"Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners

The Song: Come On Eileen, 1983; US Chart Position #1 (1 week)

"Come On Eileen" is certainly an odd US #1, especially considering the #1 songs between which it is sandwiched. Dexy's Midnight Runners' lone hit single in the US spent one week at #1, following Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," and immediately preceding "Beat It." The familiar single (and video) version of the song features solo Celtic fiddle playing "Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms," recognizable to most as the song Bugs Bunny is meant to play on the xylophone Daffy Duck has sabotaged with TNT. Any song with a musical reference to a 19th century folk tune, containing anachronistic instrumentation (fiddle, banjo and accordion), and featuring multiple key and tempo changes would seem a long shot hit single, much less a #1. However, it was the '80s, where just about any crackpot idea might be given a chance. Furthermore, stripped of its folk instrumentation and eccentric construction, the song's sweeping chorus and introspective lyrics are hardly atypical of early '80s pop. In fact, the song's bright horns and prominent bass and percussion bear a superficial resemblance to the contemporaneous "Our House" by Madness.

The Album: Too-Rye-Ay, 1982; US Chart Position #14

"Too-Rye-Ay" was co-produced by Dexy's singer/songwriter Kevin Rowland and celebrated UK production team Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. Langer and Winstanley had previously produced the acclaimed early output of Madness, themselves no strangers to the UK top-10. In Britain, "Too-Rye-Ay" followed a #6 album ("Searching for the Young Soul Rebels") and #1 single ("Geno"). In the US, the record was almost completely unheralded. Opening track "The Celtic Soul Brothers" could not be more descriptive of the band's methodology. The "soul brothers" aspect apparent on Dexy's earlier releases is maintained here, with the faithful cover of Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said" submitted as evidence of as much. Most songs employ a basic R&B structure, utilizing the aforementioned Celtic instrumentation to provide depth and color to the overall sound. "Let's Make This Precious" features thick bass and a handclaps-based middle section, with Celtic fiddle effectively used as a background instrument. "Plan B" begins with "Soon," an emotive piano-based torch song, before transforming into one of the more propulsive tracks on the record. Again the Celtic fiddle appears to be used for depth, rather than an overture to newfound folk influences. The balance shifts toward "folk" (just barely) on the appropriately-titled "All in All (The One Last Wild Waltz)" and ballad "Old."

The Verdict: Full of Wonder

"Too-Rye-Ay" is a cohesive, hook-laden record loaded with R&B-based pop songs, complete with thick basslines, punchy horn sections, and sassy female background vocals. The overall sound should hardly have shocked fans of Dexy's prior output. The folk music instrumentation is more heavily prominent in "Come on Eileen" than much of the album, and for that reason the song sounds out. However, "The Celtic Soul Brothers," "Let's Make This Precious," and "Plan B" are fantastic standalone songs and would have made worthy singles ("The Celtic Soul Brothers, "Jackie Wilson Said," and "Plan B" were released as singles in the UK). Still, "Come On Eileen" was unlike virtually anything else on American radio in 1983, which makes it all the more amazing that it managed to disrupt Michael Jackson's assault on the Billboard chart for even one week. "Too-Rye-Ay" is an excellent, accessible record that manages to sound fresh and crisp today.

Columbus, Alan Shepard and Us ...

VH1 recently broadcast a repeat of One-Hit Wonders of the '80s. Although all of the songs are at least familiar, many are integral to '80s popular culture and we count some among our favorite songs. Of course, some are mindbogglingly terrible. In any event, the broadcast was the impetus for considerable debate about the nature of a one-hit wonder. What constitutes a one-hit wonder? Is it simply a band that managed to release a single song that, for a fleeting moment, was a ubiquitous radio presence? If so, what is the embodiment of a hit? Is the song required to chart in one of the various music publications?

It is difficult to definitively answer these questions from the VH1 list. For example, "Mexican Radio" by Wall of Voodoo went to #58 on the Billboard chart. Is that a hit? "Dear God" by XTC did not appear in the Billboard Hot 100, but "The Mayor of Simpleton" went to #72 on the Hot 100 and #1 in Billboard's Modern Rock chart. Despite producing more than one notable song and achieving greater chart success on later releases, XTC and "Dear God" are considered one-hit wonders. An additional problem arises when one considers a band with international success. For example, several bands on the list were (or became) superstars in other countries while producing only one well-known song in the US. The converse is also true.

Whatever constitutes the pure nature of a one-hit wonder, we seek to answer a different question: is one-hit wonder status justified? The term "one-hit wonder" is typically used pejoritively. Consequenly, many of the artists in the broadcast made defensive comments, such as "at least we had one hit." This raised a question we had henceforth not considered. Should/could they have had additional hits? We seek to vindicate, wherever possible, artists who were unjustly relegated to one-hit wonder status. We will use the VH1 list, despite its often confusing compilation methodology. As a shorthand, we propose the following rating system:

No wonder: The one-hit wonder is far and away the best song on the album. The album is comprised largely of unfinished ideas, half-baked songs and filler.

Small wonder: A decent album, but still the one-hit wonder stands out completely. The album is reasonably cohesive and a couple of songs might have been hits if given a chance, but overall the record is a vehicle for the one-hit wonder.

Full of wonder: An all around excellent record. The fact that this band is considered a one-hit wonder is mindboggling, as the songs are uniformly well-written, the performances fantastic and the album as a whole cohesive.

We expect our quest to be both rewarding and excruciatingly painful. So it was for Lewis and Clark. Unlike them, we do not expect to encounter grizzly bears. So we have that going for us. Join us, won't you?

Best,

Dr. Dad and JJR, ESQ.