One great song theory

One theory that's been rattling around my brain forever is that rock bands, as a general rule, all have one really good or great song in them. Obviously, the skate-punk band you played in for six weeks in high school might not have, but most of the music that filters up into the market would qualify. This theory is probably true of other pop music forms, like rap, R&B, country, etc. but I'm far less knowledgeable in those areas.

I've been a big fan of the MGMT song "Kids" for a while now, and it's a great song with a great fan-made video with a fun story behind it. It's also the only song by the bad that I like. A few days ago, I found out that the song was not only on the demo EP they sent out, but was actually the very first song they wrote. This might be one of the best exemplars for my theory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIEOZCcaXzE&feature=related

The history of one hit wonders is pretty well documented, and it made sense in the days of radio, when as a general rule we could only listen to the music we were fed. In today's digital world, when you can listen to multiple songs by a band easily, why is this still true?

Even for big, popular bands with greatest hits collections, this theory can appear. Look at Green Day: nobody would call them a one hit wonder, yet I contend that "Welcome to Paradise" is still their greatest song. Not only was that song on their major label debut, it was recycled from an older EP.

One interesting aspect of this theory, is that I generally find songs I like even from bands that I don't. The classic example of this, of course, is N'Synch's "Bye Bye Bye," which is a stupidly catchy song with a clever video. I'm not a Top 40 guy, much less a boy band fan, but I enjoy that song. Kelly Clarkston's "Since You've been Gone" is another song that simply slays me.

So, the question becomes, is there enough creative spark in most people to at least put out one really good song? Or are record companies good enough at knowing what people like to reach out and convert people well outside of their genre's fanbase with catchy music? I think it's probably a combination. Most rock bands come up together, and live or die by their own sound and song writing. Purer pop acts tend to be packaged a little more, and built from the ground up with popularity in mind.

In the end, I like to take the romantic view that everybody, no matter how odd or limited by talent, have one really cool idea in them. Maybe it's not true, but thinking that makes the world seem a bit more fun.