Philip
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Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
Most of us would probably accept having a Hit Song (or 2) ... irrespective of genre.
Peradventure; what are some of your key thoughts, feelings, ideas, feedback, techniques, methods, goals, and/or 'tentative' suggestions you are currently proposing ... to make (or not to make) a #1 Hit (or a 'top 40' in your genre).
No right or wrong answer here, just sharing of thoughts. Of course, any of you may share any ideas, inspirations, ambitions, failures, misgivings, etc. ... about trying to produce the best song in your genre.
You might also cite when you felt most successful.
For example:
My-Garage Rock Band :
1) like the Beatles in some aspects: a Lead Vox/Song-Writer, a lead guitar or 2, a bass guitar, a drummer.
2) Lead and bass Guitar Riffs: Bass supporting the rhythm
3) Catchy Hooks
4) Consistent dancing rhythm
5) Simplest Dynamic Lyrics, catchy hooks, 3-part harmonies.
6) Multiple Counterpoints, figures, 3-5 basic rhythm patterns
7) A 2-4 minute song
8) Rewrites, song-shortening, cutting out 'bad sections', snipping superflous verses, etc.
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jacktheexcynic
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/12 15:22:13
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i would probably say production details, timing, luck and paying for spins.
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Spaceduck
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/12 23:18:14
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Production, production, production! Forget about all the rest. Try this... pick a one-hit-wonder band (or any successful band who has subsequently flopped) and look at their most famous album. Make a note of who produced it. Next, look at their follow-up flop. The band is the same, the style is the same, but I'm willing to bet it's a different producer. There are certain producers who can make gold out of anything. Rick Rubin, Mutt Lange, Hugh Padgham... I'm not too current with today's hot producers, but I assume it's the same... 90% of the top 40s are produced by the same handful of cats. That to me says that the production component is the most important aspect of a song in terms of mass popularity. As far as what defines great production... phew there's a loaded topic I won't touch. But I really think it's mostly independent of songwriting or even performance. This probably doesn't help any of us. But you did say there's no right or wrong answer 
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jacktheexcynic
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/12 23:45:30
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i think a couple things with production are: (1) removing/replacing all the bits that suck or make the song more than 3:00 (2) adding some subtle changes to each verse/chorus (3) autotune, quantize, excite, squash (4) makeup and breast implants for the female artists (5) makeup and floss for the male artists (6) photos using extremely bright lights aimed at the face and airbrushing for both genders (on an unrelated note, HR types have now confirmed that using the word "sex" to describe gender is no longer PC) (7) telling the label they'll need to pay for spins (8) changing the artist's name to reflect the latest trend for artist names (so "the the the's" is next in line i hear) (9) changing the name of the song to something radio announcers can say 36 times in a single day without scratching their eyes out (10) knowing when there's enough cowbell think that's pretty much it. 
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HotCoollMusicGirl
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/13 01:01:34
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ORIGINAL: Spaceduck
Try this... pick a one-hit-wonder band (or any successful band who has subsequently flopped) and look at their most famous album.
That's way too easy. Try this instead: Pick a successful band who has NOT subsequently flopped and look at their last album before they become rock stars non grata. And what's a flop -- selling only 3 million copies of your third CD when you sold 6 million copies of your second? Being a one hit wonder is always a risk, and the bigger the first hits are, the greater that risk becomes. As important as production is (and it is increasingly important in all popular genres) it takes more than just "production production production" to have the kind of break through that puts an artist at real risk of being a one hit wonder. 90% of the top 40s are produced by the same handful of cats. But if that's true... if it's even half true... then we're not really talking about one hit wonders anymore, especially if it's correct that the real artists behind these hits are the producers. It comes down to where along the production line you choose to focus. Welcome to the machine. That to me says that the production component is the most important aspect of a song in terms of mass popularity. I usually make note of who a record's producers and engineers are and look for the kind of patterns like you're describing. But I think that can be taken too far. And it will depend on the kind of artist and the specific genre or sub-genre. Hugely successful records often have different production teams for different songs. So do hugely unsuccessful records. Is there a lesson there? It also happens that having a name like Rick Rubin, Mutt Lange, Hugh Padgham on a record will help create industry publicity and credibility that adds to the buzz and to a presumption of quality. Compare how having the name Eno or Lanois on a record also creates a presumption of quality, alternative division. And it's not enough to say those guys can make gold out of anything. They have flops too. (Does anyone really want to be produced by Hugh Padgham anymore?) Again, generalizations can't be made without respect to genre. I think it would be fab to be a one hit wonder. 10 x over. PS. One of my favorite records ever is by a more or less one hit wonder band: Elastica. Their first CD is an inexhaustable delight. The followup, 5 years later, is mostly just exhausted. The next year they were gone gone.
post edited by HotCoollMusicGirl - 2008/07/13 02:30:17
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Lanceindastudio
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/13 01:56:55
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Phillip, your questions and angles continue to amuse me. You ask the funniest things. Just do it man! You get people talking tohugh, gotta give it to ya lol
Cheers, Lance
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Roflcopter
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/13 02:24:00
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Just take a few recognisable bars from any 80's hit and put in on some modern beat with a rapper, and you'll have to put buckets under your mailbox to help catch the incoming royalty checks, no? 
I'm a perfectionist, and perfect is a skinned knee.
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Spaceduck
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/13 07:47:21
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ORIGINAL: HotCoollMusicGirl
ORIGINAL: Spaceduck
Try this... pick a one-hit-wonder band (or any successful band who has subsequently flopped) and look at their most famous album.
That's way too easy. Try this instead: Pick a successful band who has NOT subsequently flopped and look at their last album before they become rock stars non grata. I'll do both. Let's take the quintessetial one-hit-wonder band, Dexy's Midnight Runners. Their debut album Searching for the Young Soul Rebels was a flop. Their 2nd album Too-Rye-Ay took on producers Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley and was what made them famous ("Come On Eileen"). Their 3rd album Don't Stand Me Down (without Clive & Alan) was back to flop status. End of career. A better example... look at the career of Rush. Ask any Rush fan which albums encompass the band's popular heyday. The answer: Fly By Night (1975) through Signals (1982), the era of Terry Brown producing. Prior and subsequent producers have been unable to re-create that classic Rush sound (and I'm sure Rush is aware of the problem, since they've gone through 6 producers in the last 7 albums!). I still maintain that it is "production production production" that makes a song successful. Understand that production is more than just the name of the producer. I only mentioned Rick, Mutt & Rubin to illustrate a different point (that good producers are scarce). But production encompasses almost everything we're suggesting in this thread (including jtec's awesome list  ). It's basically everything you do to a song after it has been composed. That's my point. I think too many artists get too wrapped up in how-to-compose-a-hit, when actually they should just compose it and then worry about the hitmaking during production. With good production, you can take "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and turn it into a top 40 chartbreaker.
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Roflcopter
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/13 07:53:18
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I'm a perfectionist, and perfect is a skinned knee.
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Spaceduck
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/13 08:02:30
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ORIGINAL: Roflcopter
With good production, you can take "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and turn it into a top 40 chartbreaker.
Nah, nevah.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8ALEII4p_Os
O. M. G. I quit. I quit music as of this day. Back to aluminum siding for me.
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Roflcopter
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/13 08:31:15
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I'm a perfectionist, and perfect is a skinned knee.
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jacktheexcynic
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Philip
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/13 17:37:47
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LOL ... Jack Lance, you're right! This topic is a big joke . But I suspect you've validated the vital question, and you've essentially responded: "Just give it your all-in-all!" Thats pretty funny! Or another states: "Just concentrate", or "Just blast out to the crowds", or "Just let it happen", or "Just get Lucky", etc. That's half-of-it ... production is a major chunk ... which SpaceDuck, Jack, HCMG, and others have been quick to testify. HCMG has addressed the question soberly ... I'll re-read it. I know, its a lot like asking: "How does one become the president of the US"? Some of you have made One-Hit-Wonders (say, in the top 40 in your genre). BTW: "My my m m m Mary Had a Little Lamb", does seem a great hook/chorus/title and probably is already considered a OHW by many. Cheers
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Crg
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/13 21:57:30
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The term "one hit wonder" is such a **** trip. One you will hear from your competitors trying to acheive the same success. One hit bands were numerous in the 50's, 60's, 70's. Even today, a song can get really popular for a while and then the attention span of the audience needs something new and exciting. Will they buy it and keep it and listen to it when they're driving a year later, once a month? Writing a hit song is one thing, getting it through the industry to the top market place is another. All hits require excellent engineering and at least some conformance to the time length etc. needed by the radio stations. But all that has changed massively with internet music. You have a "hit song" if you can get it in front of 3 million people who'll buy it for $.99. The magic behind a hit song is that it must connect with and mean something to the listener. Even if it's a only a Do Wop Ditty!
post edited by Crg - 2008/07/13 22:24:48
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Philip
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/13 22:19:01
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Thanks Craig All hits require excellent engineering and at least some conformance to the time length etc. The question was my 18 y/o son's ... who is obsessed with h.s. band I told my know-it-all-son that any focused young musician can make any song a "One-Hit-Wonder" ... but may have been overly optimistic and/or flakey to say that. I stressed Lyric re-writes, 'Funny' Title and hooks, electric bass and lead guitar riffs, extreme production and mastering (engineering), garage band caliber, most-people-love-simple-pop-songs', making musician friends, producer friends, p.r., etc. Young bands and persons oft have a 'way' to attract massive teenage followings ... at least in the pop genres they love.
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Crg
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/13 22:30:39
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You'll have to excuse my apparent cynicism. I'm just an old folkie. Your 18 yr old son is dealing with "it" well by considering all those things at his age. Concentration and obsession can look the same due to the amount of time and energy it takes to figure out the production angle of the song, the band, the message. I won't even bring up the relevance to social needs of the audience, that is certainly a folkie thing. In my opinion you should tell your son that fame in the music world is a fleeting thing, household by household across the land. Just remember, one hit wonders are still famous today, unfortunately someone called them a "one hit wonder".
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Lanceindastudio
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/13 22:53:04
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Its like knowing how to put together a nice outfit that is up to date and catchy to the eye. It can be ridiculous, clever, just fun, deep, shallow, whatever. It just has to be addictive.
Then again, nowadays a lot of stuff that comes out was never a one hit wonder except for the budget behind it that shoved it down "non-musician/artist/sonwriters throats"
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Marah Mag
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/14 02:58:53
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ORIGINAL: Spaceduck
But production encompasses almost everything we're suggesting in this thread (including jtec's awesome list ). It's basically everything you do to a song after it has been composed.
I fully agree with that, and include "arranging" in that definition. That's my point. I think too many artists get too wrapped up in how-to-compose-a-hit, when actually they should just compose it and then worry about the hitmaking during production. I agree here too, and think that the "how-to-compose-a-hit" approach, while it might yield a hit, can also yield the formulaic, which can also be a hit. It's possible to find an example to prove and disprove anything. But I think that the landmark records, the ones that stand out, and that break a new artist or that make an established artist go supernova, will have something that prominently deviates from the norm. That's where the list of "one hit wonders" comes from. But it's also where the list of fantastic hit singles and great one-off tracks from artists you would never otherwise listen to come from. I agree with Crg that "The term 'one hit wonder' is such a **** trip." In contexts like this forum its invariably cynical, with overtones of envy. My interest is in making records. That's why, for me, songwriting and production are different facets of the same process. The two can be considered separately -- just as production and engineering can be; it all depends on what you want to do and your approach to it. For me, the song comes first -- I'm mainly a songwriter and concept person. But as soon as I have the germ of a song... something that I can hold in my head as a distinct thing... often even before the "song itself" is fully written... sometimes just a title or a couple of lines... at some level I'm already dealing with production.... how it should unfold... where the tricks and disruptions go, how I'll play with listener expectations and keep them interested, the things that will make even people who don't like it and can't stand the genre and think it sounds like garbage tend to stick with it through to the end, just to see where it goes and how bad or how stooped it can get. I love imagining people hating what I do. I approach every song as what you might call a "concept single." Which isn't to say "complex," which they do NOT need to be. High-concept can be simple, and typically is. The first rule is to not follow rules but to follow your instinct. If helps when your instincts are for what you're trying to do, rather than when you're trying to do something counter-instinctive. It's not a science, even though, sitting in front of our computers, we might like it to be and pretend that it is. With good production, you can take "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and turn it into a top 40 chartbreaker. Speaking of pap and pablum, I recently learned that Paul McCartney recorded "Mary Had a Little Lamb." You can read about it here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Had_a_Little_Lamb_(Paul_McCartney_song) 
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Lanceindastudio
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/14 03:35:06
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well said Phillip! Like I said, just do it! hehe
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Fog
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/14 07:06:58
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tricky, a few one hit wonders I do like some of their other work. It's like they say everyone has at least one book they could write.
catchy hook.. in some cases it gets to a point where its very annoying
pretty people fronting it
amazing production team (that can be as ugly as sin as no one will see them normally, just they have big talent.. normally have had a few hit songs out in the past themselves)
a label (normally a major) chucking loads of money at it. As featured on the radio stations that play the same 10-20 songs on loop every hour.
I used to go to a studio that were producers for a one hit wonder, they did very well out of the royalties from the song, since they were the writers.
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Guitarhacker
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/14 08:46:23
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To me ...a one-hit-wonder is a band that had ONE song make it into the top 40...usually into the top ten or higher...maybe even a gold record....and then never was able to do it again and broke up before they are able to release a follow up. The hit was a combination of catchy song and at the right time, friends in the right places, from a band that has (generally) little talent, but somehow manages to get enough airplay for the song to catch on.... This was very common in the 60's when most albums were "filler songs" with one hit song. In my musical wanderings I have met several of these ex-band members. Most are working the 40 hr grind and playing acoustic guitar at home...or not at all. One guy who lives in my local town has his gold record on the wall. It's a 45. The band never recorded or released an album....that is a one-hit-wonder. Another guy, in a different town was trying to put a band together, and this dude had no talent what so ever. He could not even play a Holiday innn lounge and get rebooked. But in years past...he was a member of a group with one hit.
post edited by Guitarhacker - 2008/07/14 08:48:07
My website & music: www.herbhartley.com MC4/5/6/X1e.c, on a Custom DAW Focusrite Firewire Saffire Interface BMI/NSAI "Just as the blade chooses the warrior, so too, the song chooses the writer "
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Philip
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/14 09:47:24
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Wow! Amazing! Great thoughts Gary. ... Brings the movie, That Thing You Do! (Tom Hanks as producer) ... into remembrance. One (young) member goes on to be a song-writer producer (or such) ... the rest go into other employment. They're mortals after-all. 
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Spaceduck
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/14 14:06:19
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ORIGINAL: Marah Mag
for me, songwriting and production are different facets of the same process. The two can be considered separately -- just as production and engineering can be; it all depends on what you want to do and your approach to it.
For me, the song comes first -- I'm mainly a songwriter and concept person. But as soon as I have the germ of a song... something that I can hold in my head as a distinct thing... often even before the "song itself" is fully written... sometimes just a title or a couple of lines... at some level I'm already dealing with production.... how it should unfold... where the tricks and disruptions go, how I'll play with listener expectations and keep them interested, the things that will make even people who don't like it and can't stand the genre and think it sounds like garbage tend to stick with it through to the end, just to see where it goes and how bad or how stooped it can get. I love imagining people hating what I do. So true, and that's where it gets really tricky. Unlike the old days--where you compose a song on paper, then bring it to an arranger, then find a producer & musicians and finally record the thing--today with digital magic, all of these processes are concurrent! I've really lost track of where composition ends and where production begins. I mean, we don't just write a guitar riff anymore; we write it, record it, play it back with different effects, try out different accompaniments, different musicians, then re-write the whole thing... Like you said, it's inevitable that you'll start imagining how the audience will receive it. Who knows, you may even bounce some test recordings off your fans... so now you're composer/producer/marketing agent. Ack where does it end? The first rule is to not follow rules but to follow your instinct. If helps when your instincts are for what you're trying to do, rather than when you're trying to do something counter-instinctive. Yuppers. I think that's the best thing we can conclude. I think the best artists & production teams are the ones who have a solid instinct, and they stick to it. With the exception of David Bowie who, each album, seems to re-invent his sound based on what the fashion is... but he's so successful at it, dammit. Maybe he has an instinct for second-guessing his audience? P.S. Bowie rocks ORIGINAL: Guitarhacker
One guy who lives in my local town has his gold record on the wall. It's a 45. The band never recorded or released an album....that is a one-hit-wonder. Another guy, in a different town was trying to put a band together, and this dude had no talent what so ever. He could not even play a Holiday innn lounge and get rebooked. But in years past...he was a member of a group with one hit. ORIGINAL: Philip
... Brings the movie, That Thing You Do! (Tom Hanks as producer) ... into remembrance. One (young) member goes on to be a song-writer producer (or such) ... the rest go into other employment. How about my fave Eddie & the Cruisers? There's a great flick that encompasses everything we're talking about. A one-hit-wonder band decides to follow up their hit with something progressive & new. The producer hates it and flushes the project. Singer drives off a bridge. Years later where's the rest of the band? A schoolteacher, dance instructor, blackjack dealer & a lounge lizard all revelling in glory days gone by. I don't know what my point is. Great film anyway. P.S. In Eddie & the Cruisers at least, the recipe for a hit is "words & music"
post edited by Spaceduck - 2008/07/14 14:32:36
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jacktheexcynic
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/14 21:35:32
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ORIGINAL: Spaceduck
P.S. In Eddie & the Cruisers at least, the recipe for a hit is "words & music" i hope no one files that movie under "instructional videos"...
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mr.mudd
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/14 22:01:36
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ORIGINAL: Spaceduck
Singer drives off a bridge. Oh man, you ruined the movie for me. No use renting it now...
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mr.mudd
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/14 22:02:44
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gnie
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/15 00:29:20
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ORIGINAL: Spaceduck
With the exception of David Bowie who, each album, seems to re-invent his sound based on what the fashion is... but he's so successful at it, dammit. Maybe he has an instinct for second-guessing his audience?
P.S. Bowie rocks
Bowie is theater. Each phase is a new story/painting. Style is just dressing. I think it has to do with where your stuff comes from. Conceptualists tend to draw in whatever's needed from the atmosphere.
post edited by gnie - 2008/07/15 08:42:48
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Spaceduck
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/15 10:11:44
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ORIGINAL: jacktheexcynic
ORIGINAL: Spaceduck
P.S. In Eddie & the Cruisers at least, the recipe for a hit is "words & music"
i hope no one files that movie under "instructional videos"...
Hey that movie taught me everything I know about... ... caesuras! ORIGINAL: mr.mudd
ORIGINAL: Spaceduck
Singer drives off a bridge.
Oh man, you ruined the movie for me. No use renting it now...
Sorta like how someone once ruined The Last Temptation of Christ for me; they told me he dies at the end! ORIGINAL: gnie
ORIGINAL: Spaceduck
With the exception of David Bowie who, each album, seems to re-invent his sound based on what the fashion is... but he's so successful at it, dammit. Maybe he has an instinct for second-guessing his audience?
P.S. Bowie rocks
Bowie is theater. Each phase is a new story/painting. Style is just dressing.
I think it has to do with where your stuff comes from. Conceptualists tend to draw in whatever's needed from the atmosphere.
So true. I guess that's how he gets away with it. Whether he's doing rock'n'roll, synth, techno, jungle, jazz or just weird noises, it all comes from the same place. I once saw an interview after he finished his Earthling album; he was just casually saying, "Oh, the jungle sound was big back then, so I decided to incorporate it into the album." Normally that attitude gives me a heart attack, but with him it works.
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Cromberger
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/15 19:08:06
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ORIGINAL: Guitarhacker
To me ...a one-hit-wonder is a band that had ONE song make it into the top 40...usually into the top ten or higher...maybe even a gold record....and then never was able to do it again and broke up before they are able to release a follow up.
The hit was a combination of catchy song and at the right time, friends in the right places, from a band that has (generally) little talent, but somehow manages to get enough airplay for the song to catch on....
This was very common in the 60's when most albums were "filler songs" with one hit song. Hi, Guitarhacker, I agree completely with your definition of "one hit wonder". At least that's the way I've always thought of a OHW. ;>) For sure, the '60's were rife with OHW's because radio was *single* driven. All the AM stations were playing singles only, and by a lot of different artists. Some went on to have big careers, others, well, had one hit and disappeared. One of the great classic songs of this nature was "Louie, Louie" by the Kingsmen. That song is *still* played by just about every bar band in the world yet the Kingsmen disappeared soon after the release of "Louie, Louie". Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs is another one-hit band that comes to mind with their song "Woolly Boolly". Later years brought other infamous OHW's, with songs like "My Sharona", "I'm Too Sexy For My Body", etc.. I don't feel like "production", per se, is very important to the success of a hit song by a OHW or anyone else. "Louie, Louie" was recorded in the garage of one of the band members fathers---and this was in the mid-1960's. What is important is a *great* pop song with a great chorus and very high energy that makes people smile. Everything else serves the song. And, then, the rest is up to *promotion*. Possibly involving payola of one sort or another. Bottom line is, someone is making a lot of money off of these OHW's, but it probably isn't the artist (as usual). Best regards, Bill
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Spaceduck
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RE: Key Ingredients for "One-Hit-Wonders"
2008/07/15 20:46:13
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ORIGINAL: Cromberger
I don't feel like "production", per se, is very important to the success of a hit song by a OHW or anyone else. "Louie, Louie" was recorded in the garage of one of the band members fathers---and this was in the mid-1960's. What is important is a *great* pop song with a great chorus and very high energy that makes people smile. I would totally agree with you IF we were back in the mid-60s. Back then, a song recorded in mono was enough for most listeners. But I don't think it's really fair to apply that to today's music. I'd say Sgt. Peppers was the turning point, raising the bar and telling the world, "you don't have to settle for Louie Louie recordings anymore!". Since then it's been a totally different ballgame. Production has become an art form inseparably linked to today's music. And rightly so! Half the fun of being a musician is monkeying around in the studio. That said, I do agree that a catchy chorus and high energy is essential to a pop hit. I definitely don't mean to downplay that component. Also it helps if you can bribe the radio stations into giving you heavy rotation. If they shove it down their listeners' ears long enough, any song will be catchy.
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