Ka Leo O Hawaii

Issue date: 1/17/08 Section: Mixed Plate

Media Credit: courtesy of proclaimers.co.uk The Proclaimers, newest album, "Life With You," has received international acclaim and has gone silver.

One-hit wonders are a great source for music. Jimi Hendrix was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. and he's awesome. But what about a lesser-known band? A band that's been trashed for years in the media for no other reason than a solid follow-up?

Remember The Proclaimers? If listeners can open their ears past the years of American music snobbery, they might be surprised to find The Proclaimers are awesome as well.

Now, follow-up albums aside, the theory is: If an album can produce one super-catchy song, then by the law of averages, one out of the next 10 or so has to be good as well.

The Proclaimers never dropped off the map in their native Canada. They have been releasing successful albums years after their hit, "500 Miles."

In fact, their album had been around for five years with no airplay before it was used in the 1993 movie "Benny & Joon" and "500 Miles" became a hit. When people went to see the song played live, the Proclaimers played it out of courtesy but were already touring for the follow-up album. Interest waned and their label dropped them.

The used bin at record stores is littered with corpses of stories just like The Proclaimers' - cheap treasuries for the open-minded adventurer. Give it a chance and be greeted by a great song like "Then I Met You," a bouncy, jangly, acoustic pop song that's number three on "Sunshine on Leith," the album that contained "500 Miles."

Marcy Playground is another example. If the name alone makes listeners sneer, then they are part of the problem. This is another '90s band that got the boot from its label. If the music elite take another look past the sultry hit "Sex and Candy," they could find great songs like "Poppies" - the bouncy, happy, grunge-lite song that was the opening to their 1997 self-titled debut album.

Today, "Poppies" and songs like "A Cloak of Elvenkind," an acoustic Dungeons and Dragons ode, are songs that would sound right at home with the likes of modern players like Elvis Perkins.

Music never gets old. Half the fun is to try new things or go back to something with a fresh pair of ears. Nobody listens to the same things he or she did at 13, but that doesn't mean that there was no merit to those old favorites.

Used record stores and thrift shops make a living on the concept that people don't know what they've got until it's gone.

Pick up a couple of albums next time when shopping for clothes at Savers. Invite some fellow audiophiles and have a go. At the very worst, it'll provide a laugh. This past weekend's thrift store finds included a purchase of a-ha, Wham, Divinyls and Harvey Danger - no better way to spend $7.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools