Contents:
Fleetwood Mac – ‘Dreams’ (1977) (TikTok skateboard guy)
Morton Block - ‘My Love’
Jess Glyne - ‘Hold My hand’
Michael Jackson - ‘Thriller’
Kate Bush - ‘Running up that Hill’
Since the dawn of social media platforms, the millennial generation has shown a large amount of interest in tunes before their time. From TikTok dance trends to new TV series releases, many songs from the past have been able to make a comeback thanks to the power of social media, particularly TikTok.
Listed below are 5 songs that have made a comeback in the music scene.
1. Fleetwood Mac – ‘Dreams’
Release Date: (1977)
Comeback: (2020)
The man, the myth, the legend, Nathan Apodaca, didn’t let his truck breaking down on him affect his day. The world’s most chilled out guy decided to hop on his skateboard, while drinking some Ocean Spray cranberry juice, and started lip-syncing the hit song ‘Dreams’ by Fleetwood Mac while riding down a highway.
The video went viral and was viewed over 87 million times. The video even received the attention of Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood, who created his own version of the popular video. See the video
The TikTok sensation, known as @Doggface208, now has a whopping 2.6 million followers on Instagram and was given a brand new Nissan car filled with bottles of cranberry juice as a gift from Ocean Spray.
The track, ‘Dreams’ by the legendary band, was released as part of their acclaimed 1977 album 'Rumours', which went to No 1 on the charts at the time of its release. The outcome of the TikTok video led to the track rising to the top of the charts again in 2020. The video ended up boosting the streams of “Dreams” by over 88% within the first two days of being posted on TikTok.
2. Morton Block - ‘My Love’
Written (1958)
Released (2022)
Morton Block and His Grandson Playing The Trumpet Together
Morton “Mort” Block was a 19-year-old Navy petty officer who served in the North Atlantic. In 1958, Block fell head over heels for Susan Weber. He sat on the deck of the ship, trying to put his feelings for her into a letter, stating, “I knew she was the one for me.”
However, he soon had an even better idea and decided to turn the letter into a song.
Although he ultimately came to the decision not to mail Weber the song he wrote, she accepted Block’s proposal in 1959, and they were married the following year.
64 years later, “My Love” would become a hit. It all started when his grandson, Matt Block, insisted that he record the song with a talented jazz band. They then released it to TikTok, with a music video featuring Susan and Mort's honeymoon in 1960.
The video has now been viewed over 1.5 million times since March 2022. Mort was shocked at the popularity of his song, and ended up gaining over 15,000 TikTok followers.
He stated that he is so pleased that his grandsons are now enjoying their own success because of something he wrote in 1958. He stated that if it weren't for his grandson Matt, he is pretty certain that the song would still be sitting in his drawer.
3. Jess Glyne - ‘Hold My Hand’
Release date - (2015)
Comeback - (2020)
In 2020, a Texan father-daughter duo decided to create a fun video of themselves dancing in their kitchen during the coronavirus pandemic, to the tunes of Jess Glyne’s hit track ‘Hold My Hand’, from the studio album titled "I Cry When I Laugh".
Ali and Michael Hoffman both showed off their awesome upbeat dance moves in the video titled "Quarantine Challenge 2K20", which now has over 2.6 million views on YouTube.
As a result, ‘Hold My Hand’ has made an amazing comeback. According to Chartex, the views for the song's YouTube video quadrupled from Feb 2020 to March 2020, due to Ali and Michael Hoffman’s dance video.
Helping to follow up on this newfound boost of popularity, Glynne went on to release "Lie for you" later that same year.
4. Michael Jakcson - ‘Thriller’
Release Date - (1984)
Comeback - (2009) and (2021)
Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ is a musical masterpiece the late king of pop left behind. Along with the creepy, zombie-themed music video, “Thriller” has become one of Jackson's biggest hits, and is a classic during the annual celebration of Halloween.
When the title track was first released in 1984, it ranked #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The sensational album became the best selling album of all time, with over 70 million copies sold worldwide.
In 2021, a mashup song went viral on TikTok for Halloween.
Over 343 thousand and 1.1 million TikTok videos were created respectively, using the songs ‘Thriller’ and Rockwell’s - "Somebody's Watching Me."
Thriller became a chart success once again, and reached #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021. This really shows how mind blowing the effects of social media can be on a song, no matter how old.
5. Kate Bush - ‘Running up that Hill’
Release Date - 1985
Comeback - 2022
In June 2022, the song “Running Up That Hill ” by Kate Bush, who uses the same name onstage, made headlines worldwide after her track was included in the fourth season of the Netflix series “Stranger Things”. Her song, which was originally released in 1985, has made an astonishing comeback in the charts.
The synth-pop track, along with its iconic music video, reached its peak position at #30 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, when it was originally released in 1985 as part of her album “Hounds of Love”. Fast forward 37 years to 2022ת and the song managed to beat its previous record ranking, coming in at #1 on Billboard’s Global 200 and ranking #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bush was flabbergasted with the outcome and level of enthusiasm from both the younger and older generations.
The youth of the world today, who may have never heard of “Running Up That Hill” before, are now playing the song on repeat.
According to the data collected by Spotify on 30 May 2022, “Running Up That Hill” rose by an astonishing 8,700% in global streams that night, only 3 - 4 days after the release of Stranger Things season 4 on Netflix.
This newfound popularity is prevalent on a global scale. For example, “Running Up That Hill” ranked in the top 10 billboard charts in Australia, Germany and France.
It really is fascinating to see that technology has come such a long way over the past 20 years. Social media applications and online streaming platforms have been able to influence how the music industry operates. This list is only a handful of artists who benefit from the app. Other names such as Mariah Carey, ll cool J, Whitney Houston and nine inch nails have also benefited. Furthermore, TikTok ensures for any one band or music artist is that no song is ever forgotten or lost, because there is always the possibility it will make a comeback for future generations to enjoy.
Good luck!
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