One Hit Wondering – Jennifer Paige

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. 

In the summer of 1998 Jennifer Paige had just a little “Crush,” and with that, gave the world one of the great pop hits of the decade.

After initially receiving airplay on Los Angeles’ KIIS-FM in May, “Crush” quickly became the station’s most requested song. The only problem was Paige’s record label, Edel Records, wasn’t quite equipped to handle a mega-hit.

When the single was officially released in June, Edel had only pressed up a run of 20,000 copies.

The next “Crush” was of people storming record stores looking for Ms. Paige’s infectious hit.

This was when Hollywood Records stepped in, and struck a deal to co-finance Paige’s debut album, and get “Crush” out there to everyone who wanted to buy it.

That would turn out to be a lot of people, as the song made its way all the way up to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and went gold in the U.S. (at least 500k sold), while also becoming a Top 10 hit in over a dozen countries, including reaching #1 in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

While “Crush” made her a household name, Paige’s path to pop stardom began back in her hometown of Atlanta, GA, where at the ripe old age of eight she and her older brother, Chance Scoggins, formed a duo, and performed at local coffeehouses.

After a while they both opted for solo careers, and in 1996 Paige made the decision to move to Los Angeles, reportedly after a chance encounter with Crystal Bernard, who advised her to make the move (yes, that Crystal Bernard, the actress from the ‘90s sitcom Wings, and no, no relation to me, the writer of this column).

It didn’t take long for Paige to get noticed, as one of her early demos, a cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools,” was remixed as a dance song, and caught the attention of Edel Records. At the time, the German record label was looking to expand into North America, and when they heard Paige they signed her in October of ’97 as their first American act.

Shortly after that, “Crush” was recorded, became a hit, and Hollywood Records had entered the fold.

When I spoke with Paige for an interview for Myspace back in 2017, she remembered that time in her life as a total whirlwind. “I had moved to California from Georgia, and within the year (I was) doing demos, getting discovered, making a record, and then on the radio. It was such a fast process from the time that I left Georgia to being on the radio. I think that was the craziest part of it.”

Striking while the iron was hot, Paige’s self-titled debut album was released in August of ’98, right when “Crush” was climbing the charts.

Unfortunately, the follow ups to “Crush” – “Sober,” and “Always You” – didn’t hit, although a remix of the latter did make an impact in the dance music world.

Another song from the album, “Somewhere, Someday,” was covered by NSYNC for 1999’s Pokémon: The First Movie soundtrack. This would turn out to be a bit of foreshadowing to another boy band connection for Paige much further down the line.

The year 1999, however, would be memorable for Paige for a far different reason – she was invited to the Vatican to sing at a Christmas concert, and meet Pope John Paul II.

Paige remembers, “It was me with several other artists from around the world. I represented my generation, so I was the young pop singer, and I did a Christmas song, and there was a choir. It was really beautiful, and awesome.”

After the show came the big moment with the Pope. It was a moment Paige didn’t realize she wasn’t properly dressed for.

“I wore a bright purple sweater when I met him, and I guess you’re supposed to wear black when you meet the Pope, but no one told me these things until after.”

The Pope turned out to be cool about it, as Paige remembers, “All of the performers got to go in together, and he spoke in Italian, so I did not understand what he was saying, but he spoke to everyone, and there was a translation. Afterwards we were able to go up and meet him, and hold his hand, and he gave us a blessing, individually, so he did bless me, which I thought was pretty amazing.”

Despite “Crush” being one of the great songs of 1998, and the Vatican visit in 1999, Paige’s sophomore album, Positively Somewhere, wouldn’t be released until 2001, and the timing couldn’t have been worse.

Positively Somewhere hit stores on September 18th, 2001, just one week after the 9/11 attacks.

America wasn’t really interested in pop tunes at that point in time, but perhaps the Papal Blessing was at work when at Festivalbar, in Italy, one of the songs from the album, “Stranded,” was chosen as the song of the summer.

After that happened, Paige had the touring experience of a lifetime, as she remembers, “I was flown in to do all the different islands around Italy.”

In late 2007 Paige decided to move from L.A. to Nashville, which is where her parents had relocated. Tragedy, however, struck, and it struck thrice.

In January of 2008 her mother passed away, and two weeks later her father suffered a heart attack and died unexpectedly. During this time, Paige was also diagnosed with melanoma.

With all that going on it’s no surprise that her third album, Best Kept Secret, which was released in April of 2008 in Germany, and select European countries, didn’t exactly have a huge push. Paige was focused on grieving the loss of her parents, dealing with doctor’s visits, and beating cancer, which she ultimately did.

She also decided to step away from the limelight.

For those who were unaware of what she was going through, the timing may have seemed odd, because in November of 2009 Best Kept Secret was re-released as a deluxe edition, featuring a few new songs, including “Beautiful Lie” with Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, which had a music video.

That video was the last we’d see of Paige for half a decade.

“I was just more behind the scenes,” Paige said of her hiatus, “because, quite honestly, I really didn’t have the time to focus on art, so I would do jobs.”

The job she did were still music related, as they included recording music for TV shows, ad campaigns, and movie trailers, and even providing vocals for trance records.

“Those (jobs) were way less time-consuming than trying to create a record, or trying to figure out, ‘Do I go to a label, do I try and do this on my own?’ I didn’t have the brain power to sort all that stuff out at the time.”

In an interesting twist, it was an ad campaign in 2012 that would turn out to be the unlikely catalyst for a career re-start.

The commercial was for Overstock.com, and the holiday-themed clip starred Paige, and her vocals.

With no projects of her own to promote, she decided being in the commercial made it the perfect time to record the holiday album she’d always wanted to do.

This led to her 2012 Christmas album, Holiday, and a reigniting of her desire to be a recording artist.

“I enjoyed myself so much recreating classic Christmas songs that I thought – OK, I think I’m ready again. This is who I am. This is what I’m meant to do. It just reminded me of that.”

Paige then kickstarted the next phase of her career with a Kickstarter campaign that she launched in November of 2014.

The campaign, which was for the recording, and release, of a new album, raised over $34k, and had some unique backer rewards, including one that involved going out with Jennifer and her husband on the couple’s boat.

With the success of the campaign, Paige recorded Starflower, which was released in March of 2017.

As of now, Starflower is the most recent release from Paige, but knowing her penchant for extended hiatuses, she may be working on something at this very moment.

While waiting for something new, I went back to Paige’s beginnings, giving her self-titled debut a spin, and found three songs, other than “Crush,” that you should hear.

“Busted”

 

OK, let me address the elephant in the room right away – “Chewin’ on my Raisinetes / Thinkin’ ‘bout what I want next” is a terrible opening lyric, but trust me when I say “Busted” is well worth your time.

“Busted” isn’t a pop song, it’s an R&B jam, and when you listen to it, you will immediately realize that Paige has a plethora soul influences.

An incredibly sexy tune – the lyrics get way better – this one could easily get you in the mood for a nice night in … if you catch my drift.

“Let It Rain”

 

Another song that showcased Paige’s R&B side, on “Let It Rain” she was letting a loved one know it’s OK to be emotional, and it’s OK to cry, she was going to be there for them, and get them through the most difficult of times. It’s a beautiful sentiment, and a song that could’ve introduced Paige to a whole new audience.

Interestingly, “Let It Rain” had been done two years earlier by dance artist Amber, of “This Is Your Night” fame, but Amber’s version was more of a pop ballad, whereas Paige sang it as an R&B song.

“Just To Have You”

 

It makes absolutely no sense that “Just To Have You” wasn’t released as a single. Yes, the song’s brand of pop is far more adult-contemporary than “Crush,” but it had radio hit written all over it. It’s the kind of song that would’ve been ever-present, and would still be receiving airplay all these years later on easy listening, and “classics” stations.

Keeping “Just To Have You” as an album cut was a real missed opportunity for a second chance at immortality.

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