One-Hit Wonders - An Oblique History of Popular Music

The one-hit wonder has a long and storied history in popular music, exhorting listeners to dance, to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony, to ponder mortality, to get a job, to bask in the sunshine, or just to get up and dance again. Catchy, memorable, irritating, or simply ubiquitous, one-hit wonders capture something of the mood of a time. This collection provides a series of short, sharp chapters on one-hit wonders from the 1950s to the present day, with a view toward understanding both the mechanics of success and the socio-musical contexts within which such songs became hits.

List of contents

List of Figures
Acknowledgements
The Chart of the Book: One-Hit Wonders' Top Hits

Introduction
Sarah Hill, St Peter's College, University of Oxford, UK

1. Buchanan & Goodman, "The Flying Saucer" Parts 1 & 2 (1956)
Paul Carr, University of South Wales, UK

2. The Kingsmen, "Louie Louie" (1963)
Samuel Murray, Middlesex University, UK

3. ? and the Mysterians, "96 Tears"
Adam Behr, Newcastle University, UK

4. The Easybeats, "Friday on My Mind" (1966)
Dai Griffiths, Independent Scholar, Oxford, UK

5. Norman Greenbaum, "Spirit in the Sky" (1969)
Philip Auslander, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

6. The Archies, "Sugar Sugar" (1969)
Jon Stewart, BIMM Institute, Brighton, UK

7. Serge Gainsbourg, "Je t'aime(moi non plus" (1969)
Philippe Gonin, University of Burgundy Franche-Comté, France; trans. Jackie Ortiz

8. Blue Swede, "Hooked On a Feeling" (1974)
Sarah Hill, St. Peter's College, Oxford, UK; with Bengt Palmers

9. Wild Cherry, "Play That Funky Music" (1976)
Robert Fink, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, USA

10. Althea and Donna, "Uptown Top Ranking" (1977)
Paul Long, Monash University, Australia

11. Plastic Bertrand, "Ça Plane Pour Moi" (1977)
Patrick McGuinness, St. Anne's College, Oxford, UK

12. Nick Gilder, "Hot Child in the City" (1978)
Richard Parfitt, Independent Scholar, Wales, UK

13. The Vapors, "Turning Japanese" (1980)
Abigail Gardner, University of Gloucestershire, UK

14. Aneka, "Japanese Boy" (1981)
Richard Elliott, Newcastle University, UK

15. Toni Basil, "Mickey" (1981)
Tim J. Anderson, Old Dominion University, USA

16. Trio, "Da Da Da" (1981)
Tim Quirk, Singer and Lyricist, USA

17. Nena, "99 Luftballons/99 Red Balloons" (1983)
Melanie Schiller, University of Groningen, Netherlands

18. The Grateful Dead, "Touch of Grey" (1987)
Tom Irvine, University of Southampton, UK

19. A View from the Ground: Latin Quarter, "Radio Africa" (1986)
Michael Jones, Senior Lecturer in Music, University of Liverpool, UK

20. A View from the Desk: Product Management
Sarah Hill, St. Peter's College, Oxford, UK

21. Shakespear's Sister, "Stay"(1992)
Áine Mangaoang, University of Oslo, Norway

22. OMC, "How Bizarre" (1996)
Geoff Stahl, Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand

23. The Butthole Surfers, "Pepper" (1996)
Gina Arnold, University of San Francisco, USA

24. Chumbawamba, "Tubthumping" (1997)
Matt Grimes, Birmingham City University, UK

25. Meredith Brooks, "Bitch" (1997)
Asya Draganova, Birmingham City University, UK

26. New Radicals, "You Get What You Give" (1998)
Jon Gower, Independent Scholar, UK

27. Las Ketchup, "Aserejé" (2002)
Eulalia Febrer Coll, Conservatori Superior de Música de les Illes Balears and Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, Spain

28. Gotye ft. Kimbra, "Somebody That I Used to Know" (2011)
Ellis Jones, University of Leeds, UK

List of Contributors
Index

About the author

Sarah Hill is Associate Professor of Popular Music and Tutorial Fellow at St Peter's College, University of Oxford, UK. She has published work on Welsh-language popular music and cultural identity, progressive rock, and female vocality. A native of Oakland, California, and a fluent Welsh speaker, Sarah is also Co-ordinating Editor of Popular Music and Chair of the UK/Ireland branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM).

Summary

The one-hit wonder has a long and storied history in popular music, exhorting listeners to dance, to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony, to ponder mortality, to get a job, to bask in the sunshine, or just to get up and dance again. Catchy, memorable, irritating, or simply ubiquitous, one-hit wonders capture something of the mood of a time. This collection provides a series of short, sharp chapters focusing on one-hit wonders from the 1950s to the present day, with a view toward understanding both the mechanics of success and the socio-musical contexts within which such songs became hits. Some artists included here might have aspired to success but only managed one hit, while others enjoyed lengthy, if unremarkable, careers after their initial chart success. Put together, these chapters provide not only a capsule history of popular music tastes, but also ruminations on the changing nature of the music industry and the mechanics of fame.

Foreword

A chronicle of changing popular music styles and tastes as exemplified by "one-hit wonders" - focusing on the mainstream, on common musical currency, and on the often maligned.

Additional text

One-Hit Wonders unveils the many layers behind those familiar, catchy, (and sometimes grating) hit songs that all too often evade the pop music history textbooks. Covering a wide variety of songs, as though you are turning a radio dial that traverses a Top 40 format across decades, this engaging collection emphasizes that these songs are not standalone entities but are deeply embedded in larger cultural movements and moments.

Product details

• Authors: Sarah Hill
• Assisted by: Sarah Hill (Editor)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 28.02.2022
• EAN: 9781501368417
• ISBN: 978-1-5013-6841-7
• No. of pages: 296
• Dimensions: 147 mm x 224 mm x 18 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Music > General, dictionaries; Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups, MUSIC / History & Criticism, MUSIC / Business Aspects, MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Pop Vocal, Music Industry, Music reviews & criticism, Popular Music, Musicians, singers, bands and groups, Music reviews and criticism, Popular music, easy listening