Their second breakthrough - acts that needed another breakthrough hit

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What influenced this thread was thinking of ABBA. They won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, had a big hit with "Waterloo", and like most Eurovision winners, they seemed to fade when followup "So Long" flopped completely.

But then, a little over a year later, along comes "SOS", a genius pop song, and suddenly they are even hotter than they were the year before. Certainly, not a lot of time had passed, but I still consider "SOS" just as much of a breakthrough hit than "Waterloo", when you know the way Eurovision acts' careers usually fade quickly.

Another example is The Bee Gees. They were very much yesterday's men in the mid 70s, then along came "Nights On Broadway" and "Jive Talkin'", restarting their career. They did more or less the same thing with "You Win Again" in 1987 as well.

ABBA and Bee Gees are also similar in that their second breakthrough hit was considerably musically different from their first one (although more radically so in the case of Bee Gees than in the case of ABBA).

Any others like these?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Kylie PWNS!

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:14 (twenty-one years ago)

No Doubt's second album wasn't very popular, then their third was huge.

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

OTM about Kylie. Bit uncertain whether her second breakthrough hit was "Where The Wild Roses Grow" or "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" though.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

This is a great question.

This doesn't even answer the question as such, but I still can't believe Dexy's was a one hit wonder (in the States, at least)

It would have been great if Talk Talk had a latter hit.

― Aaron A., Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Time will tell, but Kelly Clarkson may eventually be in this category. And the reason I thought of her was equating American Idol to Eurovision; i.e., first breakthrough coming from a quasi-musical TV contest leaves the artist with something to prove.

I'd argue that the Bee Gees had a respectable career before "Nights on Broadway" etc., so that's more of a comeback than a second breakthrough, a second song that says "No, really! Pay attention this time!"

― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

flaming lips did well the song about the girl with the jelly in her hair..but was there a gap in the popularity before the superman song...

― b b, Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Clarkson's latest album is really strong, so if she doesn't breakthrough and hang onto fans in the long run it can't be blamed on the music.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:24 (twenty-one years ago)

(Smacks forehead) Duh! Stevie Wonder!

― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I guess Britney Spears could almost be mentioned here. Her career was clearly fading prior to "Toxic". But I guess that was more of a comeback than really a second breakthrough, as the music world was still very much aware of her.

Same thing regarding Madonna and "Frozen".

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Stevie Wonder hasn't had that second breakthrough yet, has he? Or are you speaking of the way "Uptight" brought him back on the scene a few years on from "Innervisions"?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Beck. Critically panned as a 'one-hit wonder' with "Loser". Followed this up with duets with street performers, chainsaws, silliness, and some sneakily sublime folk music. Follows that up with uber-breakthrough Odelay. Big time ever since.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Beck is a good call. Anyway, I guess he hasn't really had a proper hit after "Loser" until recently with "E-Pro"

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Btw. In 1993-94, nobody expected Radiohead ever to be able to followup "Creep".

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Stevie Wonder hasn't had that second breakthrough yet, has he? Or are you speaking of the way "Uptight" brought him back on the scene a few years on from "Innervisions"?
-- Geir Hongro (geirhon...), March 29th, 2005.

Sort of, though there were hits such as "I Was Made to Love Her," "For Once in My Life" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" in between. And the Talking Book album! But they were pretty sporadic years, so maybe.

I was thinking more of "Uptight" bringing him back after "Fingertips Part II." The transition from Little Stevie Wonder to Stevie Wonder.

― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:40 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, this is interesting. Let me think.

I guess you could say Blur for this (in the UK at least). Top 10 with "There's No Other Way," then five consecutive singles that failed to go top twenty, until a #5 from "Girls and Boys" brings it back.

Sugar Ray. Classic example of a one-hit wonder for "Fly," then turns out they have a handful of great pop tunes left in 'em and "Every Monring" goes to #3 in the US.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Los Lobos' only hit was their "La Bamba" cover, unless I'm mistaken. A shame.

― Aaron A., Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:41 (twenty-one years ago)

However, "Modern Life Is Rubbish" turned them into critics' darlings, so they were never really away. Only maybe for the mainstream audiences.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Garbage...maybe. The new single was their first to crack the Modern Rock top ten in six years.

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I was thinking more of "Uptight" bringing him back after "Fingertips Part II." The transition from Little Stevie Wonder to Stevie Wonder.

I was thinking of "Fingertips" too. "Innervisions" was a typo, and the statement from me that you quoted doesn't make sense. :-)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:47 (twenty-one years ago)

G 'n' R. They released "Jungle" as the first single and made inroads with the hard rock market, but then they issued "Sweet Child" and blew the door open. After that I think they pushed "Jungle" as if it were their second single.

Def Leppard did the same thing. But enough of that.

― BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:49 (twenty-one years ago)

If her Eurovision win in 1988 counts as a hit, then "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" could be considered Celine Dion's second breakthrough.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:51 (twenty-one years ago)

in the U.S. blur is a good call. It wasn't untill after "boys and girls" that i sort of recalled a video for "chemical world".

― b b, Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think any Blur singles before those from Parklife were played on daytime MTV in the US.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 20:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Beck is a good call. Anyway, I guess he hasn't really had a proper hit after "Loser" until recently with "E-Pro"

B-but... Where It's At!

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 20:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Sugababes!

― The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 20:16 (twenty-one years ago)

From a chart perspective, I would actually cite Snoop. After "Gin & Juice," he didn't really have another big single until "Beautiful" kick-started his second pop career.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 20:19 (twenty-one years ago)

And just so I can say I beat Chuck to it: Rick Springfield (1972's "Speak to the Sky," which I've never heard, wasn't quite the breakthrough that "Jessie's Girl" would become in '81).

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 20:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Snoop Doggy Dogg is definitely a good call. I don't think a lot of people expected him to return the way he has done recently.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 20:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Btw. BILLY OCEAN to thread!

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 20:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Johnny Nash and Boris Gardiner as well.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 20:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Sinatra.

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 20:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd say Green Day. "Longview" and the other Dookiesingles established them as what seemed like a one-joke pop-punk band. Then ten years later, when no one's really paying attention, they release a HUGE album.

(Okay, I have to ignore "Good Riddance" to get them to fit. But I think "Good Riddance" appealed to pop fans more than traditional Green Day fans, where American Idiot appeals to both markets.)

― Lyra Jane (Lyra Jane), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 21:02 (twenty-one years ago)

You could argue that Green Day's done the breakthrough hat trick ("Longview"/"Good Riddance"/"Boulevard of Broken Dreams").

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 21:13 (twenty-one years ago)

That (for some reason) reminds me:

The Offspring with "Come Out And Play" and "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)"

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 21:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha, I just had a post which suggested both Green Day and Offspring, but ILX went bust when I hit submit. I was also wondering about the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the same post, who have also undergone something off a revival in recent years.

― ailsa (ailsa), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 21:20 (twenty-one years ago)

(My Green Day theory started with Basketcase and my Offspring theory with that low self esteem one, though same comeback singles)

― ailsa (ailsa), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 21:22 (twenty-one years ago)

American Idiot and Pretty Fly for a white guy, that is.

― ailsa (ailsa), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 21:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I live in the UK, so these might not be the same singles that US people consider for this...

― ailsa (ailsa), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 21:32 (twenty-one years ago)

The godawful Tracy Chapman with the godawful "Fast Car" followed up about six years later with the godawfuller "Give Me One Reason"

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 23:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Blazin' Squad?

― Sven Bastard (blueski), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 23:19 (twenty-one years ago)

The Bay City Rollers, who went from one paedo svengali to another, but it took a while to find them, as by the seventies such types no longer advertised their services in the Melody Maker classifieds.

― snotty moore, Wednesday, 30 March 2005 00:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm gonna say The Moody Blues. They had a big hit (US) in late 64 with Go Now. 1967's Days of Future Passed should have been their 2nd breakthrough, and maybe it was, but it was largely ignored until Nights In White Satin became a commercial hit in 1971. By then they had released four of their greatest albums: In Search Of The Lost Chord, Threshold Of A Dream, To Our Children's Children's Children & Question Of Balance.

― jim wentworth (wench), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 02:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, neither of Tracy's breakthroughs was that much of a *breakthrough*; she fell quickly off the radar after each hit. She'd fit better in a thread from a year ago about two-time one-hit wonders. For this I'm thinking more like, artist has a hit, there's some buzz, can't follow up; years later, another hit arises, this one actually generating some career motion for the artist.

So I won't say Janis Ian; instead I'll say Boy Meets Girl: "Oh Girl," followed a couple years later by "Waiting for a Star to Fall" and ensuing writing projects (they wrote for Whitney Houston and a few others).

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 03:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Didn't Pearl Jam do this with Evenflow, then Alive?

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 03:28 (twenty-one years ago)

"Didn't Pearl Jam do this with Evenflow, then Alive?"

I'm not a huge proponent of PJ, but whether or not they needed "another breakthrough hit" off of Ten is far overshadowed by the fact that the three radio/ MTV singles from their debut album were all huge hits, each bigger than the one before it. They probably could have continued such momentum over the course of their career if they continued to make videos - and the fact that they didn't make videos and STILL had huge hits is pretty remarkable. Such is the palatable flavor of melodramatic angst I suppose.

― Yngwie AlmsteenMay (sgertz), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 04:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm probably remembering this through the warped lens of my adolescene -- Evenflow *seemed* like it was a small noise to me at the time, then Alive *seemed* like what broke them big.

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 04:21 (twenty-one years ago)

FIDDY MUFUCKIN' CENT

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 04:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm guessing sometimes the label does this on purpose -- drop the second best single to create buzz, then ride the crest of the wave with the best one.

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 04:26 (twenty-one years ago)

the kinks -- on SEVERAL occasions (in the USA, at least) -- (a) you really got me/all day and through the night (1964?) --> (b) sunny afternoon (1967?) --> (c) lola (1971?) --> (d) come dancing (1983!)

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 04:27 (twenty-one years ago)

As I recall, Evenflow came out after Alive - But this might be a case of: Evenflow released to deaf ears. Smells Like Teen Spirit blows up. Alive becomes huge. Evenflow re-introduced. Hmmm.. If that were the case, it would be kind of like when Def Leppard re-released something like the first three singles from Hysteria that were released before PSSOM took off.

― Yngwie AlmsteenMay (sgertz), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 04:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Amerie maybe? "Why Do We Fall In Love" was a moderate hit, but I'm pretty sure most thought she was over and done with after that... now with the mega success of "One Thing"..

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 04:28 (twenty-one years ago)

fleetwood mac -- breakthrough #1 with either "albatross" (in the UK) or "oh well" (in the US), then a long dry spell, then half a decade later they start their climb to world domination all over with "over my head" (though maybe the followup to that one, "rhiannon," really served as the second breakthrough.)

billy joel -- big hit out of the box with "piano man," then he quickly turns into a one-hit wonderish journeyman, then four or five years later he starts his climb to world domination with "just the way you are."

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 05:15 (twenty-one years ago)

I dunno, Tad, I think you missed a few Kinks #s: Well Respected Man, Tired Of Waiting For You...Victoria...Apeman, 20TH Century Man...Celluloid Heroes...I'm I Disgrace...Low Budget...Misfits, Rock 'n Roll Fantasy...or it could be these were just popular in the Boston area.

Being banned from playing in the US for 4 yrs didn't help them in the mid 60s.

― jim wentworth (wench), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 05:36 (twenty-one years ago)

What about Pearl Jam's cover of "Last Kiss" in 1999? That was a moderate hit. I think it was for a Kosovo refugees fundraiser CD?

― Aleeshie, Wednesday, 30 March 2005 05:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Aha:

In 1999, Pearl Jam scored an unlikely pop radio smash with their cover of the J. Frank Wilson oldie "Last Kiss," originally released as the seventh in a series of fan club-only singles that had also featured several incongruous covers in the past. Demand from fans and radio programmers resulted in the nationwide release of "Last Kiss," and it eventually became the band's highest-charting pop hit to date, peaking at number two and going gold.

― Aleeshie, Wednesday, 30 March 2005 05:45 (twenty-one years ago)

OMG NO ONE HAS SAID SANTANA

― Mike O. (Mike Ouderkirk), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 05:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Geir, Beck has had thousands of hits in between "Loser" and "E-Pro"

― Mike O. (Mike Ouderkirk), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 05:53 (twenty-one years ago)

57 posts in, no mention of Shaggy. I can count at least three for him(Oh Carolina, Mr Boombastic, It Wasn't Me).

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 06:23 (twenty-one years ago)

I love Shaggy. He could use another breakthrough hit right about now, though.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 09:08 (twenty-one years ago)

In the case of Shaggy, I would say that "Oh Carolina" was a one-off, while "Mr. Boombastic" managed to establish him a bit more. OTM anyway.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 09:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Green Day definitely. I got a bit of a shock when my 13-year-old cousin started singing Basketcase the other day. I hadn't heard a teenager sing along to Dookie-era Green Day since, well, I was a teenager.

Weezer counts as well.

― Roz, Wednesday, 30 March 2005 14:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Fountains of Wayne? I remember hearing "Radiation Vibe" on the radio for a few months back in '96 and then when "Stacy's Mom" dropped, they were winning best new artist of 2003 or some garbage.

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 14:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Shaggy OTM
also more recently in the UK Jamelia. she had a Top 5 hit in 2000 with Beenie Man 'Money', and then totally disappeared (had a baby IRC) until she came back in 2003 with 'Superstar'.

― zappi (joni), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Fountains of Wayne? I remember hearing "Radiation Vibe" on the radio for a few months back in '96 and then when "Stacy's Mom" dropped, they were winning best new artist of 2003 or some garbage.

OTM

In the meantime, they release "Utopia Parkway", which is considered a classic in the Powerpop underground, but which flopped completely sales-wise.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 15:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Cat Stevens. Going big during the sixties with "The First Cut is the Deepest" and "I Love my Dog", and then again on 1970 with the beginning of his folky phase with "Lady d'Arbanville" (followed by "Father & Son" next year).

― JP Almeida (JP Almeida), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 16:02 (twenty-one years ago)

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