WEBVTT - SYSK Selects: What Makes a One-hit Wonder? 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:04.040 Hey everyone, it's me Josh and for this week's s 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:08.000 Y s K Selects, I've chosen how one Hit Wonders Work, 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:12.200 which originally published in March of two thousand and This 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:15.120 is the episode where we help heal the world by 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:18.720 pointing out that professional musicians who cracked the top forty 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:21.840 once in their careers still have feelings and don't much 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:25.280 appreciate being called one hit wonders. So maybe take that 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:28.600 little bit of advice and put in your pipe and 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:33.240 smoke it and and go for it from that point on. Enjoy. 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:41.160 Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from House Stuff Works 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:50.360 dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:56.640 There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. Say something. Um, yeah, I 0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:58.880 didn't even say say something funny. I just said say 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:02.360 something froze. Yeah, it's all right, man. That's good quality 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:05.160 in a broadcaster to freeze up on the air and 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:10.360 a professional talker. Yeah yeah, how you doing? Was? Um? 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:13.480 I'm good man, I'm This is a fun, goofy little 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:15.120 topic and we haven't done one like that in a while. 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:17.800 This is a fun article written by a guy named 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:20.720 Charles W. Bryant, a writer for the site. Yeah, I 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:22.720 will go ahead and say one thing I was disappointed 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:24.440 in in this article, and I would still like to 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:28.360 see someone tackle this in documentary style. Maybe is the 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:32.800 psychology of being a one hit wonder? Oh? Like what 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:35.520 it does to your psyche? Yeah? Is it better to 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:38.399 have that one hit and fade away and at least 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:40.080 you had that? Or is it better to have never? 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:43.280 You know? I just I would be real curious to 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:46.039 see a series of interviews with one hit wonders to see, 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:48.920 like how they feel about it. You're saying, is it 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:51.080 better to have hit and lost than never to have 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:53.480 hit at all? Exactly? And I couldn't really find anything 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:55.320 on that. So I'm sure there's one or two who 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:57.720 like listen to the podcast and if you do, right 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:00.080 in let us know how it is we're interested in 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:08.440 Blue Vega Yeah, um, the fake Loue Vega. So, Chuck, 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:11.480 I wanted to commend you for this article because you 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:15.320 really like this is a tough one for with how 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:19.200 stuff works articles, we typically take a topic that is, 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:21.040 you know, has a lot of research done on it, 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:24.160 it's very well defined, and then we deconstruct it. This 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:27.120 one is, like I looked on the Internet, and if 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:29.799 you type in one hit Wonder there is like zero 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:33.240 scholarly work done on it for good reason. Yeah well, 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:35.080 I mean it's interesting though too. Like you brought up 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:37.160 the psychology of being a one there shouldn't have been 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:39.960 anyone ever done a study like that. There is nothing. 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.520 It's all just lists. And I actually did find one 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:46.120 good website. It's called um one Hit Wonder central dot 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:48.720 com and they have everything and you can play like 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:51.520 every song they have it by year who the one 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:54.079 hit Wonder was from like the sixties to the two thousands, 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:56.799 maybe fifties. There are some of the greatest songs to me, 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:58.840 or some of the one hit Wonders. And I mean 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:01.720 that's the points, Like you know, one hit Wonder is 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.239 just something that everybody liked at one time. We just 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:08.000 didn't like whatever else they were making, right Yeah, um, 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.639 at least as a large collective group. Anyway, back to 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:15.160 me commending you, Um, you had to take something that 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:18.200 was really amorphous that everybody knew and we knew if 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:21.960 you got wrong, and whipping into shape like a definable shape, 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:23.560 and you got it right. I think you did a 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:26.920 great job. So, Um. The first thing you pointed out 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:30.040 was that no one is certain of the origin of 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:32.720 this phrase, that's right, but we figured out that it 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.640 was it first came in print. N right, Well, that's 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:38.360 what phrases dot org says, and I couldn't find anything 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:41.960 to dispute it. But a writer there wrote the sentence 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:46.280 in July seventy seven about abba instead of becoming what 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:48.880 everyone expected a one hit wonder, they soon had a 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:53.200 string of hits behind them. And although the website phrase 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:55.360 dot org does say it appears to have already been 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:57.880 a used phrase, but this is the first time they've 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:00.600 seen it in print, right, and and so, and there 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:04.880 actually is like a definition for one hit wonder, like 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:08.880 there's well a hit, I guess you can find a hit, 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:11.800 and then it's got to be on the because we're 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:15.080 so American centric, has to be on the billboard top 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:18.200 one and then specifically in the top forty to be 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:21.800 considered a hit. Right, Yeah, technically for like when most 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:23.720 people like there have been books written about one hit 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:26.520 wonders and that's usually what what they say. Okay, so 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:28.640 that wasn't just you or anything saying. And I thought 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:30.920 it was a great definition. No, it's a good definition, 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.520 but that's the generally held definition. But then that's where 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:38.160 it gets really blurry, as we're about to find out. Right, well, 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:40.360 in many ways, I mean, yeah, you make a point 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.760 that there's a lot of one hit wonders by that definition. 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:48.720 Who are legendary musicians like Jimi Hendrix one hit, Janis 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:55.640 Joplin one hit, Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines. Yeah, that's 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:59.920 this only Billboard hit. Yeah, this is only Billboard Top 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.640 forty hit. Yeah, but he had country hits. It just 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:07.680 lived on the country top ten. But yeah, as in 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:11.120 the mainstream top forty. His only hit was this Chris 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.600 Kaines with the haircut and the soul patch man that 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.120 was Yeah, I don't know what the song that was 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:22.840 even I don't need um Beck Yeah, the Dead, The Dead, 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:26.520 the White Stripes, lou Reid, Iggy Pop Divo, some like 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:31.400 iconic bands and musicians that have only had one hit. Um. 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.280 And then you've got artists who never had that hit 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:39.320 but are still considered one hit wonders. Because what you 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:42.600 end up realizing is, despite the definition of what a 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:45.680 hit is, a one hit wonder is something different. It's 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:50.480 just an artist and a song who captured something for 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:53.240 a moment in time. It doesn't matter if it was 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.839 a top for forty hit, right like you you say, 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.680 um Wallavoodoo's Mexican Radio. Absolutely it was not a top 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:04.400 forty hit. No, but that's definitely a hit in the zeitgeist. 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:07.680 Did you put it about? Who else? I'll melt with 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:12.640 you Modern English, the weather Girls, it's raining men, Like 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.120 you would say, all of these are definitely one hit wonders, 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:17.320 and none of them had top forty hits, right, So, 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:21.400 but sticking to the strict definition, um that I mean 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:26.080 that still works too, rite like the Penguins, Earth Angel. Yeah, 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:29.400 in the fifties, right, Um, in the sixties you had 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.680 um Summertime Blues by Blue Cheer, but they really spent 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:36.320 blue on like their one there, one thing there, one 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:39.760 shot was covered in blue Blue Cheer did Summertime Blues? 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:44.480 Green Tambourine? Remember that song? No, I didn't mean tambourine. 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:49.880 It was very like psychedelic No and the Lemon Pipers. 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:52.000 You know, it's one of those songs where sort of 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:56.280 like in the seventies, argents, hold your head up like 0:06:56.480 --> 0:07:00.560 everybody knows that song. But I bet ninety nine people 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:02.040 out of a hundred I have never heard of the 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:05.040 band Argent. No, they probably think, oh, wasn't that the 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.640 guests who? Or wasn't that Joe Dirt? Or yes, that 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:11.760 was it? Yeah, I really I never saw that movie. 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:15.560 What I never saw Joe Dirt? Oh man, such a 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:20.120 great like keep your Chin Up movie is so good. 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:23.960 Like I really can hate David Spade, you can hate 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.960 all of that kind of comedy, but that movie has 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:31.160 such like it's got heart. It's a cute movie. Well, 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:33.800 I had friends. It's on Netflix streaming. Yeah, I had 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:35.080 friends that worked on it. And that's where I have 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:37.960 my Gary Busey insider story. Oh yeah, yeah, I think 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:39.600 I told you. You know he was. He was supposed 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:41.960 to play the father and if you'll notice in the 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:43.720 film he does not play the father. No, it's done 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:46.360 by one Fred Ward. Yeah, so Gary Busey was on 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:48.800 set for a day and it didn't work out. He 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.120 made it. I could tell the whole story. He made 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:55.440 it into Black Sheep with Chris Farley and um David Spade. That. Yeah, 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:57.040 he was like the crazy guy who lived in a 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:00.800 school bus in the woods. It was the party was 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:34.640 born to play exactly. Please don't come to our office guy. Um. 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:38.480 All right, so that was the fifties, and that's generally 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.679 when the rock era in the fifties is when you 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:44.000 people say you can start talking about things like one 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:46.360 hit wonders, like not some guy who had one big 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:49.720 band hit in the nine although I'm sure they were there, 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:53.680 you know that's true. Uh. There has been one song 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:56.760 that was a one hit wonder for two bands, which 0:08:56.840 --> 0:09:00.320 is interesting. Oh yeah, let's hear funky Town really yeah, 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:03.920 Lips Incorporated. And then I don't know if you remember 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.920 Pseudo Echo. They did a version of that in it 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:10.640 was a little more electric and upbeat, and that was 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.640 a bona fiight top forty hit as well. Seems can't 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:17.079 people couldn't get enough of Funky Town. I hope whoever 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:21.839 wrote that like really cast in Yeah, you know. So 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:26.480 the sixties all right, Now, the sixties was the Green 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:31.600 Tambourne seventies songs like Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum. 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:34.680 Yeah that's a good song. Uh it was an Apollo 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:38.000 thirteen one took over the line. I I literally wrote 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:42.320 shutter next to that, what like, oh you hate that song? 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:46.400 It's pretty bad. Brewer and Shipley and then Seasons in 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:49.199 the Sun, great song, Terry Jack's never heard of the Guy, 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:53.560 No No, No Revy, no ref Um. And you also 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:55.960 make the point that the seventies were lousy with disco 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:59.240 one hit wonders, And in our disco episode we talked 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:01.440 about why because it was all producer driven rather than 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:03.959 artists driven. Exactly. I didn't even bother to like list 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:06.360 any in here. You know, it's you can just name 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:09.800 a disco song and there you have. The eighties, of course, 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:12.520 you had bands like Soft Cells, Tainted Love and Oh Mickey, 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:17.320 You're So Fine, Tony Basil, Uh, I want Candy by 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:23.400 bow Ka. Remember what song I don't remember? Is that 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:27.280 who that? Yeah? Uh So the eighties was lousy with it, 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:29.280 but a lot of those songs are great songs, and 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:33.320 a lot of the artists in the eighties were popular 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:36.280 in other countries, yeah, and are known as one hit 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:39.520 wonders here in the US. Like I was reading an 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:44.960 article on I think Cracked maybe about one hit Wonders 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.839 and they were saying, like, Aha had take on Me, 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:50.760 which was a hit here in the United States, but 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:52.839 that was it. But they're like one of the top 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.520 fifty grossing bands of all time worldwide, yeah. Well, and 0:10:56.600 --> 0:10:59.880 aha falls into another weird category, which is a band 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:01.760 that's known as a one hit wonder who actually had 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:05.000 a quieter second hit. Oh really Yeah, they had a 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:08.120 song called the Sun Always Shines on TV that was 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.600 like a top twenty hit. I think, wow, I don't 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:14.640 remember that one. Nobody does. They're good though, now they're awesome. Um. 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:17.880 And then remember right, said Fred, I'm Too Sexy huge 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:22.280 in England. Yes, like there, I'm Too Sexy was actually 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:25.200 only hit number two in England. They had another one 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:27.360 that hit number one, but here in the States, Yeah, 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:29.600 I think it hit number one here. I think so too. 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:31.760 And then that was it for right, said Fred. Uh 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:35.079 the same with Frankie Goes to Hollywood and uh yeah, 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:39.160 they were really big in Europe. And Gary Newman, Yeah 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:41.280 that was a good song though. That song holds up 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:43.719 car back and listen to cars. Yeah, that dude was 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:46.920 a good musician. Well, and he was hugely popular and 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:49.199 still like tours today. Yeah, so he's he's one of 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:51.360 those guys that's like, please don't call me a one 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:54.560 hit wonder. I've had a long successful career. Look at 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:58.640 my house, you know it's a car. No, I think 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:01.760 it's like a mansion. He lives in his car. It's 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:06.120 pre feels safest, he can lock all his doors. Uh. 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:10.439 Falco and oh yeah Nina were really big in German 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:13.319 speaking countries. Yeah yeah, I can see that. But you 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:17.480 know had the ninety nine red balloons balloons and then 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:21.559 Falco's uh rock Me Off My dais Yeah, huge hit here. 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:25.760 It's like it didn't occur to my young brain that 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:29.400 that wasn't from the Amadeus soundtrack, because remember it came 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:32.520 out at about the same time as the movie, and um, 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.880 like I just thought it was part of the soundtrack, yeah, 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:38.920 the movie soundtrack. Well, the point with this though, is 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:42.040 that one hit wonder it's sort of a sort of 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:45.080 a derogatory term to throw on unearnest. So a lot 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:49.200 of these people are like in America, like you jerks, 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:52.080 I was huge in Europe or maybe some other country 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:57.480 and uh yeah, who cares so much for you? One 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:02.920 hit the nineties crash test Stummies, remember those dudes. Well 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:07.280 that was the song. Oh yeah, yeah, that's right, the Macarena, 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:09.520 even though I don't even like to count that. Um, 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:13.319 what about Faith No More's epic? Yeah, see that's a 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:17.720 band that hugely critically popular and had a big cult following. 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:23.280 But yeah, just the one hit, the epic. Yeah right, 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:25.800 you want it all, but you can't have it. That 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:27.640 was I remember hearing that song on the first time. 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:30.520 This is the coolest thing I've ever heard. Yeah, and 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:33.920 that lead singer, what's his name, Mike something, he's like 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.960 super respected. He's been another band like Mr. Bungle. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:41.040 it's a big like has a big cult following and 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:44.920 not among cults even like among people who aren't in cults. 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:48.079 All right, So that's music. That's an overview. Yeah. You 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:49.839 make a really good point in this article that, like 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:54.000 one hit wonder, that derogatory term isn't just um aimed 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:57.080 at people only in the music industry, although that's where 0:13:57.160 --> 0:13:59.360 the lion's share of it is. Yeah, but it shows 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:01.760 up in spot. You pointed out a couple of them, 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.040 a couple of instances. Yeah. Well, if you have one 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:07.079 hit in baseball, then you've been a complete and utter failure. 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:09.439 But a couple of guys have had one hit and 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:11.400 that one hit was a home run, which is pretty cool, 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:13.679 which is pretty interesting. Who was that? There was a 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:18.959 guy named um Chris Jellic whose name I recognize for 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:22.200 some reason, and I don't follow the Mets or anything, 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.480 but I guess I just saw that that bit of 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:26.400 trivia before that he had one hit and it was 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:29.080 a home run. Yeah. Maybe. So there's a guy who 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:33.800 didn't have a hit UM named Eddie Goodell, but he 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:37.160 had one plate appearance in a nineteen fifty one game 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:41.120 for the Yankees, and he was a little person and 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.600 they put him in against the St. Louis Browns and 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:50.720 he drew four consecutive um uh balls and got a walk. Yeah, 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:53.160 and his jerseys in the Hall of Fame, and it's 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:56.280 you can't see me doing this right now, and I'm 0:14:56.360 --> 0:15:00.880 rubbing my face. His number was one eight really, but 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:02.560 he was I guess you could say a one hit 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:06.040 sports wonder. It was kind of a fun story until then. Yeah. Yeah, 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:08.000 but I mean that's that was his JM. That's what 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:10.480 he got paid for, and that's I mean, he was 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:13.400 aware that he was a little person. So money off 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:15.840 of what about the art world, design world. There's a 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:21.000 very famous person, Harvey Belle, who has the perfect name 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.640 for what he did. Why is it the perfect name, 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:26.840 Harvey bell It sounds like the creator of the smiley face. Yeah, 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.800 the iconic seventy smiley face. He created that as a 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:34.160 marketing campaign, UM kind it sounded like an internal um 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:40.920 morale campaign for State UH Mutual Life Assurance company UM 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:43.880 and it took off. I don't know if the company 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:45.760 made the money or what, but he was paid two 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:51.160 bucks for it. And he never had another artistic hit. 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:53.720 And I looked to see if there were any other 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:55.880 artists who were considered one hit wonder. I found some, 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:58.160 but I didn't recognize any of them. I did recognize 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:02.240 one Grant would the painter of American Gothic. Oh, yeah, 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.400 he painted that, and it was He won all sorts 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.600 of prizes, became like this, like caused celeb like all 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:12.240 over the art world, and the media started digging into 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:16.040 his life and realized that he was a middle aged 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:18.240 bachelor who lived at home with his mother and sister 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:20.840 and like wanted to know more about that, and all 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:22.760 of a sudden, he like just really couldn't handle the 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.440 the limelight. And it's it's a pretty sad story. I 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:28.720 think I read an article about it on Mental Flaws. 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:31.440 It was worth reading. So he never painted again, or 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:33.720 I don't think he ever kind of went for the 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:36.120 gusto if he didn't just stop painting altogether. I don't 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:38.080 remember the end of the article. Well, the art world 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.920 certainly has a lot of people famous, super famous for 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:43.400 a single painting, but they may have been, you know, 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:48.160 very revered in other areas like faith. No more to 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:50.800 the Faith, no more of the art world. I told 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:52.800 just all the scream this last trip to New York. 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:55.880 Oh yeah, and you're like, man, yeah, this was like 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:59.640 I can't see what you're talking. I mean, like you 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:02.440 bill something like that up in your head, see it everywhere, 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:04.200 and then just to see the real one. It's either 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:06.200 going to go one of two ways. You're gonna be 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:10.920 underwhelmed or amazed. You know, I completely agree. And that's 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:13.560 been my uh, that's been what's happened to me with art, 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:15.639 because you know how I feel about art. I know 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:18.720 how you feel about art. I love it. Uh. What 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:23.160 about books? Yeah? Um, To Kill a Mockingbird. Yeah, that's 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:27.200 the one most often cited as the one hit wonder 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:30.680 because Harperle wrote one book. That's some one of those 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:33.480 rare ones where I actually think the movie is better 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:36.359 than the book, and I love the book. It's one 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.800 of my favorite books of all time. And I hadn't 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:40.399 read it in a while, and I went back and 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:42.760 read it, and then I watched the movie shortly after. 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:45.000 I was like, holy cow, the movies better than the book. Yeah, 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:47.399 Gregory Peck, I mean yeah, talk about one of the 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:50.880 best casting. But every like, all of those actors were amazing, 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:53.840 every single one of them. Yeah, Yeah, that's good stuff. 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:57.240 She wrote, um the one book, and she worked on 0:17:57.400 --> 0:17:59.240 a second for a while, called The Long Good Vibe, 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:01.600 but shelved it. Than in the nineteen eighties, she started 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:04.680 another book and never finished that one either, And I 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:08.760 guess she just procrastinated. I think she just I don't know. 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:11.320 I don't know if anyone has an answer why she 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:15.760 never wrote again. Same with the Sallenger, Yeah, Catching the Rye. 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:18.040 That was it, except he wrote short stories too, but 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:21.080 I mean he never published another novel. Yeah, And I 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:25.000 will never know. And John Kennedy tool sure, Confederacy of 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:27.480 Dunce is how often do you think about that book 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:34.280 just in your normal life? How, I don't know, almost never, maybe, yeah, 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:36.080 a couple of times a year. Maybe when it's like 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:39.639 a movie you'll be in the works. That never happens 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:43.639 I was thinking about that movie or that book yesterday 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:47.680 and I hadn't read this article yet. Have you read it? No? Yeah, 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:49.680 it's good. It's like I think a lot of people 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:52.439 have these expectations because it's known as this like genius 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:55.560 work after this guy committed suicide, and it is really good. 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:58.560 But um, I don't think it's like one of the 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:00.960 greatest books of all time or anything. Yeah, so what 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:03.680 happened to him? Do you know? No? I I just 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:06.000 I've never read the book. I don't know much about it. 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:08.680 I know it's kind of like a wacky Southern gothic Yeah, yeah, 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:11.600 um kind of novel I lived with his aunts, I think, 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:14.560 or something like yeah, this crazy character in Louisiana that 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:17.960 It's always grabbed my attention because it's just like a 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:21.320 perfect title. And then the guy's name is perfect as well, 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:26.600 John Kennedy Tool or the character his the author got you. Well, 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:30.560 he killed himself. He was clearly now suffered some sort 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:34.320 of mental illness and um could not get published, and 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:39.640 that drove him to eventually commit suicide in nineteen nine, 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:41.840 and his mother made it her life's work to get 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:46.120 it published and did so. And then his second book 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:48.280 was published in the on Bible I think in six 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:50.040 and that was made into a movie. So he's not 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:53.560 a one hit wonder then, well Neon Bible wasn't a 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:57.159 huge hit. But but yeah, I would say he's a 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:02.080 one hit wonder. Um. And you also bring up movies too, man, Yeah, 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:05.000 and on books again, Sylvia Plath is on here for 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:07.160 the bell Jar. I kind of wish I hadn't put 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:09.240 that in here because she was a well known poet. 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:11.920 That's why I hadn't mentioned it, you know. But she 0:20:12.000 --> 0:20:14.399 did write the one book and then would she do 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:16.400 stick her head in the oven or something. I don't 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:19.919 know how she killed herself. I think Virginia Wolf drowned herself, right, 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:24.440 Sylvia Plath herself on herself? I think did she That 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:27.480 sounds right. I can't remember that scene in Wonder Boys 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:31.800 where Toby McGuire rattles off the famous celebrity suicides. It 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:34.520 was really great. That was a great movie. Joseph Heller 0:20:34.560 --> 0:20:38.280 with Catch twenty two. Yeah, that's certainly a one hit wonder. Um. 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:43.560 So yeah, movies, um, I mean there more directors and 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:46.160 actors that you could even mention that had one hit. 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:50.800 But legit, super super hits people like Michael. Is it 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:54.440 Chimino or Semino? Semino? I think, although if it's if 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:58.399 you're speaking in the Italian, it would be Chimino. Uh. 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:01.200 He did The Deer Hunter, of course, one Best Picture 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:05.280 and four other Academy Awards. Did he huh? Did he maw? 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:08.120 That's what they tell him when they were like making 0:21:08.200 --> 0:21:11.040 him play Russian Roulette? Did he Yeah, except they probably 0:21:11.080 --> 0:21:14.800 scream it. Yeah. Yeah, that scene was so intense. I 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:17.600 saw that very young, really young to be seeing that 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:21.679 movie in retrospect, like it made an impression on you. Yeah, huge? Um. 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:26.639 But yeah. He famously made Heaven's Gate um as his 0:21:26.720 --> 0:21:30.560 follow up, which was one of the notorious disasters, along 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:34.359 with Ishtar. Wasn't like water World? Was skate War in 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:38.280 Baby Movie too? Or is that Heaven Can Wait? He 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:41.720 was in Heaven Can Wait and Ishtar? So what about Heavens? 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:43.960 What was that about? Yeah? I think it was a 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:48.159 Western if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, and it was just 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:51.520 a notorious failure and a very expensive one. And then 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:55.000 Tomino never He made a few other movies, but you 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:56.560 haven't heard of many of them. He did Year of 0:21:56.600 --> 0:21:59.200 the Dragon was like with Mickey Rourke, which the only 0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:01.560 other like notable movie that was supposed to be a 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:03.479 good one. Yeah, but it was far from a hit, 0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:06.679 you know what I'm saying. And then my favorite, uh, 0:22:07.440 --> 0:22:10.440 Steve Gordon, one of my favorite movies of all time. 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:13.200 I have not seen it. You didn't see Arthur. Not 0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:15.800 only have I not seen the original Arthur, I haven't 0:22:15.800 --> 0:22:19.280 seen the remake that includes our friend Hodgeman as a 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:22.000 candy store manager believer. That was terrible, by the way, 0:22:22.280 --> 0:22:25.719