I just got an MP3 player, and I’m enjoying the process of downloading all the great songs I must have to complete my quintessential collection. At first, it was easy: I just loaded up on Beatles, Billy Joel, The Doors, Tool, et al.
Now that I’ve covered the basics, I’m trying to round my collection out with singles that I love, even if the band is more obscure and the rest of their music I’d ordinarily take a pass on (an example is “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears).
So, what do you recommend? Since you don’t really know my taste in music, I’m mainly interested in what you would consider a “one hit wonder” in your own music collection. What singles would you add, even though you’d never admit to being a fan of the band?
Some one-hit’s, some individual works I like. Some are good, some are fun, some are both.
Andy Pratt - Avenging Annie
B-52’s - Love Shack
Bangles - Walk like an Egyptian
Hugh Masekela - Grazing In The Grass
Iron Butterfly - Scorching Beauty
Joan Jett - I Love Rock n Roll
John Hartford - Turn Your Radio On
Nelson Riddle - Route 66 Theme
Patti Smith - Horses - Land of a Thousand Dances - La mer (I *think *that’s the right name)
Procol Harum - Whiter Shade of Pale
Rickie Lee Jones - The Last Chance Texaco (actually, I love the whole album, if you don’t have it already)
Robert Plant - 29 Palms
Steppenwolf - Snowblind Friend
UB40 & Chrissie Hind - Breakfast in Bed
Vogues - Five O’Clock World
Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days (there’s a 7:16 long remix that I like, yikes!)
I’ve gotten some VERY good stuff from KEXP’s Song of the Day podcast, as well as other podcasts and websites.
Some of my recent favorites were released as free MP3 singles, and are therefore probably still downloadable for free somewhere:
“Bag of Hammers” by Thao Nguyen and the Get Down Stay Down
“Bye Bye Bye” by Plants and Animals
“Start A War” by The National
“Overcome” by Amy LaVere
“Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” by She and Him (Zooey Deschanel’s band)
“Kid On My Shoulders” by White Rabbit
“The Punks Are Writing Love Songs” by Tullycraft
“Does This Mean You’re Moving On” by Airborne Toxic Event
“Heretics” by Andrew Bird
“Kisses” by The Shivers
“Time Is A Lion” by Joe Henry
“The President’s Dead” by Okkervil River
“White Winter Hymnal” by Fleet Foxes
…Getting back to the “one hit wonder” aspect of the OP…
In most cases, when I chase down other music from these bands, it’s nearly not as good as the single. There’s usually enough difference that you can’t even tell it’s the same band. Case in point is Zooey Deschanel’s tune: the song was produced by Steve Lilywhite, whereas most of the album was not.
Ann Peebles - I Can’t Stand the Rain
Billy Stewart - Summertime
Charlie Rich - Mohair Sam
Dave & Ansel Collins: Double Barrel
Deodato - Also Sprach Zarathustra
Desmond Dekker - Israelites
Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein
Humble Pie - 30 Days in the Hole
James Gang - Walk Away
Les McCann & Eddie Harris - Compared to What
Living Colour - Cult of Personality
Loggins & Messina - Angry Eyes (far from one hit wonders, but only one song that I like)
Major Lance - The Monkey Time
Marci Lee & Johnny Otis - Castin’ My Spell
Miriam Makeba - Pata Pata
Shonen Knife - Daydream Believer
Thin Lizzy - Whiskey in the Jar
I’ll list some songs that I have on the computer, but that I don’t own an album by the artist:
Level 42 - Something About You
Garth Brooks - Ireland
Sade - Smooth Operator, The Sweetest Taboo
ABC - Poison Arrow
Bob and doug McKenzie - Take Off (featuring Geddy Lee)
The Zombies - Time of the Season
Friends of Lizzy - If It’s Wrong
Beastie Boys - Sabotage
Carbon Leaf - Life Less Ordinary
Mr. Mister - Broken Wings
John Parr - Saint Elmo’s Fire
Some bands that I do have albums by, but that some would consider a one-hit wonder:
A-Ha - Take On Me
A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran, (Wishing) If I had a Photograph of You
Men At Work - Down Under, Who Can it be Now
Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
Burning Brides - Arctic Snow
These are the “one hit wonders” on my iPod that I would freely recommend (edited, of course, to remove the really embarrassing ones like Danzig’s “Mother”. Oy.). In most cases on this list, it’s not that I wouldn’t admit to being a fan of the band, but that I’ve heard the band’s other works and like only these individual songs.
The Breeders – “No Aloha”
Broken Social Scene – “Almost Crimes”
The Chemical Brothers – “The Pills Won’t Help You Now”
The Cranberries – “Zombie”
Dr. Octagon/Kool Keith – “Earth People”
The Doors – “The Crystal Ship” (the only Doors tune I can stomach)
Four Tet – “My Angel Rocks Back and Forth”
Front 242 – “Flag”
Funkadelic – “I Bet You”
Kings of Convenience – “Little Kids (Ladytron remix)”
Leonard Cohen – “Everybody Knows” (this one’s a cheat, because I have a couple of his albums but this is his only song on my ipod)
The Makers – “(Are You on the Inside or the Outside of Your) Pants”
Panda Bear – “I’m Not”
Peeping Tom – “Sucker” (Mike Patton with Norah Jones)
Phantom Planet – “Our House” (Madness cover)
Phil Collins – “Easy Lover” (I happen to think this is a great song. Don’t judge me, dude.)
The Raconteurs – “Broken Boy Soldier”
Robert Plant – “Ship of Fools”
Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs – “Little Red Riding Hood”
Sun Kil Moon – “Carry Me, Ohio” (solo project from Red House Painters’ Mark Kozelek)
The The – “Dogs of Lust”
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Maps”
If you like that one, you should look for their song “Beauty.” I’ve had that on repeat all morning.
Aphrodite’s Child: “Loud, loud, loud/The Four Horsemen”
John & Vangelis: “The Friends of Mr Cairo”
The Kings: “The Beat Goes On/Switch into Glide”
Starcastle: “Lady of the Lake”
Toy Matinee: “The Ballad of Jenny Ledge”
JF Murphy & Salt: “The Last Illusion”
Mountain: “Nantucket Sleigh Ride”
Focus: “Hocus Pocus”
Fairport Convention: “Matty Groves”
