Number 27: Fiction Factory - Feels Like Heaven
Kevin Patterson and Eddie Jordan formed Fiction Factory in their native Scotland in mid-1983. Their debut album, Throw The Warped Wheel Out, produced one monster hit: lead-off single "Feels Like Heaven". It reached #6 in the UK and charted in dozens of countries worldwide. Strangely, however, the band was not able to replicate this success. The second single, "Ghost Of Love" only reached #64, and nothing else from the group charted at all. Their second album, 1985's Another Story, was a commercial disaster and led directly to the breakup of the band. Not to insult Fiction Factory fans (I have seven of their songs on my personal playlist and enjoy their music), but these guys are a textbook example of the one hit wonder. "Feels Like Heaven" is an amazing song, but even the video is awful. It's so bad it actually makes me like the song less, so I didn't even include it here; my advice is, don't watch it. Few of the other tracks on Throw The Warped Wheel Out are in any way noteworthy (and the name of the record is awkward), and the second album was an utter sales debacle.
Still, "Feels Like Heaven" is so good, those lovable losers Fiction Factory get the #27 spot on my Top 200.
Top of the Pops performance:
That was indeed the era of new wave easy listening one-hit wonders... Haircut 100 "Love Plus One", Style Council "My Ever Changing Moods" ... even the abrasive and unlistenable Romeo Void got into it with "A Girl in Trouble is a Temporary Thing" .. and while these guys were a textbook example at least they mercifully passed from sight quickly after their one-hit subsided ... unlike some others (e.g. Dexy Midnight Runners who on the basis of one hit have gone through 10 reunions and 100 members and are still assaulting ear canals to this day)
ReplyDeleteDexy's are terrible.
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