Jon
Well-Known Member
It's one of the more overplayed songs on Alternative Rock radio. They certainly treated it like it was a #1 hit.
Are They A One-Hit Wonder?
- Thread starter sadchild
- Start date
It's one of the more overplayed songs on Alternative Rock radio. They certainly treated it like it was a #1 hit.
Channel98
Don't yell or hit.
Only two of Rickie Lee Jones' songs made the adult contemporary chart: Chuck E's In Love reached ##20 in July 1979 and The Real End got to #37 (and #83 on the Hot 100) in October 1984. The video for The Real End was directed by Polish filmmaker Zbigniew Rybczyński, who also directed the videos for Chuck Mangione's Diana D and the Art Of Noise's Close (To The Edit) and won an Academy Award in 1982 for best animated short film (Tango).
scotchandcigar
All I wanted was some steak
Why do I feel like you're stalking me?
Channel98
Don't yell or hit.
I consider Squeeze to be a one-hit wonder. Tempted reached #49 on the Hot 100 in September 1981, Hourglass reached #15 in December 1987 and 853-5937 (which was the phone number of Squeeze lead singer Glenn Tilbrook) reached #32 in February 1988. Only one of those songs is played on classic-hits radio stations (including KRTH here in Los Angeles) – and Mister jbnv knows which one.
Yes, I know which one. What I want to know is how it became the one that got all the airplay while their actual big hit doesn't get the play it deserves. (For the record, Squeeze is definitely not a OHW in alternative/First Wave.)
Channel98
Don't yell or hit.
Squeeze has had four top-20 hits on the alternative chart (If It's Love, Satisfied, Crying In My Sleep, Everything In The World) and seven top-40 hits on the mainstream rock chart, including Tempted, which reached #8 in September 1981. Squeeze's first five singles never made any chart. They are Take Me, I'm Yours (May 1978), Cool For Cats (May 1979), Goodbye Girl (August 1979), If I Didn't Love You (March 1980) and Pulling Mussels From The Shell (June 1980), If I Didn't Love You was re-released in September 1980. Here is Pulling Mussels From The Shell:
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scotchandcigar
All I wanted was some steak
Yes, they are a many many hit band. They had hit songs from at least 4 albums over a span of more than 10 years. And they've been a popular touring act for decades. I covered them in my thread. One of my favorite artists.
scotchandcigar
All I wanted was some steak
You also missed Black Coffee in Bed, Annie Get Your Gun, and a bunch more.
Any chart? Not even the British charts?
Channel98
Don't yell or hit.
Okay, okay, you got me on a technicality. I was referring to United States charts. In the UK, Squeeze has has 26 chart hits, 12 top-40 hits and three top-ten hits: Cool For Cats, Up The Junction and Labelled With Love. Here is their most recent single, from 2017 – and it failed to chart, not even in the UK.
sadchild
Dude
Squeeze
#15 "Hourglass"
#32 "853-5937"
Just to document it.
And they are another one of those "best known for their non-big-hit" (as already mentioned above).
I don't hear any of their music unless it's a "specifically the 80s" or a "specifically new wave" station (like 80s on 8, First Wave, or some podcast/playlist geared one of those intentionally). I don't hear them on FM AC / AAA radio stations or in the supermarket/dept store music etc. They appear to be largely forgotten in the mainstream world (according to my exposure).
#15 "Hourglass"
#32 "853-5937"
Just to document it.
And they are another one of those "best known for their non-big-hit" (as already mentioned above).
I don't hear any of their music unless it's a "specifically the 80s" or a "specifically new wave" station (like 80s on 8, First Wave, or some podcast/playlist geared one of those intentionally). I don't hear them on FM AC / AAA radio stations or in the supermarket/dept store music etc. They appear to be largely forgotten in the mainstream world (according to my exposure).
scotchandcigar
All I wanted was some steak
Just about every song previously mentioned is top 40 on the Rock chart. Tempted hit 8. So they're no different than about a thousand other rock bands. And they're in some degree of rotation on every AC station.
Why don't we do The Cure? According to the Billboard Hot 100, they have a 2, an 18 and a 40. Sounds like a OHW to me.
Why don't we do The Cure? According to the Billboard Hot 100, they have a 2, an 18 and a 40. Sounds like a OHW to me.
Channel98
Don't yell or hit.
An ounce of the Cure is worth a pound of prevention. You can quote me on that. The Cure had three top-40 hits: Just Like Heaven reached #40 in January 1988, Love Song reached #2 in October 1989 (behind Janet Jackson's Miss You Much) and Friday I'm In Love got to #18 in August 1992. Classic-hits KRTH in Los Angeles plays all three, along with – surprisingly – Close To Me, which first appeared on the Cure's 1985 album The Head On The Door. It was released as a single in September 1985 but failed to chart. A remixed version (from the Cure's Mixed Up album) was released as a single in October 1990 and got to #97 on the Hot 100 in January 1991. The Cure's three big hits are also played regularly on KOLA and KCBS-FM. I can't call the Cure a one-hit wonder. They are a three-hit wonder.
Except that at least two of those songs get plenty of airplay on mainstream radio and they get plenty of play on First Wave. Not a OHW, even subjectively.
sadchild
Dude
However, if "Just Like Heaven" had peaked one spot lower at #41, they would have technically qualified for this thread.
Even still, outside of specialty stations I hear "Lovesong" "Friday" "Heaven" "Lullaby" and "End Of The World" in mainstream places. So they wouldn't have been subjectively even if they qualified.
Even still, outside of specialty stations I hear "Lovesong" "Friday" "Heaven" "Lullaby" and "End Of The World" in mainstream places. So they wouldn't have been subjectively even if they qualified.
IdRatherBeSkiing
Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
I hear "Love Song" and "Friday I'm In Love" regularly so definitely not OHW. People in 1989 were stupid for liking Janet Jackson more than the Cure but most of the top 40 in 1989 was stupid.
scotchandcigar
All I wanted was some steak
No, you're just posting objective numbers, and I know you're not trying to offend. I made the comparison because most of us would say that The Cure has a ton of hit songs, and gets a lot of airplay, despite having a top 40 profile that might objectively qualify them as a OHW.
While I don't think that Squeeze is quite the new wave staple that The Cure is, they also have a ton of songs that get regular rotation. Cool For Cats, Argybargy, East Side Story, and Sweets From a Stranger each gave us several songs that got regular airplay. And each album continues to get at least one song in rotation. Then there's Annie Get Your Gun, Hourglass, etc. It's at least a dozen songs. They're not a 1 song or 2 song artist. I don't know why they're in this discussion.