"Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger

Not all bands coming out of Seattle in the 90s played grunge. Indie rockers Harvey Danger formed in 1993 and achieved some modest, unlikely success in 1998 with their catchy as hell anthem, "Flagpole Sitta." The band was started by a couple student journalists at the University of Washington who spotted the name "Harvey Danger" on a wall of graffiti in the office where they worked.

The song is their only one to have flown up the chart, topping out at #38. The band's follow up record, "King James Version" fell through the cracks as their record company got reshuffled and didn't see the light of day until late 2000. Most people had moved on by then and the band fell into obscurity.

"Hidin' From Love" by Lisa Hartman

Most people remember Lisa Hartman from her days as an actress on the show Knots Landing and perhaps from a long string of B-movies. But she also had a singing career that produced five albums between 1976 and 1987. Hartman played two different singers on Knots Landing, but she was not acting when it came to her vocal chops. Songs on her records span rock, pop, ballads, and a bit of country.

Her final record in 1987, "'Til My Heart Stops," is among her most popular, thanks to the excellent song "The Dress." However, her 1982 album, "Letterock" is perhaps her strongest and most consistent effort. Her version of the Bryan Adams song "Hidin' From Love" kicks this record off, and makes you wonder why Hartman wasn't competing with Pat Benatar on the battlefield for chart positions.

In 1991, she married country superstar Clint Black and pretty much stopped making records. 

"Hear My Song" by Dan Hartman

Dan Hartman is often characterized as a one-hit wonder because of his top 10 smash, "I Can Dream About You," which reached #6 in 1984. The song was included on the soundtrack to the film Streets of Fire, and also used as the title for Hartman's 1984 record. Hartman had a couple other songs from this effort break into the charts: "We Are The Young" landed at #25 and the bouncy "Second Nature" hit #39. 1985's "Second Nature" would be his last charting single.

You'd think that after such a successful album, a follow-up would yield at least one more hit. Interestingly, his follow-up record was never released. It was completed in 1986 and entitled "White Boy," but the record company did not feel the songs suited Hartman's image. So it went unheard. Hartman wrote songs for others until he died of a brain tumor in 1994 at 43 years of age.

Few realize that Hartman's success in the 80s was actually a career revival. He first hit the chart in 1978 when "Instant Replay" went to #29. He had some lesser charting singles in the interim such as "This Is It" (#91), "Heaven In Your Arms" (#86), and "It Hurts To Be In Love" (#72).

Before that, Hartman was a member of The Edgar Winter Group. He usually played bass, but co-wrote and sang their smash hit, "Free Ride," which hit #14 in 1973. 

"Hear My Song" is a stubbornly happy pop tune from his 1976 album called "Images."

"A Little Love" by Corey Hart

A massive superstar in his native Canada, I am surprised that most Americans think of Corey Hart as a one-hit wonder. Hart is the voice behind one of the most iconic songs of the 80s, "Sunglasses At Night," which hit #7 in 1984. People seem to forget that Hart had a bigger hit with this don't-give-up anthem, "Never Surrender," which went to #3 in 1985.

Hart also scored a number of lesser hits like "It Ain't Enough" (#17), "Boy In The Box" (#26), "I Am By Your Side" (#18), and his cover of the Elvis Presley hit, "Can't Help Falling In Love" (#24).

Staying true to his own songwriting craft, Hart arguably missed out on some huge opportunities, including an audition to play Marty McFly in Back To The Future (which ultimately went to Michael J. Fox - another Canadian!) and recording the song "Danger Zone" (which ultimately went to Kenny Loggins - not a Canadian!) for the movie Top Gun.

Hart closed out the 80s with one of his most rocking albums called "Bang!" It featured Kenny Aronoff on drums and yielded the minor hit, "A Little Love," which managed to get to #37 in 1990. It proved to be his last chart appearance in the US, largely because Hart decided to take a break from music and focus on other things, including his family. He has sporadically released some adult contemporary efforts since then.

"Get Your Shit Together" by Beth Hart

California native Beth Hart sure has a set of pipes. She's been belting out blues and rock since the age of 15, and by 1993 she won top female vocalist for the singing talent show called Star Search. This led to her first album in 1996, which featured the bluesy favorite, "Am I The One."

Hart scored her one and only chart appearance with her 1999 sophomore record with the seemingly autobiographical title, "Screaming For Your Supper." The beautiful ballad "L.A. Song" went to #90 that year. "Get Your Shit Together" is another standout track from that album and exemplifies the raw talent Hart has behind the mic.

"Devil's Radio" by George Harrison

George Harrison, the "quiet Beatle," made a rather big noise as a solo performer after the band broke up. Right out of the gate, Harrison scored his first #1 hit with "My Sweet Lord," which spent 4 weeks on top of the chart in 1970. Harrison would top the charts twice more: in 1973 with "Give Me Love" and in 1987 with his cover of "Got My Mind Set On You," originally done by James Ray.

The album that spawned his "comeback" hit in 1987 was "Cloud 9." Produced by Jeff Lynne (ELO), it was a prelude to the sound of their 1988 supergroup, The Traveling Wilburys. "Cloud 9" gave Harrison one last top 40 hit with a nostalgic look back on his time in the Beatles with "When We Was Fab" (#23). "Cloud 9" boasts many other great cuts, like "Devil's Radio," which really sounds like the mold in which Traveling Wilburys was cast.

Sadly, the music world lost this music legend in 2001 when Harrison succumbed to cancer at the age of 58.

"For All The Wrong Reasons" by Jimmy Harnen

Jimmy Harnen released his one and only album in 1989 entitled, "Can't Fight The Midnight." The story of this record goes back to 1986 with a pop rock outfit from Pennsylvania called Synch. Harnen was their drummer, but decided to sing vocals on one of their ballads, a song called "Where Are You Now?" It became the band's only charting single, hitting #77 in 1986.

The song resurfaced in 1989 thanks to heavy repeated airplay by a number of DJs and it shot all the way to #10. Its success scored Harnen a record deal, but as we all know, it flopped. The record, which features Randy Jackson (Journey, American Idol) on bass, Steve Lukather (Toto) on guitar, and a guest spot from Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon), remains an underground favorite in AOR circles.

Harnen had more in him than just high school prom themes, and quite a few of these tracks rock a bit. Such is the way with "For All The Wrong Reasons," a song I predict could have been a hit for Twisted Sister.