Welcome back to one hit wonder Wednesday. There are hundreds and hundreds of one hit wonders out there and sometimes I just browse through lists of them to find one for this blog. When I browse these lists I try to find a song where I can say, I cannot believe that this is his or her only hit song. Today I came across the fact that the amazing Bobby McFerrin has only had one hit song.
Bobby McFerrin is clearly not your typical singer. He sings mostly a cappella, and uses his voice to create the sounds of instruments and accompaniments. He has won 10 Grammy awards in his career, which is quite a feat, and makes the fact that he has only had one hit even odder. I guess it may be because his singing style is just not for everyone, but he is extremely talented and I am choosing him today for my entry. He also has been guest conductor for many Symphony Orchestras.
Of course the song in question is 1988’s Don’t Worry Be Happy. This song got quite a lot of play on the radio that year, and this is probably because it is more pop than most of what he had don’t to that point. It is the first a cappella song to reach number 1 on the Billboard charts.
Here are two youtube videos. One is the music video for Don’t Worry be Happy and the other is a concert video of Bobby singing Lennon and McCartney’s Blackbird.
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjnvSQuv-H4]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUnI9GcON-s]