A couple of years ago (early 2005), I was frantically trying to use up my monthly emusic quota by downloading tracks from freshly ripped releases that looked interesting. One of these new releases was All That We Needed by the Plain White T's. They were from Chicago and their style was listed as "Power Pop", so I had visions of Robin and Rick dancing in my head.
The AMG review listed on emusic's album page said that the title track evoked Tom Petty's "American Girl" and the final track "Hey There Delilah" evoked Big Star's "Thirteen", so I downloaded those two tracks. I listened to them once or twice, liked them well enough but wasn't motivated to investigate further, and soon forgot about the Plain White T's.
Fast forward to today (July 2007), I'm waiting in line at a fast food restaurant and hear a song that sounded interesting (and somewhat) familiar. I file away its lyric "hey there Delilah" to google when I get back to work. I find out that it's that same song by the Plain White T's that I'd downloaded a couple of years ago and forgotten about.
And it's currently at Number 3 on Billboard's Hot 100, the top digital download from iTunes, and has even been parodied by Kevin & Bean of KROQ in L.A. How did this two-year old song suddenly become a huge hit? Was it featured in a movie or TV show recently? It's giving false hope to other old and forgotten songs from the back catalogs of ordinary artists everywhere.
Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah (youtube video)
Kevin & Bean - Hey There Vagina (parody mp3)
The AMG review listed on emusic's album page said that the title track evoked Tom Petty's "American Girl" and the final track "Hey There Delilah" evoked Big Star's "Thirteen", so I downloaded those two tracks. I listened to them once or twice, liked them well enough but wasn't motivated to investigate further, and soon forgot about the Plain White T's.
Fast forward to today (July 2007), I'm waiting in line at a fast food restaurant and hear a song that sounded interesting (and somewhat) familiar. I file away its lyric "hey there Delilah" to google when I get back to work. I find out that it's that same song by the Plain White T's that I'd downloaded a couple of years ago and forgotten about.
And it's currently at Number 3 on Billboard's Hot 100, the top digital download from iTunes, and has even been parodied by Kevin & Bean of KROQ in L.A. How did this two-year old song suddenly become a huge hit? Was it featured in a movie or TV show recently? It's giving false hope to other old and forgotten songs from the back catalogs of ordinary artists everywhere.
Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah (youtube video)
Kevin & Bean - Hey There Vagina (parody mp3)
5 comments:
Apparently the song was included on the PWT's independently released 2005 CD; they subsequently got a major label deal, the label liked that song, so it was included on the new album. It's funny, when I clicked on the link you included, I thought I would be hearing a song that was new to me, but instead I was like, "Oh, THAT song." I must have heard it in a store or something and the melody seeped into my brain.
Can music historians pinpoint the exact moment that "whiney" replaced "Stipe-ian" as the official vocal style of the youngsters?
I think there was a detour from "Stipe-ian" to "Vedder-esque" before "whiney" (or "emo.")
Cheap Trick are from Rockford, Ill., not Chicago!
Cheap Trick are from Rockford, Ill., not Chicago!
CT may not be from Chicago, but I still think of them them as a "Chicago band".. it's all upstate to me. Rick Nielsen's NY-style pizza restaurant is in Chicago
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