We got a bit heavy last week so I think some levity is in order- time for another installment of Doin’ it to the Beat! Today we’re looking at five sexy songs that share the distinction of being the only hit produced by their artists. These musical equivalents to the summer fling were hot, sexy and all over the radio until they…. weren’t anymore. Now we’re hard-pressed to name one other tune by the artists on this list (no fair counting #4, I gave you that one!) So come along with me while I have some no-strings-attached fun with these sexy one hit wonders!
1. Afternoon Delight- Starland Vocal Band- 1976
Someone mentioned this one in the comments of the last music post and it’s been in my head since. In 1976 “Afternoon Delight” was as hot as a skyrocket in flight. And why not? Sex in the afternoon is fun! Also, this song is sweet, subtle, frankly kind of wholesome sounding. I don’t know most of the words so the whole time I’ve had it stuck in my head I was making up verses that were a fun mix of sexual and innocent: “I wanna nail you on the couch and then go have a picnic, skyrockets in flight…” see? It works! The Starland Vocal Band fell victim to the Best New Artist Grammy curse after winning in 1977 but in 2010 Billboard named “Afternoon Delight” the 20th sexiest song of all time
Yeah, I think I have a valid point here
Before I saw this video I never knew what the band members looked like so I always just pictured the couple in the drawings from the original “Joy of Sex”
Last thing: please look at the frame on the video right now…Am I the only one who thinks that’s just wrong?
2. Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back to My Room)- Paul Lekakis -1987
It’s another one for the “songs that were sung in the cafeteria of my catholic school” file, luckily the year this one came out I had a teacher who was fresh out of college and found 7 years olds imploring folks to “come back to my room so we can do it all night” kind of hilarious. Brought to us by model/singer (he’s a slashie!!) Paul Lekaksis, Boom Boom is the tale of a man who wants you to go back to his room and have sex with him. (Proving once and for all that the French have us beat when it comes to sounding sexy) What’s interesting about this one is that it has gone through several remixes and re-releases and has enjoyed more success in the club scene in the last 20 years than it did in its time as a “hit”. A video was not made upon the initial release of “Boom Boom” but in 2007 the latest re-release was accompanied by the one you see above. I have to say, I can’t speak to what Mr. Lekaksis looked like in the 80s but dude seems to be aging remarkably well- get it Paul!!
3. I Touch Myself- Divinyls – 1991
If you’ve been following the blog you may have caught on to the fact that as a kid I was a bit naive. When this song came out I was convinced it had to be about something other than what it seemed to be about. I listened carefully, parsed it for meaning, utterly convinced I was missing some clever word play or something. Surely, no one would make a song that was overtly about touching yourself! Well, clearly I was wrong. This song is 100% about the singer touching herself. That’s really it. She feels stuff, she wants to act on it, she takes matters into her own hands- and scene.
Two fun facts about this ode to self-love:
1. It’s got an unusual structure. The bridge is placed after the first chorus.
2. It did us all the tremendous favor of unseating Ice, Ice Baby from its #1 spot on the Billboard charts. Everybody say “Thank you, Divinyls”
4. Baby Got Back -Sir Mix-A-Lot – 1992
I was extremely hesitant to put this one on this list for a few reasons. First, to be frank there are other upcoming DITTB lists I have this one in mind for and secondly it’s not like Mr. Mix-A-Lot disappeared off the face of the earth after dropping this track. In the end, though, I couldn’t resist because I’ve always found Sir Mix-A-Lot’s explanation as to why this song is his one big hit to be so very awesome. According to the man himself (as stated in a VH1 One-Hit Wonders retrospective I once watched while home with the flu and reaffirmed in this 2003 A.V. Club interview) the fault lies not with history’s catchiest booty anthem itself but instead with the single that immediately followed it, a subtle little ditty called “Put ’em on the Glass” which is about pressing breasts against glass. Yes, seriously. According to Sir “It looked too obvious what I was doing.” Now, I think he’s being a little hard on himself there, how are you just going to sit on a tune that involves mammaries and window panes? “I mean, if you’re going to do it, don’t do it as your next record.” Okay, I get it, fair enough, it probably could have waited.. It does leave me to wonder, though, if he had it to do again, what he would have chosen as the follow-up to Baby Got Back. I like to imagine a full-on power ballad.
5. Turn Me On – Kevin Lyttle – 2004
Back in the first DITTB post I wrote about a song called “Too Close” and how it was hi-larious that the song was blatantly devoted to dudes getting sprung while dancing in a club. It was silly of me to assume that everyone else would be subtle about this subject matter. I thank Kevin Lyttle for clearing that up. Originally recorded as a ballad in 2001, Turn Me On is another song that found greater success after various remixes and re-releases. In the mid 2000s this was apparently a club favorite. For me, however, it just brings to mind all sorts of questions. I actually had to go look up the lyrics on this one. At first I thought he was repeatedly asking to “jab” the dance partner in question but apparently he’s saying “jam” so I guess that’s better (?). Upon further lyrical review I realized there’s a whole “her pushing him away, him being like ‘no, I’m jamming you'” thing going on which is just creepy. I really couldn’t tell if we were supposed to buy this as a mutual attraction or not. It all became clear to me though when I got to this line: “Me done feed she with popcorn and sprite” Because what lady can say no to evening of popcorn and Sprite?
And you say this man has no other hits?
That’s it for this time folks! Do you have a sexy one hit wonder in mind that’s not on the list? Tell us about it in the comments!
