I’ve decided to join in with Lauren from Shooting Stars Mag Local Tourist feature as I explore my new town…
Summer concert season in park is over but there was a show at our local Columbia Theater in Longview, WA to give us our fix.
The show was One Hit Wonders; The Songs You Hate to Love. Music of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s - and it was so much fun!
It was a mix of live dance, music, singing and interludes of video made to look like the *serious* announcers from each era. The video was probably the funniest part with the anchor introducing things like Footloose and warning about dancing too close and explicit lyrics from the Tipper Gore days (I’m old enough to remember those days – are you?)
And of course there’s the music. The night certainly gave me a few earworms.
I was a child of the 70’s/early 80’s so those were my faves. They are the silliest of songs and videos but I stand by them and still think they’re all fantastic!
How many of these do you remember??
I LOVED this song! But wtf is this video???? lol
Wonderfully weird!
One of the best videos ever made and I had NO idea they were a one hit wonder!! I guess they were a huge band internationally but only had the one hit here in the US.
This one is maybe ?? a little obscure but I loved it.
The band name (A Flock of Seagulls) the VERY aggressive 80’s hair, makeup and clothes…LOVE lol
How on earth did I not get the sexual subtext here?????
Little girl me was just out there belting these lyrics completely oblivious. 🤣🤣
“The lyrics are relatively ambiguous, although the line "When you want to come" is clearly a reference to orgasm. The song is essentially a guide to delaying ejaculation.
To throw censors off the scent, when "Relax" first came out the band claimed publicly that it was written about "motivation." Later they confessed it was actually about shagging.”
It was banned in the UK (but not in the US) which of course made it a hit.
There are too many to count but what were your favorite songs from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s?
Ha ha how fun! There are so many songs that are subtle in their sexual references and I so didn't get them when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteMost songs are lol Sugar Walls - at least I realized the reference in that one.
DeleteBut Relax is SO freaking obvious and I was just obliviously roller skating and singing to it lol
Aha, A Flock of Seagulls, FGTH and Dexy's had a good few hits over here. I've never heard of Devo though. Favourites from 80s include Shakin Stevens, Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran, OMD, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Elton John, Madonna, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys and a ton more. I still listen to a lot of 80's music. I lost interest in the 90's with all the dance music. I love 60's and 70's music-Beatles, Kinks, Four Tops, Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Amen Corner, Beach Boys, Bee Gees, Abba, glam rock, rock, motown, some soul...
ReplyDeleteLoved Adam and the Ants & Pet Shop Boys.
DeleteI didn't think about it much at the time but so many of those bands were one hit wonders in the US but huge in the UK.
The Bee Gees weren't a One Hit Wonder but a staple of my teen years and singing into a hairbrush lol
I know all of these actually!!! lol This sounds like such a fun show - I'm glad you had a great time, and thanks for linking up with Local Tourist. :) It's great seeing what is happening where people live. It's always funny to listen to songs I used to sing and realize what they lyrics are ACTUALLY saying.
ReplyDelete-Lauren
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And I'm stunned at how fast I pick the lyrics back up despite not hearing a few of the songs in decades.
DeleteThat sounds like fun, I'd definitely be screaming along to all of the 80s!
ReplyDeleteIt's weird how fast all the lyrics come back to you!
DeleteI remember them all! Come on Eileen is my favorite though. That video was pure madness.
ReplyDeleteALL the videos from that era were madness lol
DeleteI remember all of those songs. I love A Flock of Seagulls.
ReplyDeleteAwww Aha, good times!!
ReplyDeleteThe music and videos were wild but so fun then.
DeleteI'm a child of the fifties and sixties so I do remember all of these. My Favorite was Come on Eileen. I loved stuff like Betty Davis Eyes by Taylor Dane, anything by Elton John and Madonna,Paul McCartney and Wings(I was a big Beatles fan)and in the eighties and nineties I was a huge fan of Prince and Michael Jackson. Garth Brooks too. Fun post, I think I would love that show.
ReplyDeleteLoved Taylor Dane and Betty Davis Eyes!
DeleteAnd Prince was my absolute favorite at the time. He was my first concert - during the Purple Rain years.
Soo many 80's songs were about sex lol. I should revisit my Sexual Lyrics posts from a while ago because there are so many candidates! Anyway these are all awesome- I loved Whip It and A-Ha and Flock of seagulls. And Relax too- yes at that tender age the real meaning of the song did not actually click with me haha!
ReplyDeleteI Ran and Space Age Love Song are still amazing songs.
She Blinded Me With Science is awesome- I still play it loud. :)
SO MANY!!!
DeleteBut seriously - Relax. How could I have not noticed that?? Even in my innocent years. My mother must have cringed listening to me play that lol
I loved all these songs, but wouldn't consider all these bands one hit wonders. I mean, Dexy's Midnight Runners (who I saw in 1986), definitely, but Aha, Flock of Seagulls, and Devo must have had other hits.
ReplyDeleteI was SHOCKED to learn that A-Ha was a one hit wonder band! Devo too!!! I guess they had other songs but none had hit the top of the charts.
DeleteI loved Devo and Flock of Seagulls! 😁😁😁
ReplyDeleteMe too!
DeleteThat Take On Me vid brought back lots of happy memories! I loved A-Ha and had a huge crush on Morten :-)
ReplyDeleteIt was (& still is) and AMAZING video. I can't believe they were only a one hit wonder!
DeleteI've only heard of a few of these songs... or about half, but the majority are definitely before my time but they're played even now. True classics. And I didn't know that about Relax. I feel like I need to listen to that song now.
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of surprised how many of these songs have stood the test of time!
DeleteI have a few of those on some compilations - seriously, my house is full of '70s/'80s music, also because, like you, I grew up with it...though there are songs that I love even more now than I did then! I don't think it's just your average nostalgia thing - they had the rhythm, the groove, the everything (though more often than not, lyrics left something to be desired 😂), and the best songs of nowadays are basically rip-offs of them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I understood Relax back then, but it dawned on me gradually what it was really about - it's not like there was this huge moment of discovery and shock LOL. And you were roller-skating to it?! 😂
The music got to a halt for me in the late '80s, when someone came up with that blasted thing called "house". Then in the '90s, dance music was quite bad (I was a radio host in 1995, so I unfortunately remember those frantic beats all too well), and regular pop was hit or miss...until new artists started to base their music on funk again.
The songs from the 70's & 80's were FUN! and I think that's what holds up even now. When I went to the park for concerts this summer - even the little kids caught on to the beats really quickly and loved it.
Deleteyes! i went roller skating EVERY Friday and Saturday night. Plus my boyfriend was the DJ.
I do love new music too though but more indie rock whereas I was mostly a disco girl back then.
One Hit Wonders sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteOf the videos you kindly shared it was only the first two I hadn't heard.
Come On Eileen takes me right back to my last Christmas disco before leaving school the next summer ... Ahhh! Happy memories. I can also well remember the fuss that was made over this Frankie Goes To Hollywood song. I dare say it wouldn't be given a second thought now but it was something we were all talking about at the time.
It wasn't as big a deal in the US but we were more caught up in Judas Priest and Ozzy lol
Delete
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like so much fun! There are a lot of songs out there that are just awful, but I love them anyways. LoL
That pretty much describes the 80's lol
DeleteYep, I know every single one. When my kids and I watch stuff like the Voice they can't believe I know the lyrics to all the 80s and 90s songs (and can't remember what I am supposed to be doing now in 2019).
ReplyDeleteThis is a sad but true statement lol
DeleteMy playlist when I'm reading or blogging is always tuned to 80s and 90s songs. So I can relate. :)
ReplyDeletethey REALLY love the 80's out here! That's all they play in stores/restaurants/concerts.
DeleteI actually know some of these! Come on Eileen is a mainstay at any family party with members over a certain age... I both learned to love and loathe that song! lol
ReplyDeleteTake On Me is gorgeous. The lyrics get me in the feels but the tune is so jaunty and fun. I had no idea Ah-ha where one hit wonders in the US!
Relax is almost legendary. It's a gay anthem here... Apparently it was back in the 80's too.