I don’t have just one unsung hero. I have dozens of them.
I’ve been collecting them for years now. Odd little pieces of memory for me, faded bygones for everybody else.
I collect One-Hit Wonders. Musicians who charted big, one time, and then vanished into the obscurity of history. To become radio DJs or producers for other musicians or even realtors(!)
I preserve their brief moments of fame, here on my MP3 player.
Wild Cherry. Right Said Fred. Murray Head. Devo. A-ha. American Hi-Fi. Blue Swede. Rick Astley. Soft Cell. Taco.
Some you might recognize. Others you might have to really dig to find. Some are given rebirths by a movie soundtrack (Blue Swede sold a lot of copies of a song last heard in the 70s, thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy). Some are revived as internet memes (Rickrolled!).
A lot of those artists had pretty miserable contracts. They aren’t getting any royalties from modern sales on iTunes. I feel for these guys; rolled over by the Music Industry, in many cases, and abandoned on the side of the road.
I love ‘em all. I’m not sure why, guess I like to root for the underdogs?
We all have our semi-secret, less-known personal favorites — a great B-side, an early work by an artist that later became famous, an obscure (but delicious) family recipe. Share one of your unsung heroes with us — how did you discover it? Why has it stayed off everyone’s radar?
ParkInkSpot 