(real) one-hit wonder of the week – “Love Plus One” | HAIRCUT ONE HUNDRED | 1982.

Between late 1979 and the end of 1989, there were nearly 500 (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s that reached the BILLBOARD Hot 100 just one time, a list that includes Soft Cell, Gary Numan, Timbuk 3, The Church, Bronski Beat, Nik Kershaw, The Buggles, The Waitresses, Ultravox and two different bands named The Silencers.  Once a week or so, I’ll highlight a (real) one-hit wonder for you.

This morning (11.4.2019), Maryhope texted me in all caps, RONALD WAKE UP PEOPLE ON TWITTER ARE ARGUING ABOUT ONE-HIT WONDERS!!!

Whenever I hear about one-hit wonders in the media (like National One-Hit Wonder Day on September 25), or social media (like on Twitter this morning), I tend to cringe.  Because everyone who knows me well knows I am a singles chart nerd of epic 80s proportions and I am passionate about the subject of one-hit wonders, or namely, those artists who are continually labeled as one-hit wonders who had more than one hit on the BILLBOARD Hot 100.

The Bangles: “We had more than one hit, dammit!”

“One-hit wonder” artists, or rather, “Forgotten one-hit wonders” as mentioned on the Twitter today, included The Bangles, who had not one, but two No. 1 songs on the Hot 100 (“Walk Like An Egyptian” and “Eternal Flame”), in addition to three other Top 5 singles, starting with their first chart hit, the Prince-composed “Manic Monday.”  Kinda feels like a Manic Monday with all of these crazy tweets about what people consider are one-hit wonders.

Other artists mentioned are the usual band of oft-mistaken one-hit wonders (forgotten or not) here in America: a-ha, Dead Or Alive, Terence Trent D’Arby, The Dream Academy, Eddy Grant, Fine Young Cannibals and Men Without Hats, all who had multiple Top 40 hits on the Hot 100.

a-ha: “We, too, had more than one hit in America, Jäklar!”

I have loved radio for 40 years, and I have been a part of radio (mostly community radio) for nearly 35 years, but a part of commercial radio that has always bothered me is how, somewhere over the course of time, radio programmers have chosen to just forget that many of these artists had more than one hit, and it somehow becomes radio law?  To quote Prince’s brilliant “Housequake” from his equally brilliant SIGN “O” THE TIMES album, BULLSHIT!.  Maybe that’s one reason commercial radio hasn’t been a fit for me.  Because I can’t get behind that. 

I get it.  Radio time on Classic Rock stations and the like is valuable.  “All the hits and nothing more right here on WTF-FM!”  For what it’s worth, I’m here to lobby for all those artists who are always misrepresented with the one big hit and who had more than the one big hit that people are forced to remember and nothing more. 

I’m also here to lobby on behalf of the nearly 500 (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s, those artists who just had the one hit on the BILLBOARD Hot 100.  Some of the tweets today got a few right, like The Buggles, Nena, The Vapors, and even The California Raisins. 

One of my all-time favorite (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s is British New Wavers Haircut One Hundred.  Formed in Beckingham (in Greater London) in 1980 by lead vocalist and guitarist Nick Heyward and bassist Les Nemes, it didn’t take long for the six-man band for their sort of Jazzy / New Wave combo to catch on in their native U.K.

They were quickly signed to Arista Records in 1981, and in October of that year, released their first single, “Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl).”  In late 1981, that horn and percussion-heavy debut single (described as “Jazz-Funk”) turned into a No. 4 U.K. hit, and was certified Silver in the U.K., selling more than 200,000 copies.

In January 1982, the next single for Haircut One Hundred, “Love Plus One,” was released a month in advance of their debut album, PELICAN WEST, with every song written or co-written by Nick Heyward. 

Ian Birch of SMASH HITS magazine called the single “a nifty mover with plenty of interesting details” and predicted it would chart higher than “Favourite Shirts” did.  He was right.  “Love Plus One” was an instant hit on the U.K. singles chart, reaching No. 3 and was certified Gold with over 400,000 copies sold.

The huge success of the band’s first two singles propelled the PELICAN WEST album to even greater success, reaching No. 2 on the U.K. album chart and it was certified Platinum.

Over here in America, or at least in 1982, music from away sometimes take awhile to catch on and reach the States, and in most cases (not always), it works out.  “Love Plus One” debuted on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in late May 1982, four months after its initial release.

The U.K. 12″ single of “Love Plus One.”

It took its time climbing the Hot 100, but “Love Plus One” eventually reached the Top 40 in mid-July 1982, peaked at No. 37 a few weeks later, and spent 17 weeks on the Hot 100, departing the chart in early September 1982. 

Haircut One Hundred would not grace the Hot 100 again.  However, “Love Plus One” did cross over to BILLBOARD’s Mainstream Rock chart (No. 18) and BILLBOARD’s Dance chart (No. 8).  It also reached the Top 3 in Canada and France.  The success of “Love Plus One” also brought success to PELICAN WEST on the BILLBOARD album chart.

NERDY FUN FACT: If it wasn’t for One Hundred and One, Haircut One Hundred might not have been a (real) one-hit wonder here in America.  “Favourite Shirts” just missed the Hot 100 in 1981, stopping at No. 101.

The overall success of Haircut One Hundred, however, was sadly short-lived.  They did reach the Top 10 of the U.K. singles chart with their next two singles, 1982’s “Fantastic Day” (from PELICAN WEST) and “Nobody’s Fool.”

Their next single, “Whistle Down The Wind,” was postponed in early 1983, and it was announced that Nick Heyward was leaving Haircut One Hundred for a solo career.  Nick would go on to have a long solo career, with nine albums released between 1983 and 2017, and reached the Top 40 in the U.K. with six times, led by the aforementioned “Whistle Down The Wind,” which you can hear during one of the dance scenes in the 1984 John Hughes classic, SIXTEEN CANDLES.

Haircut One Hundred, meanwhile, tried to carry on without Nick Heyward, but with their lead singer and primary songwriter gone, also gone was the chemistry.  In 1984, they released an album called PAINT AND PAINT, which was not well-received and sealed the fate of the band for 20 years.

In 2004, Nick Heyward reunited with Haircut One Hundred on VH1’s BANDS REUNITED show, and performed again from 2009 through 2013.  While no new Haircut One Hundred albums are in the works, in a 2017 interview with BBC Radio 4, Nick Heyward said he “has a deep love for the band,” and he is “ever hopeful” for a reunion show. 

In the meantime, I am forever grateful that Haircut One Hundred, one of my all-time favorite (real) one-hit wonders, gave us the gorgeous “Love Plus One,” one of my all-time favorite songs ever…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_msHpEa3_Y

song of the day – “Dancing In The Dark” | BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN | 1984.

On June 15, 2014, Casey Kasem, host of the longtime countdown program, AMERICAN TOP 40, passed away at the age of 82.  From my first blog post (and prolly some more inbetween then and now), I explained how, in 1979, I was a geeky, lanky and somewhat lost 12-year-old living in Central Maine, had a few friends and not a lot of interest in much of anything, but at some point early that year, I discovered AMERICAN TOP 40, and was glued to it every weekend.  Not only could I hear the 40 biggest songs in the country every week, but also Casey’s cool trivia and facts about the songs and the artists, a trait I treasure to this day.  For me, the show was No. 1 with a bullet.  And still is (thanks to the re-airing of broadcasts of AT40 on iHeart Radio).

In honor of my radio hero, Casey Kasem, since the start of June, I have been highlighting songs that peaked in the Top 40 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100 (including five (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s), just like on AMERICAN TOP 40, the hits have gotten bigger with each post.  On June 1, 2017, I featured a song that peaked at No. 40.  With the next post, I’ll feature a “song of the day” that went all the way to No. 1. 

As Casey used to say on AT40, “And on we go!”

If you listened to AMERICAN TOP 40 as faithfully as I did back in the 80s, before Nos. 2 and 1 were announced, he’d usually take a commercial break before announcing them, and would usually say, “The two biggies are coming right up!”  “The two biggies.”  Always cracked me up and still does.

But, when it came to AMERICAN TOP 40, “the two biggies” were, in fact, a big deal.  There a few positions on the chart that are the most frustrating, like Nos. 101, 41 and 11, but no other peak position on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 (or any singles chart, for that matter) was more frustrating to stop at than No. 2.

Foreigner endured the No. 2 position the longest in the 80s, spending 10 weeks in the runner-up spot in 1981 and 1982 with “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” a chart record Foreigner still shares to this day.  And I believe Madonna, who has six No. 2 songs to her credit (four of them in the 80s), still holds the chart record for most No. 2 singles in Hot 100 history.

All told, nearly 100 songs reached No. 2 between 1979 and 1989, including songs by three Beatles (Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison, whose 1981 No. 2 hit, “All Those Years Ago,” was a tribute to John Lennon), two Jacksons (Michael and Janet), and a couple of (real) one-hit wonders, including the Cold War Classic by Nena, “99 Luftballons.”

Some of the biggest songs in history that maybe you thought were No. 1 hits in America were actually No. 2 hits, such as “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper, “Easy Lover” by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins, “We Got The Beat” by The Go-Go’s, “Electric Avenue” by Eddy Grant, “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins, “Hurts So Good” by John Mellencamp, “Start Me Up” by The Rolling Stones and “Purple Rain” by Prince And The Revolution.

Several artists peaked at No. 2 between 1979 and 1989 with two songs, including The Bangles, Culture Club (with their first two hits), Air Supply, Duran Duran, Glenn Frey, Kool & The Gang, John Mellencamp, Billy Ocean (including the guilty pleasure, “Loverboy,” which a DJ back in the day once referred to as “Heavy Metal Disco”; I would disagree), plus Robert Palmer, Pointer Sisters, Linda Ronstadt (in two big duets with James Ingram and Aaron Neville), Tina Turner and Jody Watley. 

Michael Jackson gets an honorable mention, as he peaked at No. 2 with “The Girl Is Mine” with Paul McCartney, and he is featured in an uncredited role backing up Rockwell on “Somebody’s Watching Me.”  Likewise with Sheena Easton, who backed up Prince uncredited on “U Got The Look” and had her own No. 2 hit in 1989 with the sexy Dance hit, “The Lover In Me” (a long way from when she took that “Morning Train” to No. 1 in 1981; I’m sure Prince may have had something to do with it).

Speaking of Prince, he had three No. 2 hits between 1979 and 1989, or in this case, 1984 through 1987, with the aforementioned “Purple Rain” and “U Got The Look,” but also with “Raspberry Beret.”  He, too, gets an honorable mention, as he composed the No. 2 hit for The Bangles, “Manic Monday.”

And a number longtime recording artists saw their biggest hits stop at No. 2, like The Cure (“Lovesong”), Journey (“Open Arms”), The Greg Kihn Band (“Jeopardy”), and Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark.”

If there was any one huge artist in the 80s I wanted to see reach No. 1 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 singles chart, it was Bruce Springsteen.  I was first introduced to Bruce’s music with 1980’s “Hungry Heart,” from his first No. 1 album, THE RIVER.  At the time, I had no idea he had already released four critically-acclaimed and successful albums.

After “Hungry Heart,” I was a Bruce fan for life – granted, not the superfan that Hope is, but I don’t think anyone loves Bruce’s work more than Hope, except maybe for Bruce’s wife, Patti Scialfa.

“Dancing In The Dark” was released in early May 1984, a month before the BORN IN THE U.S.A. album was released.  And, right out of the gate, it was a hit.  “Dancing In The Dark” blasted onto the BILLBOARD Hot 100 the last week of May 1984 all the way into the Top 40, at No. 36.  By the next week, it was already No. 18, with its eyes set on No. 1.

Bruce had hit No. 1 before – as a songwriter.  A song from his 1973 debut album, GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK, N.J. – “Blinded By The Light” – was recorded by the London Rock band, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, in 1977, and spent a week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in February 1977, exactly four years to the month when Bruce’s original was released as a single.

“Dancing In The Dark” had a lot going for it – a popular video directed by Brian de Palma (SCARFACE, THE UNTOUCHABLES, CARRIE, DRESSED TO KILL and the first MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE film) with actress Courtney Cox (FAMILY TIES, FRIENDS) dancing with Bruce on the stage (the video would win the MTV Video Music Award for Best Stage Performance). 

It also had a 12” Dance remix courtesy of Arthur Baker (who’s remixed songs for Daryl Hall & John Oates, Afrika Bambaataa, Cyndi Lauper, Pet Shop Boys and New Order).  The “Blaster Mix” was miles away from anything on 1982’s NEBRASKA or 1980’s THE RIVER, but people loved it.  Not only did it reach No. 7 on BILLBOARD’s Dance chart, it was the biggest-selling 12” single for all of 1984.  Arthur Baker would also go on to remix the follow-up Bruce singles “Cover Me” and “Born In The U.S.A.” as well.

As much as “Dancing In The Dark” had going for it in its second week on the Hot 100, another single debuting on the same chart that early June was “When Doves Cry” by Prince, released in advance of the album and film, PURPLE RAIN.  “When Doves Cry” reached the Top 40 a week later, and just like “Dancing In The Dark,” made a big move into the Top 20 the following week.

By late June 1984, “Dancing In The Dark” had climbed to No. 4, while “When Doves Cry” was closing in at No. 8.  The following week, “When Doves Cry” had jumped to No. 3, and “Dancing In The Dark” was at No. 2, right behind Duran Duran’s “The Reflex.”

“When Doves Cry” proved to be too powerful for “Dancing In The Dark,” which stayed for four weeks in the runner-up position.  “When Doves Cry” was the biggest song of 1984 here in America.

Though “Dancing In The Dark” didn’t reach No. 1, Bruce Springsteen still had a lot to be proud of.  The song gave Bruce his first Grammy Award, winning for Best Rock Vocal Performance.  In the 1984 ROLLING STONE readers poll, “Dancing In The Dark” was voted “Single Of The Year.”  It’s also listed as one of The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock And Roll.”  It sold a million copies in the U.S. alone, and the single’s B-side (one of the best ever), “Pink Cadillac,” was a Top 5 hit for Natalie Cole in 1988.

Around the globe, “Dancing In The Dark” was an international smash (though in some countries it took awhile), reaching No. 1 in Belgium and the Netherlands, No. 2 in Ireland, New Zealand and Sweden, No. 4 in South Africa and the U.K., No. 7 in Canada and Norway, No. 11 in Finland and No. 12 in Italy.  In Australia, though it stopped at No. 5, it was the No. 1 song of the year, spending 40 weeks on the singles chart there.

“Dancing In The Dark” was just the first part of an amazing journey for Bruce Springsteen and the BORN IN THE U.S.A. album.  Seven out of the album’s 12 songs were released as singles, and all seven reached the Top 10 on the Hot 100 between 1984 and 1986, tying a record set in 1984 by Michael Jackson’s THRILLER album. 

The first compact disc manufactured in the U.S.A. was BORN IN THE U.S.A.

BORN IN THE U.S.A. was No. 1 on BILLBOARD’s album chart twice, in July / August 1984 and January / February 1985.  PURPLE RAIN may have been the album of the year here in the U.S. for 1984 (BORN IN THE U.S.A. was No. 28), but for 1985, BORN IN THE U.S.A. was the No. 1 album of the year in America (and even No. 16 for 1986).

NERDY FUN FACT: BORN IN THE U.S.A. was the first compact disc manufactured in the U.S. for commercial release.  I remember seeing it at a DeOrsey’s in Waterville, Maine, and think it sold for something like $25.00.  And the record album still sounds better.

NERDY FUN FACT 2: According to a 1984 ROLLING STONE interview, the “Dancing In The Dark” Blaster Mix by Arthur Baker happened because Bruce had heard the remix Arthur did for Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” and he thought it was incredible: “It sounded like fun, so I hooked up with Arthur.  He’s a character, a great guy.  He had another fellow with him, and they were really pretty wild.  They’d get on that mixing board and just crank them knobs, you know?  The meters were goin’ wild.”

Bruce Springsteen is one of those rare artists who have been on the same record label from the start – Columbia.  Two other Columbia artists instantly come to mind – Barbra Streisand and Bob Dylan.  There won’t be anyone else like them.  Ever. 

Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen (along with many other familiar faces) at the “We Are The World” recording session, 1985.

If you pull away the catchy dance beat, “Dancing In The Dark” is a personal song about the difficulty of writing a hit song and Bruce’s frustration of trying to write songs that will please everyone.  Though I’m thinking Bruce would have liked to have another of his more personal songs become his biggest hit, I would almost bet my record collection he’s alright with that hit being “Dancing In The Dark.”

Bruce Springsteen with The E Street Band, 1984.

“You can’t start a fire / You can’t start a fire without a spark / This gun’s for hire / Even if we’re just dancing in the dark…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=129kuDCQtHs

song of the day – “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” | TEARS FOR FEARS | 1985.

The other night, I was at a get-together in South Portland, Maine, at the home of my friend Melissa, and there was a conversation going about The British (music) Invasion.  I chimed in and said, “Which one?”  They were talking about the one in the mid-1960s, while I was referring to the one in the mid-1980s.  When questioned about the 80s British Invasion, I then tried to remember all the big British hits in the U.S. during 1985, and had a huge gaping brain cramp.  So, I’ll properly answer that question here.

I’ve prolly said on the bloggy thing here that the New Wave era here in America started and ended with The Human League.  Their big 1982 hit, “Don’t You Want Me” spent three weeks at No. 1 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in July 1982, and for the next four years, New Wave artists were prominent on the Hot 100 singles chart.  In November 1986, their hit, “Human,” reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, and was replaced the following week by “You Give Love A Bad Name” by Bon Jovi.  I’ve also prolly said here (half-jokingly) that Bon Jovi killed New Wave.

Another interesting thing about The Human League’s two bookend reigns at No. 1 on the Hot 100 – not only did New Wave come into play (pun intended) during this time – with the tremendous help of MTV – it was also the time of the Second British (music) Invasion. 

On the BILLBOARD Hot 100 dated July 16th, 1983, British music acts shattered the record established in 1965, where 14 songs by British recording artists were in the American Top 40 at the same time.  On this July 1983 chart, HALF of the Top 40 were songs by British artists, and of those 20, seven of the Top 10 singles that week were by Brits: “Time (Clock Of The Heart)” – Culture Club (No. 10), “Is There Something I Should Know” – Duran Duran (once called The Fab Five; No. 9), “Our House” – Madness (No. 8), “Too Shy” – Kajagoogoo (No. 7), “Come Dancing” (The Kinks, who were part of the original British Invasion; No. 6), “Electric Avenue” – Eddy Grant (a Londoner from Guyana, which was known as British Guiana at the time of his birth in 1948; No. 2), and “Every Breath You Take” – The Police (for the second of eight weeks at No. 1).

In April 1984, 40 of the singles on the Hot 100 were by British acts, and on the Hot 100 chart dated May 25, 1985 (the year of the height of the Second British Invasion), a record EIGHT of the Top 10 singles that week were by Brits: “Things Can Only Get Better” – Howard Jones (No. 10), “Some Like It Hot” – The Power Station (No. 9), “Suddenly” – Billy Ocean (of British origin; No. 8), “One Night In Bangkok” – Murray Head (No. 7), “Smooth Operator” – Sade (No. 5), “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” – Tears For Fears (No. 3), “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” – Simple Minds (No. 2), and “Everything She Wants” – Wham! (No. 1).

For three months between May 18, 1985 and August 17, 1985, and starting with “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” songs by acts from Britain would rule the U.S. music world for all but two weeks – the aforementioned “Everything She Wants” and “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” plus “Sussudio” by Phil Collins, “A View To A Kill” by Duran Duran, Paul Young’s cover of the Daryl Hall song, “Everytime You Go Away,” and “Shout” by Tears For Fears.

When Bon Jovi claimed their first No. 1 song on the Hot 100 in late November 1986, and in the process signaling the end of the reign of New Wave and the Second British Invasion, the No. 1 songs for the better part of the rest of the 80s were dominated by Glam Metal and Dance acts, though in 1988, many songs by Brits did manage to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100.

One of the British acts who had a banner year in 1985 – in the U.S. and all over the globe – was Bath, England’s Tears For Fears.  Led by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, Tears For Fears had been around since 1981, but despite a brilliant debut album (THE HURTING), they hadn’t been able to break through to the U.S. market until the success of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” their third single from their second album, SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR.

“Everybody Wants To Rule The World” (with vocals by Curt Smith) was the first single released here in the U.S., and for awhile in the Spring and Summer of 1985, Tears For Fears did rule the world with their incredible hit.  It spent a couple of weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in June 1985, as well as reaching No. 1 on BILLBOARD’s Dance chart for two weeks.  The love for this song was felt through many different genres, and it reached No. 2 on BILLBOARD’s Rock and Adult Contemporary charts – no easy feat.  Here in America, it rightfully ranked at No. 7 for all of 1985.

Around the globe, it reached No. 1 in Canada and New Zealand, and the Top 10 in the U.K., Australia, Belgium, Holland and Ireland.  A year later, Roland and Curt returned to the Top 10 of the U.K. and Ireland charts with a rework of their big hit, titled “Everybody Wants To RUN The World,” in support of Sport Aid, which was a sports-themed offshoot campaign of Live Aid, to aid in the effort to help the famine problem in Africa.  The highlight of this campaign was the Race Against Time, a 10K fun run simultaneously held in 89 countries.  $37 million was raised for Live Aid and UNICEF.

For many years, Roland Orzabal kept performing under the Tears For Fears name while Curt Smith had left the band, but they have been together again since 2000, released an album in 2004 (EVERYBODY LOVES A HAPPY ENDING) and are currently on the last dates of their rescheduled U.S. and Canada tour. 

Though overall Tears For Fears may not be the household name they were in 1985, it’s great to see them still together and so wonderful to hear their songs like “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” on the radio.  It’s one of those songs I have always loved from the start and a song I always love driving to.  One of the lyrics of the song goes, “Nothing ever lasts forever.”  Clearly, Roland and Curt aren’t referring to their own song, as this song will live on in radio eternity, and as I’ll love this song forever…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST86JM1RPl0

song of the day – “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” | a-ha | 1986.

Over the course of the 20 years I’ve been on the air with my little 80s radio show, STUCK IN THE 80s (on WMPG-FM community radio in Portland, Maine), I’ve advocated for those many recording acts who had the one big hit in America and continue to be labeled as “one-hit wonders,” though they had more than one chart hit on the BILLBOARD Hot 100. 

There were nearly 500 artists during the Fall of 1979 through the end of 1989 who really did hit the Hot 100 only the one time.  I call them “(real) one-hit wonders of the 80s,” and I like to try and feature one every week on the blog. 

There are several recording artists remembered for the “one BIG hit” here in the U.S. who actually had more than one Top 40 hit on the Hot 100 and are STILL considered one-hit wonders (thanks to folks like VH1), including Eddy Grant, The Outfield, John Waite, Information Society (who had 2 Top 10 hits), General Public, Quarterflash, ’til Tuesday, Neneh Cherry (another artist with 2 Top 10 hits) and the Oslo, Norway band, a-ha. 

Vocalist Morten Harket, keyboardist Magne Furuholmen and guitarist Pål Waaktaar-Savoy formed a-ha in 1982, and on their first album, 1985’s HUNTING HIGH AND LOW, and their second attempt at making the song “Take On Me” into a hit, their lives as they knew it would never be the same again.  “Take On Me” was a massive hit in Norway and beyond, reaching No. 1 in 10 countries worldwide (including the U.S.), and the Top 10 in another 8 countries, and parent album, HUNTING HIGH AND LOW, was a global hit as well.

I adore “Take On Me” and its sensational and creative video, and have for many years, but it was the follow-up single, “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.,” that made a-ha a part of my life for all-time.

“The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” was the third single overall released from HUNTING HIGH AND LOW, but the second single from the album released worldwide.  It made its way onto the BILLBOARD Hot 100 the end of November 1985 and debuted in the Top 40 in January 1986.  It climbed steadily until pausing at No. 20 for a week in late February 1986, and spent 17 weeks on the chart.  The trio would make one more appearance on the Hot 100, with 1986’s “Cry Wolf,” which reached No. 50.

Though I was disappointed in the Stateside chart performance of “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.,” I took comfort in the fact it was well-received around the world, reaching the Top 10 in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the BILLBOARD Dance chart.  In Ireland and the U.K., where “Take On Me” had stopped at No. 2, “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” reached No. 1 in both of those countries, which was indeed validating, not only for the band, but also for my love of the song.

The video for “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” starts as a epilogue to the “Take On Me” video, where an animated Morten Harket realizes he can’t stay in the world of his young love interest, and heads back to the comic book world where he came from.  The video then turns into an impressive performance piece, set in a former English Gothic church (still owned by the Church of England), loaded with very interesting European mannequins (which are WAY different than your run-of-the-mill American mannequins).

The editing of this video is magnificent.  Just setting up the hundreds of mannequins in the church as an orchestra, chorus, and patrons must have taken many hours if not days.  Also validating in my love for this song and its video is that, in a year where “Take On Me” won 6 MTV Video Music Awards, the video for “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” deservedly won the band 2 more: Best Editing and Best Cinematography.  It remains as one of my all-time favorite videos.

a-ha is still around today, and in their native Norway, every studio album they released between 1985 and 2005 reached No. 1 on the Norway album chart.  And, their most recent albums, 2009’s FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN, and 2015’s CAST IN STEEL, reached No. 2. 

I know everyone has their own opinions on what or what not constitutes an artist being a one-hit wonder.  American radio stations, DJs and venues like VH1 have a stranglehold on which songs they think people should remember over others.  Luckily, WMPG is not one of those stations, and I sure as hell am not one of those DJs.  Yes, I realize there is a whole other world going on that has much more important issues than whether or not someone was a one-hit wonder.  But, in the world in which I live and breathe every day of my life – the 80s music world – a-ha is NOT a one-hit wonder.  And “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” is my proof…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3ir9HC9vYg

wouldn’t it be good.

To borrow from Nik Kershaw’s 1984 gem of a song, wouldn’t it be good to be on your side (or my side) of the subject of one-hit wonders?  What do you think of when you think of a one-hit wonder?  You think of a band or a singer who had one big hit, and that’s it, right?  What 80s one-hit wonders come to mind right away for you?  a-ha?  Falco?  Men Without Hats?  Eddy Grant?  Information Society?  The Outfield?  ’til Tuesday?  Madness?  For the record (no pun intended), NONE of these acts were one-hit wonders here in America.  In fact, every one of the acts listed above had multiple Top 40 hits, and in some cases, multiple Top 20 hits on the BILLBOARD Hot 100. 

Well, if you’re surprised that the artists listed above had more than one hit, don’t blame yourself; most people feel that way.  It’s not at the fault of the people, it’s radio stations and media outlets like VH1 who, over the years, “determine” what songs are the ones worth remembering, and what songs get left behind, despite what imprint they may have left on the singles chart.  And I love radio.  

In 2009, VH1 did a show on the “Greatest One-Hit Wonders Of The 80s,” and I responded with a show on STUCK IN THE 80s, titled “Why I Wasn’t A One-Hit Wonder,” featuring hits by artists listed above and other artists who appeared on VH1’s list like Thomas Dolby, John Waite, Devo, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, A Flock Of Seagulls and Dead Or Alive.  I don’t know who put this bullshit list together for VH1, but if I recall, nearly 75% of the list was inaccurate.

Later that year, in advance of their first Portland, Maine show, I had the amazing opportunity to interview Dave Wakeling, the voice and force behind The English Beat and General Public.  Knowing General Public had more than one hit (“Tenderness” in 1984 and their brilliant cover of The Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There” in 1993), I had played “I’ll Take You There” on my “Why I Wasn’t A One-Hit Wonder” show, and asked Dave if it bothered him that General Public, according to VH1, was referred to as a one-hit wonder (“Tenderness” was No. 77 on the list):

“[VH1] asked me to be involved in that, and I sent them a list of [our] hits, and I was like, ‘Sadly, we can’t be involved in a one-hit wonder [show], can we?’  So, I told him that I thought they were barking up the wrong tree, and beating a dead horse, and it seems to be something, I think it stems more from VH1 than anything else, to try and marginalize or even ridicule the 80s somehow, and most of the people working on those damn programs weren’t even there; with their young sarcastic tones.  I put the guy in his place, frankly.  And, I said, ‘Even if I was a one-hit wonder, it’d be one more than you, mate, wouldn’t it?!’  Or, as my dad used to say, ‘Better to have been a has been than a never-bleeding wozzer!’”

Between late 1979 and the end of 1989, there were nearly 500 (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s.  Once a week, prolly on Mondays, I’ll feature a (real) one-hit wonder of the week.  For me, being the chart nerd I am (I have warned you of this), a (real) one-hit wonder was a artist that reached the BILLBOARD Hot 100 just one time, whether it was a No. 1 hit, like M’s “Pop Muzik,” a Top 10 hit like Soft Cell’s cover of “Tainted Love,” a Top 40 hit like Laid Back’s “White Horse,” or a song that just squeaked into the Hot 100 at No. 96, like “The Only Way Is Up,” by Yazz & The Plastic Population, a song that actually spent 5 weeks at No. 1 in the United Kingdom.  And with nearly 500 (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s (including the aforementioned Nik Kershaw), I could do this as a weekly feature for many years to come.  Stay tuned…