ONE HIT WONDERLAND: "Your Woman" by White Town
Fun fact: I don't give out requests anymore, but someone found me a copy of an obscure hip-hop documentary I'd been looking for, so I gave them a request out of gratitude. Here we go!
As always, catch my errors!
And as always, please vote in the Song vs. Song poll. We're doing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" vs. "Jingle Bell Rock." https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-poll-jingle-75077164
Comments (77)
This is my favorite OHW ever! Also my husband who I joined on behalf of as a gift LOVES this song and flipped out. So happy to hear that our guy is thriving.
"More Than A Feeling" by Boston was actually entirely recorded in one guy's house (I think a basement, not a bedroom, but still). Seriously.
That's different, though, recording in a garage/basement with real instruments is completely different from what White Town did because he was using only his computer, a sampler, and pro tools/synthesizers to create the song. People have been making music the way that you say for longer, but also I suppose having the tools to even just record music in your basement in the 80s is a neat fun fact. Thanks for sharing it.
I've loved the song "Wanted" by White Town for years. I had no idea it had a video.
I remember buying the cd single because I'd heard the song on the radio. I've never stopped loving it. Todd's video makes me enjoy it even more <3
I rediscovered the song due to the Dua Lipa song (like, 'I vaguely recognise this, what is it) and read up on him and thought it would be a good one hit wonder artist. Glad to see him done.
also todd that's a pantomime not a play, all british towns have a version of it, more culturally diverse or not :p
This is one that I've always assumed hadn't had a OHW yet because it never took off in the US. Glad to finally see it here!
Todd, I would LOVE if someday you did retrospectives on old videos as patreon bonus content. I was rewatching the gotye video and it's such an interesting snapshot in time.
So funny as an English person to hear a panto described as 'a stage version of Aladdin'. Like, I know that's technically accurate, but it'd be a bit like if I described the superbowl as a 'kickabout'. It's just not what you call it.
Also, pointing to the cast of that show like, 'how bizarre'; you show that to anyone who has ever lived here, they will shrug. Literally everywhere, from a small town up, will have a panto this time of year, and they will ALL look like that. Shit's weird, man
I absolutely had that "oh, THIS song!" moment about halfway through the piano intro. I couldn't place it at all until then. Amazing how quick that came back.
Great song, really fascinating guy. Might be one of your best episodes yet, actually. When I think about the late '90s and music the thing I think about are all of these genre oddities. But the last time I actually listened to the lyrics of this song I was way too young to pick up what he was putting down.
Around 02:29 there is a dirty cut. Great video though!
I kept telling people back then that it sounds like the imperial march from star wars - and only got confused looks...
Surprised it took this long to get to this tune for a OHW - it's long been on my mind as an obvious inclusion. Or maybe it's because every time it comes on the radio, I'm instantly brought back to hearing it non-stop during high-school Grad Season.
I know this song well as my local alternative rock station played it a lot from 1997 onward. However, I had no idea about the one-man-band behind it.
maybe he skipped Top of the Pops because of Jimmy Saville's close association with the program.
I can honestly say I have no recollection of ever hearing this song before.
lol sorry to always be this guy but is there a link for phone users? vimeo never wants to play from the embedd in the patreon app and my computer is in the shop lol
That's not just a stage version of Aladdin. It's a traditional British pantomime. Every local theatre puts them on at Christmastime and they are quite popular. They stick to a specific format always involving a traditional story, an older male drag act and some universally known catchphrases. All British people will have gone to at least one in their lives.
Yes. YES. YES!!!!!! BRILLIANT episode on my all time favourite one hit wonder. My sister brought home that single and I was about 5 but it blew my mind. I stole her copy, played it ALL. THE. TIME. I had no idea why it affected me as much as it did but I think the ambiguous sexuality def had something to do with it, among other things. I think this song had more impact on my musical taste than almost anything else. Thank you for covering it, and so well.
Also, I really like the Women In Technology album and I will get a hold of Socialism Sexism Sexuality Sensuality Sun Sea and Sodium Bicarbonate. Thanks again.
I loved this song back in the 90s--I was primed for good electronic music and this one was one of the first big electronic pop hits I remember. I also remember having a couple brief but very pleasant interactions with Mishra on Facebook back like 12-13 years ago. What a good, cool dude who definitely deserved more. Thanks Todd!
I'd gotten exposed to electronica & dance music through the 89x simulcast of ClubX on Saturdays, and then this thing hit and I was fully ready for it. I still have this on playlists, and I love it. Thank you Todd.
Fantastic work! This really unearthed a memory for me... and then put it into context. I'm really intrigued by the man now! BTW, would you mind leaving the sponsor bits off of the version for Patreon? Anyway, I'm very happy you gave out a request and got this wish! Keep up the great work!
Oh, the memories. I loved this song from the first time I heard it, which I'm pretty sure was on a VHS tape from a service I briefly subscribed to, in highschool, in which you received a new tape every month or so featuring 45-60 minutes of new music videos. It might have been Canadian? It wasn't stuff that was popular on MTV yet.
Hell yes! I swear each Trainwreckord/OHW is better than the last, which is shocking given how good they all are individually.
I remember hearing a cover of this in a movie that was way better than the original (IMHO).
This song and Prozzak's "Sucks To Be You" were in my same middle school head category of "weird but awesomely catchy songs".
Ah, I see Todd has not experienced children's panto shows before XD
Oh my god I remember this song because of a fan animation on fucking Newgrounds when I was a teen.
Excited to watch this episode, I love this song.
Hey Todd your freaking me out here. Im sure I found out about this song through one of your videos ages ago. I just assumed it was lost, but this appears to be a new vid what with you mentioning TikTok and framing your shots well. Is this weird mandela effect affecting someone else?
When I first got iTunes, our mom would lend us $5 off her card each week to buy 5 songs. One of the first songs we got was "Your Woman". Great song, fantastic episode!
I'd never heard of this song before now, and now all I want to do is dig into Mishra's discography.
Haven't heard this song at least a decade, was surprised how modern it still sounds
I was tempted to drop it in as a third-party vote in the Stupid Girl/Just a Girl SvS, but thought it might not be a great look.
This is one of these songs I never forgot since i first heard it when I was 15.
Not sure if someone else said it yet, but 12:28 (after the picture of the “marketing” person) has a bit of a weird cut/edit. Great video! If you check out the video description of Your Woman on YouTube, it is amusing how wonderfully personable he comes across and how un-corporate the description is.
I’ve spent YEARS thinking I was absolutely nuts for hearing the Imperial March in that sample, to the point that I played it for friends in college and they said they didn’t hear it at all. It feels so good to get some validation.
Maybe if I keep making my cruddy music on GarageBand I’ll be big
I also just want to say that the music video is fantastic. Extremely visually striking, I have to imagine that helped the song get big as well
I've always really liked this one, and wondered about the artist. He seems like quite a cool and interesting guy! Good ep!
Love this song and amazing backstory. Thank Todd for all you do. You kick ass.
Huh. Never heard of this one. Or the sample source. I thought you were initially joking about it not being the Imperial March, because that's all it sounds like.
Well, now Todd has raised the interesting spectre of Star Wars possibly ripping off Pennies from Heaven. Have had an official rebuttal yet?
This is one of the many reasons I love your videos. I had never heard it before, but now I love it and know the story behind it. I appreciate the insane amount of research you do for these videos, especially when clips and photos are really hard to find.
🙂
Long-awaited episode (for me, anyway), loved it. One of my favorite random 90s one-offs. 4:55: "if you like the Smiths, but don't want to reward Morrissey by listening to them..." oof, that's another uphill climb for Mishra, we already had the Cranberries for that.
the Cranberries as substitute for the Smiths? Zombie as stand-in for How Soon Is Now? I‘m not sure about that…
I went down a Wikipedia rabbit hole with this song a while ago - can't remember if it was due to the Dua sample or it being used in a tiktok, but it was fun to see it discussed!
Hell yes! One of my all time favourite 90s hits. Thanks Todd!
I am one of the people who didn't know the song, but recognized the sample. However, I can now say that this OHW made me genuinely interested in checking Mishra's other work. While it's not trip-hop, it fit perfectly within that era, but it still sounds ahead of its time (the slowed-down ending of the song reminded me of Sicko Mode in a weird way). Also, it kinda sounds like Gorillaz before Gorillaz even existed.
I've been waiting for a White Town episode for years! Jyoti's such a fascinating figure just from a surface-level look at the song, and after "Love Again" was finally released as a single, I thought this was inevitable at some point - spectacular episode!
In every interview I’ve read, Mishra comes across as a really cool and interesting guy. Considering how many pop stars wind up on the edge of being destitute, the fact that he’s been able to support himself with his music for all these years is even more amazing. He’s clearly doing something right.
Welp, time to begin my search for obscure music documentaries.
*rustles through drawer* Have you heard of… The Beatles?
First - this is one of my favorite songs of my childhood and I am thrilled to see this episode! The radio was filled with fascinating one hit wonders at the time, and I used to stay up at night with the radio on just hoping to hear this song. Anyway, there is a sync problem at 8:16 where the audio and video don't match. Love your videos so much!
Same. I only started getting interested in music when I was 14, and that coincided right with the release of Your Woman. I instantly became fascinated with the UK Charts, where there would be a brandnew Number 1 single almost every week. It seemed mind-boggling how flexible and eclectic (or even fickle) the general public’s music taste could be. I remember ecstatically dancing to this song in our family‘s living room 😁 . I‘m astonished that it also simultaneously cracked the Billboard 100, let alone Top 40, since it seemed so stodgy back then, and almost exclusively clogged up with country, R‘n‘B & MOR pop - I had no idea. I feel like part of my musical upbringing has had a surprising new light shone upon it.
Also, you're cutting off the guy at 5:33 in a weird spot, almost like you're talking over him.
I was obsessed with that song when it came out!
I like episodes where todd emphatically loves the song he's talking about.
I like the ones where hates his subject matter, too.
Chuckling over White Town’s post-EMI label name, Bzangy Groink
YES!!!!! Mishra would probably consider me a lily-livered centrist, but if I were to ever become a pop star, he’s the type I’d like to be. Twenty-five years later and “Your Woman” still rules.
Even if "Undressed" had made the UK top 40, it still wouldn't have been a real hit of any kind. The charts there move so fast and have so many songs that even a song that reaches #12 or so is considered a flop, compared to Dua Lipa's "IDGAF" making the Billboard year-end list despite only peaking at #49 in America.
Nice! I really love this song and glad to see it on OHW.
Excerpts From an Essay sounds like it was made for the 2-3 people on earth whose favorite song from OK Computer is Fitter Happier...
I adore this song. Like the guy's voice too, reminds me a lot of 2D from Gorillaz.
aka. Damon Albarn, formerly of Blur.
I think the sound is desync'ed between you talking and your lips moving around 8:20.
I'm glad that I'm not the only weirdo out there hoping you'd do this one eventually! It's such an outlier. Definitely one of those "hear it once, it occupies a deep corner of your brain forever" songs.
At about 00:49 or 00:50, there is an extra "mi" before you say "might." There is an awkward little moment right before a transition where you suddenly lurch forward at about 04:16 or 04:17. The footage of you is not synched with the audio from 08:16-08:21. At 12:17 you suddenly lurch forward right before the next transition.
The footage and audio from 8:16 to 8:21 are mismatched
I was just thinking about this song, and it's been on my OHW dream list forever! Can't wait to watch it. Edit: Regarding Mishra not appearing in the Failed Follow-Up video. That's not him at 13:04?
That's what I thought!