The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who hate one-hit wonders and those who don't really care about the topic. I say let there be a third group of people! Those of us who think that one hit wonders are great! People should not look at artists that only had one hit as "fake", "better left forgotten", or some other unkind ways of thinking about them. There is a much positive way of looking at one-hit wonders that, in fact, makes them something so important that - even though they never set out to have just one hit - their contribution is invaluable to the whole music industry.
Picture a band of kids just starting out, playing some clubs in their hometown. Picture a girl of 28 waiting on tables but still writing song after song. Think of that thirtysomething guy who's flame is still as bright as 10 years before. Then think of a one-hit wonder, any one-hit wonder.
There is something fundamental that people seem to forget about when they bad-mouth one-hit wonders: one-hit wonders had a HIT. How many of the people who talk so loudly and badly about them can say that? How many of them can say that, at one time or another, they had a song of their making sung by people around the country, or around the world? Or if the song wasn't written by the artist, how many can say of actually having written a song that has become part of pop culture, at least in some measure? How many producers out there can say that they have produced a bona fide hit? How many musicians can say that the notes they recorded have bounced off of walls in teens' rooms around the globe?
So, first things first, let's shut those people up.
Then let's remember the examples of those people just starting out in the music world or, on the other hand, "giving it one last try". Let's put ourselves in their shoes for just a minute and then imagine a world in which there had never been any one-hit wonders. That means that there would be a severe cutback in the number of artists who, in the past 50 years, have actually "made it" in one way or another. What kind of world would that be? A world in which only people who were able to weather everything that a very picky, and many times unfriendly, industry was able to throw at them survive? A world in which only people who were in it for the rest of their lives are able to prosper? In other words, a world which goes directly against everything rock has stood for all these years: freedom and choice.
It's easy to say, and probably true, that the vast majority of one-hit wonders would not have chosen to have only one hit. But they did and, at the very least, many can live knowing that they, at least for a time, were flying high and had "made it". For all aspiring-to-be-famous musicians out there, one-hit wonders should be seen as something not bad and fake. They should be seen as giving that one thing that makes us all want to continue doing whatever it is that we do in our lives. One-hit wonders give hope.
Picture a band of kids just starting out, playing some clubs in their hometown. Picture a girl of 28 waiting on tables but still writing song after song. Think of that thirtysomething guy who's flame is still as bright as 10 years before. Then think of a one-hit wonder, any one-hit wonder.
There is something fundamental that people seem to forget about when they bad-mouth one-hit wonders: one-hit wonders had a HIT. How many of the people who talk so loudly and badly about them can say that? How many of them can say that, at one time or another, they had a song of their making sung by people around the country, or around the world? Or if the song wasn't written by the artist, how many can say of actually having written a song that has become part of pop culture, at least in some measure? How many producers out there can say that they have produced a bona fide hit? How many musicians can say that the notes they recorded have bounced off of walls in teens' rooms around the globe?
So, first things first, let's shut those people up.
Then let's remember the examples of those people just starting out in the music world or, on the other hand, "giving it one last try". Let's put ourselves in their shoes for just a minute and then imagine a world in which there had never been any one-hit wonders. That means that there would be a severe cutback in the number of artists who, in the past 50 years, have actually "made it" in one way or another. What kind of world would that be? A world in which only people who were able to weather everything that a very picky, and many times unfriendly, industry was able to throw at them survive? A world in which only people who were in it for the rest of their lives are able to prosper? In other words, a world which goes directly against everything rock has stood for all these years: freedom and choice.
It's easy to say, and probably true, that the vast majority of one-hit wonders would not have chosen to have only one hit. But they did and, at the very least, many can live knowing that they, at least for a time, were flying high and had "made it". For all aspiring-to-be-famous musicians out there, one-hit wonders should be seen as something not bad and fake. They should be seen as giving that one thing that makes us all want to continue doing whatever it is that we do in our lives. One-hit wonders give hope.
1 comment:
Not only they give us hope: many times, one-hit wonders give us some of the most memorabe songs in the history of music. Mind you, I could not imagine rock music in general without 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up", or Blind Melon's "No Rain"...
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