Some songs are so cathartic and just speak right into your heart at the right time in your life, as Rachel Cholst feels about Cowboy Mouth’s classic song “Jenny Says.” Listen and learn some obscure tidbits of info about the energetic, New Orleans-based band.

I know they have a reputation that it’s a frat boy band, but there are a lot of people out there for whom they’ve done so much. And I hope that also is a part of their legacy.

Cholst, a well-known freelance writer and creator of queer country music zine Rainbow Rodeo and the Adobe & Teardrops blog discusses the effect the Cowboy Mouth has had on her life, music, and social justice-focused activities with host Sloane Spencer.

90s college rock has a very specific sensibility where it’s happy and sad at the same time. And when you’re 12 going on 13 — yeah, that hits.

Don’t forget to give One Hit History a five star rating!

Links:

• Adobe & Teardrops
• Rainbow Rodeo

Music Mentions:

• Man on the Run video
• Cowboy Mouth
• Dash Rip Rock
• Fred LeBlanc (often spelled LaBlanc)
• Paul Sanchez
• JTG AKA Griff AKA John Thomas Griffith
• John Mellencamp (Jack & Diane)
• Indigo Girls
• Better than Ezra
• Toad the Wet Sprocket
• Sonia Tetlow Band (AKA STB) (not the hip hop group)
• Ani DiFranco
• Drivin N Cryin
• Arms Akimbo (fantastic early 1980s Atlanta band, not to be confused with the late 2010s band of the same name, the main guy’s dad or uncle was my dentist –Sloane)
• Mr. Crowe’s Garden (band before the Black Crowes, you can see why we were all pretty surprised when they morphed into this Southern rock band a couple years later...)
• Mary Lasseigne, often credited as LaSang (recently known for playing in the Susan Cowsill band)
• Drive By Truckers

Enjoy this playlist featuring some of the artists we talked about in this episode.

Enjoy the on-going One Hit History playlist, featuring the songs featured on the episodes.

AI Transcript

Sloane Spencer 0:00 Hey y’all Sloane Spencer here you found us it is one hit history. We’re real easy to find online one hit history.com or support us at patreon.com/oneHithistory. I’m talking with somebody today who is a music person that if you don’t already know you should, behind some incredibly important and fascinating outlets, Adobe and Teardrops and Rainbow Rodeo the zine you definitely need to know. Rachel Cholst. Hello.

Rachel Cholst 0:26 Hi. Thank you so much for having me and for that really generous introduction.

Sloane Spencer 0:32 Well, absolutely. So real quick before we jump into the big question and the fun part of this, creatively, what have you been working on lately?

Rachel Cholst 0:40 That is a rueful laugh. Because I’ve mostly been writing essays since I’m working towards my MSW. And after about five years of doing freelance journalism on tight deadlines, while working a full time job writing like a five page paper double spaced is like really nothing to me. No, but time and energy.

Sloane Spencer 0:59 Definitely, definitely. So give people the quick rundown on what Adobe and Teardrops is.

Rachel Cholst 1:04 Sure. So I began Adobe and Teardrops in part inspired by the band we’re going to be talking about...

Chad Cochran, AKA Cowtown Chad, is a noted rock photographer and visual artist from Cleveland. His latest project, I Didn’t Want to Tell You, focuses on normalizing the conversation about mental health.

This week on One Hit History, Chad nerds out with Sloane over his favorite one hit wonder — “She Blinded Me With Science” originally released in 1982 by Thomas Dolby. Part of Dolby’s appeal is over his pure love of music in all its forms, which eventually led him away from the stage and into being an audio professor, and founding a technology company that created the iconic and polyphonic Nokia ringtone that was part of the soundtrack for the 90s.

List of links

• Chad Cochran AKA Cowtownchad
• I Didn’t Want to Tell You featured in No Depression print magazine
• Thomas Dolby “She Blinded Me With Science”
• “She Blinded Me With Science” US long version video
• One Hit Wonders playlist on Spotify
• Thomas Dolby’s profile at Johns Hopkins University
• Challenging Audio to Take the Next Step
• The Nokia ringtone
• Max Headroom
• Science! Guy is Magnus Alfred Pyke, TV presenter and scientist
• Outtakes, sneak peeks, and bonus episodes

Music mentions

• Oingo Boingo
• Foreigner
• Soft Boys
• Chic/Nile Rodgers
• Orleans
• Roger Waters/Pink Floyd
• Def Leppard
• George Clinton
• Duran Duran — Annie Zaleski (author of Duran Duran Rio book)
• Flaming Lips
• Talking Heads

Don’t forget to give One Hit History a five star rating!

Transcript

Sloane Spencer
I should maybe not tell a funny story on myself. So I got into a huge bar disagreement with somebody about “She Blinded Me with Science” because the person that was talking to me kept insisting that it was by Oingo Boingo, and I kept saying, “It’s Thomas Dolby!” And I was like, ready to get in a fist fight in a bar with some huge dude that this was Thomas Dolby and not Oingo Boingo. I should probably be way more embarrassed about that than I am....

This is Sloane Spencer. Y’all might know me from my decades in radio, and you might know me from my pioneering podcast, long form interview, conversations with “musicians you don’t know you love yet” called Country Fried Rock. And also I’m an adult living with ADD — and that means that when I get inspiration, oh my God, I’m going to do four things, and I’m going to do them all in the next 48 hours.

And that is where this new podcast is. It’s called One Hit History, where I talk with music people about their favorite one hit wonder. So of course I hit up some of my favorite friends first to get us started. (I also like alliteration. If you don’t know that already.) You can support us on Patreon at patreon.com/onehithistory, where you’ll find bonus content and episode outtakes — and no, I’m not afraid to make fun of myself.

Or just listen on our website OneHitHistory.com or your favorite podcast app. It seems a little silly, but especially for a new program like this, those five star ratings and reviews really help.
So we’re going to chat with Chad Cochran. You might know him better as CowtownChad, a noted rock photographer and visual artist, been around the scene for quite some time with some amazing work and an incredible multimedia project called “I Didn’t Want to Tell You.” Let’s have him tell you a little bit about what’s going on these days.

Chad Cochran
Right. And Hey, thanks for having me. I’m excited to do this One Hit Wonders. It’s one of those things that I’ve alway...

We ask music people that very question in each episode of One Hit History podcast. From Rock & Roll Hall of Fame archived photographers pondering 1980s dance tunes to musical social movement creators reviving a lost country legend, One Hit History dives in to how those songs made us feel and why they stick with us now. We’re like if Pop Up Video and Cocaine and Rhinestones fused, and did less research than your average Wikipedia contributor. Our secret goal: help you find music you love and have fun.

New episodes launching late January 2022.

Sneak peeks, outtakes, and bonus episodes available now on Patreon.com/OneHitHistory.

Our ever-expanding One Hit History playlist

DISCLAIMER: These comedy episodes are for fun and are based solely on personal opinions of the host and/or guest, and do not claim to be fully factual or anything other than a good time.

OHH Trailer Transcript

Hey, welcome to One Hit History where we talk with music, people about their favorite one hit wonders. I’m Sloane Spencer.

You might know me as the host of Country Fried Rock or from the variety of radio stations I have worked for over the last many decades. Thanks so much for coming to see what we’re doing here.

I have a secretly subversive life goal of turning you on to your new favorite band. So we’ll be doing that with these conversations in the upcoming, One Hit History podcast.

You can find us on Patreon at patreon.com/onehithistory or our brand spanking new website, OneHitHistory.com.

We have another new podcast coming your way as well.

So if you want to find out my vibe, check out the hundreds of past episodes of Country Fried Rock, or our other new podcast called Bubble Bottles, mainly because I like saying “Bubble Bottles.”

It’s where I talk with music people about their favorite carbonated beverages. I have a secret love for weird hyper-local carbonated beverages, particularly ginger ale and root beer myself.

And again, these conversations will be coming your way with the ultimate goal of turning you on to your new favorite band. You’ll be able to find that one on Patreon, as well. It’s Bubble Bottles, patreon.com/bubblebottles or BubbleBottles.com. I’ve also been told that my voice is a great one for turning the volume down and going to sleep. So, you’re welcome.

Hit that subscribe button on your favorite player, and we’ll be right back with you real soon. Y’all come back now, you hear?

Holly G discusses her favorite one hit wonder with Sloane Spencer, and shares an unlikely history of how Linda Martell came to record her one hit wonder, “Color Me Father.” Plus, they discuss the politics of country music in a musical scene where some got unfairly pushed aside over the years, and how the Black Opry hopes to diversify Nashville in short order.

List of links

• The Black Opry
• Black Opry on Twitter
• Linda Martell
• Rolling Stone feature on Linda Martell
• Linda Martell’s CMT award coverage in the Tennessean
• Plantation Records
• Shelby Singleton
• “Color Him Father” by Linda Martell
• Documentary by her granddaughter Marquita Thompson
• Grand Ole Opry
• Hee Haw
• Linda Martell on Hee Haw
• Original “Color Him Father” by the Winstons
• The Amen Break by the Winstons, most sampled drum break in music
• The vocal version of “Amen” (similar to what Sloane Spencer grew up singing in church in Atlanta)
• “Amen Brother” by the Winstons
• Carolina Beach Music
• Richard Lewis Spencer
• Curtis Mayfield
• Otis Redding
• Frankie Staton
• Black Opry Revue in NYC
• Black Country Music Association article in Rolling Stone
• Black Country Music Association’s old Blogspot site
• Exit/In Black Opry Revue show
• What is a songwriters’ round?
• Jewly Hight’s NPR piece on AmericanaFest Black Opry House
• AmericanaFest music conference and festival
• Cam
• Maren Morris
• Leslie Fram at CMT
• Darius Rucker
• Jimmie Allen
• UMG Nashville Cindy Mabe — the record label exec’s letter regarding Mickey Guyton, 2021 (full text at the bottom of the article)

Music mentions

• Rissi Palmer’s Color Me Country
• Lizzie No (who is a guest on our other podcast, Bubble Bottles)
• Mickey Guyton
• Miko Marks
• Brittney Spencer
• 1 Listener

  

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