Pop Culture 101 | Friday | Period 2

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

When the students filed into the classroom today, they'd see both John and three televisions hooked up to the laptop on his desk. Yes, John was a product of the technological age. Right now he was looking through pictures of his son but he'd soon use the hookup for class.

Once everyone filed in, he shut down his pictures and stood up. "Hey guys. Today, we're going to be talking about one hit wonders. Oh yes. We're going to be talking about those flash in the pan, lightning in a bottle, fifteen minutes of fame musicians that have one hit, and it's usually a monster hit, and then disappear forever to live off the money they made on that one song for the rest of their lives. Most of the time, you can't really tell if an artist is going to be a one hit wonder when they release their first song. They might sound incredibly innovative like the group a-ha's Take On Me."

With that, he cued up Take On Me on one of the television screens. When it ended, he started talking again.

"That's still pretty cool even today, isn't it?" he asked, nodding. "So, why didn't this band break out bigger? What stopped them from having the success of someone like U2 or the Beastie Boys?"

John shrugged. "And then, of course, we have one hit wonder that deserve to stay one hit wonders for freaking ever. Carl Douglas' Kung Fu Fighting is a catchy song when you hear it the first one hundred times. After that, you just want to rip your ears off. Take a listen."

He queued up Kung Fu Fighting and let the class take a listen. "So, makes you wanna sing right? Maybe you dance around in your chair. Yeah, listen to it incessantly and you'll be rethinking that. Your assignment for today is to look through the list of one hit wonders I've given you. Find a song that you either recognize or that catches your attention. Once you do that, come up to the laptop here, queue up the video and tell everyone why you think this song ended up a one hit wonder. If you don't wanna get all academic, you can just tell us what you think of the song. Sound good? Let's get to it."

Comments

Sign In [PC 01/14]

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

Creatively!

Re: Sign In [PC 01/14]

[wrongkindofsith]

Cara

Re: Sign In [PC 01/14]

[fiery-demigod.livejournal.com]

Leo Valdez

Re: Sign In [PC 01/14]

[notagoose]

Shane Gooseman

Re: Sign In [PC 01/14]

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

Elphaba Thropp

Re: Sign In [PC 01/14]

[stars_and_money]

Jeremy Darling

Re: Sign In [PC 01/14]

[talks-backwards.livejournal.com]

Zatanna Zatara

Re: Sign In [PC 01/14]

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay Weir

Re: Sign In [PC 01/14]

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

Sov Thade Tage em Ereb

Re: Sign In [PC 01/14]

[onapalebicycle.livejournal.com]

George Lass

Re: Sign In [PC 01/14]

[she-sheds.livejournal.com]

Joolushko Tunai Fenta Hovalis

Re: Sign In [PC 01/14]

[redandblueblur.livejournal.com]

Clark Kent

[whose player forgot he had a Friday class again, shh]

Lecture [PC 01/14]

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

Take notes, sing along, dance around, cover your ears, talk to your neighbors, whatever you'd like!

Re: Lecture [PC 01/14]

[wrongkindofsith]

Cara's eyebrows gradually crept higher and higher as the lecture went on. The one with the magic frames and random pipe-wrench fight was interesting enough but the other...

Re: Lecture [PC 01/14]

[stars_and_money]

Oh, Jeremy liked this class. It made up for the weirdness of some of the other stuff.

His foot tapped in time to the music, and he did actually listen to Mr. Crichton as well.

Re: Lecture [PC 01/14]

[talks-backwards.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Zatanna was going to cover her ears. A little too much Kung Fu Fighting for her, sorry.

Otherwise she was paying attention. Totally.

Re: Lecture [PC 01/14]

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

Faramir

Re: Lecture [PC 01/14]

[onapalebicycle.livejournal.com]

Some of these were catchy. The Kung Fu Fighting one? Not so much.

Re: Lecture [PC 01/14]

[she-sheds.livejournal.com]

The music on this planet occasionally left much to be desired. Or possibly, based on what she was hearing today, it often left much to be desired.

Activity | One Hit Wonders [PC 01/14]

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

"Your assignment for today is to look through the list (http://www.onehitwondercentral.com/) of one hit wonders I've given you. Find a song that you either recognize or that catches your attention. Once you do that, come up to the laptop here, queue up the video and tell everyone why you think this song ended up a one hit wonder. If you don't wanna get all academic, you can just tell us what you think of the song."

Re: Activity | One Hit Wonders [PC 01/14]

[wrongkindofsith]

The funny thing about one hit wonder lists is that sometimes they contained acts that actually had more than one hit. This combined with the fact that touch typing while wearing gloves could be a bit tricky, meant that when Cara went to play her randomly picked song, a completely different one played instead.

She shrugged as the song finished. "I liked it."

[Second link posssssssibly NSW.]

Re: Activity | One Hit Wonders [PC 01/14]

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

"Interesting...choice," John said, eyes widening just a touch. He glanced at Cara, attire and all. "And I wouldn't have guessed you would like it. Never in a million years."

Re: Activity | One Hit Wonders [PC 01/14]

[wrongkindofsith]

It was quite a leap of logic, it's true.

Another shrug. "It's insightful."

Re: Activity | One Hit Wonders [PC 01/14]

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

"If you say so," John said, deciding he wasn't going to ask her to elaborate. "Good choice. Maybe you can get the deejay to play it at the next dance."

Re: Activity | One Hit Wonders [PC 01/14]

[talks-backwards.livejournal.com]

"This one! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeYsTmIzjkw&ob=av3em)"

Whether she was joking or not, she didn't show. If anything, she liked the rhythm, and nothing else.

Re: Activity | One Hit Wonders [PC 01/14]

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siMFORx8uO8) is a good one," Lindsay said after she queued up the video.

She might not have picked it if she knew how often it was used in commercials, tv shows, and soundtracks.

Re: Activity | One Hit Wonders [PC 01/14]

[onapalebicycle.livejournal.com]

"Okay," George said. "This song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBEOyuTOxx8&feature=related) was popular because it had a good beat, I guess. It's catchy. But the guy raps really fast with a Jamaican accent and uses weird obscure slang, so no one could understand what the fuck the lyrics were. Which is fine for one song, but after that, it's, hey, more shit from the guy whose lyrics are hard to decipher and don't make any fucking sense once you do. And not in that clever, using lots of symbolism to seem fake deep way. The chorus ends with 'a-licky-boom-boom-down.'"

She felt that was enough, but couldn't resist adding, "Also, white guy rapping. Usually a bad start."

Re: Activity | One Hit Wonders [PC 01/14]

[she-sheds.livejournal.com]

"I have no idea why this was so popular," Joolushko said when the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMICD3aMZpw) ended. "But I think the apparent lack of talent of the musical group was likely why they did not have any further success."

Lindsay the TA [PC 01/14]

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

Who will help you should you need it!

Re: Lindsay the TA [PC 01/14]

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay would indeed help anyone, especially with 70s or early 80s one hit wonders.

John [PC 01/14]

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

Who is also around before and after class!

OOC [PC 01/14]

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

What's your favorite one hit wonder? Mine's Haddaway's What is Love.

Re: OOC [PC 01/14]

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

I have so many! But I think I will go with "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell.

Re: OOC [PC 01/14]

[solo_sword]

I'M A BARBIE GIRL, IN A BARBIE WOOOOOOORLD.