@@matturner6890 YT won't let me post links but the title is "So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful Of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer's Life"
Same, it's getting to the point where "well the- " is shorthand for an image of someone about to propose marriage and a jock slapping the ring out of the guys hands
When I was a kid I worked in this theme park, and we were allowed to bring speakers. We closed at five but around like three Id turn on closing time in the hopes that people would think we were closed and leave.... never worked haha
There's a video where Dan is doing a talk and he's talking about Closing Time. He said that the song is about him being excited about being a dad but, at the time, every rock song about being excited about becoming a parent sounded very corny and nobody really liked them so that's why Closing Time is a big metaphor and could have multiple interpretations. Ultimately, though, it kicks ass.
I heard an interview with Semisonic a few years back and they said that when they went from radio station to radio station trying to promote their new single, the radio stations passed saying “We don’t need a new single from you because Closing Time still sells advertising space.” That little quote has always stuck with me.
That sign from Wayne's World was apparently a real thing before the movie. Music stores actually felt the need to forbid "Stairway to Heaven" from being played on their guitars.
@Eva Luna I'm waiting for him to tackle Nellie Fertado. 2 or three major successes, a major multilingual flop, and then happily leaving the mainstream music scene to focus on family and more meaningful, smaller scale projects
@@PainCausingSamurai I still have her first 3 albums, they're absolute bangers. She had quite a lot of hits, in my country at least. I probably should go check out the rest of her work to see if I like that too.
Grew up in Minnesota. Trip Shakespeare played at my college twice, met the Wilson brothers, drunk as hell but nice guys. Saw them at First Avenue twice, great shows. I knew they were too quirky to make it big but loved them. Then I thought Semisonic would be huge after Closing Time, I was rooting for them. It's a shame lesser bands broke out bigger, but if you can't have many hits at least have one classic one. Will always remember the 90's and these guys were a big part of it.
Don't feel too sorry for ol' Dan. His BAND may have had one hit, but thanks to The Chicks and Adele, he himself has had three massive hits, the latter of which basically matches and exceeds the heights of the original!
I always find it interesting to me how a band like Semisonic are both one hit wonders in my home country (UK) with 'Secret Smile', whilst also being one hit wonders in the US with 'Closing Time'
I had never heard 'Closing Time' before this video, but 'Secret Smile' has been rattling around in the back of my head for years (though I think I assumed it was by Keane or another UK band of that ilk). There really can't be all that many bands to have managed that
@@IsiahTomas I still think opening up the shift, and the doors to the store, with closing time is a huge middle finger. I can understand the dubstep at the home theater though, got to show off that fucking bass. Like playing Rehab by Amy Winehouse at a rehab
Man, coming back to this having listened to every Semisonic song and becoming a genuine fan of the band is weird. Because to me these are all hits, emotionally. And yet this video is where it all began.
I’m literally about to do that because he mentions them in the same breathe as fountains of Wayne a band I truly love & I think if I was a teen when semisonic came out I would have been big fan of them too.
One thing I'm amazed that Todd didn't mention is that Closing Time is a borderline novelty song. It's about a very specific subject whose hook is the song. That's a hard hit to follow up with no matter how good your music is.
I was either a bad mother, or a great mother, depending on your perspective, but my son was 9 when this hit and he loved it and knew every word. This coincided with the school talent show, and I convinced him that it was fine to sing the song in front of the entire very conventional school staff, student body, and their parents and grandparents. It was pretty awesome, IMO. I wish I still had the old VHS of the event.
@@jackalope2302Nope. He is, however, just like me in that we are music of all genres crazy & now at 27, he schedules his vacations around 3-4 day obscure music festivals. The reason I was so excited about him singing it, despite the adult-ish lyrics was because he was EXTREMELY shy and had a super out-going sister 20 months older and he would never do anything that put the spotlight on himself, mostly because he had a slight speech impediment and was very small for his age. He pulled it off like he did it all the time. BTW, I went for the double header of questionable parenting choices that year-his 11 yr old sister sang Shania Twain's Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under. Heh. You might not get this reference, but in the mid-70s there was a joke type single called, "The Streak," about public streakers. I was in 4th grade & played the streak character in our school talent night/"show."" This entailed wearing nothing but a very thin nude body suit, & running around causing hijinks with the audience & parents. My mom was ok w/that, and things were really, really different then, morality-wise. As for my kids, they both turned out great, so the lesson, (I guess), is use your own judgment when raising your kids, they're YOURS, after all.
I grew up in the 90's and never remember hearing this song. I don't think it got much play outside the US. But like Todd said, Secret Smile was a hit here in the UK and I definitely remember that one.
I grew up in the 2000s and I heard it everywhere. To me, it was one of those songs like Jump or Yellow Submarine that was just ingrained in my mind as far as I could remember.
I'm from Minnesota, and I've got a few stories. When I was in high school, at rock music camp, the band I was in did that song. Our instructors were local musicians, and one of them was doing a project with John Munson at the time. When we were running it, he was on the phone with John Munson, who said he'd be at our final show, and we owed him five bucks. John Munson and two of the instructors from that music camp are now in a band together called the New Standards. They do a yearly holiday show with pretty much every big name in the local music scene making a guest appearance. When I was in college, at the music school I went to, they added an artist in residence program. Dan Wilson was that artist in residence, and one of those times, he had all of us collaboratively write a song as a class. It was a really silly song, but he said he prefers that songwriting environment over sitting and trying to think and reflect on profound ideas. My songwriting teacher was also a local musician of whom he had produced. Also, for some humor, when he was a weekly guest speaker for a class, a student asked him if he could do "Closing Time," he said "sorry I don't know it."
@@svenjansen2134 Sure, but, like, similar can be said of Dexy's Midnight Runners, or Falco, or Midnight Oil. The "One Hit" angle largely relates to the American charts.
It's because of just how much he enjoys talking about it. It's why I hope Todd does a series on songs he likes at some point. I just feel like a lot of reviewers, kind of across the board, still think that the only thing that gets hits are stuff they hate. And I just think that is steadily becoming less and less true. I want to know what Todd thinks is real good music too, not just his views on crap.
@@galactor123 2 years later and he really seems to have moved towards more positive tone, either talking about music he enjoys or doing a devil's advocate for pop songs and pop acts many people hate. Even in songs he doesn't like he lists some positives. I'm so glad that RU-vid has moved away from NostalgiaCritic-style angry rants towards nerdwriter1-style appreciative analyses.
All about chemistry was a pretty succesful record in Europe. I think it's more famous there than closing time. As for why the success didn't last, I guess they were too much of a "band next door" kind of act. Even if their songs are good, in the end it doesn't really stand out as consistently amazing. It's very servicable pop/rock by normal guys who played some great songs. It did not blow you away, but it was good fun and in the end, that's what matters for a rockband. Sadly for semisonic, excentricity and drama became a bigger selling point than just good songs. They had to get (a bit) weirder or outspoken/inventive (like Muse) or they had to get into the tabloid-press (like Oasis) with various conflicts and affairs. But they were probably not the sort of people to do either of those and stuck to their guns. Which, while showing integrity, made them less interesting to the casual audience, who probably began to view their music as "all the same" after the few hits.
Exactly! I'm from The Netherlands, didn't recognize Closing Time... And then All About Chemistry played as one of the followup singles: 'Oooh, they're from this hit!'
On a whim, my girlfriend and I dove into this band during a long car trip a while back, in part going off Todd's recommendation. They've since become one of our favorites (alongside The New Radicals, a duo we've dubbed "Semi-Rad") - "Great Divide" in particular sees a looot of play when we're out running errands and we're not *specifically* in the mood for something else, but we've spun all their stuff plenty and it all makes the time driving around a bit more fun. Kickass band, severely underappreciated, and we're sooo glad they dropped an EP a few months back. PS: Can't wait for your Dishwalla episode :v
"Toolmaster of Brainerd" also has a weird legacy: a Minneapolis comedian kept singing the song about the propmaster on this little puppet show he was working on because his last name rhymed. The nickname stuck, and thus Jef Maynard was officially credited as "Toolmaster" on MST3K. (The comic was "TV's" Frank Conniff, as the story goes.)
For the record, I, too, loved “Chemistry”. And I highly recommend the book “So You Wanna Be a Rock Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer’s Life” by Jacob Slichter, aka the drummer from Semisonic. It’s a pretty funny memoir about the thrill and awkwardness of being in a hit band, the denial and dawning horror at becoming a one-hit wonder, then finding a humbly sardonic perspective, skewering the shitty parts while still embracing the magic of whole thing. That “Closing Time” is the hit that propelled him through all that is really just bonus, but I think it made me root a little harder for the guys, and feel better about their Wonder status, because I love “Closing Time”, and because it has endured as a beloved staple.
I saw them last night at First Ave. They were great! They even played a new song, and Dan said he has written several more that "sure sound like Semisonic"! New album in the works, perhaps?
The prop master of MST3K was named Jeff Maynard, and his title in the credits was "Tool Master". I wonder if it's a Minnesota thing or if that's just a straight Trip Shakespeare reference
Jeff Maynard confirmed it was a reference to Trip Shakespeare, in the behind-the-scenes special "This is MST3K". He said Frank Coniff was singing parodies of song lyrics and came up with "Toolmaster Jeff Maynard". They decided to use that in the credits, since his job encompassed more than just "props".
In my opinion, Semisonic was one of the best bands of the 90s. They had a unique style that combined Pop punk, hard rock, indie, and electronics. Given to wonderful a power pop flavor. They deserved so much more hits. I also think Dan Wilson is also one of the most prolific songwriters of the decade. (outside the greats of course)
Yeah, a little bit! I think Better Than Ezra is better though, and that's not because my name is actually Ezra, either. Yep, I was in 7th grade when this band came out in 1995. I was also a drummer in a band that played the 1995 school talent show, doing Metallica and Iron Maiden tunes, been playing since I was 3 so I was kind of popular. Kind of a fucking dork but popular nonetheless. When this band came out though I couldn't fucking believe they were using my name. Needless to say, I've gotten a lot of, "you're name is Ezra? Like, Better Than Ezra, hahahaha!" Shit like that! Good times though. Don't like the album "Deluxe" as much as I did then though. I grew up listening to and being influenced by Jazz, Classic Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Rock, Blues, Glam Metal, Power Metal and Thrash Metal. I entered a phase around '94-95 where I was into Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Seven Mary Three, Weezer, Silverchair...ect! All that teenage bubblegum alternative grunge crap more or less..didn't last though. Now when I try to go back and listen to that shit today, I'm like, "What the fuck was wrong with me?" I can't stand those bands or anything that's been put out since...real music and rock and roll is dead.
I’ve worked many retail and food service jobs over the course of my young adulthood, and I have such a fond feeling towards this song. The soundtrack to many closing shifts and it’s never gotten old for me because it always brings a feeling of “I’m getting off and going home soon”
This has been one of my favorite songs since I was a kid. My parents had the Feeling Strangely Fine album and I would listen to it all the time growing up. Brings back awesome memories.
Dan Wilson is one of my favorite musicians, and Feeling Strangely Fine has been one of my favorite albums since high school. I think I listened to it every day for my entire senior year. Never You Mind is one of the greatest songs from the 90s IMO.
I’m 8 years late finding this video but I feel like I have to comment. I LOVE Semisonic. I have all 3 of their albums, know every song. So many fantastic catchy tunes and thoughtful lyrics. I found out about them in the mid-90s right when their first album was released - I heard them live opening for Aimee Mann (what a perfect choice). Usually an unknown opening band is meh and you’re barely paying attention, but their songs were AMAZING and I was riveted. The next day I went out and bought their record immediately. Between Semisonic and Aimee, I still remember this concert as one of the best I ever heard
A lot of the conceits and lyrics from this band (even just from this video) are genuinely poetic. Not a fan before, but they immediately have my respect.
This was great thank you! I'm from Minnesota so I never thought of Semisonic as one hit wonders, because the radio stations played a lot of their songs. I also met them at an Amie Mann concert, they were very sweet.
A lot of these songs may have been released under the "alternative" banner, and may have gotten played on your local alternative station, but bands/songs like Semisonic and Closing Time were part of a crossover format called "Modern AC" (or as I called it - "MOMdern AC, because it was alternative your mom could listen to). Semisonic, Matchbox 20, Sarah McLachlan, all that kind of stuff. A lot more of this stuff stood the test of time than we think. It seems poppier than anything else we may have heard at the time. PS - Singing In My Sleep was the best song on that disc.
I actually played and sang this song at my graduation ceremony. The class demanded that I got to play at graduation, and so I played a slightly shortened version (along with the alcohol lyric changed because it's high school) on acoustic
Just wanted to say this video got me into Semisonic years back and I fell in love with the band, Follow became my wife and I's song, we played it at our wedding. So, yeah... Thanks Todd. You really brought something important into my life by making this video.
Gave me chills when you mentioned "Singing in my Sleep" maybe the only good thing to come out of a past relationship i had. Brilliant song, and one of the only ones I ever shared with that person.
I went to an arts high school in the Twin Cities and Dan Wilson came in to visit when I was a senior (2007 or 2008) and played Closing Time for us (with our music teacher accompanying on piano). One of the coolest things that happened to me in high school.
I'm from Canada (Quebec), I remember "Surprise" and "Secret Smile" being on the radio and MTV, definetely not as big a hit as Closing Time, but I wouldn't call them 1-hit wonders where I'm from.
I read the drummers book. It was evocative and poignant and fascinating in that he managed to fill a book with the story of how they had this one monster song. He does manage to convey the surreality of it though, in particular how it felt to have the song precede them into every city they went to.
So, a four-year retrospective, since I first saw this review when it first came out in 2013. Todd convinced me to look into this band. I now own all their albums, including the 20th Century Masters “hits” album. I also managed to find (by pure happenstance, honestly, I wasn't trying) both of Trip Shakespeare's major releases on CD. Naturally, I bought them.
My one trip outside the USA (to Scotland) gave me my “I miss home” moment. We were at a McDonald’s (shut up, it was the only food place open when we arrived late at night) This song was new-ish at the time and when itcame on the radio, all the Scottish teenagers working there that night started singing along and our counter worker said “I love this song!” as he joined the chorus. I felt so proud of the home town team (I lived in Minneapolis at the time) but was too jet lagged to say anything coherent about seeing Trip Shakespeare or Semisonic in town.
I never thought of this band as a "One Hit Wonder" band cuz I've known a ton of their songs like "Gone to the Movies," "Chemistry," "Secret Smile.." etc. etc. Btw I was just recently in Minneapolis. Kick ass city, and this band's music captures the atmosphere up there.
Yay, this is so on spot! I moved in to the UK in the summer of 2014 and while I can safely say, that I never heard "Closing Time" before, the very moment when Tod played that clip from "Secret Smile" I was like "Heeey!That's the same band huh?" I heard it quite a few times on the radio in the last year, so yes - it is indeed popular in the UK. But so it was back home, in Poland, though I can't say if it broke into any "top tens". Needles to say I like it and I'm going to play it to my gf right now :) Being (as for today) tad too old for that "masturbatory" part, I have to say that it was probably for the better that I never tried to check on their third album. Kinda, rubs me the wrong way. Heh. OK, I'll show myself out...
+milczyciel Secret Smile is the UK's Closing Time. Semisonic are probably the only band to technically have two one-hit wonders... Which definitely means they deserve more credit than they got.
+kimboisaweenie And Ima have to agree with Todd, in that "Singing In My Sleep" was probably their best single. Even though that basically makes two of us who think that.
@@jennyknopps1291 make that 4. Or 5. I put it as the first track of a mix cd i made for my gf and i's 1 month anniversary We've been together for 2.5 years
11:13 Hi, I'm from 2020 and I just wanna say: Toddstradamus strikes again. This might be one of his most impressive botched predictions. i mean, who would've thought Semisonic would make a comeback almost 2 decades later.
Kind of wanna hear Todd talk about phish. Love that band and grew up with it all my life. My parents were super into jam bands and went to their concerts like every month. I know all the slang terms the fans use and the culture that formed around Phish. Good memories.
I recently found your channel and have been watching all of your one hit wonderland videos in a row and I waited until last to watch this one since I love Semisonic. Singing in my sleep is one of my favorite pop songs, Dan Wilson is a brilliant songwriter
I don't really see Good Riddance as a great graduation song, at least not when you have plenty of fond memories and you want to leave feeling like you're on a high note. Good Riddance is a sarcastic and bitter song.
@@BiggieTrismegistus I think it's mostly because those strings towards the end of the song sound so blissful and nostalgic. The full title is "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", and I kind of see it as the lyrics capturing the first part of the title, and the strings capturing the second.
@@ReitheOffbeatOtaku Could be. I also think many people are bad at interpreting lyrics too. Many people think Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The USA" is a real "America is awesome" song when it's anything but.
@@BiggieTrismegistus That's true, though I think a lot of cases like that are more just people hearing the song in the background enough to get the instrumental and chorus memorized, but not going out of their way to learn the rest of the lyrics.
I can confirm that Trip Shakespeare lyrics make more sense if you're from Minnesota. As for Semisonic, I've always been a bit sad that they became one hit wonders.
Wasn’t that F.N.T song one of the standout tracks from the movie “10 things I hate about you”? Semi sonic were pretty big here in Australia, I remember all 3 of the singles being pretty big on radio....and still get a pretty good run on the rock stations here like Triple M
Recently started watching your videos and this one specifically took me back. While I kinda enjoy Closing Time, I absolutely adored Secret Smile and Singing In My Sleep. Thank you so much.
"Singing In My Sleep" got a lot of airplay in Cleveland, OH for some weird reason. I remember catching it both on the adult contemporary pop station my school bus driver played and then on the alt-rock station my older sister jammed. The things you remember from twenty-four years ago... Liked it a lot more than "Closing Time" because of it having a "dreamy" sound and once I was in high school I got into Sigur Ros and shoegaze, go figure.
I never thought that out of all the one hit wonderland episodes you’ve done, this would be the one that got me into a new band. I’ve listened to these guys entire back catalogue and I’ve just ordered two CDs signed by the band, yeah now I’m a pretty big fan too, thanks Todd
It's super fun watching this as a Minnesotan who's constantly listening to The Current. I hear Semisonic so much that I honestly forgot that they were a one hit wonder.
Thank you so much for doing this episode! I love Closing Time and FNT is one of my favorite songs, but I had never heard of any of the other song sc you mentioned. They're all awesome and I'm going to check all of them out 😊
