From my sophomore year in high school (1975): Sky High
• top 10 hit
• disappeared from the airwaves by 1977 if not sooner
• nothing about it to make it endure
• nothing about it sufficiently horrid to make it last as an oft-cited abomination
ETA: • obligatory oooWACKoh 1970s-era pseudopercussion
Please, PLEASE tell me you saw that in the “Obscure songs from your youth” thread,* because if it came to you naturally, I’m gonna have a case of the screaming meemies. :eek:
*It took a month for me to remember it.
Does anyone else remember Peter Wolf from the J. Geils Band? He had a few solo hits in the early-mid 80s but they get zero retro play. I had completely forgotten this one until I fell down a youtube rabbit hole one night. (My sister and I used to argue about the lyrics - was he singing “Lights out! Uh-huh. Blast, blast, blast” or “…Flash, flash, flash”?)
In the mid-90s there was a dance club remix of this song by a guy named Newton. It was popular around the same time as the Nicki French remake of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” Both were produced by Stock and Aitken of Stock-Aitken-Waterman fame (Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, Dead or Alive.) I don’t think enough people in the U.S. remembered Jigsaw’s original for the remake to be a radio hit, though I think it did okay on the dance charts.
You were looking for it, trying to remember it?
Sorry to subject you to screaming meemies. Where’s the “obscure songs from your youth” thread?
The Politics of Dancing by Reflex.
As for good stuff, Grits Ain’t Groceries by Little Milton.
Here’s the particular post in that thread. I remembered there was another group at the time with a McCartney-sounding singer–it wasn’t Orleans, it wasn’t Firefall, it wasn’t ten other bands–I could not jog the memory bank. This past Sunday, I awake to hear it (“Sky High”) playing in my head.
This board has mystical powers, I tells ya!
By that, do you mean “Love Spreads” by The Stone Roses?
“Grunge-lite”
Sleeping With Sirens recently covered this decently (not that it charted or anything.)
The intro to that piece dates it far more than anything else. They just don’t toss that kind of brass at the audience anymore.
This is one of those songs I would have sworn was sung by a black woman until I saw the video of the singer.
No, I mean “My Sister” by Juliana Hatfield.
“Steal My Sunshine” by Len was riding a number of waves simultaneously, including Grunge and Canadian Beach music.
I’ve always loved Jigsaw’s “Sky High”. Once again, guess what? The local oldies station sometimes plays that too. Another oldie from the same era, also much loved, is Pilot’s “Magic”. Neither band is a one-hit wonder, either; they had other songs that charted but are much less well known or remembered
BTW, “Magic” is one of those “got the lyrics wrong” songs. Some people initially heard it as “Whoa whoa whoa it’s my dick/you know/never believe it’s not so”. 
And as for good-looking women being placed out front in the entertainment world, in this case the drummer was by far the best-looking band member, and unlike Jigsaw was not the lead singer, and is shown more than the other band members put together in this video.
[quote=“nearwildheaven, post:51, topic:742825”]
I’ve always loved Jigsaw’s “Sky High”. Once again, guess what? The local oldies station sometimes plays that too. Another oldie from the same era, also much loved, is Pilot’s “Magic”. Neither band is a one-hit wonder, either; they had other songs that charted but are much less well known or remembered
BTW, “Magic” is one of those “got the lyrics wrong” songs. Some people initially heard it as “Whoa whoa whoa it’s my dick/you know/never believe it’s not so”. 
And as for good-looking women being placed out front in the entertainment world, in this case the drummer was by far the best-looking band member, and unlike Jigsaw was not the lead singer, and is shown more than the other band members put together in this video.
What about High Fly by John Miles?
Show me to the stage by Henry Gross
Mama Let him play by Doucette
Old Judge Jones by Les Dudek
Nice nice very nice by ambrosia
Cherry baby by Starz
Can’t wait by Piper
I hear a good number of these regularly on an an independent alternative rock station that takes itself pretty seriously as having good taste (and generally playing on the more indy/obscure college/alternative side, not the Clear Channel modern rock end).
I have a hard time not thinking of “Today” (Smashing Pumpkins) as an alternative rock radio staple, for example. And I’ve heard "It’s a Shame About Ray, “Cannonball,” and “Laid” recently.
To generally address other posts, I think I’ve heard almost every song mentioned that was released in the past 30 years, and I definitely heard every 2002 #1 though the only 1 I would add to Nickelback and Eminem as somewhat enduring is Nelly. They were all huge radio hits, at least on top 40.
I think you are on the right track as far as the last 5 years or so, but all the songs from 2002 were huge on the radio. Heck, there are rock fans who can’t even name a current rock band. I read rock music forums where everyone complains there hasn’t been a new rock band in 20 years, but I find new stuff all the time.
Aw, man I remember this one too! We didn’t get the “when the master key has locked the gate” reference at the time. At the time, they got the most publicity for a song called “Pull The Plug”, which they denied was about Karen Ann Quinlan.
Cherry Baby:
You Tube also has a video of the band playing this at a reunion show a few years ago. To say that the singer has not aged well is a massive understatement. :( If he looks somewhat familiar, he's the brother of actor and singer Rex Smith.Another oldie but goodie I haven’t heard in ages - and this video was in the sidebar of the last one: “Driver’s Seat” by Sniff 'n The Tears.
:cool:I always associate this song with a chilly feeling, because it was a hit during the winter, and I regularly heard it while I worked at Baskin Robbins, which wasn’t exactly busy at that time of year.
ETA: I noticed that one of the band members was black, and they seemed to go to great lengths to disguise this. Wouldn’t matter now.
Hmm. That’s Noel McCalla. I notice that he doesn’t appear in any of the groups publicity photos that came up on a Google search, and the Wikipedia entry on Sniff n the Tears doesn’t even mention him except in the musicians’ timeline, even though he was with the band during their early prime. Very odd.
I don’t think I’ve heard Paul Hardcastle’s 19 since its initial release.
As a genre, most of these are now dustbinned it seems. Soul Asylum, Screaming Trees, Live, Creed, STP…
I haven’t heard Spirit In The Sky for ages. Or In The Year 2525. Or In-A-Godda-Da-Vida. Just the first three I thought of.