The Replacements hit the top of the charts for the last time with another song that presages the work of bands who would come to provide an alternative to rough-edged grunge- or punk-rock
I love the Replacements, and I really only started listening to them last year. Better late than never!
Along those lines, it was only a few years ago that I finally heard "Promises, Promises" by Naked Eyes, and now it's one of my favorites 80s songs. I let out a happy yelp when I saw it in your top 10 for the year.
I would have suggested "Promises, Promises" as a TLSP feature, but it has 20 million streams and, somehow, missed the top 10 on the Hot 100 (peaked at #11). I loved it at the time, but it got lost to time and, like you, I only rediscovered it a few years ago. But it sticks around my playlists and the algorithms keep kicking it toward me, so it'll likely be a top-10 mainstay for me for the foreseeable future. If I think of "two-hit wonders," with bands who have two solid, unimpeachable hits and little else, it'd be hard not to rank Naked Eyes near the top of that list.
And to build off your story about finding a song for the first time and it becoming an '80s staple -- I swear I only heard "West End Girls" for the first time maybe four years ago. It's amazing AND it topped the Hot 100, and I swear I never heard it before, say, 2019. And it's easily one of my all-time favorite songs. So good!
I think "All Shook Down" gets unfairly panned by a lot of fans. Some of that is because this and predecessor LP 'Don't tell A Soul" are basically Westerberg solo records with The Replacements label slapped on the cover. But people dismissing this out of hand missed out; 'Merry Go Round" and "When It Began" are both gorgeous and catchy. Something that few people can do as well as he does.
I love them both. It hits a sweet spot for me as an alt-rock fan: not too hard like punk or grunge, not too soft like, say, "Drops of Jupiter" by Train. They're just right, and sometimes, I love "just right."
I love the Replacements, and I really only started listening to them last year. Better late than never!
Along those lines, it was only a few years ago that I finally heard "Promises, Promises" by Naked Eyes, and now it's one of my favorites 80s songs. I let out a happy yelp when I saw it in your top 10 for the year.
I would have suggested "Promises, Promises" as a TLSP feature, but it has 20 million streams and, somehow, missed the top 10 on the Hot 100 (peaked at #11). I loved it at the time, but it got lost to time and, like you, I only rediscovered it a few years ago. But it sticks around my playlists and the algorithms keep kicking it toward me, so it'll likely be a top-10 mainstay for me for the foreseeable future. If I think of "two-hit wonders," with bands who have two solid, unimpeachable hits and little else, it'd be hard not to rank Naked Eyes near the top of that list.
And to build off your story about finding a song for the first time and it becoming an '80s staple -- I swear I only heard "West End Girls" for the first time maybe four years ago. It's amazing AND it topped the Hot 100, and I swear I never heard it before, say, 2019. And it's easily one of my all-time favorite songs. So good!
I think "All Shook Down" gets unfairly panned by a lot of fans. Some of that is because this and predecessor LP 'Don't tell A Soul" are basically Westerberg solo records with The Replacements label slapped on the cover. But people dismissing this out of hand missed out; 'Merry Go Round" and "When It Began" are both gorgeous and catchy. Something that few people can do as well as he does.
I love them both. It hits a sweet spot for me as an alt-rock fan: not too hard like punk or grunge, not too soft like, say, "Drops of Jupiter" by Train. They're just right, and sometimes, I love "just right."
“I’m a sucker for you.” - it’s an ear worm 🐛 for sure