It brings me good memories *sigh*

Fools Garden – Lemon Tree

Muy fuerte. ¡Una de las ex-concursantes de Curso del 63 se ha metido a “cantanta”! O eso, o es de las mozalbetas con fantasía en el pelo que graban con su videophone de última gama toda clase de pasajes aventureros que padecen en sus carnes cada fin de semana en el pubeto de turno. O en casa de su amiga Michelle, que papá, mamá y B.J. se han ido a Malibu Beach con los amigos a pasar un upper-middle-class week-end TOTAL. Agárrate.

Pues la joven Dafne de la que os presentamos su primer single y videoclip (TiK ToK) tiene un nombre de lo más elegantón, distinguido y que confirma la procedencia aristocrática de la muchacha: Ke$ha. Hasta ahí bien. Toleramos que para que te dejen entrar en cualquier estudio de grabación donde los que cortan el bacalao son Timbaland o Polow Da Don (no vayáis al baño todavía) tengas que tener algún signo de interrogación, o un símbolo de divisas o numérico en tu nombre de pila (PLUSES: si no llevas bragas, te producen la canción gratuitamente… si llegas al estudio únicamente con una gorra de los Lakers te graban el disco al completo, te aseguran un dueto con Sasha y te meten de asistenta del hogar a Lumidee. UN CHOLLO). Pero que esta mamarracha estudiante de Turismo (o en su defecto, dependienta del Pimkie) sin mayor talento que el tener cara de pie plano y sentirse orgullosa de ello haya conseguido alcanzar la polla de RedOne un contrato discográfico que le pague los empastes durante los próximos años nos plantea un duda, de ésas que ponen patas arriba nuestra razón de vivir:

¿Dónde está Cher?

La canción pues al menos es cuca, mucho pitidito, mucho synth, mucho Auto-Tune… vamos, puro sonido 2009 para dar el bombazo más allá de la tierra del Tío Sam. Eso sí, esto suena a plagio TOTAL del maravilloso Love at first sight de Kylie. Juzgad vosotros mismos. A pesar de no ser más que una pija de manual que se cree rebelde por llevar piercings en la nariz (¿he oído 1999?), Ke$ha lo está crujiendo en USA. Y no podemos seguir viviendo de Ace of Base, hay que mirar al futuro y estar a la última como sea.

El vídeo ratifica todo lo que pensamos nada más ver la portada del single: niña bien de Bel Air con ínfulas de reina del instituto, pero que tuvo que resignarse y tirarse a todo el equipo de rugby (eso incluye al entrenador… SUGA DADDY) como premio de consolación. ¡Ahora llega el momento de tu venganza, Ke$ha!

Pero mira que es patético el nombre.

Winampen slumpar fram Lou Bega och jag blir överlycklig och sittdansar framför datorn. Vissa one hit wonders och sommarplågor är riktigt underbara, speciellt om de sprider sommarkänsla i novembermörkret.

Best of?!?! Are you fucking kidding me?!?!

Species Name: Onehitwonderus Whoricus

“Alright stop, collaborate and listen, Ice is back” with the same fucking song he’s been singing for the last twenty years.  I know, I know, Vanilla Ice doesn’t seem like such a timely victim to be thinned from the herd, but that was before this aired on the “Early Show” this morning:

Robert Van Winkle, aka Vanilla Ice, I bow my head to you for being the first white boy to take the rapping world by storm.  The guy does deserve some accolades, after all, “Ice Ice Baby” was the first hip hop song to top the Billboard single chart and the album the hit was on became the fastest selling hip hop album of all time.  Not to mention the fact that every suburban white kid at my school, including myself, knew the words to “Ice Ice Baby.”  Now that all that flattery is out of the way, lets get down to the nitty gritty.  Vanilla Ice just won’t go the fuck away.  He couldn’t go quietly into the night like such one hit wonders as Dexy’s Midnight Runners and Chumbawumba. No, this shit stick had to wear out his welcome by not only changing his music style to crappy hard rock, but then still expecting everyone to buy his crappy hard rock albums. Instead of trying to reinvent yourself, why couldn’t you just quit while you were ahead?  Actually I know why, because he’s a walking celebrity cliche and has too big of a drug habit to support.

So once again you have made your way back into the mainstream thanks to the Early Show having some bullshit segment on what was cool twenty years ago.  Although I don’t think you should have delusions of grandeur about being too cool to perform your one hit, I also think it’s a tad bit pathetic that you seem to whore yourself out for any opportunity to perform the one song that made you socially relevant.  It’s sad to think that by imagining a world sans Vanilla Ice, a major portion of my childhood would be stripped away from me…but nobody said this job would be easy.

In a world where Vanilla Ice didn’t exist to make all future white boy rappers the laughing stock of the hip hop world:

• We’d all have that $6 back that we spent on going to see one of the worst movies of all time, Cool as Ice.  Don’t act like you weren’t stoked when that movie came out…

• The “Surreal Life” would’ve been forced to find another washed up celebrity to be on their show, what a dilemma…
• Todd Bridges would’ve had to fight another washed up celebrity on “Celebrity Boxing.”
• We would’ve never been able to witness this amazing meltdown broadcast on MTV:

• No one would’ve been able to look so ridiculous in glittery jump suits and whatever that hairdo was:

• On a sad note, we would never have gotten to experience the “Ninja Rap” in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze:

• Florida would be minus one more crazy, white trashy, spouse abusing, drug using, self destructive loser.

We all had fun singing “Ice Ice Baby,” but now its time for it to die along with Vanilla Ice.  Unfortunately, unless this clown is locked up in the slammer, he’ll keep pushing his crappy straight edge rock and whoring himself out to anyone who wants to pay him to sing “Ice Ice Baby” for fifty bucks.  Hey Vanilla, I’ll pay you fifty bucks to sing “Ninja Rap” and then jump off a building, how bout that?

But one has to have dreams right?

Günümüzde önümüze sunulanı çabuk tüketme eğilimine sahip olmak hoş görülen bir şey. Hızlı yiyoruz, hızlı konuşuyoruz, hızlı düşünüyoruz. Bir nevi fast food hayatı yaşıyoruz. Televizyonlar, gazeteler, internet, çevremiz ve hatta ailemiz bile bazen bize “fast food” yaşamın parametrelerini belletmeye çalışıyor:

work
buy
consume
die

Hızlı bir yaşam bize kolaylık ve çeşitlilik sağlıyor. Özellikle konu müzik olduğunda birçok parçaya artık rahatça ulaşabiliyor, bu parçaları rahatça tüketebiliyoruz. Bir yerden sonra da kolay tatmin olamıyor, sömürmeye başlıyoruz. Bunun en bariz örneği de zannediyorum ki internetteki müzik safarimizdir. Şahsen bilgisayarımda dinlemediğim onlarca albüm, şarkı, grup var. Birçoğunu ilerde de dinlemeyeceğimi biliyorum.Ama yine de bir şekilde bunları bilgisayarıma indirmişim, ani açlık duygumu tatmin edebilmek için.

Açgözlülüğümüz beraberinde “elindekinin değerini bilememe” durumunu getiriyor maalesef. Dinlediğimiz onlarca şarkının arasında kayboluyoruz. Bir çıkış yolu aradığımızda da etiketlemeye başvuruyoruz: “Abi ben nu-metal dinlemem ya? Ne o öyle metal mi, rap mi belli değil? “

Bir yerden sonra bu etiketleme durumu da bizi sığ sulara çekiyor. Çoğu zaman farklı olanı görmemizi engelliyor. Dahası aynı olanı da, “niteleme sevdamız” dolayısıyla farklıymış gibi yutuyoruz. Entelektüel değil miyiz yahu? Ne de olsa her şeyi biliriz ama tabularımıza tapmaktan hiçbir şey bizi alıkoyamaz.

Entelektüel etiketleme hadiselerinden biri de galiba “one-hit wonder” çıkmazıdır. Hızlı yaşamımızın belli bir diliminin içinden sıkışıp kalmış birçok şarkıyı bu şekilde niteleriz. Teknik olarak ABD’deki Billboard listesinin en aşağı top 40 seviyesine ulaşan şarkılar birer “one-hit wonder” dır. Genel anlamıyla ise bu terimi, tek şarkısıyla kısa bir süre için başarıyı yakalayıp sonrasında ortadan kaybolan müzisyenlere atfetmekteyiz.

Teknik olarak bakacak olursak Jimi Hendrix ve Grateful Dead gibi efsanelerde birer “one-hit wonder”dır. Bir ihtimal dönemleri içerisinde -bir süre içinde olsa – genel anlamıyla da bu terimle nitelendirilmişlerdi. Halbuki günümüzde bu efsaneleri bu terimle nitelendirme saçmalığına düşecek insan yoktur. Ne de olsa artık terimin genel kullanımı, bize teknik kullanımını unutturmuştur. Ayrıca Jimi Hendrix ve Grateful Dead günümüzde kendi dönemlerinde olduklarından çok daha popülerler.Fakat genel kullanım beraberinde çeşitli yanlış anlaşılmaları da getirmiştir ki eleştirdiğim nokta da budur.

The Rasmus, Jimmy Eat World, The Cranberries, Marcy Playground gibi grupları “one-hit wonder”olarak nitelemek ne kadar doğru olur acaba? Evet, üzülerek söylüyorum bunu yapan insanlar var. Bu grupların belli şarkılarıyla (In The Shadows, The Middle, Zombie, Sex and Candy) üstün bir başarı yakaladıkları doğrudur. Ama bu grupları bu nitelendirmeye maruz bırakanlar biraz sığ sulardan vazgeçip biraz derine dalsalar yanlışlarının farkına varacaklardır. Çünkü bu grupların sağlam diye nitelendirebileceğimiz albümleri ve belirli bir fan kitlesi vardır.Yani başarılarında bir süreklilik söz konusu.

“Niteleme sevdamız” ve hızlı akan yaşamımız bizi de yanlış anlaşılmalara sürükleyebilir. Peki tam olarak nedir “one-hit wonder” ? Dale don Dale , Macarena, Blue (Da ba dee)’dir. Bu üç şarkı terimimizin özetidir adeta. Bu şarkıların sahibi müzisyenlerin başka şarkılarını bilen var mı acaba? Hatta bu şarkıların sahibi müzisyenleri bile hatırlamakta zorluk çekeriz ki normaldir. Çünkü bu müzisyenlerin varlıkları bizim için pek bir şey ifade etmez. Herhangi bir kitle için de ifade etmeyecektir. Ama yukarıda saydığım üç parçanın müzisyenin ötesinde kitleler için – kısa veya uzun süreli – bir etkisi vardır.

“One-hit wonder” ların birçoğu -şu an için- belki de bir maddeyi oluşturan atomun içindeki kuarklar kadar bile fark edilemezler. Onlar belli bir zaman dilimi içinde sıkışıp kalmışlar, mikroskobumuzdan medet umuyorlar. Hangilerinin değerini bilip geleceğe taşıyacağız sizce?

And I’m not talking about another 9-11, or another Vietnam, or WWIII. I’m talking about pop. Say it again, pop. The world needs another complete accident, freakshow, because we essentially haven’t had one since about, oh, say 1991.

What happened then? Some of you might be too young to remember and some of you have probably heard it so many times that it makes you want to vomit. When something goes stale and gets re-processed (or shall we say faceless?), when companies decide what’s best for the masses, we get what we have right now, or also what was happening in the late 80s early 90s with the big haired arena metal/rock (if you can even call it metal, I’d call it Glam on an off day), and then along came someone who didn’t want to be there, a bunch of kids who didn’t fit in, and accidentally took charge and never really wanted it. Sure, bands nowadays mention that they’re not concerned about record sales, yadda yadda, but to be honest, the singer of this band really didn’t. He wasn’t into that, but got thrust there anyway. He brought out the kids who agreed with him from underneath the bleachers and somehow started a trend of clothing (?) that was spoofed successfully on Monty Python years before (when they work all night and sleep all day). So what am I getting at? When you look at the top forty of pop, it’s all the same: Rap, Rap/Rock, Rock, Rock-Rap, Pop, etc. All names don’t mean anything, because we’re back under that facade of if you cover someone’s song or have one hit you’ll be fine and people will love you. That’s why mashups are, cough, “all the rage”.

To find the real heartfelt music you have to stop staring at Teen Beat, Tiger Beat, Tiger Bop, Bippidy Doo, etc. You have to search. And for some of us (hi), it’s common ground that when people are looking through your cds/ipod they don’t know half of what’s there. But I digress:

We need another of these Nirvana types to wipe this stale, boring pop out. I know, there’s always exceptions to the rule, but I really do think that it’s time for the whole music industry to get a swift kick in the crotch. Remember all of the one hit wonders of the eighties? Notice that that’s sort of happening again? The reason? People aren’t listening to albums for sentimental value anymore, like when music had hit it’s complete peak (or so i think) in the late 60s, early 70s when storytellers were standing up for things and writing some of the most memorable, beautiful things in existence. It can happen again! I believe it can! But there’s a lot of work that needs to be involved.

We need to completely wipe out the charts right now and start over. I can’t even listen to the radio anymore because everything sounds the same, either a hyper-extension of a band that once was, or a recreation of someone else’s songs. That’s how Creed got to be popular, no? Come on, people who missed basic Pearl Jam and liked a little Jesus with their rock ran straight to the easy answer.

And what’s with covering old songs that don’t need to be redone? Jesus Christ. Sure, every thing’s been done before, I get it. The bases have been covered, all topics have been done, etc. I’m all for re-workings, if they work. If they bring something to a song that you see differently, like Cash’s “Hurt”. It adds a different kind of feeling to the song, without wavering. And it’s a good cover. It’s something that the original artist is proud of, and is not a carbon copy of the original. That’s what I hate. Why cover something if you’re not going to bring something new to it? Sure, it might end up like P. Diddy’s shit “Roxanne” rework, but at least he tried to change something to it. He is another story though. I’m still surprised that he could get even semi popular by just adding vocals and new parts onto old songs, and just having it looped as if he was doing his own mashups. That’s not fuckin’ cool. I could do that.

Anyway, where were we? Right. Here we go: in every shape and form, I have to ask: when did music get so faceless? Why does everything equal everything? We need something to come along to ensure that 2+2=5 again, that people digging in the trenches for good things and challenging their minds with good music can believe that music can make you feel, because it’s doing it for a lot of people less and less.

At the same time, I do have other issues with it as well, you see, sometimes I blame myself and everyone else for the state of the music industry. It’s my fault that I listen to those things. Heck, it’s mostly your fault because you do it more than me but I’ll agree that sometimes I get trapped. I like finding my way out of the trap more, you know. Even some artists who find that they’re trapped do new things. Some people try to develop their own trends, like the whole “Radiohead says you decide what to pay and you pay them direct” thing, or the “Trent Reznor gives away his new album because he hates labels” deal. Which is fine. But that’s not going to shift anything insane in any direction. It’ll become easier for people to find the crazy music because of torrents and itunes and freebies. But it’s something. It’s putting the power back into the hands of the artist. It’ll take a lot to keep it going, but they’re trying.

And yet, the mass exodus of people don’t really give a shit. They just want their carbon copy radio stations with two guys and a girl in the morning (alas, no pizza place) who lay out mediocre jokes and even more mediocrier (I made up a word) music. So what do we do? We keep doing what we feel good about doing. The stuff we think is real is probably real. The fake stuff, you should be able to see that. Everybody can see that. They would just rather choose to put on their blinders and leave it screaming out of their car stereos at 3am, because they’d rather use what short time they have on one song and be done with it, instead of investing an hour and listening to the whole album.

The end result is that there’s someone out there now, just learning an instrument, or toiling in the fucking bottom barrel in backwood towns in front of 20 people on a stage at a bar that seems empty. But that’s where it’ll start.  That band, or singer  will come along sometime in the next few years and make music exciting again. Right now, I’m going to hide my head in the sand.

In 1997, God sent three prized cherubs down to earth. These long golden haired boys had the voices of Angels. To many, they would be remembered only for MmmBop;as nothing more than a band with a one hit wonder. But, to a few hundred thousand fans everywhere they would be worshiped forever. I am talking about Hanson of course.  

When I first saw Hanson on MTV way back in the 3^rd grade I assumed, as did many, that they were female, but TRL quickly influenced me to believe otherwise. Carson Daily assured me that the boys’ long locks were not like the coiled hair of a girl or even the greasy mane of a grunge boy, but rather the symbol of a pre-teen sex god.  Isaac, Taylor, and, my personal favorite, Zac had overcome their humble Tulsa upbringing and instantly become icons.

It seemed that after the first Hanson brother album Middle of Nowhere, they vanished from the airwaves. But any dedicated Hanson fan will tell you this is not true. Hanson currently is independently touring and producing their own music and, to the thrill of at least three girls, they are producing many many children.  Just yesterday my friend received Hanson’s autograph when the boys were on the American University Campus.  Their newest album will be released in May of 2010.

Isaac, Taylor, Zac, when you are old and losing your hair, I can tell you that I will still care. I miss your synchronized jams, your long blonde and slightly messy hair, and your pop love songs.

Hanson, I miss your face- Shassie

Con nuestras facultades mentales a pleno rendimiento (y sin algún porrito de más), nunca nos habríamos detenido a escribir sobre un artista novel como éste que nos importa una mierda, siendo sinceras. Pero como lleva ya siendo #1 en iTunes USA aproximadamente una semana (y seguramente caiga al olvido la semana que viene, pero qué mas da, el pop es así: de usar y tirar) y las noticias de GaGui y ChaQui brillan por su ausencia, de alguien de menos de 40 años que no fuese Christina Aguilera teníamos que hablar. Y pasamos totalmente de hablar de la transformista que cantaba aquello de “estás como un tren, pasa total de lo que esos mendas te digan, tía!“.

Pues bueno, a lo que íbamos. Esta tonadilla titulada Fireflies (Luciérnagas para las que no tengan la ESO) que comienza tan bien con esos sintetizadores tan evocadores y que nos teletransportan a la mejor época del pop mundial (1997), va y al minuto se transforma en la misma canción pop-rock de siempre que tanto aborrecemos oficialmente en este blog. Sí, decepción total, pero no nos extraña que haya sido #1 en la tierra del autostop, ya que en iTunes sólo se pueden escuchar 30 segundos de la canción que coinciden con la parte más electrolíricopop (y, por tanto, la única que nos interesa) del tema. Y si su inusual éxito no se debe a eso, pues nos da igual, lo que cuenta es que os quedéis con esta cancioncilla por si se convierte en un HIT y así espetarles a vuestras amigas más analfabetas que vosotras la descubristeis 2 años antes en `ves como eres una zorra´. Quedaréis como auténticas señoras y a nosotras se nos subirá el ego como la espuma.

Te gustará si… tu vida se limita a pasarte las tardes tocando el bajo con tus amigotes más molones, mientras que en tu interior una vocecilla de lo más impertinente te recuerda que hace 8 6 meses que no echas un polvo.

P.D.: El NERD que sale en el vídeo tocando el piano como si estuviese eligiendo el sushi que se tomará esta noche para cenar con su amiga Lisette se llama Owl City. Pero sabemos que no os interesa.

Once again, our trivia team (this week’s moniker: Vance Refrigeration) was victorious, reclaiming the championship belt with a Game Two win at the Panorama. (Friend Rochester Trivia on Facebook for more info.)

My favorite part of Trivia Tuesday (aside from the free food & beer, courtesy of our $150 bar tab from winning six out of the last eight games) is when Billy, our affable host, sings a song and asks us to write down its title.

I own these questions.

Though I’m ashamed to know some of the tunes that Billy belts out (like that terrible, terrible Jessica Simpson song that inexplicably samples “Jack and Diane”), when it comes to winning, and thus achieving endless pride & glory, there really is no better kind of knowledge.

This week, Billy chose a track in the running for Most Nostalgia-Inducing Relic of My Youth: ”Show Me Love”* by Robyn, the teenage Swedish songstress who sang her way into our hearts way back in 1997 with this one-hit wonder.

(*Incidentally, I wrote down just ”Show Me” on our trivia score sheet, and this answer was still accepted. Even though the answer “Crying” was rejected for Aerosmith’s “Cryin’” several weeks ago. Not that I’m still bitter about that.)

Robyn has made a comeback in recent years, leaning more towards the electro side of her dance-pop past, and I couldn’t be happier for the woman. I showed “Show Me Love” all kinds of love back in the day; it was one of my favorite songs both from a melodic and lyrical standpoint. Those Swedes sure do know how to write a pop hook, and you better believe I was begging my diary every night for some boy to show me love, because he was the one that I ever needed.

(Question: does that lyric even make sense? “You’re the one that I ever needed.” I get what she means — and girl, I feel you — but it  just doesn’t seem grammatically correct, now does it?)

Setting aside the reminiscing and the overwhelming cheese factor — or perhaps indulging in it even more – I admit that since hearing it Tuesday night, I’ve found myself relating to “Show Me Love”’s lyrics once more. Having recently found The One, I’m guilty of seeing myself in lots of love songs lately, picking out words and phrases that clearly describe Exactly How I Feel. And, well, as corny as it is, these sentiments pretty much sum it up:

Never thought I would find love so sweet / Never thought I would meet someone like you / Well now I’ve found you and I’ll tell you no lie / This love I’ve got for you / Could take me ’round the world.

Sixth grade me couldn’t have said it any better.

[Note: I realize what was meant to be a a quick shout-out to a once-beloved one-hit wonder has turned into a sappy love post (and another circle in my ever-growing shame spiral). As my friend Kerri would say: Vom. But I stand by my statements. This blog is about sharing, people. Or at least embarrassing myself in the most clever and witty ways possible. I think I've done my job.]

Eu amo mais você: Ana Maria Braga, Louro José e a fauna brasileira. NOT! O assunto não é esse. Vamos ao que interessa:

Eu amo mais você tocando nesse exato momento. Sim, quem precisa de jejum na páscoa quando existe esse tipo de penitência? Fica de sugestão pra páscoa 2010! A música é do Catedral (who?), mas a única coisa que consigo pensar ouvindo é: Renato Russo Wannabe. Primeiro que Catedral é quase uma banda One Hit Wonder (aquelas bandas que fazem sucesso com uma música, e ninguém sabe mais nenhuma outra deles), exceto pelo fato de que Wonder implica que a música de sucesso é boa, o que não é o caso. ‘Minha verdade é absurda, no plural’: eu confesso que já escutei essa música com outros olhos, eu cheguei a gostar dela (não me julguem). Mas eu era um jovem inconsequente, só isso (quero aproveitar e deixar claro: só me fazem sofrer as músicas ruins de fato… Coisas toscas – Kelly Key, Latino, Mastruz com Leite, etc. – me fazem rir, então não faz sentido colocar nada disso aqui). Enfim, Catedral (who?) foi uma banda que começou carreira no gospel. Tsc tsc tsc, primeiro grande erro… Achou que podia digievoluir pro pop/rock. Deu no que deu. Não só não emplacaram como perderam os fãs da época gospel, o que caracteriza um c-c-combo breaker musical. Agora eles tentam voltar pro gospel gradualmente, numa tentativa de redenção pelos males causados. E é Renato Russo Wannabe sim.

Minha verdade é absurda, no plural.

Viu, ele sabe que é absurda. A música.

Mas pra mim, honestamente, isso é normal.

Agora me diz: ele acha absurdo, porém normal. É igual, mas é diferente.

Na minha onda, teu oceano, me ensina como navegar.

Vira escoteiro, entra pra marinha… sei lá.

E a gente fala muito por falar.

Ou canta muito por cantar. Você escolhe.

Penso infinitamente sem parar.

Não parece tanto.

Who Let the Dogs Out on Green St., San Francsico

by Eli Altman

Who Let the Dogs Out? was originally created for Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival season in 1998. A visiting hairdresser from London apparently recorded it from a float in a parade and brought it back to the U.K. with him where he played it for his producer friend. Soon it was covered by the Baha Men and wound up on the soundtrack of Rugrats in Paris. When the song was released as a single in 2000, it reached #40 in the US, #2 in the UK, went Platinum and won a Grammy; not bad for a one-hit wonder.

The song got played, overplayed, and then faded into the distance. In a poll, it made Rolling Stone’s list of Top 5 most annoying songs. Now the only time you hear it is in reruns and bad jokes.The Baja Men are probably two years away from an episode of Where Are They Now?

No one can say they didn’t see this coming. There’s a very natural life cycle at play here. Just like ice turns to water which turns to steam; Who Let the Dogs Out? went from fun to funny to annoying. That’s the way these things work. That’s why when I saw the van pictured above, I was amazed that a living artifact from a 2000 one-hit wonder was still with us.

This name surprised me a bit because most of us want names that are timeless— names that will still resonate in a hundred years if our companies are lucky enough to last that long. As a name for a company, Who Let the Dogs Out? challenges this idea because most one hit wonders are anything but timeless. While the song name definitely fits with a dog walking business, I will be amazed if people remember the reference in twenty years. But then again, maybe more time will work to their advantage. By now they have to be sick of people asking them about the song, or trying to sing it from memory when they drop their dogs off in the morning. You have to have pretty thick skin to be able to laugh at the same jokes I’m sure they’ve heard hundreds of times by now.

Maybe when the song completely fades from our memories, the name will take on a life of it’s own. I have to give them credit— the name isn’t boring and it definitely stuck in my memory. It clearly passes the first test of company naming. So I guess if they’re cool with all the jokes and song references, then more power to ‘em.

El otro día me apareció en el mp3 un tema que llevaba mucho tiempo sin escuchar. Y la verdad que me trajo varios recuerdos, esos finales de los años noventa que tanto me han marcado venían a mi mente. Se trata de Kiss Me del grupo Sixpence None The Richer. Es otro grupo a añadir a la lista de One Hit Wonders. Este tema pertenecía a la banda sonora de la película Alguien como tú, típica comedia adolescente de temática cenicientesca (no se si existe esta palabra). El tema es una canción pop de medio tiempo en el que predominan las guitarras. De hecho los primeros acordes la hacen reconocible a los pocos segundos de empezar a sonar.

Este tema pertenecía a su quinto disco, pese a que muchos pensábamos que era el primero, ya que fue el primero y el último que hemos conocido en nuestro país. Actualmente la banda de Texas se encuentra en activo y publicó disco el pasado año.

This morning I woke up with a doozy of a song in my head… Nik Kershaw’s “Wouldn’t It Be Good,” which I swear I’ve bought 16 times on iTunes because it’s on the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. But OBVIOUSLY, when I fumbled for my phone and looked for it through song title… nope… then artist… no luck… then playlists… nope…. I had to concede that it wasn’t in my current rotation. Fair enough. But when I finally got my ass up and looked in my music library… wait for it…  it wasn’t on any of my hard drives, either! AAAGH, GASP, CUE FEELING OF WORTHLESSNESS.

So I sucked it up and bought the song again. Obvs it’s ridiculously, absurdly good, as it’s always been. (I’m on an Amtrak now, listening to it on repeat.)

However, I have a new concern:  WTF EVER HAPPENED TO NIK KERSHAW? Did he finally suck it up and reunite with the Psychedelic Furs?

(Not that he was ever with the Furs, but IMO he should have been.)

Hotness. Also: Where Is This Man and His Hair These Days?

(Secondary question… is he still nearly as hot?)

Here’s what I could find:

Click to see the full story on Nik. (Wait, who edits these Wiki-bios anyway?)

And for your continued audio-visual pleasure, here’s the video for his second-biggest hit.

xo EWS

Breakdancing Vampires!

I think I’ve found the secret to the meaning of life. But if I told you, I’d have to kill you.

But here’s a few secrets, if you guess a girls age to be 24, she will most likely not be offended. Also it’s not a good idea to ask a woman if she is into younger guys, which is pretty much an indirect way of telling her that she looks old.

Now that you’ve learned your life lessons for the day, it’s time for business. How awesome would it be to have a song out there in the top 10 that was written about you? Or even better, how awesome would it be to have a one hit wonder song written about you?

Well I suppose it would only be awesome if it was a love song, or something that makes you out to be amazing. If it’s one of those heartbreak/breakup songs written about you, you’re done for.

Cause even if the band tanks, after, the writer would have the supreme satisfaction of getting that song out about how you are the most terrible person ever to live. You’ll have to endure it on the radio, and after you turn it off, you’ll hear it in the preview to the next hit teen movie, Twilight 7: Step up to the streets.

Which is one of the final Twilight installments in which the misfit teen vampires join a dance crew, and must prove themselves worthy through the use of their superhuman vampire  strength in order to fit in and win the respect of their human peers….ON THE STREETS!!!!

And even after the movie fades into obscurity and the song leaves the top 10, then top 40, and off the airwaves. You’ll be watching re-runs of Seinfeld in your 60’s and a commercial will come on, and in it will be that song. Haunting you, forever that you forgot their birthday, lost their dog, broke their truck, or if it’s a country song, all 3.

So the moral of the story is, don’t hurt someone who isn’t talented enough to write at least 2 hit songs on separate albums. Because one thing we all don’t want is a one hit wonder following us around to tell everyone how terrible we are.

queria publicar o clipe oficial, mas como a emi não deixa, vai essa versão ao vivo mesmo.

queria postar o clipe, mas a emi não deixa. então vai o ao vivo mesmo.

Falco, el único músico hasta la fecha que ha puesto en el número uno del top estadounidense una canción en idioma alemán, es el compositor de la masterpiece “Rock me Amadeus“

El cantante vienés ha vendido más de 60 millones de discos, a pesar de tener sólo 4 hits. Sería, cómo se suele decir, un “one hit wonder”. Pero a pesar de eso, es el cantante austríaco con más exito en la era moderna, siendo una estrella del pop reconocida más fuera que dentro de Austria.

Falco nunca fue muy amado en su patria. Su primera canción, “Ganz Wien… (ist heut auf Heroin)” (“Toda Viena consume hoy heroína“) fue prohibida en la radio, así cómo posteriores canciones suyas.

Pero en 1985 publicó el álbum “Falco 3“, en el que estaba su hit “Rock me Amadeus“, canción que alcanzó el número uno en todo el mundo. Despúes de esto, ya ninguna de sus composiciones llegó tan alto ni por asomo, así que, en 1996, decidió irse a vivir a la República Dominicana. Drogadicto, con problemas familiares y sumido en una crisis emocional galopante, Falco falleció a causa de un accidente de coche dos años después, en 1998. No fue hasta entonces cuando Austria reconoció al cantante cómo artista. Y a día de hoy, en Viena, hay hasta cursos especializados en las letras de Falco, ya que a pesar de ser excéntrico y prepotente, Falco se pasaba días y días para escoger una palabra que encajara en sus canciones. Sus letras estaban muy elaboradas, era más un poeta que un músico.

Su canción “Rock me Amadeus” (1985) estaba  inspirada en la película “Amadeus” (1984) de Milos Forman. Es una composición en alemán que habla sobre Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Aquí os dejo el videoclip, el cual he traducido al español, dónde vereis la mezcla que hace Falco entre la actualidad y el siglo XVIII. Gente vestida de época, baila con moteros, mientras Falco viste un esmokin y, más tarde, se disfraza de Mozart con el pelo de colores, todo ello en un típico interior vienés.

¡Mítico!

Today I’m sitting and wondering what it is I would choose if only one thing were allowed.  One activity or achievement to define who I am and tell the world that I was here.

It is perlexing to me that I am unsure of the answer.  There are several categories from which I might choose, and each has a deep root in my life.  It concerns me a little, though, that I am unable to choose between them.  It’s unsettling to not have a clear vision of what it is, primarily, that makes me who I am.

A few years ago while I was involved in music ministry and actively promoting church agendas, I probably would have told a person that I desired, above all, to see the face of God.  And, while I have found some of my deepest and most affecting moments in that presence, in the awareness of the eternally divine love of God, I have to be honest with myself and say that I don’t know for sure that it would be my choice today.  I mean, I believe I have access to that anyway, so do I need to choose one moment of it above something else less…well, eternal.

As an artist my desire would be to create that one important and visually stunning, emotionally fulfilling piece of art.  It goes without saying that, if I were to try and do that on my own, today, I might be staring at a blank canvas for a very long time as I visualized and erased the many images that would come into view in my mind’s eye.  As it is, I am staring at a nearly blank canvas that is propped up in the corner of this room, on the brink of a breakthrough as to what it is going to be eventually.  If I sit here long enough with it in sight, it might turn into that masterpiece.  So, perhaps I’ll take my chances on that one.

Music is another of my pursuits.  There are compositions, lyrics and scattered notes for the future.  What if, against all odds, something of mine could make it into the hearts of the world, becoming an anthem of some sort that would create change and love and peace, etc…Big Dream.  All it would take is the right connection, the timing and so many things that it probably can’t happen in one day.  What’s the rush? More life, better lyrics.

What about my heart?  I still have a fantasy about True Love.  If there were only one day allowed for that, it would be one filled with a life’s worth of passion and emotional connectedness (a woman’s point of view), and the knowledge that someone would remember me always.  How can that not be a good choice?  Down side: I would remember it as well…forever.  And, living with only memories is not all that it’s cut out to be.

I suppose the list could go on and on.  Having looked at what I have here, having just one day of anything doesn’t seem like a very good deal.  I mean, Disneyland maybe, or a chance to lose a week’s pay in Vegas.  Those might work out as a one day event.  But the big things in life, we want those to last. 

 And, who really wants to be a one hit wonder?  If  I can produce one piece of art that is great, two can’t be that hard.  Same with a song.  Songs go round and round our heads and hearts, there’s never just one.

One day isn’t enough.  Some people think one life isn’t enough.  Compromise is in order, apparently.  One life, many days and countless pursuits. 

Go for it!

Desenterrando do baú mais um clássico 80’s, da banda The Art Company.

ENJOY!

Bjs e Abraços

Alanis Morissette is a great, but I think we can all agree that her career would have benefited from a lethal overdose after her 1995 debut album.

In addition to Morissette, Michael Penn (Aimee Mann’s husband) is a very talented and busy singer-songwriter who has had one hit with “No Myth” but is otherwise missing in action from the mainstream.

Which one-hit wonders are some of your favorites who never really went beyond one song or album?

i was crusing along thru recent pages views
i got 689 one day
while i was in sydney
wtf
then it completely dropped back off
oh well
i guess thats what it feels to be a one hit wonder hey.

A video which has probably more hits on youtube than actually copies sold. Big budget video with trained dwarfs dancing plus a whole village turnout should on paper make this a great video. Instead its just a very strange moment in time.  ”We can dance we can dance, everybody use your hands” has to be the strangest lyrics for acouple of years. It reminds me of maid Marion on cbbc in the late 80s/early 90s. Enjoy

Opus es un grupo austriaco, de Graz, formado en 1973 y aún en activo, que disfrutó de un grandísimo éxito en todo el mundo con el single que publicó en 1985, titulado Live Is Live, que fue número uno en su país de origen, además de otros países como Alemania, Suiza, Gran Bretaña, Estados Unidos, Italia o España.

Si bien podría considerarse como grupo de “un sólo éxito”, lo cierto es que son relativamente populares en su nativa Austria, donde han cosechado éxitos como Whiteland, de 1987, o The Power Of Live Is Life, de 1994.

Opus lo forman Herwig Rüdisser (voz), Ewald Pfleger (guitarra), Kurt-Rene Plisnier (teclados) y Günter Grasmuck (batería).

Según cuenta el grupo en su página oficial, la canción cuenta con más de 30 cóvers, lo que una idea del éxito del que disfrutó.

• Opus en Wikipedia, en inglés y en español.
• Página Oficial de Opus (en inglés y en alemán).
• Opus en MySpace.