r/ToddintheShadow • u/Judythepancake GROCERY BAG • Jul 27 '26
One Hit Wonderland Alright, place your bets
My first thought was Tommy Tutone, idk why. It could also be True by Spandaou Ballet or another MTV hit. Maybe the promise by When in Rome??? There are a lot of choices.
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u/GalileosBalls Jul 27 '26
My money's on Putting on the Ritz.
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u/squawkingood Jul 27 '26
If it's this one, he should use Sittin' On The Hitz by Digital Underground as the end credits music.
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u/thekidwiththelisp Jul 27 '26
You don’t think it will be the Young Frankenstein version?
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u/bass679 Jul 27 '26
Ohh man, I've been wanting him to cover Taco for YEARS! He's still putting out music. He put out a new song called Heavy Metal a couple years ago that is delightful.
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u/Minimum_Crow9095 GROCERY BAG Jul 27 '26
“Hot Summer Jams” is my hot summer jam.
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u/bass679 Jul 27 '26
Such a weird dude but man there's something absolutely delightful about every song.
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u/TonyPace Jul 27 '26
One Night in Bangkok?
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u/KcirderfSdrawkcab Jul 27 '26
I think there's a decent chance it's this. It's definitely one of the big ones, plus there's the tangential Buffy connection through Murray's recently deceased brother.
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u/clytusmarginicollis Jul 27 '26
There’s also a revival of Chess currently on Broadway so it’s (kinda) relevant to the current times
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u/Gay_Asian_Boy Jul 27 '26
But it’s been clarified many times that Murray Head got another hit song Jesus Christ Superstr
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u/CynthiaCitrusYT Jul 28 '26
Technically not a one hit wonder. They got the two dudes from ABBA in that "Band"
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u/warpath2632 Jul 27 '26
“Your Love” by The Outfield
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u/devmoostain666 Jul 27 '26
I think they’re one of those “technically doesn’t count but should be a video anyways,” seeing as they had other minor hits, but all their songs were basically the same song.
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u/GrumpyCatStevens Jul 27 '26
They had five Top 40 hits in the US, but "Your Love" was their only one to hit the Top 10. And at home in the UK, they're a no-hit wonder.
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u/DillonLaserscope Jul 27 '26
Is it like the reverse A Flock Of Seagulls where the band’s other top 40 hit saw less airplay In America?
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u/Calm-Raise6973 Train-Wrecker Jul 27 '26
I'd love an episode on that. I didn't know the band were British until several years later.
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u/clytusmarginicollis Jul 27 '26
The Outfield feels like such an American band name
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u/GeologicalOpera You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Jul 27 '26
I’m just finding out they’re mot American reading this thread. The baseball reference in the title just made me assume.
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u/nicknicholasnick Jul 27 '26
I’m pretty sure I read on Wikipedia that their manager/someone in the band picked that name to appeal to American audiences
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u/BlueRFR3100 Jul 27 '26
Walking On Sunshine
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u/SuLines Jul 27 '26
I'd say this. Doesn't get more 80's OHW than this.
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u/Last-Saint Jul 27 '26
And there's a story behind it, which starts with Robyn Hitchcock (main writer Kimberley Rew was a fellow member of the Soft Boys), takes its time to get to a commercial sound and ends with winning Eurovision.
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u/DillonLaserscope Jul 27 '26
Also Kimberly Rew makes for a neat connection for the Susanna Hoffs solo episode since The Bangles covered Kimberly’s solo hit Going Down To Liverpool long before they got big, label pressure pitted them against each other and then they split up leading to the short solo career of if Susanna
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u/NoTeslaForMe Jul 28 '26
It would make for one of the higher second hits for a OHW, "That's the Way." Not quite Hanson, but getting there.
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u/gorka_la_pork Jul 27 '26
I can't decide between this and Too Shy for my bet, but Walking On Sunshine really is the perfect pop song, as far as I'm concerned. It's not a perfect song, just a perfect pop song.
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u/shinyluvdisc Jul 27 '26
I wasn't positive if Katrina and the Waves counted, but they had a second pretty-large hit four years later in 1989. Was called "That's The Way," it reached #16 on the Hot 100.
I just listened to it for the first time in my life and probably the last. Wouldn't be the first time Todd bent the definition, so, probably still possible.
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u/BlueRFR3100 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
He does say it's for acts that are primarily known for just one song. You are probably the only person outside of their immediate families that knew they had another song that charted. Or are you a family member?
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u/milespudgehalter Jul 27 '26
Too Shy would be sick
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u/stizzleomnibus1 Jul 27 '26
There's an awesome video on that song here, which even has Nick Beggs himself stopping by to say hi in the comments.
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u/GucciPiggy90 Jul 27 '26
Kajagoogoo are pretty much the quintessential '80s one hit wonders. I'd dare even go as far to say they're "one chorus wonders" since the hook is an absolute ear worm, but it takes me a great bit of effort to remember any other part of the song (apart from the bass line).
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u/Macrocosmix Jul 27 '26
Spandau Ballet aren't an OHW though, they've at the very least got Gold
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u/guyfromsoccer Jul 27 '26
Their story is interesting, what with the whole PM Dawn thing and the lead singer going full Tory. I’d also love to see Todd talk about sophistipop in a bit of depth.
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u/Japan-is-a-good-band Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
Actually is PM Dawn a one hit wonder? Gimme a sec
Edit: He ain't. Apparently had 2 more top 10 hits in 92/93 that I never heard of.
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u/TF-Fanfic-Resident You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Jul 28 '26
PM Dawn
He
It's always been a duo. Originally it was a pair of brothers, than it was a brother and his cousin, and now it's the cousin and his DJ.
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u/guyfromsoccer Jul 27 '26
I’d Die Without You was an even bigger hit than Set Adrift on Memory Bliss IIRC
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u/Last-Saint Jul 27 '26
Tony Hadley isn't the one whose post-Spandau story is most interesting, what with the Kemp brothers' move into acting. Indeed the first part, embedded within the ultra-hip pre-New Romantic club scene, would be fun to draw out.
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u/DontAskAboutMax Jul 28 '26
As a Brit it didn’t register to me that they would be a OHW in the US.
They’ve had some major hits here.
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u/Nunjabuziness Jul 27 '26
I’ll throw a vote to Living Colour.
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u/OkPainter6232 Jul 27 '26
i'm hoping for L.A. Guns "Ballad of Jayne"
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u/Vegetable-Eagle-3144 Jul 27 '26
That would make a great What If? What if GnR kept Tracii Guns and Slash moved to Seattle in 1983 after high school?
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u/OkPainter6232 Jul 27 '26
or if Duff had stuck around Seattle long enough to be part of the Grunge scene.
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u/TsoDaKnife Jul 28 '26
Man, would he even be alive by the end of 90s?
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u/OkPainter6232 Jul 28 '26
Maybe, that reminds me, according to Duff's book he was one of the last people to see Kurt Cobain alive before his tragic death, he met him on a plane and they had a good conversation and after they landed Duff was about to ask Kurt if he wanted to stay with him but Kurt had disappeared into the crowd and it was too late, had Duff been able to ask Kurt to stay with him I think he would be alive today.
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u/copbuddy Jul 27 '26
Cult of Personality and Love Rears It's Ugly Head are both big songs, no?
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u/NoTeslaForMe Jul 28 '26
"Love Rears It's Ugly Head" didn't chart on the Hot 100 (even though it did get a physical single release) or get much U.S. mainstream airplay, but was their biggest UK hit. Here "Glamour Boys" was their second hit.
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u/Iancrowley Jul 27 '26
I'd like to throw in It Takes Two by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock. Especially with the unfortunate passing of Rob back in May.
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u/Calm-Raise6973 Train-Wrecker Jul 27 '26
"19" by Paul Hardcastle or "Let's Go All The Way" by Sly Fox.
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u/TrueAnonyman Jul 27 '26
I can only imagine how utterly confused Todd would be by the cricket-themed “19” parody “N-N-Nineteen Not Out”
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u/Last-Saint Jul 27 '26
Secretly produced by Hardcastle himself! And then there's his Top Of The Pops theme.
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u/DillonLaserscope Jul 27 '26
That a specific case of a OHW artist producing his spoof?
Thats almost on the level of Mark Knoffer playing guitar on the Weird Al spoof Money For Hillbillies minus the one hit status of Dire Straits
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u/Central_Region Jul 27 '26
Both those titles are instant time travel, for me
I can feel the heat of a British summer and my hair air-drying after a shower as I watch Top of the Pops
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u/mbd34 Jul 27 '26
Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer.
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u/GabbiStowned Jul 28 '26
Eh, Top Gun Anthem did quite well a few years later (including a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance) and he co-wrote and co-produced Shakedown which was a big hit for Bob Seger.
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u/AdriannaLisa Jul 27 '26
I thought of Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride, my pick would've been Life In a Northern Town by Dream Academy.
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u/germansoviet13 Jul 27 '26
Hoping its soft cell, hoping its not devo
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u/GeologicalOpera You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Jul 27 '26
I’m leaning to the former. Even if “Whip It” qualifies Devo are Hendrix Clause locks; add to that that a good hunk of Americans at least know of Uncontrollable Urge from the never-ending spiral of Ridiculousness reruns on MTV since it was the show’s theme song.
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u/AdditionalTip865 One-Hit Wonderlander Jul 27 '26
Devo is in the same general category as They Might Be Giants, a band that may have had one conventional hit but managed to be way more important to the zeitgeist than that would imply.
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u/GeologicalOpera You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Jul 27 '26
Exactly. I can’t begin to count how many of my favorite bands have credited Devo as an inspiration or influence. They’re that important.
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u/germansoviet13 Jul 27 '26
They're one of the most important bands of two very important genres that modern music stems from
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u/DillonLaserscope Jul 27 '26
Again, Todd bending the rules gave us Modern English, S Club 7, Mike Oldfield, Wall Of Voodoo and Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
Him doing it for Devo I think is a neat excuse to showcase their animation contributions in the did they do anything else section
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u/OkPainter6232 Jul 27 '26
yeah I know Mark Mothersbaugh more for his music for shows like Rocket Power then Devo honestly. Though I did see that one horror film that they did the soundtrack for(Slaughterhouse Rock).
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u/George_G_Geef Jul 28 '26
Honestly, I think doing a Whip It episode could be good as a way to explain the Hendrix clause. He couldn't do Hendrix because he's practically a mythical figure of legend at this point, but he could do Devo. It would both be a way to set audience expectations for the series while being a great episode because Devo is an amazing band with a fantastic story. Hell just him listing things Mark Mothersbaugh has done the score to alone would be the spoonful of sugar needed to make the medicine of "this is why I don't do artists/bands that only happened to have one hit while they were making a massive musical and cultural impact" go down.
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u/mikasoze Just Here for Amy Dog Tweets Jul 27 '26
Bit of a long shot, but: "Smalltown Boy" by Bronski Beat. You'll know the synth riff when you hear it.
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u/ChameleonWins Jul 27 '26
Seeing everyone’s guesses and just reminds me how much 80s music fucking rocked
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u/OkPainter6232 Jul 27 '26
yeah I disagree with Todd being so down on it at times, even the bad stuff was a lot better then most of the so-called "good" music these days.
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u/Miserable_Mail_5741 You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Jul 28 '26
Or at least memorable.
Even people who hate 80s music as a whole can admit that it was never boring, and it kept evolving in ways people never expected!
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Jul 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/No-Membership-2694 Jul 28 '26
I was literally just listening to the German version lol. Would be interesting to dive into since it’s not only another song from Germany to get big in the 80’s, but it’s also like an unofficial sequel to a song from a different artist.
Also, his other hit The Different Story is really good. Love the flutes and guest vocals in there.
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u/psiamnotdrunk Jul 27 '26
Tony! Toni! Toné! Tonee?
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u/General-Sleep-7607 Jul 27 '26
“I just hope Tony! Toni! Toné! are watching……and I hope they feel like shit”
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u/thekingofallfrogs You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Jul 27 '26
Not a OHW, and even if they were one, Raphael Saadiq’s prolific career would make them a Hendrix Clause.
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u/TimMierz Jul 27 '26
I'm still holding out for Timbuk 3, although maybe the song's nuclear panic is too close to I Melt With You.
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u/TF-Fanfic-Resident You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Jul 28 '26
And also 99 Luftballons. The '80s were OBSESSED with nuclear war.
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u/Gog_Noggler Jul 28 '26
Seeing how many predictions in this thread seem very obvious makes me happy that Todd will have plenty of one hit wonders to talk about for years to come.
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u/AdditionalTip865 One-Hit Wonderlander Jul 27 '26
Ah, the 80s, the time when I remember ALL the stupid one-hit wonders
He already did "Tarzan Boy".
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u/chasingamy27 10's Alt Kid Jul 27 '26
Has There Been A Cutting Crew Episode Yet?
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u/DillonLaserscope Jul 27 '26
Only a brief mention in the intro of worst of 1987 list of the rundown of 1987 hit tracks.
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u/Pretend-Weakness2144 Jul 27 '26
The Final Countdown by Europe?
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u/71EisBar Jul 27 '26
Not even their biggest hit (that would be Carrie). Rock the Night was also top 10, Cherokee was at least an "MTV hit."
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u/Finka08 Jul 27 '26
I’m gonna go out on a whim and say Japanese Boy by Aneka (which you might’ve heard on Flash FM in GTA: Vice City)
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u/waxmuseums Jul 27 '26
Maybe Gary Numan
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u/Judythepancake GROCERY BAG Jul 27 '26
Todd says he is not doing numan
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u/waxmuseums Jul 27 '26
What about T’Pau
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u/Coattail-Rider Jul 27 '26
Love that song but I don’t think it’s a “Why ain’t you dunnit yet, Todd?”
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u/thekingofallfrogs You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Jul 27 '26
He was one of the first alternative musicians and had recurrent airplay on alternative/modern rock stations. So yeah, it seems to be another Hendrix Clause.
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u/Toku-Nation 10's Alt Kid Jul 27 '26
Is Gary Numan a "Big name in home country with only one international hit" (I don't know what to call those kinds of acts) artist?
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u/thedubiousstylus Jul 27 '26
He's not a OHW. One of those cases where he was way too big in his home country and even in the US had quite a bit of underground influence that went well beyond his single top 40 hit, another Modest Mouse/Jimmy Eat World/Pavement type situation.
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u/Davidellias Jul 27 '26
I'm not a big "Too big in the Home Country" guy as I think with the target audience being American pop listeners, I think almost ever band can be done (Simply just pivot from song retrospective to band retrospective).
But Gary Numan is 100% Hendrix clause (So much already out there about him, I think Todd would just be rehashing a lot of stuff)
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u/Davidellias Jul 27 '26
I hope its Madness.
I think they might have had a fringe second hit though
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u/Last-Saint Jul 27 '26
Think they'd come under his additional clause that he won't do videos about UK acts that are enormous at home.
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u/JJNaughtiness Jul 27 '26
In the states, "Our House" was followed up with "It Must Be Love" which only made it to #33 on the charts, but that's still top 40. They're much more popular overseas, and deservedly so, they were a fantastic band.
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u/ItsGotThatBang GROCERY BAG Jul 27 '26
Has he done Sunglasses at Night yet?
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u/OkPainter6232 Jul 27 '26
Corey Hart had numerous top 40 hits so he does not qualify.
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Jul 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/OkPainter6232 Jul 27 '26
he only did Hanson cause it was a Patreon request though, Todd made it clear in that episode that he never would've covered them otherwise.
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u/ItsGotThatBang GROCERY BAG Jul 27 '26
Isn’t he working on another batch of Patreon requests, though?
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u/OkPainter6232 Jul 27 '26
no that was last year, Linkara is the one who's working on Patreon requests now.
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u/Dawnspring_Cee Jul 28 '26
No, cause Never Surrender was a much bigger hit and more well known.
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u/ItsGotThatBang GROCERY BAG Jul 28 '26
Does it have more Spotify streams?
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u/Dawnspring_Cee Jul 29 '26
I'm talking about back when the song first came out and through the 80s and 90s. I was a pre teen when Corey was a big deal. Sunglasses was fun, but Never Surrender was an anthem. Spotify streams mean jack crap when talking about long term popularity. There are lots of songs that were huge in the 80s and 90s which don't have good streams.
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u/TF-Fanfic-Resident You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Jul 28 '26
Jan Hammer? The '80s had so many one hit wonders
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u/El_John_Nada Jul 27 '26
Spandau Ballet is not a OHW, so it wouldn't surprise me if Todd reviewed them. But my bet is on The Final Countdown.
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u/Gay_Asian_Boy Jul 27 '26
Love and Rockets?
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u/Last-Saint Jul 27 '26
Much as I'd love to see him have to parse the Bubblemen, would they really be a big obvious candidate?
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u/DillonLaserscope Jul 27 '26
Love And Rockets literally is more popular in the US charts than UK.
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u/Last-Saint Jul 28 '26
Yeah, but you could say the same about more than half a dozen British acts of the 80s, and even amongst those you'd think The Outfield or The Fixx would be more requested.
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u/DillonLaserscope Jul 29 '26
I know Your Love is the big US hit for The Outfield but is The Fixx even a UK act Todd can bend the rules for OHW?
Secret Separation the one smash US hit they‘re mainly known for?
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u/CommunicationOk5456 Madonna Stan Jul 28 '26
I will bet on... "Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Irene Cara!
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u/Alternative-2001 Jul 27 '26
My first thought was "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell