the one Sirius is using, is pretty strict in that a one-hit-wonder is a band with exactly one top-40 hit, in the US, and not on any genre-specific lists. That means that some great artists, like the Grateful Dead and Iggy Pop, are technically one-hit-wonders.
Although I’m surprised to find that Devo only got “Whip It” to break the top 40 (“That’s Good” didn’t make it, at least?) and Big Country only has “In a Big Country” when I would have been willing to bet money that “Fields of Fire” was a big hit, too.
Maybe I’m biased as I primarily listen to New Wave, though. But still.
Orange Exige
> fhrblig
05/07/2016 at 15:59 |
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Clever idea for a station.
To be honest, those songs you mentioned you heard sound to me like one-hit-wonders.
I feel like the late-90s, early 00s (when I was growing up) were a prime time for one hit wonders, especially with rock songs.
Nowadays, I feel like the music industry is trying to get away from these because they’re realizing the potential of virality in modern culture. Now there certainly are still one hit wonders today, but I’m also hearing a lot more of new artists who hit it big with one song and now months later, they are trying to keep them relevant with another single (I’m thinking 21 Pilots, “Stressed Out” as an example (that I’m so sick of).
Also, here’s the way I would informally define/think of a one hit wonder:
Tell me an artist/band name and I say “who??” - then tell me their famous single and I’ll reply “ahhhh... (never woulda known that was them)”.
luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln!
> fhrblig
05/10/2016 at 14:04 |
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Serious question: Don’t you find the audio quality to be terrible? A couple rental cars I had came with xm and I got pretty annoyed with it.
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fhrblig
> luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln!
05/10/2016 at 14:16 |
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Fortunately the speakers in my Optima are not that good in general so I don’t notice it as much, but yes.