Last week, my dedication from Thrill was a one-hit wonder guilty pleasure of mine so it got me thinking about one-hit wonders as a topic. It is a pretty good indicator for the fickle nature of rock stardom that a band can put out a chart-hitting song and then never be heard of again. As I thought about it, I got around to the one-hit wonder’s evil twin, the so-called “solo career” that often destroys the careers of both the solo artist and band no matter how big. This is because a rock band is a fragile blend of characters.
Sorry, Santino, our beloved Tears for Fears is a prime example of this. They never survived Curt Smith’s solo career. Yea, exactly. “Who the fuck is Curt Smith?” After “The Seeds of Love”, Curt Smith decided that the other half of the duo, Roland Orzabal, didn’t know what he was doing and went it alone. “Elemental” was a decent album without Smith, but TFF was never the same and Curt Smith never heard from again until he resurfaced with Orzabal again 20ish years later in a TFF reunion.
There are many examples of this, so let’s give songs by bands that lost integral members and their resulting solo artists. It doesn’t have to be a disaster, we can certainly include those that did well. Sometimes the songs produced are good, but the charisma is lost somewhere. Other times the solo breakout was the best thing ever. Just because it usually goes wrong doesn’t mean it has to. Give us your opinion!
Here is your playlist:
And your dedications:
Zurvan – Out of time man
Rich Taylor Big Log
Thrill – By The Sword (feat. Andrew Stockdale)
WVR – Barbarella
Santino – No One Knows Your Name
Lurking – Better
ilovecress – Cold
Grendel – Band on the Run
