Post your favorite 70s/80's one hit wonders here.

[jollystomper]

Did you forget a link?

I'm guessing you meant this, from 1971, but AFAIK, was never on the national charts, but was regional hit in the Midwest.

-ERD50

I think he was referring to "The Night Chicago Died", in which the lyrics start with "Daddy was a cop on the east side of Chicago", which puts you in Lake Michigan .

 

[ERD50]

I think he was referring to "The Night Chicago Died", in which the lyrics start with "Daddy was a cop on the east side of Chicago", which puts you in Lake Michigan .

I didn't recall that song, but wiki has an interesting reaction to it:

Paper Lace sent the song to the mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, who greatly disliked it.[3] A member of Daley's staff is quoted as saying that Paper Lace should "jump in the Chicago River, placing your heads under water three times and surfacing twice. Pray tell us, are you nuts?”

Actually, anything East of State Street is the "East Side", there's a fair amount of property there. But the song is referencing the St Valentines Day Massacre, which was on the North/NW side.

Here's some examples of East side addresses in Chicago:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/pn9iFs9DqEnZejA79
https://maps.app.goo.gl/QxDnBHiSUqdwkDC7A
https://maps.app.goo.gl/daYXAeg8VqzHeh4u9

There are even some as far north as the Gold Coast:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/6oNgDHTH35XpFgRe6

-ERD50

 

[jollystomper]

Actually, anything East of State Street is the "East Side", there's a fair amount of property there. But the song is referencing the St Valentines Day Massacre, which was on the North/NW side.

Here's some examples of East side addresses in Chicago:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/pn9iFs9DqEnZejA79
https://maps.app.goo.gl/QxDnBHiSUqdwkDC7A
https://maps.app.goo.gl/daYXAeg8VqzHeh4u9

There are even some as far north as the Gold Coast:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/6oNgDHTH35XpFgRe6

-ERD50

Not according to that same wiki. AN "East" address is not necessarily in an East Side neighborhood in the same manner as Chicago's existing neighborhoods :

Major sections of the city include the central business district, called The Loop, and the North, South, and West Sides.[102] The three sides of the city are represented on the Flag of Chicago by three horizontal white stripes.[103] The North Side is the most-densely-populated residential section of the city, and many high-rises are located on this side of the city along the lakefront.[104] The South Side is the largest section of the city, encompassing roughly 60% of the city's land area. The South Side contains most of the facilities of the Port of Chicago.[105]

The song's events supposedly take place "on the East Side of Chicago". Chicago has three commonly referred-to regions: the North Side, the West Side and the South Side. There is no East Side, as Lake Michigan is immediately east of Downtown Chicago. While there is an area of Chicago known as "East Side", it is a neighborhood on the Far South Side on the Illinois/Indiana state line. East Side is also several miles away from where Capone lived on Prairie Avenue in Chicago. Furthermore, in the 1920s, East Side was known for being a quiet, residential, and predominantly Eastern European neighborhood—a sharp contrast from the site of the bloodbath described in the song.

 

[jollystomper]

Her only hit was covered and sampled by many other artists:

 

[ERD50]

Not according to that same wiki. AN "East" address is not necessarily in an East Side neighborhood in the same manner as Chicago's existing neighborhoods :

Well, it's all semantics, even wiki seems to disagree with itself:

There is no East Side, as Lake Michigan is immediately east of Downtown Chicago.

While there is an area of Chicago known as "East Side", it is a neighborhood on the Far South Side on the Illinois/Indiana state line.

Well, it is still Chicago, even if it is on the Illinois/Indiana state line.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Side,_Chicago

East Side is one of the 77 official community areas of Chicago, Illinois.

But in general, IME, Chicagoans don't often talk about an East side, as most areas with an East address includes more Western addresses than Eastern in it (but the "East Side", and a few others, are all East of State Street ). And as I mentioned, the song is talking about events on the North/NW side, but even so, the father, the cop, could have been assigned to that East Side neighborhood.

At any rate, I think we've exhausted this subject.

-ERD50

 

[jollystomper]

But in general, IME, Chicagoans don't often talk about an East side, as most areas with an East address includes more Western addresses than Eastern in it (but the "East Side", and a few others, are all East of State Street ). And as I mentioned, the song is talking about events on the North/NW side, but even so, the father, the cop, could have been assigned to that East Side neighborhood.

At any rate, I think we've exhausted this subject.

-ERD50

Yeah, this belongs to a thread "things outsider see in places that natives see differently", like Avenue of the Americas in NYC, or how "Houston Street" is pronounced by native New Yorkers ,

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

or how "Houston Street" is pronounced by native New Yorkers ,

I've always wondered why they don't say "SoHow"?

 

[audreyh1]

There were at least two famous Houstons and the names pronounced differently. They were spelled differently at first too.

Houston County [GA] was created on May 15, 1821, and named for Governor John Houstoun, one of the first governors of Georgia.

OK the New York street is named after yet another earlier Houstoun.

Houston Street [NY] is named for William Houstoun, who was a delegate from the state of Georgia to the Continental Congress from 1784 through 1786 and to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The street was christened by Nicholas Bayard (b. 1736), whose daughter, Mary, was married to Houstoun in 1788.

 

[Montecfo]

There were at least two famous Houstons and the names pronounced differently. They were spelled differently at first too.


OK the New York street is named after yet another earlier Houstoun.

Two?

How about Sam Houston, hero of the Texas revolution, its first president, only person to serve as governor of two states? Also US senator and man for whom the city of Houston was named?

 

[MichaelB]

Also the inspiration and founder of the famous Sam Houston Institute of Technology.

 

[Montecfo]

Also the inspiration and founder of the famous Sam Houston Institute of Technology.

LOL

 

[jollystomper]

The only crossover hit for this Jackson sibling:

 

[Koolau]

This could be another nominee for the "Love or Hate" one hit wonder award. Some folks were simply turned off by the inaccurate geographical and historical references . Maybe the band messed these up becausethey were from the UK .

While they did have songs that made it to the Billboard hot 100, only this made it to the top 40 - and all the way to #1:

Hate.


I know ChiTown too well.

 

[Koolau]

Yeah, this belongs to a thread "things outsider see in places that natives see differently", like Avenue of the Americas in NYC, or how "Houston Street" is pronounced by native New Yorkers ,

One of the things I learned on the GrayLine Bus tour of NYC. I got to use it years later on the subway when some "tourists" were talking about getting off at "Houston St." I felt like a true New Yawka telling them the pronunciation. I didn't bother to tell them what SO-HO was.