Reviewing The Wallflowers' "#1 Alternative Hit "One Headlight"
By
Tom Breihan
Hand-rolled, kettle-boiled, baked to perfection. Worth every minute at the bakery.
Summary
This article is part of a column series reviewing every #1 single on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks/Alternative Songs chart. The specific installment covers The Wallflowers' "One Headlight," which reached #1 on the alternative chart in 1997. The article contextualizes the song within the career of The Wallflowers (led by Jakob Dylan), the broader alternative rock landscape of the late 1990s, and includes a framing anecdote about Bob Dylan's health scare in 1997. The piece is a retrospective music review and analysis.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledBob Dylan had a pretty good year in 1997. In June, he was hospitalized for a heart condition, but he made a full recovery.
Can a near-death experience be part of a good year? I'm going to say that it can, since it's 29 years later and he's still on the road.
In The Alternative Number Ones, I'm reviewing every #1 single in the history of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks/Alternative Songs, starting with the moment that the chart launched in 1988.
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