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Todd in the Shadow's dedicated subreddit! Watch Todd's One Hit Wonderland, where he takes a look at the full careers of bands and artists known for only one song, or watch Todd's Pop Song Reviews, where he takes one current smash hit song and take it apart, break it down line by line, see what parts work and what doesn't, and analyze where it fits within both current trends and the artists' body of work.


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I will forever hate that Quarterflash is a one hit wonder

One Hit Wonderland
r/ToddintheShadow - I will forever hate that Quarterflash is a one hit wonder
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They're not, Take Me To Heart was also a year-end hit.

Super underrated band, though.

u/Discord_and_Dine avatar

They had a mid chart hit after "Harden", "Right Kind of Love", which i might like better.

u/truthisfictionyt avatar

Unfortunately Take Me To Heart had basically no staying power. One of those bands that had some more chart success but 20 years later is only known for one song

I mean, it isn't often you hear Harden My Heart get played like other 80s hits. If you're into the 80s enough to know HMH, you'll know Take Me To Heart as well.

u/truthisfictionyt avatar

Idk I heard Harden my Heart on 80s stations a lot as a kid but never heard any of their other stuff till I looked for it. Not a huge band but HmH sticks out

I'm not "into the 80s", just old, and I definitely remember Harden My Heart. I just pulled up Take Me To Heart, and I can't say I specifically remember it. I think HMH probably got kept alive on those "flashback to the 80s" things they did on radio stations in the 90s.

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It's a shame that so many think that Harden My Heart was Pat Benatar, the internet is a wonderful thing for discovering the people behind music. I just found out that What's on Your Mind was by Information Society and not Duran Duran!

I always get Information Society mixed up with Art of Noise for some odd reason.

u/lawrat68 avatar

I never really heard Harden My Heart as a Pat Benatar soundalike. (Find Another Fool on the other hand...)

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u/macsrecords avatar

Are they considered a one hit wonder? They had several charting hits, with 3 songs in the Top 20 during 1981–83. “Harden My Heart” was their debut and their biggest hit (No. 3) and everything else kinda teeters off a bit from there, but I wouldn’t say they’re a OHW.

The early ‘80s are similar to the pre-Beatlemania early-‘60s where there’s a lot of artists and acts successful on the charts at the time that end up being completely flushed out and forgotten about by the time bigger artists started hitting the mainstream that defined the decade.

In the case of the ‘80s, once the sounds of mid-80’s pop like Madonna, Lionel Richie, Phil Collins, Prince, Michael Jackson, etc. started topping charts around the globe and outsold other contemporary acts many times over, early-80’s acts like QuarterFlash, Paul Davis, and Franke & The Knockouts were completely forgotten by the public.

u/truthisfictionyt avatar

When it comes to old songs I tend to check how many plays it has on youtube or spotify to see if the band is really a one hit wonder or not (Harden my Heart has over 10x the stream of their next biggest song). Otherwise a ton of artists we'd consider One Hit Wonders wouldn't qualify since people get more chart success just off of the inertia of their first song.

Also Todd tweeted out a video of them performing so I assume a video is going to come out on this song.

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How is Quarterflash only known for one song? Find Another Fool and Take Me to Heart not only were top 40 hits in the U.S., but also top 20 hits.

u/truthisfictionyt avatar

Those other two songs didn't still in the public conscious like Harden my Heart did

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has it hardened your heart?

u/truthisfictionyt avatar

Indeed

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u/Maxpower2727 avatar

Maybe you should just swallow your tears.

u/DubstepJuggalo69 avatar

guy on the album cover is achieving QPU speed

In addition to the others, they also did the theme song to the movie Night Shift (1982). One of those forgotten songs it seemed. Released as a single, live footage videos to promote it. Made the Billboard 100.

I have to harden my heart against Quarterflash haters

u/napstimpy avatar

I saw them in 1981 at a charity show with Rick Springfield, Juice Newton, and The Spinners.

u/sock_acc80 avatar

Harden my Heart band! Holy crap I only thought my dad only knew about this band lolo