ONE HIT WONDERLAND: "Are You Jimmy Ray?" by Jimmy Ray

Who wants to remix this song with Ting Tings "That's Not My Name"?

Stephen Gillie

I blame this video for why "I Got Rolled" is now permanently lodged in my brain moreso than the actual hit single

Cameron Kirkpatrick

Todd, you're going to review that Lil Dicky show right?

plusmin

I had never heard this song before and now it's permanently stuck in my head. THANKS TODD

stepped pyramids

"Who Wants to Know"'s chorus really reminds me of the Muppet Babies theme.

Arun Rajkumar

I heard "Trouble" and thought "oh hey, I remember this song!" Then you pointed out that it was in the Power Rangers movie and THAT'S WHY I REMEMBER THE SONG! I watched that movie over and over as a kid. My poor parents. Also, Jimmy Ray looks like a Brendon Urie prototype to me.

Stormy K.

Jimmy Ray's vocals sound a lot like Buddy Holly's. He could probably sing a mean cover of Midnight Shift.

Juan Nunez

He looks like rockabilly John Waters, which I can get behind. I think going to the S Club 7 guy for your rockabilly career was maybe a bad call though.

Steph

Everyone’s so focused on “Are you Jimmy Ray?” that no one is looking at the real question: “Who wants to know?” I want to know who wants to know.

Matthew Abbott

great video todd!

hasn't even been posted on youtube yet, never even heard of it before, already stuck in my head. DAMN YOU - danny rey? sting ray? Billey Rey Cyrus?

Nowhere Girl

I remember my one friend in grade school used to sing this all the time at recess. Up until this exact moment, I'd only ever heard this song being shouted at me by a 9-year-old boy.

Anthony Hansen

Been waiting for you to do this one for a while. I have fond memories of Jimmy Ray. The song peaked the summer between 6th and 7th grade. I bought the CD, never listened to a single other song on it but I did bring it on a week long trip to the beach that summer where my cousin and I blasted it on repeat in the car. It lasted not quite there days when my older sister forced the CD out and told me to get it out of her sight before she chucked it out the car window. She was not feeling Jimmy Ray like we were.

Jamie Pfent

I only recognize this song because Jon Bois made a reference to it in an episode of Breaking Madden. Outside of that, never heard of this

Welp. I didn't recognise the name of the song, didn't get it from Todd's intro (no disrespect to the intro, on playback that's definitely it) or even on the "Welllll" bit, but when it kicked off with the full dance party sound and that sax grunt it was immediate "Oh! That. I remember that." and I can honestly state I've not heard or thought about it in intervening decades. But yeah. That was quite definitely a thing.

Paul McA

I have so much childhood fondness for Robbie Williams (Rock DJ was one of pre-teen me’s favorite songs), but calling him a “British hip-hop Elvis” feels like a bit of a stretch. Haha. Maybe a little closer to “British Adam Levine”.

Franco del Rosario

wow, this is the first OHW Todd has covered that I have never heard of before. Normally at the very least I recognise the opening piano riff he plays, but this got nothing.

I want to know why the backup dancers joined Fred and Barney in the Loyal Order Water Buffalo.

Josh Liller

I've never heard nor heard of this song.

Josh Liller

I am apparently one of the few that remember this song well and have often wondered why it has become so forgotten. I am also Canadian where it was a number 2 hit song, they played it on MuchMusic all the time for awhile. I even taped it on my VHS of music videos I liked that I made from 1997-99 (and still have). But even with it being a bigger hit here I don't remember ever seeing any other music video from him. He seemed to instantly disappear. I really enjoyed this episode, at the time I don't even think I realized how bonkers this song actually was.

Vanessa Picard

"there was no market for a teen idol british hip hop elvis" i believe you just described robbie williams

Jordan Schmidt

You've finally hit the point where I honestly don't remember this song, and I don't imagine you'll head back anytime soon. Every time I hear a song I think you might cover someday, I look it up and find out they band was much more successful than I realized. I was wondering recently if there might be an episode in Patti Smith's Because the Night, since it was her only real charting single.

Meghan Weber

After the "Come on Eileen" episode I was certain there would be a "poor Old Jimmy Ray" joke in there somewhere.

Daniel Bickermann

LIsten, Lindsay, you need to talk to Todd... this whole episode, and not a single joke where he whispers in his best Transylvanian bedroom voice "Whatever Happened to Fay Wray?" Just just not acceptable. Maybe you force him into a guest appearance on Musicalsplaining for the Rocky Horror show episode as a punishment.

Daniel Bickermann

I can think of only one "I'm Here, Bitch" single off the top of my head - MIMS, "This Is Why I'm Hot". And it shows why you get these so relatively rarely. Also, this was a song where I had to hear it before I recognized it. I have no earthly idea why I know this song, but considering I was 18 and a regular MTV watcher in 1998, that probably had something to do with it.

Timur Hahn

What's the first?

Jasper Phua

It's the groove of "Freedom '90" with the aura of "Faith".

I think "S Club Party" is arguably an "I'm Here, Bitch" single because it came from S Club 7's debut album, its only preceding single being "Bring It All Back". Plus, since the TV show debuted before the group started releasing singles, "S Club Party" was there from the very beginning, and was obviously used to introduce everyone to the band.

Jacqueline Sailer

Also, with regards to the "J-Pop" Jimmy Ray...that guy is CERTAINLY not Jimmy Ray - his real name is Alessandro Gilardi, and he's an Italian musician who makes eurobeat, a style of music that evolved from '80s italo disco to appeal to Japanese audiences. Eurobeat has a long and strange tradition of giving fake names to their singers; more often than not, the same vocalist will use multiple pseudonyms!

Jacqueline Sailer

Honestly if "Are You Jimmy Ray" reminds me of anyone, it's George Michael.

Jacqueline Sailer

He did have a 2nd single, "Like This," but yeah, nowhere near as successful as I understand it.

Jon Heiman

Listen Shinaed O'Connor would be so good just because of the crazy stories surrounding her

Jordan Ney

I only wished it would hit #1 so Johnnie Ray could achieve a chart-topper name-check trifecta.

I feel like Jimmy Ray's record label must have given MTV 6,000,000 dollars to promote him because I distinctly remember seeing this music video approximately 6,000,000 times

Lindsay Ellis

Also Britney Spears with "Baby One More Time" could fit the bill.

I never knew this one either. I assumed it would be some forgotten country song for some reason.

You have to do a One Hit Wonder on Brooke Hogan's "About Us" The stuff she's done before and after the hit, as well as the fact her dad is Hulk Hogan, and he once had an album called "Hulk Rules! Hulk Hogan and the Wrestling Boot Band" and did a cover of Gary Glitter's "Leader Of The Gang (I Am)" with Green Jelly with the music video set to his WWF vs IWGP Champion VS Champion match against The Great Muta in New Japan just makes it a must

I thought the same thing.

Are "I'm Here, Bitch?" all that rare? Arguably (of the top of my head) both Lizzo and Billie Eilish released songs that were basically affirmations of their personas.

Adequately Sized Dog

I was born the year this song came out. 1998 is a year I rarely hear anything about. Thank you Todd for covering '98. Once again I've learned a new song I don't hate.

Jack Darnell

My first thought about seeing this post was "Who in the fuck is Jimmy Ray"? This one of those hits I have ZERO memory of. I do remember "Trouble" though as it was featured in several 90s drama films like Foxfire, Trojan War and Butterfly Kiss.

RedBedroomRecords

Never heard of this one. Interesting that this is the second OHW song with a Johnny Ray reference.

MJS

Leo Comerford

There's another notable "I'm Here Bitch" song that became an instant one-hit wonder: "This Is Why I'm Hot" by MIMS

Isaac Jackson

It's funny how the women dancing with him in the video are wearing the number 13 on their shirts, considering that was the number this song peaked at in America.

Thomas Carmody

I also have zero recollection of this song, and I pride myself on my 1HW obscurities. I was living in The Netherlands in '98, though, so that might have something to do with it. Still, considering he was British, and I was watching a lot of BBC at the time, I feel like I would have come across this in the mix with Vengaboys, Aqua, and other pop confections of the time. But no.

David Dixon

I really liked "I Got Rolled." I honestly thought he might've been onto something with the "popabilly-hip-hop" thing, but I can't be too surprised that it didn't pan out for him.

Wyatt

You went WEEEEELLLL and all I could think of was the Big Show's first theme

Dan Barber

Born in '85, and yeah, I have 0 recollection of this song's existence. Then again, I was not the hippest of kids, so... *shrug*

Bless you, Todd. First of all, great video. Secondly, you've unlocked something I've been wondering about for years. I was only, like, six when this song came out so I honestly don't think I've heard it before. However, the McElroys reference it every once and a while and every single time i say to myself, "I need to look up that reference," and I never do. Thank you for solving the riddle for me.

Asa Sweet

I remember a lot of late 90s pop and I have genuinely never heard of this song before

horserenoir

It's so nice in this tumultuous time to have one constant: every OHW, I will look at the song title, think, "I don't know this one," and then immediately recognize it when the video starts.

Alina

I hope you’re staying safe Todd during the riots in your city

Nick Kovacs

I've spent 20 years feeling like I'm the only one who remembered this happening.

Jessica Asakevich

He looks like Brendon Urie.