One Of The 90’s Greatest One-Hit-Wonders Came From Grand Rapids

Rarely does lightning strike in the same place twice. The same can be said about creating something that will keep people coming back for more. This is something we see with music all the time: the one-hit wonder. Songs like "My Sharona" by The Knack or "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell.

It is dubbed this because someone or a band had a smash hit and then disappeared, leaving you to wonder what ever happened to them. One of these one-hit wonders from the ‘90s comes from a band located here in Grand Rapids: The Verve Pipe.

The Verve Pipe & "The Freshman"

The Verve Pipe was a band that was formed in East Lansing back in 1993 by Brian Vander Ark, Brian Stout, and Donny Brown. After the releases of two independent albums, they were approached by RCA Records and released their major label debut Villians in 1996.

Off this album came the song 'Photograph', and their hit song everyone knows them for 'The Freshman'. It was one of 1997's most popular songs, peaking at #5 on the charts.

After "The Freshman"

However, The Verve Pipe's follow-up albums 1999's self-titled "The Verve Pipe" and 2001's "Underneath" never had the same success as "Villians". In a rather unexpected twist, the band pivoted and created two children's music albums "A Family Album" and "Are We There Yet?". The Verve Pipe returned to Rock in 2014 and has released three albums since.

The band still tours to this day. If you're curious about some other songs deemed "one-hit wonders", check out the list below.