Customer Reviews

99 Red Balloons And 100 Other All-Time Great One-Hit Wonders

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I'll tell you just how good this book is: I've had two copies of "99 Red Balloons" lifted from my office cubicle over the past four months. Note to my co-workers: Buy your own copy! As I read this fascinating book, I felt like I was back in high school doing homework and listening to all my favorite songs on the radio. It's smart, funny and extremely well written. Brent Mann gives you the intriguing inside story behind classic one-hit wonders from Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs ("Stay") to Ace ("How Long") to Dexys Midnight Runners ("Come on Eileen") to Chumbawamba ("Tubthumping"). If you like music and pop culture, you will really dig "99 Red Balloons."

Essentially, if you have been listening to Top 40 radio at any point since the days of Rock Around The Clock, you know (and love) at least one of the songs referenced in this book.

The book is eminently readable. Each of the 101 One-Hit Wonders is given its own chapter, and you learn the history of the song/artist, with an exploration into what happened with the artist to send them into One-Hit Wonder Land.

Good Job, Brent! we await the sequel!

Did you know that "Seasons in the Sun" was recorded by The Kingston Trio long before Terry Jacks ever got his hands on this tune? If you remember your radio cranking out classic one-hit wonders like Katrina & the Waves ("Walking on Sunshine"), The Standells ("Dirty Water"), Marc Cohn ("Walking in Memphis"), and Ace ("How Long"), you won't be able to put this book down. Brent Mann writes beautifully and his research is impeccable. Anyone who grew up listening to Top 40 music will enjoy 99 Red Balloons -- highly recommended.

Wow, what a great idea this was. My friends and I laughed, reminisced and even cried a bit. We loved this book. We read it out load and just had so much fun. Singing some of the tunes. I really think this is such a fun book! I highly recomemnd it.

What a pleasant surprise!! Author Brent Mann combines wit and humor with a seemingly endless collection of factoids about those favorite one-hit wonders we all grew up with.

"99" now holds a special place in my heart for featuring "Brandy" -- one of the best all time one-hit wonders!!

The best thing about "99" is the great conversations it spurs among friends: Is aha really a one-hit wonder? What was the deal with that Devo video? What ever happened to Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians? And of course, who really is the #1 one-hit wonder?

Best shared among friends, "99" is a great conversation piece. Thanks Brent for bringing us back to some classic musical touchstones!

What a fun book this is! It's really interesting to know who the people behind these hits were, and where they are now.

The author's commentary is informative and funny, and he had the uncanny ability to pick out the songs that were the soundtrack of my youth. No matter where I open this book up, .the memories come flooding back to me of where I was and what I was doing when the song came out.

Highly recommended!

What I most enjoyed and appreciated about this book was that it focused on lots of seldom-written-about one-hit wonders such as Benny Mardones, Karla Bonoff, Steve Forbert, and The Sanford-Townsend Band. I thought Brent Mann did a really nice job giving many talented, under-appreciated artists their due.

I also liked the style of writing, which I found crisp and witty. A few other reviewers have compared Brent Mann to the travel writer Bill Bryson, and I think that's an apt comparison as they both write well-researched, fact-filled books seasoned with good-natured humor.

I am just amazed by the tremendous research the author, Brent Mann, must have done for this book. The book is truly entertaining, and I had so much fun reading it. It will make a great Christmas gift.

I recently heard a commentator on NPR compare Brent Mann to Bill Bryson, and I have to totally agree with that comparison. If you enjoyed Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island," you will love Brent Mann's "99 Red Balloons."

I just got this book, and couldn't put it down! Mr Mann has put together some of the most fascinating stories about these bands. I'd heard and loved most of these songs, so it was a sheer joy to read about. Normally you only hear about the very famous groups... not the near-famous ones! I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone who loves music.