It Was a Good Decade, Vol. II (1993) 1. The Connells - '74-'75 2. BoDeans - Feed the Fire 3. Dillon Fence - Poor Poor Lonely 4. The Freddy Jones Band - In a Daydream 5. The Samples - Feel Us Shaking 6. James - Laid 7. Redd Kross - Lady in a Front Row 8. Jellyfish - The Ghost at Number One 9. Archers of Loaf - Web in Front 10. Suede - Metal Mickey 11. Urge Overkill - Sister Havana 12. Dig - Believe 13. Catherine Wheel - Crank 14. Seaweed - Losing Skin 15. Cop Shoot Cop - $10 Bill 16. Best Kissers in the World - Miss Teen USA 17. Pond - Young Splendor 18. Paw - Jessie 19. Bivouac - The Bell Foundry 20. The Spinanes - Manos 21. Swervedriver - Dual
This isn't a mix tape of a bunch of nobodies. These are talented groups. Some could be called one-hit wonders (if you wanted to use such obnoxious nomenclature--perish the thought), but most are no-hit wonders. Some experienced success through live shows and word of mouth, but only a few experienced any real radio play.
But what they all have in common is being victims of a collective cultural amnesia. That is to say that, while The Sundays may be remembered by you and me, they don't get a ton of airplay on Jack FM (though, admittedly, this song was on Sirius/XM the other day). But they don't get the same nostalgic attention as even most of the one-hit wonders featured here.
And unlike some of the one-hit wonders we've covered, pretty much all of these bands have a lot of talent. Most all of them could have and should have taken off. Pretty much every song featured in this series was a single. Many of these bands were on majors. The bands gave it a shot. They weren't afraid of success. These artists had more than one song in them, and often more than one or two albums in them. In another time (which usually means the '70s in these type of discussions), they would have been nurtured and cultivated by a caring A&R man at a record label who cared about making art--or at least that's how the myth goes. I dunno. Maybe they would have tanked in any time period. No matter. This series (7-discs!) will span from 1990-1998 and try to compile the best music that either you never heard (and if you did hear it, you probably forgot all about it after you sold it to Blockbuster Music or Media Play for a buck back in '99).
(a special shout-out to my friends at AltCountryTab.ca for helping me compile the playlists. As someone who was still very young for most of the '90s, I needed lots of help from people who actually sought out cool music in the '90s.)
It Was A Good Decade, Vol. 1 (1990-1992)
1. The Posies - Golden Blunders 2. Drivin' N Cryin' - Fly Me Courageous 3. The Sundays - Here's Where The Story Ends 4. The Charlatans - The Only One I Know 5. Inspiral Carpets - This Is How It Feels 6. Soup Dragons - I'm Free 7. Ride - Taste 8. Chapterhouse - Pearl 9. Concrete Blonde - Joey 10. Ned's Atomic Dust Bin - Gray Cell Green 11. School of Fish - 3 Strange Days 12. Reverend Horton Heat - Bad Reputation 13. Material Issue - Valarie Loves Me 14. Flop - Hello 15. Miracle Legion - Snacks and Candy 16. Screaming Trees - Nearly Lost You 17. Sloan - Underwhelmed 18. Eugenius - Flame On 19. Sugar - Helpless 20. Bettie Serveert - Tom Boy 21. Buffalo Tom - Mineral
Remember these guys? No? Well you surely remember their song, "Steal My Sunshine," which answered the age-old question, "can a white, Canadian rap group who resembles extras from 'Degrassi: The Next Generation' make a hit song by borrowing liberally from an old '80s hit and looping a beat from one of the most ubiquitous songs of the disco era?" The answer was "why yes," and not only that, but this song is somehow still going to sound good eleven years later and make you want to shake your hindquarters like it is New Year's Eve 1999 (and we all remember how crazy that was. Me and Carson Daly had a big night that night. Shit was CORRECT, son. MTV NYE '99! w00t!).
Formed in 1991, made up of a brother and sister team straight outta Toronto, Len started out as a pop-punk act all the while gradually shifting towards a more hip-hop influenced sound, culminating with their major label debut, You Can't Stop the Bum Rush. But it was the appearance of the single "Steal My Sunshine" on the soundtrack to the way excellent and completely underrated Doug Liman crime-comedy Go that propelled the song and album into the nation's zeitgeist.
But Len's time in the strobe light would be--wait for it--short lived and the Canadians would go back to the Great White North where singing about this mythical "sunshine" is at best an exercise in futility and at worst considered a form of black magic--a serious crime in Canadia, meaning a man in a powdered wig and robe might sentence you to beheading by the Queen of Hearts. I know, right? Canadians are crazy.
TELL ME MORE, MAESTRO:
Thank you, I will.
Now you may say, hey! Maestro! What a Len? And I am here to tell you, dear reader, that I have no earthly idea what a Len be, but I suspect it has something to do with Newfoundlandian (a word) women's rugby players. Or maybe it's the name of some rugby dude. Yep, that is as far as I cared to Google, folks. Love it or leave it, babies.
Now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about the brother-sister duo, Mark "The Burger Pimp" Costanzo and Sharon "Why is my brother nicknamed the goddamn Burger Pimp?" Costanzo. (His nickname should be "Can't Stands Yo." Get it? Cause like on Seinf--oh, like you could do better. Jerk. You wanna go? Huh? Yeah, you better run cause I'm gonna lay you the f down.)
Anywho, in the early-to-mid '90s, the Can't Stands Yos were spending most of their days making 8-track recordings of their pop-punk ventures, and in fact, their early work was more within this genre. Before making Bumrush, the duo recorded two full-length independent albums, 1994's Superstar and 1996's Get Your Legs Broke. Len soon picked up some new members with equally bad ass nicknames like D Rock, DJ Moves, Planet Pea, and a gentleman with the moniker Drunkness Monster--names that no doubt struck fear into the very hearts of even the most cold blooded suburban Toronto gangs. The new group produced the album that would become You Can't Stop the Bum Rush, an ode to old-school hip-hop with a sugary pop edge (bzzz! I spot a couple buzz words!) and a heavy helping of Hello Nasty-era Beastie Boys. Signing to Sony subsidiary Work Records, the obvious first single and first track on the album, "Steal My Sunshine" was placed on the electronica-centric soundtrack to the Scott Wolf/Jay Mohr action vehicle Go, in order to whet the public's appetite for more Len. The song was so successful that the album release date was moved up a month.
I think my friends from freshman year of high school would love for me to note how much I'm downplaying just how obsessed I was with this film/soundtrack/Katie Holmes in 1999. Oh well, they should get their own blog. SNAP! LMAO! BAHAHA!
The album did some dees (cool slang for "decent") business buoyed by "Sunshine," reaching #46 on the album charts and was certified Gold in the US, and no doubt record sales in Toronto alone kept the Canadian economy afloat well into 2003.
¡El Single-o Primero!
So, no doubt "Steal My Sunshine" reminds one of another massive hit from a bygone era. C'mon, you know the one!
"Ordinary World" by Duran Duran? Well, no.
"Tobacco Road" by The Nashville Teens? No, not at all.
"Kiss the Rain" by Billie Myers? Uh-uh. I don't think you're getting this.
How about, "Don't You Want Me" by Human League? AH-HA! YOU AH CORRECT, SIR! [/Perfect Ed McMahon]
Both Burger Pimp and Sharon related to various sources that "Sunshine" was indeed directly inspired by Human League's 1981 hit single.
The story went something like this: Burger Pee-yump and My Sharona got in a tiff, in which they did not speak for months. Burger, in hot pursuit of something to make his spinal fluid run backwards, attended a rave at which he downed some E and heard the classic disco song "More, More, More" by Andrea...actually, you know what? Let me allow B.P. himself to tell you the epic story of how "Sunshine" came together:
''I'll tell you how I found that sample. I had come home from a rave and everyone was on E and we were listening to disco at six in the morning when the sun was coming up and we were cooking eggs and s -- -. You can't deny that disco really works at that time. I wasn't like, 'Whoa, that's it!' We were just like, 'Let's just loop that and sing over it.' I mean, 'Sunshine' didn't look like much of a song. It was recorded on eight-track. We weren't going to put it on the record. The master was sitting under my bed, covered in dust. We were like, 'Where the f -- - is it?'''
As for the connection to Human League, the Pimp was uncharacteristically humble.
''We were down with this song when we were young. I used to think, I'm gonna make a song just like that f -- -ing Human League song, 'cause it's dope. I tried to do that with 'Sunshine.' Ours didn't go down as good, but I like it. What a f -- -ing joke. What a bad thing to try to do.''
No, dude! You did a good thing! It's the rest of your songs that were a bad thing to try to do. But this song kicks ass!
All the split screens make it look like an episode of Squawk Box! Hi-yo! CNBC humor always gets the kids.
Look. Is the rapping here stilted? Is the video (which won a slew of MuchMusic awards in Canada) one of the douchiest thing to come out of the '90s? Other than that monkey guy in Limp Bizkit, of course? Or all of Limp Bizkit? Is that Sharon girl actually kind of adorable and kind of blastin' her nips? Yes, yes, yes, yes, and you tell me.
Borrowing the "he said, she said" structure from Human League and the excellent piano-based bridge from "More, More, More," the track isn't quite as good as either of its direct influences, but it nonetheless does a bang-up job of evoking that time in your life when all you wanna do is get stupid and lie out on sweltering sandy beaches in the late-afternoon California sunshine, and it achieves this feeling without resorting to ripping off the Beach Boys or laying on any steel drums. But besides evoking a feeling, the song, like the best pop hits, lodges in your brain and not only does it refuse to dislodge itself, you actually don't want it to. This song rocks.
"Sunshine" became a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #9. It also reached the top ten on the Modern Rock charts and the Top 40 and Top 40 Mainstream (no, I don't really know the difference between those two charts).
The song was nominated for "Song of the Year" at the Canadian music awards, the Junos, but tragically lost to The Tragically Hip (irony alert!). Le Deuxième Disque
"Feeling Alright" was the follow up to "Sunshine" and one of several tracks on the album to feature guest appearances, in this case, Poison's C.C. DeVille on guitar. DeVille's apparance on the track is a natrual fit, as the song is based around a riff that sounds straight out of '80s hair metal. In fact, the song is way less hip-hop and far more "Beverly Hills"-era Weezer (before Weezer actually made "Beverly Hills): amusing and catchy rap/singing over big, dumb arena rock riffing (though, unfortunately, less of a preoccupation with half-Asian women).
Wait, Burgerpimp is one word?
The song is another excellent pop track that holds on to nostalgia and adolecense (in this case, for the '80s--imagine that) and is, above all, about cutting loose and having fun. Clearly the Burgerpimp is all about the good times, and pimping burgers.
Well, apparently we Americans don't like having fun, because "Feelin' Alright" didn't exactly repeat the success of "Sunshine." In fact, it didn't even chart. That episode of 120 Minutes was no doubt the one and only time the "Feelin' Alright" video was run MTV (and surely the last time C.C. DeVille showed up on MTV, aside from the occasional Behind the Music or reality show). Maybe it didn't have the hook-in-your-consciousness quality that "Sunshine" did, but it's still a damn fine slice of bubblegum.
It's a shame that the song didn't hit, as You Can't Stop the Bum Rush was actually a pretty stacked album when it came to potential bubblegum pop singles. Check out this glowing review from NY Times. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and Len faded, proving that even if you're a Burgerpimp and have all the chops, it can't stop you from being labeled a one-hit wonder right out of the gate.
Where Be LEN Now?
After the success of "Sunshine," Len took their success a little too well, reportedly partying it up for a couple of years, with the Pimp no doubt downing buckets of E and listening to disco songs before finally buckling down in the studio to record a follow up. Although they began the sessions for what would become Diary of the Madmen (no relation to Don Draper). The album took 3 years to complete, and the final album was more of a compilation of studio tracks compiled from 2001-2004 than a complete album. Madmen wasn't released until April 2005, a full six years after "Steal My Sunshine" hit; more than enough time for Len to be completely forgotten.
While not as strong as Bum Rush, by all accounts, Madmen is another album made to be played at parties, cookouts and beach parties. One of the few reviews available online at allmusic.com describes the album as "much more dynamic set than You Can't Stop the Bum Rush," and concluding that "LEN's sequel to "Sunshine" deserves a listen." If you can fine it, that is. Try the cut-out bins first.
Unsurprisingly, the album, despite some good reviews, did not come close to cracking any charts, leaving the band back at square one, in a wadded up grease-stained paper bag of despair.
As for where they are now, Len kept a MySpace page until September 2008, when Burgerpimp himself announced that the band would not be reuniting for a new album, but instead he and Sharon would be working on a new record, which he claimed would be done in a few "months, not years." But for those keeping count, that was two years ago! One can only assume that his side gig as an agent for ground beef burgers of the night has taken up all his time. We can only hope he didn't drag Sharon into his web of culinary deviance.
Whether or not the band ever comes back with another offering of laid-back, old-school party music and makes it back on the charts (which is increasingly unlikely at this point) "Steal My Sunshine" will always have a place on my "Summer Mixxx Jamz!" playlist alongside Thin Lizzy and The Beach Boys. Kudos, you crazy Canucks!
There are artists out there that manage to extend their 15 minutes of fame to a ripe half-hour--that is, they somehow double their pleasure and fun by following up one mega hit with one more lil' hit, maybe a few weeks later, maybe a few years later.
A band like Savage Garden may be the best example of the "two-hit wonder" phenomenon. Yes, they may have remained huge a while longer in Australia and Christmas Island and maybe Slovenia, but let's face it--here in the US, we heard "Truly Madly Deeply" (#1) and "I Want You" (#4) and promptly tuned out (so did the band, btw, they only made two albums). See also: Paula Cole, The Presidents of the United States of America, Eve 6, Spin Doctors, etc.
But some of these bands aren't always recognized by our collective memories as being the two-hit wonders that they truly are, and by jove, they deserve to be recognized for their overachieving efforts, if for no other reason than I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, and of being asked "when are you going to do The Rembrandts?" (Could you *be* anymore tiresome?)
So without further adieu, here's a list of 5 two-hit wonders that are incorrectly regarded as one-hit wonders. 5. Fastball - "The Way" (#-, #31 on Top 40, #1 on Modern Rock) and "Out of My Head" (#20, #10 on Top 40, #- on MR)
Formed in Austin, Texas in 1994, Fastball's major label debut, 1996's Make Your Mama Proud, went mostly unnoticed, (though the album's single "Are You Ready for the Fall Out?" later featured on some soundtrack--probably Varsity Blues--and is playing incessantly in my head as I write this) sending the band back into the studio with a fistful of new songs that would become All the Pain Money Can Buy.
The first single, "The Way"--a "based on a true story" tale of an elderly couple running away from it all--had a slightly western feel mixed with Fastball's power-pop inspired hooks that made it irresistible, if something of a novelty.
The track did gangbusters on Billboard's Modern Rock charts, hitting #1 for seven weeks and became a Top 40 radio staple for a stint, but for some reason doesn't seem to have charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Hmm.
Their second single, "Fire Escape," didn't make much of an impact and ran the standard second single route, but the third single, "Out of My Mind" was a huge hit in its own right--acheiving a success almost the opposite of the success of "The Way" by charting relatively high on the Billboard Hot 100 (#20) and failing to chart at all on the Modern Rock chart.
Still, most folks seem to remember "The Way" as Fastball's "one song." My belief is that the "Out of My Head" sounds so distinctly different from their first hit single that many people didn't make the connection that it was even the same band. Even listening to it now, with its retro '70s feel and washes of B3 organ, "Out of My Head" could easily pass for a Wallflowers song (assuming someone gave Jakob Dylan a lozenge or a glass of honey and tea to help clear his throat).
While sounding totally different from song to song should be an advantage for a band destined to be a one-hit wonder, it only seemed to take these guys to two hit wonder status. In fact, the band members later said as much, complaining that their lack of success on their follow up album (which sold 85k, compared to the million-plus ATPMCB sold) was due to their inability to be easily defined. Shame. These guys had more talent in their bohemian chin beards than all of the pop-punk bands that followed in their wake combined.
In case you're wondering, yes, Fastball are still at it, kicking out the jams for the Adult Alternative set as recently as 2009 on their album Little White Lies.
4. Sophie B. Hawkins - "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" (#5) and "As I Lay Me Down" (#6) Somewhere between Sheryl Crow and Madonna is Sophie B. Hawkins, a vaguely sexy, grungy, granola eating-type (the superfluous "B" stands for "Birkenstock," har har) who gets off on seeing if she can give guys boners while dressed like a lumberjack. With 1992's "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover," an innuendo heavy track (that would make Lady Gaga blush under her orbit helmet) where Hawkins implores the "your" in question to "come inside [her] jungle book," she no doubt managed to cause more than a few guys to pitch tents in their knickers, while also getting her single to #5 on the Hot 100. No doubt this video (which looks more like a Guess Jeans ad than a music video) didn't hurt matters. I only ask you this one question, dear reader: is she seriously dogging the floor near the end of the video? Whatever lights your candle, I suppose.
After the success of "Damn," Hawkins released two other singles from her Tongues and Tails debut, both of which stalled stateside but garnered the singer a following in the UK. Hawkins wouldn't hit again until three years later, in 1995, when the third single from Hawkins' second album, Whaler, was released. "As I Lay Me Down," a song dedicated to the memory of Hawkins' departed father, was far removed both musically and lyrically from the in-your-face-sexiness, dance-influenced sound of her first hit. "Down" is a ballad, buoyed by an organ and acoustic guitar.
As a result, the video is tempered, with Hawkins looking more like a secretly sexy poetry grad student than the erotic post-grunge star she'd played in her previous video.
The track hit only one slot below its predecessor, making it to #6 on the Hot 100. Other than the follow-up single, "Only Love (The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty)," which hit #49, Hawkins would never again chart on the Hot 100. However, Hawkins continued to do big business in the UK, scoring three Top 40 hits on their pop charts from the Whaler album alone.
After disagreements with Sony on the direction of her third album, Timbre, (the label asked her to remove a banjo from her single, "Lose Your Way"), the album limped into stores with no promotion, causing Hawkins to peace out of Sony and start her own label, where she would re-release Timbre in 2001. Since then, Hawkins has delivered one more album, Wilderness, and four minor hits on the Adult Contemporary charts--the same radio format that has not once removed her two top ten hits from their playlists.
Her fifth effort, Dream Street and Chance, is due out later in 2010.
Oh, and, er, there was also this.
3. Edwin McCain - "I'll Be" (#5) and "I Could Not Ask For More" (#37) Remember this guy? In the aftermath of Hootie, there was a very brief interest in other college-town based, soft southern rock acts, some of whom made it (McCain, Sister Hazel) and some who didn't (Cravin' Melon).
The Edwin McCain Band was a roots rock act with a slight jazz tinge, in the same way that Dave Matthews Band has a slight jazz tinge--only less radical (just try to picture that). Signed to buddy Hootie's label Atlantic Records in 1994, it wasn't until 1998 with the release of his second album, Misguided Roses, that McCain took a vice grip-like hold of America's eardrums. The song entered the chart at #7 and eventually rose to #5 on the Hot 100, an impressive showing for an artist who had previously had only one other charting single ("Solitude," #72).
Of course, the song didn't die a quick death like so many top ten hits. In fact, some of you will probably hear it sometime this summer. Not on a radio, not on someone's iPod, but at a wedding. Yes, it's true--"I'll Be" has quickly become one of the most (over)played (and now unoriginal) wedding songs in recent history. Of course, McCain probably sees very little of this money, save for the occasional iTunes royalty check, but he should just be happy he made something next to a DJ's playlist with, um, "From This Moment On."
But somewhat improbably, lightning struck twice for McCain...sort of.
In a conscious attempt to recreate not only the success, but the actual sound and sentiment of "I'll Be," McCain recorded "I Could Not Ask For More" for his 1999 album, Messenger. While the song's showing on pop radio wasn't quite as impressive as that of "I'll Be," the follow-up actually did better on the Adult Contemporary charts, reaching #3 (over #6 for "I'll Be'). The track isn't bad, but it's so similar that it could be at best considered a sequel to "I'll Be," and at worst completely redundant.
The song also gained new life when super-duper hot country star Sara Evans covered the song for her 2000 album, Born to Fly. Evans' version became a top 5 country hit and reached #35 on the pop charts. Both versions are currently lighting up on DJ Danny's playlist at the Simmons-Weiner wedding in the Myrtle Beach area as we speak.
2. Jesus Jones - "Right Here, Right Now" (#2) and "Real, Real, Real" (#4) In an empirical display of just how short the collective memory of Americans is, turns out Brit techno-rockers Jesus Jones weren't a one-hit wonder at all. Now, in my own anecdotal, unscientific survey of me asking various friends to name all the Jesus Jones songs they could, not a one could name anything other than their 1991 #2 Hot 100 hit "Right Here, Right Now."
Most of these conversations were followed up with, "I didn't think they ever did anything else." But people, I am here to tell you that we have all been had by our own pop culture memories. Not only did these guys have another hit song, but it was another top 5 hit, and it was their second single. These guys are the complete opposite of everything this blog stands for. They actually beat the curse (though it eventually took hold on the third single, and Americans never heard from them again).
The track, "Real Real Real" actually hit #4 on the Hot 100, though it admittedly did not fare as well on the dance and rock charts as "Right Here." Take a gander, gander takers.
Now, it's easy to see why the song was a hit. It offered more of the same as "Right Here, Right Now," a song that in itself was something of a breakthrough in the confluence of electronic and rock music, a style that became a huge influence on 75% of rock music in the '90s (remember when every artist from Oasis to Axl Rose talked about their "next album having a huge electronic influence"? Terrible time for music). No doubt folks wanted more of those sweet, sweet dance beats propelling the rocking guitar and "Real Real Real" gave them that. Unfortunately, the song becomes the red headed stepchild of our memory banks because, if I may state the obvious, it's just not quite as memorable as "Right Here," while doing the exact same thing.
So while Jesus Jones briefly beat "the second single curse," in our minds, in the long run, they just didn't. Chart positions and artistic merit aside, for all intents and purposes, time has turned them into one-hit wonders.
1. The Rembrandts - "Just the Way It Is, Baby" (#14) and "I'll Be There For You" (#17) Oh, The Rembrandts.
If you're a follower of mine on Twitter, you'll know that my little bio says, rather snarkily, that we have not yet covered The Rembrandts. And with good reason: they're not a one-hit wonder. They're the very definition of a two hit wonder, and moreover, their two hits were spaced five years apart.
Rising like a double-headed phoenix from the ashes of the power-pop act Great Buildings, Danny Wilde and Phil Solem banded as The Rembrandts in 1989. After recording an album in Wilde's home studio, the two signed to Atlantic to release their eponymous debut. Their first single "Just the Way It Is, Baby" became a success, reaching #14 on the Hot 100 chart in 1991. The song was also a top ten hit in parts of Europe. The album itself did well, selling enough copies to reach #88 on the Billboard Album Charts.
Between 1990 and 1995, the band kept at it, releasing Untitled in 1992, and seven singles, two of which charted low on the Hot 100. It seemed that The Rembrandts were destined to follow the path of most power-pop acts--some initial exposure (especially in the late '80s/early '90s) and critical acclaim followed by complete disinterest from the fickle (and, as we've learned, forgetful) American listening public.
But then a funny thing happened. A post-Seinfeld sitcom about six young friends living in New York City (then known as Friends Like Us) went into production. The creators, David Crane, Marta Kauffman, along with songwriter Allee Willis wrote a theme song that they shopped around to various artists like R.E.M. and They Might Be Giants. Not sure why they thought Michael Stipe would ever agree to do a song so upbeat and sunny and, oh wait, "Shiny Happy People" had just been released. Now I get it.
Eventually the Kauffman and Crane landed on The Rembrandts, who, truth be told, possess a similar jangle pop sound to R.E.M. Wilde and Solem recorded the minute or so long theme song and went about recording their new LP, creatively titled, LP.
But the Rembrandts never counted on...BILLY SHEARS (not to be confused with Bernie Shears). That's right, the WLAC Nashville DJ looped the theme song into a full-length track. This version began getting requests from listeners and was picked up by various other stations. Soon, The Rembrandts' record label was knocking ont their door again, demanding they finish the track and make it a full-length tune--a sticky proposition, considering it was never really their song in the first place.
Nonetheless, the band did it, adding extra verses and a bridge. The record label tacked it onto LP. The band then recorded a video for the song, featuring the Friends cast in their prime, being characteristically obnoxious (okay, Courtney Cox and JAniston are still in their prime, but you know what I mean). "I'll Be There For You" reached #17 on the Hot 100 but hit #1 on several charts, including Top 40 and Adult Contemporary.
The interesting twist to the story is in the epilogue. Wilde and Solem themselves have never been too pleased about the path the song took. The Rembrandts were critics darlings and had a devoted fanbase, and the success of the song (and the subsequent video) made the band seem like they were cashing in, enjoying the success of a song they didn't have much hand in. Said Solem in a 2005 interview,"We lost a lot of hard-core, original fans because they thought we'd decided to take the easy way, but we felt forced to be press monkeys."
While the upshot was that the track's flipside "This House Is Not A Home" also got some record play, also reaching #17 on the Hot 100, it was too little, too late for the band, and they broke up in 1997. Though the Wilde and Solem reunited in 2005, the damage was mostly done, and The Rembrandts are still known for that one, vaguely annoying track (named one of the worst songs of all time by the pillar of publishing, Blender Magazine).
Our purpose: to uncover the lost second singles of long forgotten one-hit wonders.
I am providing these songs for sampling purposes for a short time, and in order to encourage people to buy music, directly from the artist whenever possible.
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