Welcome to The Second Single

Think back to the ’90s…the days of Bush Sr. and Clinton…of grunge and “electronica infused” rock and nu metal.

Think back to the days of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. The days of Salute Your Shorts and The Adventures of Pete and Pete, of Saved by the Bell and California Dreams, of Dream On and Arli$$, of Silk Stalkings and Red Shoe Diaries.

Think back to the ’90s…and in these nostalgic saturated days, it shouldn’t be too hard for you. (Plus it was only like 9 years ago)

Remember those days when alternative rock ruled the top 40 airwaves and MTV filled up Buzz Bin compilation CDs with bands like Us3, The Cardigans and Folk Impolsion? (that’s right, kids, Lou Barlow once was endorsed by MTV! The same network that birthed Tila Tequila’s A Shot at Love and Next sometimes, possibly by accident, played good music!)

Or maybe you spent a day in your freshman Geometry class wiling away the hour thinking The Nixons were probably better than just that one song, “Sister”. That maybe, just maybe, they needed a second hit to put them over the top and prove they really were the next Pearl Jam and not just lame wannabes?

Maybe you spent long hours waiting by the radio for DJ Coyote McCloud to introduce your new favorite band’s second single, only to hear with nothing but a few new Bush songs and way more Coolio than you ever needed to hear? And, instead, you just moved on to Creed? That was dumb, wasn’t it?

Or maybe back in ‘92, you bought that Blind Melon CD with the bee girl on the cover and thought, “this isn’t that bad, why are they only playing ‘No Rain’ on Y107? Where’s ‘Change’ or ‘Soak the Sin’ or any of these other rockin’ numbers?”

Nowadays, 10 or 15+ years later you think, “was that album really that good? Did I just want to justify the purchase of an $18 album at Sam Goody when I could have bought the single for a mere $3.50?”

We’re here to help you find out.

Here’s what we do: Each post will be about a band who only had one hit, and while we will post about the hit, the focus will be on the dreaded second single—the song that should have made their career and cemented them as artists, but instead failed to keep them going*. Some of these songs may suck, some may be better than the hit, that’s for me to analyze and you to decide.

This is The Second Single blog.

*Before I inevitably post about a band that has a still sizable and rabid fanbase: I’m not saying these bands necessarily deserved to be one-hit wonders, (though let’s face it, some didn’t even deserve that) but, because of record company politics, payola, fashion trends, scandals, and the fickle and constantly waining interests of the public, they were only able to have that one song that stuck in the minds of the world—that song that even your nana or four-year-old sister knew and maybe even got sick of.

Some of these bands may have gone on to long and illustrious careers and found a niche in the indie world or somewhere else or created a grassroots following. That’s great! If that’s the case, I’ll talk about it.