Culture Crash: "Heat Waves": A Song That Seems to Never Go Out of Style

Welcome to Culture Crash, where we examine American culture – what’s new and old in entertainment…

Some cultural hits happen overnight – if Adele or Taylor Swift were to release a single tomorrow, there’s a good chance it would very quickly dominate the airwaves. But sometimes, hits can take longer to find their audience.

Case in point: British indie pop rock band Glass Animals’ song “Heat Waves”, which became the record-holder for the song that took the longest to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It took the tune an astonishing 59 weeks for the after it first hit the list, “Heat Waves” rode its viral status all the way to number one. For perspective, that means the song first charted in January of 2021, before most of us were even vaccinated with our first jabs against COVID, and it stuck around all that time before plugging its strange path to victory. It’s a very cool and unique story for now, but it may be indicative of how songs can become hits moving forward.

“Heat Waves” by Glass Animals

And for people just coming around on Glass Animals because of the “Heat Waves” craze, I do have some great news: the band’s entire discography is worth your time, and you’ve probably heard songs like “Gooey” before, whether you realize it or not. But even more specifically, all of the 2020 Glass Animals album Dreamland, which is the album “Heat Waves” comes from, is awesome and very worth your time. Who knows, maybe we can send another Glass Animals hit to sleeper superstardom – “Tokyo Drifting” and “Space Ghost Coast to Coast” are personal favorites of mine. Maybe one of those is next.

I’m Evan Rook.

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Culture Crash 22-13: "Heat Waves": A Song That Seems to Never Go Out of Style

Welcome to Culture Crash, where we examine American culture - what's new and old in entertainment...

Some cultural hits happen overnight - if Adele or Taylor Swift were to release a single tomorrow, there’s a good chance it would very quickly dominate the airwaves. But sometimes, hits can take longer to find their audience.

Case in point: British indie pop rock band Glass Animals’ song "Heat Waves", which became the record-holder for the song that took the longest to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It took the tune an astonishing 59 weeks for the after it first hit the list, "Heat Waves" rode its viral status all the way to number one. For perspective, that means the song first charted in January of 2021, before most of us were even vaccinated with our first jabs against COVID, and it stuck around all that time before plugging its strange path to victory. It’s a very cool and unique story for now, but it may be indicative of how songs can become hits moving forward.

And for people just coming around on Glass Animals because of the “Heat Waves” craze, I do have some great news: the band’s entire discography is worth your time, and you’ve probably heard songs like “Gooey” before, whether you realize it or not. But even more specifically, all of the 2020 Glass Animals album Dreamland, which is the album “Heat Waves” comes from, is awesome and very worth your time. Who knows, maybe we can send another Glass Animals hit to sleeper superstardom - “Tokyo Drifting” and “Space Ghost Coast to Coast” are personal favorites of mine. Maybe one of those is next.

I'm Evan Rook.

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