A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

MAN, CAN'T FIND NOTHING ON THE RADIO: While waiting for normal Thursday night programming to resume, I'm pleased to present another eclectic song collection. Our theme tonight? "Unexpected Radio Hits." 10 songs that you wouldn't think would become a hit, but did. As usual, unless otherwise noted, links are to iTunes.

1. "Brick," Ben Folds Five--This has been the very talented Folds' only big radio hit so far, and just listening to it for the first time, you get the piano and Folds' soulful wail. It's the second and third listening where the "huh?" factor comes into play, as you slowly realize that Folds is singing a song that's about a guy taking his girlfriend to have an abortion, and you realize that this is on the radio (and in my case, in Dallas, no less).
2. "David Duchovny," Bree Sharp--The smallest radio hit on the hit, and the definition of a "novelty hit." At the peak of the "X-Files" popularity, who can resist a song that describes Duchovny as "American Heathcliff, brooding and comely," or the immortal "David Duchovny, I want you to love me, I'm gonna kill Scully!"
3. "Sadeness, Part I," Enigma--Who knew that excerpts of the writing of the Marquis de Sade, chanted in Latin over a techno beat would work? Guess it does.
4. "Jump Around," House of Pain--A few Irish white guys from Boston rapping over the leadoff of a bagpipe? Who knew that was a recipe for fun?
5. "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)," US3--It's hard to believe that before Norah Jones, this was Blue Note's big hope for the future, it takes a sample from Herbie Hancock's "Cantalope Island" and then mixes it with rap lyrics that are of Vanilla Ice quality ("Jump to the jam/boogie woogie jam slam/bust the dialect/I'm the man in command!"). The truly frightening thing is how irresistable the song winds up being, with the spirited command of "Give me more of that funky horn!"
6. "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)," Baz Luhrmann/Quindon Tarver (Amazon)--A simple drumbeat layered over a bizarre commencement speech. You can't tell if it's sincere, if it's ironic, or if it's some combination thereof.
7. "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand," Primitive Radio Gods--Chris O'Connor layers three elements that you wouldn't think go together--a pulsing drum backbeat, his own metaphorical rap/singing of lyrics like "Moonlight spills on comic books and superstars in magazines," and an echoing B.B. King sample, passionately singing "I been downhearted, babe!" Again, it works, and you don't know why.
8. "The Mummer's Dance," Loreena McKennitt (Amazon)--Loreena McKennitt is known for her hyper-accurate medieval music, and is probably the last person who expected this song, featuring panpipes and Arthurian lyrics like "we've been rambling all the night and sometime of the day, now returning back again, we bring a garland gay," to become a hit. But it did.
9. "Lullaby," Shawn Mullins--Mullins, a protohippie from Atlanta, narrates in spoken word the tale of a disillusioned young girl in L.A. Then, the gravelly speaking voice abruptly shifts gears into the soaring chorus--"Everything's gonna be alright, rockabye!" Just wow.
10. "The Freshmen," The Verve Pipe--Another one of those "second listening" issues. At first, you think of it as just a catchy tune and then you realize that it's a song about a guy whose girlfriend has killed herself. Regret and sadness don't normally sell records, especially when coupled with rage and self-loathing, but this wound up a huge radio hit.