OT: The Avalounge: Nerd Central 2.0

[Ceremony]

Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the greatest prog rock songs ever written. Queen is amazing and Mercury is GOAT.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the greatest prog rock songs ever written. Queen is amazing and Mercury is GOAT.

100% agree. I don’t think any band has as many well known songs as queen, there has to be close to 15 songs that any random person off the street would know at any given time.

 

[Pokecheque]

KISS from a purely musical perspective...has never been phenomenal, but that's beside the point. It was about the music AND the spectacle. One of my good friends, who is a KISS adherent, was excited to see the classic lineup reunite, makeup and all, but he was also kinda bummed because they rushed out a complete crap record (Psycho Circus) while the previously planned album (Carnival of Souls, a much-better record) was shelved. At this point they've kinda become a parody of themselves, so I really don't care. They have some fun tunes.

My vote is probably any one of the many "jam-bands" that tour endlessly around the country. My aunt and uncle are big-time Deadheads and still travel the country to catch various shows of similar bands (also many of the former members have still kept going long after Jerry's death). And I love 'em to pieces but I just...don't...get it. Be it Phish, Widespread Panic, or what have you...none of those bands do anything for me.

 

[Ceremony]

100% agree. I don’t think any band has as many well known songs as queen, there has to be close to 15 songs that any random person off the street would know at any given time.

Bohemian Rhapsody
Radio Ga Ga
I Want to Break Free
Don't Stop Me Now
Killer Queen
We Will Rock You
We Are the Champions
Under Pressure
Ed - I forgot One Vision, which I've heard far more than the other ones since it's in GTA IV

 

[UncleRisto]

Bohemian Rhapsody
Radio Ga Ga
I Want to Break Free
Don't Stop Me Now
Killer Queen
We Will Rock You
We Are the Champions
Under Pressure
Ed - I forgot One Vision, which I've heard far more than the other ones since it's in GTA IV

I Want It All
Show Must Go On
Another One Rides the Bus

 

[Pokecheque]

Favorite Queen Songs (roughly in this order):

Hammer to Fall
Flash Gordon Theme (and really, this whole damned album is sheer brilliance)
Another One Hides the Fuzz
Stone Cold Crazy
Bohemian Rhapsody
Somebody to Love
One Vision
Princes of the Universe
Who Wants to Live Forever*
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
We Will Rock You/We are the Champions
I Want to Break Free

Their one and only real stumble was "Hot Space," but you can see where it really influenced Michael Jackson, who came out with "Thriller" not long afterward.

*If you ever watch Seal's performance of this song at the Freddy Mercury Tribute Concert back in 1992 while Roger Taylor is in the background trying in vain to hold it together and don't get all choked up, you don't have a soul.

Queen redefined pop and rock music for nearly two decades. Overrated? Naw.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Ok how about this one, best 80’s one hit wonders.

 

[Pokecheque]

Ok how about this one, best 80’s one hit wonders.

Lots to choose from!

Kajagoogoo - Too Shy
The System - Don't Disturb this Groove (I know, this is a guilty pleasure for me)
Nik Kershaw - Wouldn't it be Good?
Matthew Wilder - Don't Break my Stride
Red Rider - Lunatic Fringe
Eddie Murphy - Party All the Time
Information Society - What's on your Mind (Pure Energy) -- technically they had one other hit so they might not count
Nu Shooz - I Can't Wait
The Outfield - Your Love (best baseball walk-up song EVER)

A lot of people list the #1 all time one-hit wonder of the 80s as "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners but I am so thoroughly sick of that tune that I can't enjoy it anymore.

Methinks I got a playlist brewing...

 

[Pokecheque]

Oh SHIT...how could I have forgotten THIS one hit wonder!?!?!?!?

 

[Tweaky]

Oh god so many...

Start at the beginning....Whip it by Devo

 

[Freudian]

Ok how about this one, best 80’s one hit wonders.

Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
The Proclaimers - 500 miles
Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over (they had some minor hits a decade later but lets ignore that)

 

[Pokecheque]

Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
The Proclaimers - 500 miles
Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over

Midnight Oil are most definitely NOT one-hit wonders.

Proclaimers are definitely one-hit wonders, and 500 Miles was technically released in 1988, but did not become a mega-hit until 1993 when it was included on the soundtrack for Benny & Joon, which ironically, was a box office bomb.

Crowded House/Neil Finn are frickin' awesome, no argument there on that song.

 

[UncleRisto]

Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning

What's next now that this one's settled?

 

[Pokecheque]

Oh and I don't care how many lists include it and how many times it gets played on 80s stations--Funkytown is NOT a 80s tune.

 

[The Abusement Park]

My personal favorite is Tarzan Boy by Baltimora.

Or maybe I’m turning Japanese by the Vapors.

 

[Freudian]

Honorable mention to Major Tom (Coming Home) - Peter Schilling.

Not only is it a very 80s sounding song but because I am fascinated by the fact that a German artist decided to write a sequel to Space Oddity for some bizarre reason.

 

[Tweaky]

My choice from each year that has not been mentioned by someone else when I started typing this:
1980 - Whip It - Devo
1981 - 8675309 - Tommy Tutone
1982 - Safety Dance - Men Without Hats
1983 - Puttin' On the Ritz - Taco
1984 - 99 Luftballons - Nena
1985 - Don't You (Forget abotu me) - Simple Minds
1986 - The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades - Timbuk 3
1987 - Walk the Dinosaur - Was (Not Was)
1988 - Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin
1989 - Just a Friend - Biz Markie

 

[UncleRisto]

Is it this one?



Either that or Listen to Your Heart by Roxette. A word of warning, if we get to the 90's it's not going to get less corny.

 

[Tweaky]

Oh and I don't care how many lists include it and how many times it gets played on 80s stations--Funkytown is NOT a 80s tune.

Why not? The band formed in 1979, the album and single were released in 1980,, it hit number 1 in 1980, and the band broke up in 1985.

 

[The Abusement Park]

My choice from each year that has not been mentioned by someone else when I started typing this:
1980 - Whip It - Devo
1981 - 8675309 - Tommy Tutone
1982 - Safety Dance - Men Without Hats
1983 - Puttin' On the Ritz - Taco
1984 - 99 Luftballons - Nena
1985 - Don't You (Forget abotu me) - Simple Minds
1986 - The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades - Timbuk 3
1987 - Walk the Dinosaur - Was (Not Was)
1988 - Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin
1989 - Just a Friend - Biz Markie

0 chance Bobby McFerrin is a one hit wonder. The guy won like 10 Grammys and was a super famous Jazz musician throughout his career.

 

[Tweaky]

0 chance Bobby McFerrin is a one hit wonder. The guy won like 10 Grammys and was a super famous Jazz musician throughout his career.

Amazing musician, but that was his only chart appearance. Three of the Grammy's are for that song, 6 others are for Jazz, and one was for a children's duet with Jack Nicholson.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Amazing musician, but that was his only chart appearance. Three of the Grammy's are for that song, 6 others are for Jazz, and one was for a children's duet with Jack Nicholson.

Yeah that’s his only pop song that got big notoriety, but I feel like it’s a bit of a disservice to him by considering him a 1 hit wonder considering how good of a jazz artist he is.

 

[Tweaky]

I get that.

 

[Freudian]

I guess it just depends on how you define a hit. For most The Pogues are only known for Fairytale of New York but obviously they've had some minor hits on the Brittish Isles as well.

 

[Pokecheque]

Why not? The band formed in 1979, the album and single were released in 1980,, it hit number 1 in 1980, and the band broke up in 1985.

It just screams "disco" to me--doesn't feel or sound like an 80s tune at all. I realize it's just me, I just don't count it.