I began wondering that after hearing their1992 hit song, "I'm Too Sexy" on my ipod today, then I realized that the reason I don't know what happened to them is that they only had one hit song.
It was probably pretty clear that this band was not going to have a long shelf life but there were others that looked very promising but, surprisingly, vanished as quickly as they appeared.
This post is dedicated to a few of those wonderful artists who blessed the world during the 1990's with only one great, memorable song. that began and ended their careers:
Mary Jane Blige was born in 1971 and raised in the Bronx, New York. She was the second of four children with her mother, Cora who was a nurse and her jazz musician father, Thomas who taught Mary how to sing.
After dropping out of high school at seventeen, Mary went to a mall in White Plains and recorded an Anita Baker song at a recording booth. The cassette was passed by a friend of Mary's mother to Jeff Redd, an artist with Uptown Records, a label known for hip-hop and r&b. Redd forwarded the tape to the president of the label, Andre Harrell and he arranged a meeting with Mary. He signed her to his label in 1989 and she became the label's first female artist.
At first, Mary was only used as a background vocalist for the established artists on Uptown which included her singing the hook on Father MC's 1990 hit, "I'll Do 4 U". In 1992, Mary finally began recording her debut album with an A&R executive with the label, Sean "Puffy" Combs.
The album, "What's The 411?" was released later that year and the first single, "You Remind Me" went straight to number one on the r&b charts. The next single, "Real Love" is the song that brought Mary to the attention of the general public where it not only topped the r&b charts but it went to number seven on the pop charts. There were three more hit singles released including Mary's remake of the 1975 Rufus & Chaka Khan classic, "Sweet Thing". The album would go on to sell over three million copies in the US alone. Because of this success, Sean Combs anointed Mary the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul".
She has made numerous film and television appearances over the years including getting a role in the forthcoming film of the hit Broadway musical, "Rock Of Ages" and the lead in a film about the life of singer Nina Simone.
Mary J. Blige has recorded nine studio albums with her tenth due to be released later this year. She has won many awards during her career including nine Grammy Awards and has sold over fifty million records
Mary has been married to Martin Kendu Isaacs, a record executive who is now her manager, since 2003. She also received her GED in 2010.
This is Mary J.'s first big hit:
"Real Love" - Mary J. Blige ( 1992)
"BOY" - U2 (1980)
Fourteen year-old drummer, Larry Mullen, Jr. posted a note on his school notice board looking for musicians to form a band in Dublin, Ireland in 1976. Six young men answered the ad and Larry accepted them all. The group included Adam Clayton on bass, David Evans and his older brother, Dik on guitar and Paul Hewson on lead vocals/guitar. The boys knew they weren't great musicians but because of the popularity of many punk rock bands, they felt it wasn't necessary for success but two of the guys dropped out after the first few rehearsals anyway. The group settled on the name, "Feedback" and tried doing cover songs. but soon realized that they were better doing their own material.
By 1977, the band had changed it's name to "The Hype" and soon came to the idea of a four man group since they didn't need three guitarist which included singer, Paul Hewson. Dik Evans was amicably forced out of the band. Paul Hewson became professionally known as "Bono" which was shorten from the Latin phrase, "bonavox" which means "good voice" and David Evans took on the name, "The Edge" which Bono would call him, "Dave Edge" because he was on "the edge of things".
The group finally settled on the name "U2" and were shocked to win a St. Patrick's Day talent show in 1978. The prize was cash and studio time to record a demo. The band completed an EP called, "Three" in 1979 but it was only released in Ireland. It did get some radio airplay and later that year, U2 played their first concert outside of their home country in London but they didn't receive much attention.
U2 signed with Island Records in 1980 and later that year they released their first album, "Boy". The first single, "I Will Follow", written by Bono as a tribute to his mother who passed away when he was fourteen, brought U2 their first success in the United States where the song went to number twenty on the rock charts. It created some buzz for the band and U2 went on tour there where their performances were rough but well received.
The band's next album, "October" was released the following year and was less enthusiastically received. The songs were much more heavily spiritual which was due to Bono, The Edge and Mullen joining a Christian group that caused some conflict for them being involved in a rock band. They considered leaving the band but managed to work things out and U2 went to work on their next album, "War" which was released in 1983. The album became their first number one in Britain and went to number twelve in the US and the first single, "New Year's Day" became their first big pop success. The album also included one of their first political songs, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" which was about the 1972 incident where British soldiers killed unarmed Northern Irish protesters. "War" would go on to sell over eleven million copies around the globe.
U2 have released twelve studio albums to date, won twenty-two Grammy Awards out of thirty-four nominations, more than any other rock band and they have sold over one hundred and fifty million albums including twenty-five million alone of their 1987 classic, "The Joshua Tree (Remastered)". U2 were inducted in to The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Have a listen to the first U2 single:
"I Will Follow" - U2 (1980)
Here is the music video of U2 with Mary J. Blige doing a duet of the band's song, "One":
"CAN'T TAKE ME HOME" - PINK (2000)
Alecia Moore was born in Doylestown, PA in 1979. She was inspired as a child by her father, Jim who sang and played guitar, to want to become a rock star. As a teenager, Alecia wrote poems and lyrics to help express her feelings and joined a band in high school called, Middleground. The group disbanded shortly after losing a contest but she later formed her own r&b group called Choice with two other female singers. They made a demo and it made it to L.A. Reid, the head of LaFace Records. He was impressed and signed Choice to the label in 1995.
Choice stayed with the label for a few years but not much developed and the group disbanded in 1998. L.A. Reid was still interested in Alecia and signed her as a solo artist. She changed her stage name to Pink, after the character, "Mr. Pink" from the 1992 Quentin Tarantino film, "Reservoir Dogs (15th Anniversary)".
Pink's debut album, "Can't Take Me Home" was released in 2000. The first single, "There You Go", written by Pink along with Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs and Kandi Burruss (of "The Real Housewives Of Atlanta" fame), peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts. Her next song, "Most Girls" did even better, reaching number four on the charts. With this success, Pink was asked to open for N'Sync for the American leg of their tour and her album sold over five million copies around the world.
Pink was also asked to participate on a cover of the song, " Lady Marmalade" for the soundtrack for the 2001 film, "Moulin Rouge" along with Mya, Lil' Kim and Christina Aguilera. The track, which was produced by Missy Elliot, went to number one on the charts, won the MTV Video Award for "Video Of The Year" and the group received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocal.
Although Pink achieved the success she was seeking, she was not happy. She had no desire to became a pop star like Britney Spears and wanted to be taken seriously as a musician and have more control over her music. She met with Linda Perry of one of Pink's favorite bands, 4 Non Blondes and together they worked on Pink's next album.
That album, "Missundaztood" was almost not put out by the label because L.A. Reid thought it was too much of a radical departure from her last album and he was not sure it would sell. Luckily he came to his senses and it was released in 2001. The record's sound was much more pop/rock than the contemporary r&b/hip-hop of the first album. The first single, "Get The Party Started" went top five around the world. Three more hit singles were released and the album sold thirteen million copies worldwide.
Pink met motocross racer, Carey Hart and they married in 2006. After a brief separation in 2008, the couple reconciled and are about to become parents with the baby due later this year.
Here is the song that introduced this artist to the world:
There has been a lot of fuss over the outrageous antics of Lady Gaga with all of the crazy costumes and her image but long before her was Miss Grace Jones.
Outlandish, fearless and definitely dancing to the beat of her own drum, Grace Jones cleverly used her androgynous looks to provoke people's narrow ideas of beauty, gender and sexuality. I saw her at the Hollywood Bowl in 2009 while she was promoting her latest album, "Hurricane" and at the age of sixty, she was still rocking it and knows how to put on a stage show.
The music of Grace Jones is not as easily digestible as Gaga and is certainly more of an acquired taste but I love her unusual, slightly masculine sound. She successfully remade some great rock songs such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers', "Breakdown", Roxy Music's, "Love Is The Drug", The Pretenders' "Private Life" and The Police's "Demolition Man" and made them all sound fresh, original and distinctly Grace Jones.
"My Jamaican Guy", a song that she wrote, is one of my favorites songs:
"My Jamaican Guy" - Grace Jones (1983)
And as a bonus, here is Miss Jones in action, from her 1982 music documentary, "One Man Show" that is part concert and part music video which was directed by her one time lover, artist Jean-Paul Goude:
I first became aware of Nanna Oland Fabricius or as she is known professionally, Oh Land by seeing the music video of her single, "Sun Of A Gun" on the NewNowNext Music channel and I loved her sunny pop sound.
This Danish musician began as a ballet dancer but an injury put an end to her career and she turned to music. Oh Land has just released her second recording, the self titled, "Oh Land" and her first here in the U.S.
Here is my favorite song from the CD:
"We Turn It Up" - Oh Land
Enjoy the quirky video for "Sun Of A Gun" where Oh Land got to utilize her dancing abilities:
"ALL YOU NEED IS NOW" - DURAN DURAN
Duran Duran has returned to the music scene with four out of the five original members along with their thirteenth album, "All You Need Is Now".
The record was produced by Grammy Award-winner, Mark Ronson and he has stated that he wanted to bring the band back to their more avant-garde style of their first couple of albums. He has done that but also brought Duran Duran right in to the present.
This is a great track from the new release:
"Girl Panic!" - Duran Duran
"LATE NIGHTS & EARLY MORNINGS" - MARSHA AMBROSIUS
Marsha Ambrosius began her music career as one half of the British r&b/hip-hop duo, Floetry along with Natalie Stewart. After releasing two successful albums, "Floetic" (2002) and "Flo'Ology" (2005), the group separated. Ms Ambrosius was briefly signed to Dr. Dre's label, Aftermath Entertainment but left in 2009. She worked as a singer and songwriter with a variety of r&b and hip-hop artists, including Alicia Keys, The Game and Jamie Foxx before signing with Clive Davis and his, J Records.
Her first solo project, "Late Nights & Early Mornings" has just been released and it has not only topped the R&B charts but it debuted at number two on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. I really enjoyed her work with Floetry but I'm not at all impressed with her new album. It's too ballad-heavy with a collection of fairly standard r&b songs that I had difficulty telling apart.
This is the first single from the album:
"Hope She Cheats On You (With A Basketball Player)" - Marsha Ambrosius
"WOUNDED RHYMES" - LYKKE LI
"Wounded Rhymes" marks the second collection of music by the Swedish songstress, Lykke Li. The album was written and recorded while she lived in Echo Park (my neighborhood), outside of Los Angeles.
Although, Lykke Li was surrounded by California sunshine, the record still maintains a dark and moody feel that is occasionally colored by classic pop styling. She continues to expand her musical sound while sticking to the themes of the sadness, pain and anger that can come from sex and love. While not everything worked for me on the album but, I find Lykke Li to be one of the most compelling and fascinating artists making music today.
This is one of the tracks that I liked from the new album:
"Love Out Of Lust" - Lykke Li
I love this video for the first single, "Get Some":
"LIGHTS" - ELLIE GOULDING
This twenty-four year old British singer/songwriter released her first album, "Lights" in 2010 in her home country where it debuted at number one and sold almost over 40,000 copies in it's first week. The record had four hit singles and by the end of the year, the album was re-released as "Bright Lights" with six new tracks including her version of the Elton John classic, "Your Song" which went to number two on the UK pop charts.
Finally, the U.S. edition of "Lights" has just came out that includes songs from both of the previous albums. This version is full of some great pop songs but she might get lost in the shuffle with this recent wave of British female vocalists invading these shores.
I was out doing my weekly grocery shopping at Trader Joe's, when this song came on in the background that made me stop in my tracks. It took me way back to when I was a young kid. I really loved this song, I hadn't heard it in many years and I had to have it.
There was one slight problem, though. . . I had no idea who sang it, let alone, what the actual name of the song was. So, I went to Itunes and started plugging in possible song titles in the "search "engine in the hope that I would be successful. After less than five whole minutes, I finally found it.
The song, "Don't Pull Your Love", recorded by the oddly named act, Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds, reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1971. The group would chart again one last time with the number one hit, "Fallin' In Love" in 1975 (I need to get this song too).
" - 4 Non-Blondes (1992)
" - Groove Theory (1995)
" - Joan Osborne (1996)
" - Marcy Playground (1998)
" - Chante Moore (1999)
.
of the general public where it not only topped the r&b charts but it went to number seven on the pop charts. There were three more hit singles released including Mary's remake of the 1975 Rufus & Chaka Khan classic, "
. The album would go on to sell over three million copies in the US alone. Because of this success, Sean Combs anointed Mary the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul".
who passed away when he was fourteen, brought U2 their first success in the United States where the song went to number twenty on the rock charts. It created some buzz for the band and U2 went on tour there where their performances were rough but well received.
The album became their first number one in Britain and went to number twelve in the US and the first single, "
"
killed unarmed Northern Irish protesters. "War" would go on to sell over eleven million copies around the globe.
The first single, "
Her next song, "
With this success, Pink was asked to open for N'Sync for the American leg of their tour and her album sold over five million copies around the world.
and he was not sure it would sell. Luckily he came to his senses and it was released in 2001. The record's sound was much more pop/rock than the contemporary r&b/hip-hop of the first album. The first single, "
went top five around the world. Three more hit singles were released and the album sold thirteen million copies worldwide.
that featured two new songs, "
" that both became top ten hits.
" and at the age of sixty, she was still rocking it and knows how to put on a stage show.
"
", a song that she wrote, is one of my favorites songs:
" and her first here in the U.S.
.
" (2005),
the group separated. Ms Ambrosius was briefly signed to Dr. Dre's label, Aftermath Entertainment but left in 2009. She worked as a singer and songwriter with a variety of r&b and hip-hop artists, including Alicia Keys, The Game and Jamie Foxx before signing with Clive Davis and his, J Records.
" marks the second collection of music by the Swedish songstress, Lykke Li. The album was written and recorded while she lived in Echo Park (my neighborhood), outside of Los Angeles. 
":
and sold almost over 40,000 copies in it's first week. The record had four hit singles and by the end of the year, the album was re-released as "
to number two on the UK pop charts.
songs from both of the previous albums. This version is full of some great pop songs but she might get lost in the shuffle with this recent wave of British female vocalists invading these shores.
", recorded by the oddly named act, Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds, reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1971. The group would chart again one last time with the number one hit, "
in 1975 (I need to get this song too).
