One Hit Wondering – Alannah Myles

One Hit Wondering is a series of columns where I listen to the album of a one hit wonder, and find three songs, other than the hit, that people should hear. 

When Alannah Myles burst onto the scene in 1989 with “Black Velvet” the bluesy single, and her fantastic, slightly gravely, vocals caught the attention of the entire world.

The song didn’t just hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., it reached the Top 10 in over a dozen countries (although, oddly, just #10 in her native Canada), and it continues to receive radio airplay to this day. In fact, in 2005 “Black Velvet” was the recipient of a “Millionaire Award” from ASCAP for having racked up more than four million radio plays.

You know what? It deserves four million more!

The single went gold in the U.S., took home the Grammy in 1991 for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance (yes, nearly two years after its release), and launched her self-titled debut album to platinum status.

The follow up single, however, titled “Love Is,” peaked at #36 (although it was her debut single in Canada, it was her second single everywhere else, except Australia, where they apparently had no interest in learning what love is). After that, those of us in America didn’t hear much from Alannah, even though she released three albums in the ‘90s, and two more in the current century, including one as recently as 2014.

“Black Velvet” was a lightning in a bottle moment, and its staying power over the past 30+ years is a testament to the greatness of the song, but what about the rest of her debut album?

Alannah Myles was executive produced by Christopher Ward, who co-wrote nine the album’s ten songs, and produced by David Tyson, who co-wrote six of the album’s songs.


Fun fact – Executive producer Ward was also one of the first VJs in Canada, being an on-air personality at MuchMusic for five years starting in 1984.

So how did all those other songs sound?

Many of them sounded damned good, and it’s actually kinda of crazy that Myles didn’t have more hits.

Who knows what was going on at Atlantic Records at the time, but it seems like the powers that be were perfectly happy with having one hit single, and a platinum album, and were ready to move on to the next artist. That’s the thing – none of us know what kind of goals, or budget the label had for the album. Perhaps they exceeded their goals tenfold, and when the second single didn’t hit, were just like, “Hey, we made a huge profit, nothing’s gonna be bigger than ‘Black Velvet,’ let’s work on something else now.”

That’s where I come in, 34 years later, to remind everyone that this album had a lot more than just one – albeit one legendary, and stunningly gorgeous – hit single.

Here are three songs from Alannah Myles’ self-titled debut album, other than “Black Velvet,” that you should check out.

“Still Got This Thing”

 

The first song on the album, “Still Got This Thing” has a ZZ Top meets Melissa Etheridge meets Heart feel to it, and showcases Alannah Myles as a powerhouse vocalist.

It also begs the question – how can our neighbor to the north create southern rock??? Hey, I guess Canada is south of something, right? Just don’t ask me what, I don’t have a map in front of me, and I’m too busy rocking out to “Still Got This Thing.”

“Just One Kiss”

 

Back in 1989 hair metal was still at its peak, and “Just One Kiss” sounds like Alannah’s go at the genre. You know what? Lita Ford probably loved it! I know I did!

Once again, Alannah’s vocals, and powerful presence are showstoppers here. She seems like someone who is absolutely going to get what she wants, and isn’t about to let anyone get in her way.

“Hurry Make Love”

 

The album’s closer, “Hurry Make Love” is a stripped down blues song about a woman who is stripped down, and ready for her man … or another man if her man doesn’t hurry.

So if you’re Alannah Myles’ man, and you hear this song, you better get home, and into the bedroom pronto! If you don’t, I have a passport, and I’m not afraid to use it!

Until next time, here’s to discovering more great music from one hit wonders!