Will the U.S. ever use Carly Rae again?

[jax94]

I can kinda understand why IRLY never took off but I just listened to Run Away With Me and its a perfect 80s dazzled anthem. So will they keep ignoring her no matter what she puts out?

[allow that]

Will any country ever?

[trustypepper]

Quite frankly if "I Really Like You" couldn't do it then I don't think it will happen. It's managed to stick around on the Hot 100 for a while though, clearly demonstrating that some are still interested in her.

[jax94]

Well you could arguably say the UK and Japan do since IRLY did well there.

[Deleted]

She has this strange cult following that will keep her somewhat relevant for a few years (plus I think she does ok in Canada and Japan*) but here's doubting she ever replicates the success of 'Call Me Maybe' and overcomes the one hit wonder stigma. It's a shame too because what little I've heard of Emotions sounds brilliant.

*that country alone has sustained Avril Lavigne's  career for almost a decade now, so at least we know she'll have a budget to continue making music.

[mkarns]

Jun 22, 2015 23:47:04 GMT -5 @touch said:

She has this strange cult following that will keep her somewhat relevant for a few years (plus I think she does ok in Canada and Japan*) but here's doubting she ever replicates the success of 'Call Me Maybe' and overcomes the one hit wonder stigma. It's a shame too because what little I've heard of Emotions sounds brilliant.

*that country alone has sustained Avril Lavigne's  career for almost a decade now, so at least we know she'll have a budget to continue making music.

Technically CRJ's not a one hit wonder as she did make the top five with "Good Time", but I don't really count that as hers. Instead it's much more Owl City's hit IMO, rescuing him from 1HW status.

It may be too early to write Carly off, but the fizzling of "I Really Like You" isn't encouraging. It's also kind of surprising that she hasn't had any more individual big hits. CMM wasn't THAT long ago.

[Deleted]

Jun 23, 2015 0:27:09 GMT -5 mkarns said:

Jun 22, 2015 23:47:04 GMT -5 @touch said:

She has this strange cult following that will keep her somewhat relevant for a few years (plus I think she does ok in Canada and Japan*) but here's doubting she ever replicates the success of 'Call Me Maybe' and overcomes the one hit wonder stigma. It's a shame too because what little I've heard of Emotions sounds brilliant.

*that country alone has sustained Avril Lavigne's  career for almost a decade now, so at least we know she'll have a budget to continue making music.

Technically CRJ's not a one hit wonder as she did make the top five with "Good Time", but I don't really count that as hers. Instead it's much more Owl City's hit IMO, rescuing him from 1HW status.

It may be too early to write Carly off, but the fizzling of "I Really Like You" isn't encouraging. It's also kind of surprising that she hasn't had any more individual big hits. It's not as if "Call Me Maybe" was that long ago.

Yeah, that's why I didn't say she was a one hit wonder. She isn't, but she does carry the stigma and your post basically explains why. If you can be featured on a top five hit and people don't even bother to credit it to you, then you haven't overcome it.

[Glove Slap]

She's probably the biggest 1-hit wonder-esque act of this decade, shorthand for a novelty song for that moment and an act with nothing substantive to offer. Unlike say Gotye, she actually became a decent punchline for that, and it seems to have stuck.

She's pretty much what people thought would happen to Katy Perry after IKAG*.

*+ Japan I guess?

[Joe1240]

Carly has the same problems that fellow 2012 newscomers PSY and Cher Lloyd have. Good management teams that promote the heck out of them but no results onto hits. Carly's albums are great but the public can't look past "Call Me Maybe" to listen to any of her albums. She has had Max Martin-produced singles but Max's singles are megahits for other artists for Carly they seem to go nowhere at all.

[Deleted]

Probably not, which makes me sad b/c her latest album is perfect from beginning to end, and Kiss was delightful as well.

To some extent I think it's not that the US market wouldn't use Carly, but that her label has dropped the ball in such blatant ways that you get the sense they're the ones who don't care to use her. Like, WHY would you release her album in one country two months before you release it to the rest of the world? For that matter, why would you have her go on a media blitz for her lead single release but then not actually send the song to radio until two weeks later? Carly really needed that full-on iHeart deal, which I'd let slide if it's a matter of budget but at the very least IRLY should have arrived at radio at the same time that it was put on iTunes. This is basic shit that the label couldn't be bothered to get right and the only thing that can somewhat excuse the staggered album release is that they must think she has such a low amount of interest that no one is going to bother to bootleg it.

But on the other hand it's not the label's fault that we're now in a time where it's very hard for a pop artist to pull off having nothing to offer except good music. I've been saying since Kiss that Carly's biggest crime is the lack of a persona. If you're new you need the major push or the viral video or the over-the-top personality, or all of the above, to grab and hold people's attention. IRLY's video missed the mark, the push isn't there, and all of her personality seems to be bottled up in her music.

I think the biggest sign that she might not reach such lofty CMM heights again was when the hipster critic buzzards started circling and bestowing praise upon her. Carly's music is almost the definition of bubblegum ear candy, i.e. the antithesis of what snooty music reviewers tend to like. They seem to be into her for counter-culture sake more than Carly herself, and I don't think they would have glommed onto her if they thought there was a chance she'd be just as successful as her Scooter-managed buddies Ariana and JB.

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

It is unlikely that America will use Carly's music in the future but we should not count her out because stranger things have happened and she could have an unexpected comeback either in the form of a collaboration with another artist or the right song smashes at the right time and revives her career. Call Me Maybe was such a massive hit and also a major pop culture moment so she is forever canonized in the cultural lexicon.

[surfy]

They never used Carly Rae, though... they used "Call Me Maybe"

[tekkenguy]

Carly's problem is the lack of a public image. Her identity in the pop world is as "the Call Me Maybe girl". She doesn't have a gimmick (i.e, New Zealand teenage indie-pop singer, Aussie-American white female rapper, Nick star turned Mariah-esque R&B/pop star, rotund female doo-woop throwback singer, Swedish synth-pop singer) that will be able to leave audiences wanting more of their music. Plus being so closely associated with one song gives her the stigma of a novelty act and thus nobody will take her seriously anymore. I think it's safe to say she's done.

[Deleted]

Oh no honey after the atrocity they have thrown at my girl the REAL princess of pop. The real question is will the great Carly Rae ever use the U.S
She has my seal of approval and that is apparently and clearly harder to achieve than the general american public of fat slobs who cant be trusted to pick out their groceries much less tell us who is and isnt sell-able and marketable. If they use KatherineSwiftRih-annaByé they better use Carly!

[firefly]

Who gives a crap about America. I Really Like You still managed to be an international hit, and she always has Japan and Canada to fall back on.

[#brayden]

She's not even that big of a deal in Canada, tbh.

[redrooster]

Jun 23, 2015 0:27:09 GMT -5 mkarns said:

Jun 22, 2015 23:47:04 GMT -5 @touch said:

She has this strange cult following that will keep her somewhat relevant for a few years (plus I think she does ok in Canada and Japan*) but here's doubting she ever replicates the success of 'Call Me Maybe' and overcomes the one hit wonder stigma. It's a shame too because what little I've heard of Emotions sounds brilliant.

*that country alone has sustained Avril Lavigne's  career for almost a decade now, so at least we know she'll have a budget to continue making music.

Technically CRJ's not a one hit wonder as she did make the top five with "Good Time", but I don't really count that as hers. Instead it's much more Owl City's hit IMO, rescuing him from 1HW status.

It may be too early to write Carly off, but the fizzling of "I Really Like You" isn't encouraging. It's also kind of surprising that she hasn't had any more individual big hits. CMM wasn't THAT long ago.

What!? How the hell is Good Time more Owl City's hit!?!?!? Carly was credited as a lead artist, not a featured artist. They got about equal time on the song and it appeared on both their albums. Carly actually played an important part in the song, she wasn't just along for the ride. And if we're being honest she's the reason it charted. There's a reason everything Owl City released before and after Good Time flopped. So if anything it's more HER hit rescuing HER from 1HW status.

[redrooster]

Jun 23, 2015 0:31:58 GMT -5 @touch said:

Jun 23, 2015 0:27:09 GMT -5 mkarns said:

Technically CRJ's not a one hit wonder as she did make the top five with "Good Time", but I don't really count that as hers. Instead it's much more Owl City's hit IMO, rescuing him from 1HW status.

It may be too early to write Carly off, but the fizzling of "I Really Like You" isn't encouraging. It's also kind of surprising that she hasn't had any more individual big hits. It's not as if "Call Me Maybe" was that long ago.

Yeah, that's why I didn't say she was a one hit wonder. She isn't, but she does carry the stigma and your post basically explains why. If you can be featured on a top five hit and people don't even bother to credit it to you, then you haven't overcome it.

Good time actually peaked at #8 and Carly was a lead artist on that song.

[The Upper Hand]

It's sad that the artist couldn't overcome the hit.

Meghan Trainor, on the other hand, experienced a better fate. And that's why she sells albums too.

[jPHQ]

I said this in the "I Really Like You" post, but to sum it up, she needs to distance herself from Bieber (professionally, not necessarily personally). That caused her to be typecast as a teenybopper artist, which also cost her the opportunity to develop a male fanbase in turn. These days, for a female pop artist to be successful, they should be able to attract a decent-sized male audience (read Beyoncé, Katy, Rihanna, and Taylor).

[Deleted]

Jun 29, 2015 22:39:46 GMT -5 redrooster said:

Jun 23, 2015 0:31:58 GMT -5 @touch said:

Yeah, that's why I didn't say she was a one hit wonder. She isn't, but she does carry the stigma and your post basically explains why. If you can be featured on a top five hit and people don't even bother to credit it to you, then you haven't overcome it.

Good time actually peaked at #8 and Carly was a lead artist on that song.

It doesn't really matter, people are either going to use the "it was Owl City's" song excuse (even though she got equal time on that song and was mostly a hit because of her) or just pretend that song didn't happen to write her off as a one-hit wonder. So unless she can get another real hit on her own, she will unfortunately continue to carry that stigma.

[redrooster]

Jun 30, 2015 8:09:12 GMT -5 @billboardfan1 said:

Jun 29, 2015 22:39:46 GMT -5 redrooster said:

Good time actually peaked at #8 and Carly was a lead artist on that song.

It doesn't really matter, people are either going to use the "it was Owl City's" song excuse (even though she got equal time on that song and was mostly a hit because of her) or just pretend that song didn't happen to write her off as a one-hit wonder. So unless she can get another real hit on her own, she will unfortunately continue to carry that stigma.

That doesn't make her a one hit wonder. It makes the people calling her one wrong. Like, I could call Michael Jackson a one hit wonder all day long and it still wouldn't make him one. This also applies to Carly. More than one hit = not a one hit wonder.

[redrooster]

Jun 30, 2015 8:09:12 GMT -5 @billboardfan1 said:

Jun 29, 2015 22:39:46 GMT -5 redrooster said:

Good time actually peaked at #8 and Carly was a lead artist on that song.

It doesn't really matter, people are either going to use the "it was Owl City's" song excuse (even though she got equal time on that song and was mostly a hit because of her) or just pretend that song didn't happen to write her off as a one-hit wonder. So unless she can get another real hit on her own, she will unfortunately continue to carry that stigma.

Here's the other thing I don't like about people saying "It doesn't count for her because she's just the featured artist." Even if she were just a featured artist on the song (which she's not), people are really inconsistent about whether or not features count. Like, people seem to think "See You Again" counts for Charlie Puth. They seem to think every hit Rihanna has featured on counts for her. They seem to think "Wake Me Up" counts for Aloe Blacc and he wasn't even credited at all on that song, featured or otherwise! But then when it comes to Carly, features suddenly don't count.

[jPHQ]

Jun 30, 2015 14:49:21 GMT -5 redrooster said:

They seem to think "Wake Me Up" counts for Aloe Blacc and he wasn't even credited at all on that song, featured or otherwise! But then when it comes to Carly, features suddenly don't count.

No, I think of "Wake Me Up' as an Avicii song, though Aloe was a featured artist. I think of "I'm the Man" as Aloe's.

[redrooster]

Jul 1, 2015 16:37:03 GMT -5 jPHQ said:

Jun 30, 2015 14:49:21 GMT -5 redrooster said:

They seem to think "Wake Me Up" counts for Aloe Blacc and he wasn't even credited at all on that song, featured or otherwise! But then when it comes to Carly, features suddenly don't count.

No, I think of "Wake Me Up' as an Avicii song, though Aloe was a featured artist. I think of "I'm the Man" as Aloe's.

Well when I call Aloe Blacc a one hit wonder people respond with "No, he was featured on Wake Me Up!"

[surfy]

Jul 1, 2015 18:07:33 GMT -5 redrooster said:

Jul 1, 2015 16:37:03 GMT -5 jPHQ said:

No, I think of "Wake Me Up' as an Avicii song, though Aloe was a featured artist. I think of "I'm the Man" as Aloe's.

Well when I call Aloe Blacc a one hit wonder people respond with "No, he was featured on Wake Me Up!"

Not officially, so those people are wrong.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Jun 30, 2015 14:21:39 GMT -5 redrooster said:

Jun 30, 2015 8:09:12 GMT -5 @billboardfan1 said:

It doesn't really matter, people are either going to use the "it was Owl City's" song excuse (even though she got equal time on that song and was mostly a hit because of her) or just pretend that song didn't happen to write her off as a one-hit wonder. So unless she can get another real hit on her own, she will unfortunately continue to carry that stigma.

That doesn't make her a one hit wonder. It makes the people calling her one wrong. Like, I could call Michael Jackson a one hit wonder all day long and it still wouldn't make him one. This also applies to Carly. More than one hit = not a one hit wonder.

I'd disagree there. Some acts who technically only have one Hot 100 hit, and are technically 'one-hit-wonders' avoid being called that for various reasons while others can have two Top 10 hits on the Hot 100 but only be remembered for one. The term is applied too technically here on Pulse (and probably Billboard) when it's applied on acts by the popular who decides what songs get remembered in the long run. If enough people agree that so-and-so is a one-hit-wonder, whether technically correct or not, it doesn't really matter. That's why Carly Rae is known as a one-hit-wonder. It's why acts like Jesus Jones, PSY, Donna Lewis and Natalie Imbruglia are as well, but nobody would ever call Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd that.

[wjr15]

Jun 25, 2015 21:31:22 GMT -5 tekkenguy said:

She doesn't have a gimmick (i.e, New Zealand teenage indie-pop singer, Aussie-American white female rapper, Nick star turned Mariah-esque R&B/pop star, rotund female doo-woop throwback singer, Swedish synth-pop singer) that will be able to leave audiences wanting more of their music.

Ooh ooh!!! I bet I can guess the artists
(Lorde, Iggy Azalea, Ariana Grande, Meghan Trainor, Tove Lo)

Did I get it right? :)


Anyways... I see Carly as a one hit wonder with a few minor hits. I really felt like "I Really Like You" was gonna be her huge comeback but now I'm not too sure about her future. I hope I'm wrong cause I'm a fan of her music.

[jPHQ]

Jul 1, 2015 18:26:03 GMT -5 Devil Marlena Nylund said:

I'd disagree there. Some acts who technically only have one Hot 100 hit, and are technically 'one-hit-wonders' avoid being called that for various reasons while others can have two Top 10 hits on the Hot 100 but only be remembered for one. The term is applied too technically here on Pulse (and probably Billboard) when it's applied on acts by the popular who decides what songs get remembered in the long run. If enough people agree that so-and-so is a one-hit-wonder, whether technically correct or not, it doesn't really matter. That's why Carly Rae is known as a one-hit-wonder. It's why acts like Jesus Jones, PSY, Donna Lewis and Natalie Imbruglia are as well, but nobody would ever call Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd that.

It's funny you mention Natalie Imbruglia because from a technical standpoint, she is a one-hit wonder in that her so-called biggest hit "Torn" was a No. 1 hit on Billboard's airplay chart. However, it was her follow-up single "Wishing I Was There" which made the Top 40 of the Hot 100, since it was late 1998, and Billboard finally caught up with the times and included airplay-only songs due to the success of other airplay-only songs that were Hot 100 ineligible ("Don't Speak", "Fly", "3am", "One Headlight", and "The Way" being the most notable). "Torn" did barely miss the Top 40 but again, by the time the rules had changed, "Wishing I Was There" was moving up in the charts and "Torn" was going down.

[redrooster]

Jul 1, 2015 18:26:03 GMT -5 Devil Marlena Nylund said:

Jun 30, 2015 14:21:39 GMT -5 redrooster said:

That doesn't make her a one hit wonder. It makes the people calling her one wrong. Like, I could call Michael Jackson a one hit wonder all day long and it still wouldn't make him one. This also applies to Carly. More than one hit = not a one hit wonder.

I'd disagree there. Some acts who technically only have one Hot 100 hit, and are technically 'one-hit-wonders' avoid being called that for various reasons while others can have two Top 10 hits on the Hot 100 but only be remembered for one. The term is applied too technically here on Pulse (and probably Billboard) when it's applied on acts by the popular who decides what songs get remembered in the long run. If enough people agree that so-and-so is a one-hit-wonder, whether technically correct or not, it doesn't really matter. That's why Carly Rae is known as a one-hit-wonder. It's why acts like Jesus Jones, PSY, Donna Lewis and Natalie Imbruglia are as well, but nobody would ever call Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd that.

I never called Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd one hit wonders and they both have more than one hit. Altho arguably if Carly is a one hit wonder so is Pink Floyd because they both have just two top 40 hits (unless you count IRLY randomly jumping to #39 that one week); one that went to #1 and then Carly's second hit charted higher than Pink Floyd's. Like I said, all those people calling Carly a one hit wonder doesn't make her one. It makes those people wrong.