Thursday, August 25, 2011

On the radio: Sweet Seduction is worthy of trivial factoid generation

When the family sits down for a meal, we'll often put on one of the Music Choice digital channels to get some tunes for our listening pleasure. The other day, I was feeding my little one while the eighties music station played in the background.

Quick confession: Much as I love my son, I don't always stare at his baby-food-plastered mug the entire time I'm shoveling it towards him. I like glancing over at the tube and seeing the little factoids Music Choice runs on the screen as sort of a screen saver while the song plays.

I didn't remember the 1989 song "Hooked on You" by Sweet Sensation, nor do I remember much about Sweet Sensation except that there were about 10 similarly named bands around that time they everyone mixed up, so I wanted to learn something by watching the Music Choice parade of trivia.

When the song began, a note at the top said the band formed in the Bronx. A not-so-clear picture of an undetermined female--perhaps a member of the group--dominated the screen.

Then there was a note about the advent of recorded music in general.

Then I saw something about how the Top 40 was created.

Then it was a tidbit about the cassette tape.

As the song went on, so did the factoids, but they were all generic ones, with nothing specific to Sweet Sensation. Maybe I missed something while ducking pear/pineapple spittle from my son, but there was a clear lack of info about the act. Is this band that obscure, that faceless, that it merits such an approach? No trivia at ALL for these gals?

I engaged my research assistant, The Internet, to dig up some information on my own so that I could make this post and drop some knowledge on all the Music Choice watchers who are scratching their heads wondering what the deal is with the artists behind such hits as...uh, "Hooked on You." Given the band name, the song title, and the album title, "Take It While It's Hot," I know what you're thinking: pretentious art rock.

Well, according to Wikipedia, they were a Puerto Rican freestyle/dance music trio, they experienced several membership changes, and their career lasted from about 1986 to 1991. That album spawned 5 singles. "Hooked On You" peaked at 23 on the Billboard Hot Singles chart.

See, that wasn't so hard, Music Choice. There are tidbits for this group! There are tidbits for everyone! Just do a little work next time.

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