Living in a Box

Todd plays "Living in a Box" on the piano

LIVING IN A BOX - LIVING IN A BOX A one-hit wonder retrospective

Todd: Hello, and welcome back to One Hit Wonderland, where we take a look at bands and artists known for only one song. Today, and for the rest of the year, most likely, we'll be looking at a number of requests I sold [shot of Todd's Patreon page] on Patreon. And what I appreciate most about these Patreon requests is that I get to explore bands that...I might have overlooked otherwise. And...yeah, you can definitely say that I had no plans to cover this one.


 * Video for "Living in a Box"
 * Richard Darbyshire: In my own mind!
 * Am I living in a box
 * Am I living in a cardboard box

Todd (VO): For those of you who are confused, no, this is not Wang Chung, and no, it is not Spandau Ballet. This is actually the band [promo pic of...] Living in a Box, singing their hit Top 20 single [single cover] "Living in a Box" off their debut album from 1987, [album cover] Living in...

Todd: ...a Box. It's about living in a box. Yeah, you remember this one, it goes...


 * Clips of Aerosmith - "Livin' on the Edge"...

Todd (VO): [singing to above tune] I'm living in a box!


 * Aerosmith: You can't help yourself...

Todd (VO): No? Uh...

Todd: Maybe it was...


 * ...and Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer

Todd (VO): ''Oh-oh! Livin' in a box!''


 * Jon Bon Jovi: Take my hand

Todd: Okay, I'll be honest...

Todd (VO): ...I've never listened to this song before. From...from what I can gather, there's probably a reason for that. Yeah, I'm fairly certain that if this song is remembered at all, it's probably because of the novelty of a band with the same name as their only song. I mean, there are other bands like that. [Clips of eponymous songs by...] Bad Company, Black Sabbath, Talk Talk. But Living in a Box is unique in that that's their only song; it wasn't even that big a song. I certainly never heard it ever.

Todd: I'd heard of it.

Todd (VO): But it's certainly not something that's stood the test of time. I...I don't even know if I'm reviewing this really; it's more like I'm [picture of archaeologist at work] studying it, like ancient ruins.

Todd: But you know, I've always said, if you want to get a feel for what any era of music was like, don't look at the stuff everyone remembers.

Todd (VO): Take a look at the stuff no one remembers. So let's dust off this particular '80s relic.

Todd: What were you, Living in a Box? Why were you living in a box?


 * Richard: In my own mind!
 * Am I living in a box

Before the hit

Transcript in progress