The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So
I loathe the “one-hit wonder” tag, because it’s usually nothing more than a lazy way of saying “didn’t have a ton of hits”. Often it’s only locally accurate anyway - just because a band only had one hit in your country doesn’t mean they haven’t also sold 25 million albums worldwide.
I don’t think The Hives have sold 25 million albums worldwide, and at the same time I can’t really think of another track of theirs that hits a spot anything like as sweet as Hate To Say I Told You So. Yeah, there’s Main Offender, but it’s not in the same league is it? Nothing before, in their early years, only known in their native Sweden; nothing afterwards, other than re-issue after re-issue of Your New Favourite Band.
It’s a curious phenomenon, and possibly a logical sleight of hand, but given the angry Kinks rattle and “come on!” of Hate To Say I Told You So, it seems that if it had been just another of their songs, their brilliant songs, of which they have many, too many to record and release frankly… then I’d be intimately acquainted with their entire catalogue. Because I’m not, despite the many years and opportunities that have passed, I conclude that this was, in fact, a blip on the otherwise silent radar screen that is The Hives’ career trajectory.
But what a blip! The kind that courses through you like pure adrenalin; the kind that made me move so spectacularly that a fellow clubber once called me “a legend”. Obviously, he was taking the piss, but I’ll take it. But only if no-one thinks of me as a one-hit dancer.