One Hit Wonder Wednesday: Almost the theme for a hit sitcom…and more
We’re smack dab in the middle of the week, and on Wednesdays we highlight some of the biggest songs ever.
These particular tunes were the only time that the artists behind them found mainstream musical success in North America.
Let’s explore some of the facts and stories behind a few choice tracks.
It’s ONE HIT WONDER WEDNESDAY!!!
”Play That Funky Music” from Wild Cherry (1976)
This One Hit Wonder comes from a group that started out as a hard rock cover band. Disco was all the rage at the time and they were finding it harder and harder to book gigs. The band’s front man Rob Parissi was trying to convinces his bandmates to incorporate dance tunes into their sets, but they were resisting.
While playing at the 2001 Club on the north side of Pittsburgh, to a predominantly black audience, someone in the crowd asked them if they were ever going to get around to playing a different style of music in their set.
At that point, Rob grabbed a pen and order pad and in about five minutes he had and written what would end up being his group’s only hit song,
It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US and it also topped their Hot Soul Singles chart.
She Blinded Me with Science from Thomas Dolby (1982)
This One Hit Wonder From is a synth-pop track that comes from a British Artist.
It reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US and it went to #1 in Canada.
The voice you hear shouting “Science” belongs to Magnus Pyke, a real-life UK scientist and TV presenter.
It was used as the theme song for the original in unaired pilot of the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory”. That version was WAY different than what we got weekly TV by the way.
Bonus Original Unaired Big Bang Theory Images!
”Mexican Radio” from Wall of Voodoo (1982)
This One Hit Wonder From 1982 comes from an American New Wave band.
It was a top 20 in Canada.
The song was apparently inspired by powerful unregulated AM radio stations south of the border, whose signals could reach far and wide, even well into the US.
The band says they would be on long roads trips while traveling around playing shows and they’d get excited when they could tune into one of these stations, that were often playing mariachi music.
In order to emulate the sounds of AM radio, many of the song’s instruments were played through amplifiers, rather than being recorded directly through the microphones to the mixing console. They recorded some of lead guitarist Marc Moreland’s tracks through an amplifier that was placed in a bathroom at the back of the studio, while front man Stan Ridgway sang some of the vocals through a handmade bullhorn.
The song also includes soundbites recorded by during a trip to Mexico, including the broadcast of a dog race that was playing over the radio in a bar that they visited.
Ice Ice Baby from Vanilla Ice (1990)
This One Hit Wonder From 1990 is the first rap song to ever top the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US.
It reached #1 in several different countries, while hitting #11 here in Canada.
The rapper behind this track, whose real name is, Robert Van Winkle, apparently wrote the first draft in just 15 minutes when he was only 16 years old. Robert is said to have got his nickname because he was the only white member of a breakdancing group.
After threatening a lawsuit, over the blatant and uncredited sampling of the song “Under Pressure” in the baseline, Queen and David Bowie reached an out-of-court settlement, with them receiving songwriting royalties and credits.
Bonus Song!
