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Untouched
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Date Aired
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April 2, 2025
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Running Time
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29:46
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Previous Review
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Next Review
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Website
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Todd plays "Untouched" on the piano.
THE VERONICAS - UNTOUCHED
A one-hit wonder retrospective
Todd: Welcome back to One Hit Wonderland, where we take a look at bands and artists known for only one song. We are still doing the requests I took to pay to remove a bunch of weird skin growths [image of Amydog] from my dog. Your donations at work. Anyway, this request is special for two reasons. One, they requested a song from...
Clip of Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs
Todd (VO): ...2009, which is as recent a One Hit Wonder as I've ever done. [clip of Gotye ft. Kimbra - "Somebody That I Used to Know"] Pretty soon, we're gonna have to tip-toe into the 2010s and then I will just turn to dust.
Todd: And secondly, this is one of my favorite kinds of episodes — the one where I make an entire country of people angry at me. [stock images of a Buckingham Palace guard and a Mountie] Now usually, it's the British or the Canadians. But I feel like I haven't made [image of a koala edited to be holding a gun] the Australians angry at me in a while. Well, that changes now because we're doing some [in a fake Australian accent] true blue dinky-die Aussies by crikey. [back to normal] And it's not my fault — blame the requestor, Australia. Anyway, who are The Veronicas?
Clip from a contemporary Australian news piece, followed by the video for "4EVER" by The Veronicas
Presenter: They're pop princesses with punk attitudes
The Veronicas: Here we are, so what you...
Todd (VO): Meet the Veronicas. Aussie pop princesses with punk attitudes. Separately, they are Lisa and Jess Origliasso, and they are twins. Like Tegan and Sara, but from a different part of the Commonwealth, and also straighter. Not that much straighter, though — we'll get into that.
Clip of The Veronicas - "Everything I'm Not"
The Veronicas: I was losing myself to somebody else
Fair warning, I don't really know much about The Veronicas, or their place in the world. Uh, I'm guessing most of you don't either, except for, I'm guessing, a small portion of you for whom The Veronicas were your entire life in high school. Anyway, The Veronicas debuted with great expectations, but despite big dreams from their label to turn them into global superstars, it seemed at first like they would never arrive like they wanted to.
Todd: But in 2009, just when it seemed the world had given up on them, they had their biggest international hit.
The video for "Untouched" begins to play
The Veronicas: I feel so untouched and I want you so much
That I just can't resist you
It's not enough to say that I miss you
Todd (VO): Yes... "Untouched". Not the biggest hit of its time, but people who like this song love this song. If you have a playlist entitled [screenshot of Spotify playlist labeled...] "2000s hot girl bangers", it's probably on there. Showed up on a bunch of shows, soundtracks. I mean, you remember this, don't you? Right? Yeah, sure you do.
The Veronicas: I go ooh ooh, you go ah ah
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
And yet, despite having the look, the sound, and finally, the hit, The Veronicas never quite escaped the prison island that they and all their ancestors were exiled to, [clip from Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga] forever stuck among the barbaric wastelands fighting for food and gas. Told you I was gonna make you mad, Australia. Anyway, what the hell was wrong with us that two hot, punk-rock twins were not good enough for us?
Todd: Well, let's find out. [sings the chorus of "Untouchable"] La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.
The Veronicas: La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
You can take, take
God, that's gonna be stuck in my head.
The Veronicas: Untouched
And I want you so much
Before the hit
Footage from the MTV reality show The Veronicas: Blood Is For Life plays
Jess: We grew up around music. Our dad was in a band, and our mom would take us to live shows as babies. From six months old, we would communicate in harmony with one another.
Todd (VO): The Veronicas were big enough that they had an Australian reality show in 2019, which is certainly convenient for me, especially [clip of Daniel Powter - "Bad Day"] compared to the last guy, who was seemingly allergic to fame.
Jess: We started writing our own music, and signed our first deal when we were eighteen.
Anyway, thanks for doing some of the tedious exposition for me, Veronicas. For the record, they forgot to include the Australian kids show they were on before they were famous, where they played the bitchy mean girls.
Footage from Cybergirl plays, including a brief scene featuring the twins
Lisa and Jess (as Emerald and Sapphire Buxton): You made your bed, now... die in it.
Not sure why they'd omit that.
Todd: Now, normally, I would [clip of Icehouse - "Great Southern Land"] try to do some research on the history of Australian rock to explain where they came from — but that would be very hard for me because I don't know shit about Australia; it's very far. [cartoon image of Australia] The Australian musical ecosystem is a [clip of Kirin J Callinan - "Big Enough" aka "the screaming sky cowboy song"] weird, isolated place where all sorts of strange new species pop up. Fortunately, in this case, I don't have to worry about it very much because The Veronicas really don't have a lot to do with their local scene.
Clip of vintage news broadcast from when The Veronicas were in their prime
Host: Most acts get a record deal in Australia, if they can, and then take it to the rest of the world, but you've kind of leapfrogged the system, haven't you?
Lisa: I know! [laughs]
Todd (VO): Right from the moment they got snatched up by Warner Brothers in the early 2000s, their corporate overlords had global ambitions for them.
Todd: See, you know how every few years, [clip of Billie Eilish - "Bad Guy"] we get this groundbreaking new pop starlet, and then [clip of Tate McRae - "you broke me first"] labels flood the zone with imitators? Well, in the early 2000s, that girl was [clip of "Sk8er Boi" by...] Avril Lavigne.
Avril Lavigne: He was a skater boy
She said, "See you later, boy"
Todd (VO): Despite [clips of Skye Sweetnam - "Tangled Up In Me"...] many attempts, the labels [...and Fefe Dobson - "Take Me Away"] never really found a new Avril, but by the mid-to-late 2000s, the earthquake she'd started had birthed its own little...
Todd: ...quasi-genre that, I don't think has a name. I've heard it most often referred to as "Radio Disney rock".
Clip of Aly & AJ - "Potential Break Up Song"
Aly & AJ: Livin' with me
You're not winnin' 'til you're winnin'
Todd (VO): Like, pop-punk existed before Avril, but as the decade went on, the [clip of The Click Five - "Just the Girl"] labels kept turning the dial more towards pop and away from punk, so you had a lot of these bands and artists who [clip of Metro Station - "Shake It"] looked like MySpace scene kids, but were aimed at Hilary Duff fans. [clip of "4EVER"] Anyway, the Origliasso sisters were clearly one of the acts that were supposed to be the "new Avril"(s).
The Veronicas: Here we are, so what you gonna do
Todd: And it's easy to see why people thought they were gonna sell.
Clip from Austin Powers In Goldmember
Austin Powers (Mike Myers): Twins, Basil. Twins.
Todd: Eh heh, I'm trying to keep this episode classy, but...
Todd (VO): ...for the record, The Veronicas [montage of images where Lisa and Jess are either wearing or posing in highly suggestive outfits] do take a lot of photos like this, and dress like this... uh, and I certainly appreciate it, requester! No, but you know, I'm going to try and keep that to myself. Anyway, they get signed; they perform locally for a few years in their teens as "The Twins". And then they do a little writing for other acts like t.A.T.u.
Clip of t.A.T.u. - "All About Us"
t.A.T.u: It's all about us, all about us
It's all about, all about us
Did you know t.A.T.u. had more than one song? Yeah, this was actually a pretty big hit overseas.
Todd: And then, "The Twins" change their name to, "The Veronicas."
Todd (VO): It's funny that they seem to be avoiding their own actual names a lot; you know, too many tricky Italian vowels in it. [clip from...] They claim they got their name from the one non-Heather in Heathers.
J.D. Dean (Christian Slater): You a Heather?
Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder): No. I'm a Veronica.
Todd: And not, you know... [cover of Archie Comics cover featuring...] the most iconic Veronica. [screenshot of article about...] Archie Comics disagreed and sued them as if they owned the rights to the name "Veronica", which is insane! This is [clip of The Archies - "Sugar, Sugar"] absolutely the stupidest thing Archie Comics ever did, and I can say that confidently because [clips from...] I never watched Riverdale. Ignorance is bliss.
Cover picture of Veronica #167, which featured The Veronicas as special guests, with the caption: "this photo/cartoon hybrid is hideous"
Todd (VO): Anyway, they settle the suit with a little cross-promotion, and that was that. Their first album comes out in 2005; it-it's pretty good, I liked it. Like I said, there were big expectations for it.
The Veronicas: C'mon baby, we ain't gonna live forever
Let me show you all the things that we could do
Their first single, "4EVER", wasn't one they wrote; it was by [picture of...] Max Martin [...with his head blacked out] and Dr. Luke, right after they both blew up with [clip of Kelly Clarkson's...] "Since U Been Gone". So that's a big deal. And that first record was a big hit right out of the gate...
Todd: ...in Australia.
Clip of "Everything I'm Not"
Todd (VO): And yeah, it seems like no real traction anywhere else despite the big push. Like, some people say they remember the one song pretty well; it was a middling hit in Europe, but wasn't really a bit hit anywhere else except Australia and [image of map with arrow pointing to New Zealand] mini-Australia.
Todd: Fortunately for Max and Luke...
Clip of P!nk - "U + Ur Hand"
Todd (VO): ...they managed to recycle the song and give it to P!nk instead.
P!nk: I'm not here for your entertainment
I-it-it's just, it's the same song. The record's not amazing, but it is pretty solid.
Footage from The Veronicas performing their cover of "Mother, Mother"
The Veronicas: Mother, mother
Todd (VO): And it also ends with a cover of Tracy Bonham's "Mother Mother", which I think is fucking awesome.
Tracy Bonham's original version...
Tracy Bonham: I'm hungry, I'm dirty
...compared with The Veronicas' cover
The Veronicas: I'm losing my minnnnnnnddddddd
[Todd throws up devil horns and screams]
Todd: I'm not even a huge fan of that song, but I-I think that's a really kickass choice of cover.
Clip of Demi Lovato - "Get Back"
Todd (VO): Anyway, by this point, the whole "teen-pop/fake punk" sound was moving even further away from any veneer of credibility.
Clip of Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) - "Rock Star"
"Hannah Montana": I might even be a rock star
Those without the backing of the Mouse found it [clips of Boys Like Girls - "The Great Escape"...] pretty hard to establish a real fanbase; I think [...and Hot Chelle Rae - "Tonight, Tonight"] most of them had one or two hits at most, so it was uphill for The Veronicas.
Todd: This might be why, when they took a second stab at breaking America in 2007, they sounded completely different.
Clip of The Veronicas - "Hook Me Up"
Todd (VO): Their second album in 2007, Hook Me Up, is very synthesizer-heavy, and they've mostly given up on guitars.
The Veronicas: Hook, hook me up
Also, I did mention they wrote for [live footage of...] t.A.T.u., right? Looks like t.A.T.u. lent them their schoolgirl outfits for this video. And you know, I-I, really trying not to be gross up here, but like [focuses in on parts of the video where Lisa and Jess are in very romantic-looking poses] th-these are questionably framed shots for two sisters, right? I'm not imagining that? I'm like not, just like, a giant pervert?
The Veronicas: Anywhere is good enough
Hook me up
Todd (VO): Anyway, "Hook Me Up" went #1 in both Australia and... nowhere. Nowhere else. A very worrying trend for The Veronicas.
Todd: But, they already had the song they knew was the best thing they had ever written, just waiting around the corner. The song that would break them worldwide and would become undisputedly their biggest hit ever.
Footage of The Veronicas performing live
Music show announcer: It is time for our very, very special guests. Will you please make welcome... The Veronicas!
Todd (VO): That song was called...
Todd: ..."Untouched".
The Veronicas: I feel so untouched
And I want you so much
That I just can't
Awesome. Anyway...
Todd (VO): ...after "Untouched", they had a song called [clip of...] "This Love", that was actually written by Dr. Luke's next protégé, a young woman named [image of...] Kesha Sebert.
Todd: And y-you know, I think that's cool.
Todd (VO): The Veronicas write for [clips of "All About Us"...] t.A.T.u., and then The Veronicas get big, then [..."This Love"...] Kesha writes songs for The Veronicas, and then [...and "Tik Tok" by...] Kesha gets big. A good, solid team effort by the entire Dr. Luke stable, and I assume that nothing but good things happen from there. [clip of The Veronicas - "Take Me On the Floor"] And then there were two more singles from that album: "Take Me on the Floor", which was again big in Australia, [live performance of...] and another single named "Popular", but...
Todd: ...you're probably getting annoyed with me since I kinda just skipped over the big hit like...
Todd (VO): "Wait, wait, did I forget something?" No, I didn't. "Untouched" completely failed to chart in America, and that was apparently that.
Todd: Why? The girls think it was because of their change of sound.
Clips of Finger Eleven - "Paralyzer"...
Todd (VO): In 2007 — according to them, at least — guitar music was still all the rage. [...and Fall Out Boy - "Thnks fr th Mmrs"] That's not quite how I remember it, but that's their explanation, and I guess it kind of makes sense. So, their new electro-pop style was just not gonna fly. This is why at the end of 2008, as their album cycle came to a close, they were still just a regional act.
Todd: No one in 2007, or 2008, wanted synthesizer-driven music.
Clip of Lady Gaga - "Poker Face" begins with the iconic opening synth riff
Todd: 2009... would be a different story.
The big hit
Clip of "Untouched"
Todd (VO): So out of nowhere, in the final weeks of 2008, "Untouched" gets a year-late second wind and starts charting in America. In the summer of 2009, it reaches the UK. [clip of The Veronicas performing at Summer Sonic Osaka] By the end of the year, it will have charted in fifteen different countries, eight of them in the Top 10. Apparently it just took off on Z100 one day, and then from there, it just spread everywhere.
Todd: Everyone seemed to agree it was just a matter of timing.
Clip of David Guetta ft. Akon - "Sexy Bitch"
Todd (VO): It's 2009; bloopy synths are back in.
Todd: And the thing is, "Untouched" isn't even that synth-driven.
The Veronicas: See you, breathe you, I want to be you
Todd (VO): I mean, it's there, but there's none of the blippy electro riffs that Lady Gaga had.
Todd: But that's their story; Lisa says as much [screenshot of article interviewing The Veronicas] in this article that The Veronicas finally had a lane open to them thanks to Gaga and... MGMT? What?
Clip of MGMT - "Electric Feel"
Todd (VO): Ok, I don't really think they have much of the same audience, but whatever. Like, clearly someone thought they were still adjacent to the emo scene judging by the video. Like, they're clearly shooting for the My Chemical Romance kids. Like, look at these guys. I don't think any of them were ever real members of the band, but they all look like they wrote a song called "Katherine" in high school. Otherwise, not a great video. You can tell this was made in '07 and not '09 because [clip of Katy Perry - "Hot N Cold"] color has not yet been violently re-introduced to music videos yet.
Todd: So, funny thing. A few years ago, I was trying to pick a One Hit Wonder from 2009...
Todd (VO): ...and I did consider "Untouched". But uh, I didn't do that episode for a couple reasons.
Todd: One, um... I don't remember it at all.
Clip of Flo Rida - "Right Round"
Todd (VO): I mean, I was definitely paying attention to the radio in '09. But my memories are a non-stop barrage of [clips of "Poker Face"...] Gaga, [..."Boom Boom Pow" by...] The Black Eyed Peas, [..."Hotel Room Service" by...] Pitbull, [..."Tik Tok"...] Kesha, and of course [...and...] "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz.
Jason Mraz: Well, you done done me in, you bet I felt it
I tried to be chill, but you're so hot that I melted
I fell right through the cracks, now I'm trying to get back
Todd: No idea what that was about. But anyway, my point is...
Todd (VO): ..."Untouched" was never a big American hit. It was a hit, it broke the Top 20, which is great — but that's not quite conquering America. So, you might have heard this song a lot where you were.
Todd: Or, if you were [clip from one of Todd's early videos] a jobless post-grad in the middle of nowhere Virginia with a distant dream of becoming a YouTuber some day, maybe it doesn't reach the radio stations near you.
Todd (VO): So that was one reason I passed on it. The other reason was, uh... once I did hear it...
Todd: ...I-I didn't think it was really very good or interesting, didn't do anything for me at all.
Clip of Asher Roth - "I Love College"
Todd (VO): So I wound up covering a song that was much dumber and probably worse, but also much funnier. That's a good episode.
Todd: Well anyway, now I am being forced to review it, and I am learning that this song apparently means something to a lot of people. So I'm gonna try and give it more of a shot this time. Let's play this baby.
The video for "Untouched" begins with a lush viola and cello riff
Todd (VO): Ok, one thing I will admit right away, those strings kick serious ass. Not just the audacity of starting with a string intro, but like, the riff itself. Right away, you know this is gonna be the most intense thing you've ever heard in your life.
Todd: And then the song kicks off.
Todd (VO): And it's already going at light speed.
The Veronicas: I go ooh ooh, you go ah ah
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la, I can't lie
Honestly, this is where it starts to lose me a little.
Todd: I think maybe it's going too fast.
The Veronicas: Don't stop
Gimme, gimme, gimme what you got, got
Cause I can't wait, wait, wait any m-more, more, more
Todd (VO): Like, it-it's very busy, this song. Cause they hit you with a lot right away. In fact, the entire first verse is a-a rapid fire barrage of, just...
Todd: ...basically sound effects.
The Veronicas: I go ooh ooh, you go ah ah
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
I can't lie, lie, lie, l-lie, lie, I wanna, wanna
Todd (VO): It's like a flood of words, like... Ooh, ah, uh-uh, what, what, la-la-la-la, ee, ooh, orp, ah-ah.
Todd: Ting tang, walla-walla bing-bang.
The Veronicas: Take, take, t-t-take, take
Time, time to live, live
Todd (VO): [sighs] I'm not gonna lie, I find those "La-la-la-la's... pretty annoying.
The Veronicas: La-la-la-la
I mean, that's my big problem honestly, it's just "La-la-la-la".
Todd: It-it feels like they're making fun of me.
The Veronicas: La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
Clip of The Waitresses - "I Know What Boys Like"
The Waitresses: Nyeh-nyeh, nyeh-nyeh, nyeh
Todd: But what is this song about, exactly? Besides "la-la-la-la"?
Todd (VO): From what they said, it's basically about long-distance relationships.
The Veronicas: I feel so untouched and I want you so much
They were on the road a lot, they were splitting time between two continents, there was a lot of time apart between them and whoever they were dating. I mean, I know a little...
Todd: Well, a lot of something about long distance relationships. And boy, I can tell you, they suck.
Todd (VO): So knowing that, this song starts making sense to me.
The Veronicas: I just can't resist you
It's not enough to say that I miss you
Yeah um, I think they're onto something here with that line, because "I miss you" is the worst fucking sentence in the world. Like, "I love you" is great, "I miss you" sounds like you're saying "I love you" but you don't get that rush of expressing affection or anything. It-it's like you're taking all the joy from saying "I love you" and turning it to shit.
Todd: Oh my God, I haven't tried the long-distance thing in forever, like, never again, never. And this one lyric just, like, triggered some PTSD for me.
The Veronicas: I can't forget you
Going crazy from the moment I met you
Todd (VO): So yeah, that-that's pretty great.
Todd: And there is one other major element about why this song took off. Uh, according to various sources in my research, [screenshot of Nylon article "The Veronicas Talk Queerness in Pop Music"] "Untouched" is considered like, a-a gay anthem?
Clip of contemporary interview with The Veronicas
Lisa: Started seeing on Twitter specifically for the last, probably, year now, people being like, "Oh yeah, 'Untouched', like, I came out to this song, or this song..." Something about this song, like, was a part of like, LGBT youth's journey, journeys.
Todd: Well, you know, that's - that's interesting.
Todd (VO): Like, obviously the reason this song means so much to the LGBTQ community is...
Todd: Actually, I'm gonna cut myself off here. I have no idea why any of y'all do what you do and I'm not gonna pretend. [screenshot of article "How the Babadook became the LBGTQ icon we didn't know we needed"] I feel like sometimes, y'all just pick these things at random. Like, even The Veronicas themselves seem a little perplexed about it.
Lisa: What is it about "Untouched"? What is it about that song in particular or the music that we create that resonates so much with the LGBT community.
Todd (VO): Uh, my best guess is that the LBGTs are pretty attuned to unsatisfied yearning. Moreso than the straights, and we straights are no slouches at it.
The Veronicas: Seeing through the loneliness
I want it more, more, more
Or I don't know, maybe The Veronicas just made it up.
Todd: The gays will have to tell me in the comments.
The Veronicas: I feel so untouched right now
Todd (VO): So I think I get the song better now, still doesn't quite work for me, it's a little too frenetic. I mean, this is, like, pump up drive too fast music. Like, I've been in long-distance relationships and I don't remember, like, screaming racing down the hallway during it. It was more a lot of ...moping.
Todd: But then again, I'm a pretty mopey guy in general, so I guess I'm in the minority on that.
Todd (VO): I've gotten a lot of requests for "Untouched" over the years from people who remember it very fondly, so I don't know.
Todd: Regardless, career-wise, The Veronicas had finally broken through like they'd tried so hard for so long.
Clips of...
Todd (VO): They were getting played at the Victoria's Secret fashion show. [...and...] They were on The Suite Life of Zach and Cody.
Reporter: So you guys are from England?
The Veronicas: Australia.
Reporter: Do you always answer everything together?
The Veronicas: No.
They were young, they were hot, there were two of them.
Todd: What could go wrong?
The failed follow-up
Clip of The Veronicas - "Take Me On the Floor"
Todd (VO): Alright, next single. Apparently the follow-up to "Untouched", at least in this country, was an equally belated chart run for the album's fourth single, "Take Me On the Floor".
The Veronicas: Take me on the floor (Da-da-da, da, da-da, da-da)
Can't take it anymore (Da-da-da, da, da-da, da-da)
These girls do like their da-da-da's and la-la-la's, don't they?
Todd: Like, I'm not so convinced "Untouched" was ahead of its time, but...
Todd (VO): ...this one very much does sound like a 2009 hit they made two years early.
The Veronicas: Would it be wrong to say
Like, you can totally hear Kesha or late-era Britney doing this. But "Take Me On the Floor" didn't really do anything, though. It struggled its way onto the Hot 100 and quickly showed itself out.
Todd: But there is one really interesting thing about this song.
Jess: I wanna kiss a girl, I wanna kiss a girl
Todd: Well, hey now.
Todd (VO): You know, it's funny, when The Veronicas talk about this song now, they're all like, [screenshot of article where the Veronicas talk about...] "Why wasn't this the gay anthem?"
Jess: I wanna kiss a girl
Now, this wasn't quite a coming-out for Jess, who wrote that line, because she said she was still figuring things out at this time. But it did lead to some accusations of gay-baiting [clip of "I Kissed a Girl" by...] like Katy Perry had gotten the year before. Jess says she wasn't ready to make any definitive labels. And [screenshot of Perez Hilton story about...] in 2008, Jess was caught by the tabloids fulfilling that desire to kiss a girl. And that was pretty rough on Jess, she said she got called [screenshot of headline "I'm no 'fake lesbian' says Veronicas Jess"] a fake lesbian a lot.
Todd: Pft! Oh, the 2000s.
Todd (VO): Anyway, this song didn't catch on. But so what? Not only do they finally have a foothold in America, but since it took so long to catch on...
Todd: ...they also already had a two year jump on crafting the follow-up.
Clip of Billboard interview with The Veronicas from 2009
Lisa: We're coming up to writing a third record.
Jess: It's like we've discovered a lot more. I feel like for the next record, you know, we-we might do a lot of different stuff and see what, what works.
Todd (VO): Surely the third album would be what delivers on the upward trajectory and makes them stars.
Montage clips (overlaid with a ticking clock and years) of New Years 2008; News story about 2008 stock market crash; Barack Obama's inauguration; Avatar; Keyboard cat video; 2010 MTV Video Music Awards; 2010 Old Spice commercial; Game of Thrones trailer; Adele - "Rolling in the Deep"; Breaking Bad; Psy - "Gangnam Style"; The Avengers; A 2013 Miami Heat game; 2013 MTV Video Music Awards; Frozen; News story about gay marriage legalization; 2014 Oscars selfie moment
Just as soon as they release it.
Barrack Obama: I, Barrack Hussein Obama...
Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña): Cannot be here.
Todd (VO): Just as soon as they release it. Any day now. Any day now, they're gonna drop that record, and it will be so big once they release it. Once they release it, which will be any - Bro, what the fuck is happening...
Did they ever do anything else?
Todd: No, no, hold on, hold on, I think I have to address what the fuck that was just about.
Clip of The Veronicas live performance
Todd (VO): One thing I didn't mention about why the follow-up failed; [logo for...] they were at Warner Brothers, and Warner Brothers...
Todd: ...apparently just hated them.
Todd (VO): The sisters say they were told that that second album — the one with the big hit on it — had no hits on it. And they had to push to even get it released. And if they thought things were torture before that album came out, things were much worse afterwards. [screenshots of articles "Whalley Out At Warner Bros. Records"...] In the 2010s, Warner Brothers Records devolves into [...and "Shake Up at Warner Bros. Records: CEO Todd Moskowitz Resigns; Warner/Chappell's Cameron Strang to Oversee West Coast"] absolute chaos. [clip of Jason Derulo - "Whatcha Say"] And whatever resources they do have get focused onto R&B and hip hop. So The Veronicas, already not a favorite of the label, get completely lost in the shuffle.
Clip of interview with The Veronicas about their deteriorating relationship with the label
Jess: Every time we made progress with one person, as far as A&R or a CEO went, on approving things, they were then fired within a six month period. And we would have to wait to be re-assigned a new person.
They get no information from the higher-ups, no help, nothing from Warner Brothers for years upon years...
Todd: ...to the point where they began outright [screenshot of article "The Veronicas slam record company on Facebook"] begging them in public to either release the album or let them leave.
Clip of news story about...
Todd (VO): After years of this, they finally force their way out, sign with Sony Music Australia, and finally, finally release their third album in 2014. It's just called The Veronicas.
Todd: And as I always say, self-titling any album after your first is usually a defensive statement.
Todd (VO): In this case, saying "We're still here, and we haven't even made our best stuff, please don't forget about us."
Host: Their new single debuted in the #1 position just yesterday.
That album went platinum in Australia with a #1 hit, so...
Todd: Success! [screenshot of The Veronicas tweet to Warner Music, which mockingly reads...] Haha!
Jess: F-U, everybody who didn't believe in us.
Todd (VO): The record itself though is, uh, it-it's kind of an odd one.
Todd: It does feel like they got shut out of a big opportunity...
Clips of "Take Me On the Floor" and La Roux - "Bulletproof"
Todd (VO): ...since they couldn't follow their sound in the early 2010s when that shit was blowing up. [clip of Megan Trainor - "All About That Bass"] 2014 meanwhile, is a very weird year for music so, accordingly, this is kind of a weird album.
Todd: They rap at one point.
Jess: From my homeland to Hong Kong
By the time you find me, I'll be gone
Bet you never thought I'd hit like that
Looks like hell? Just got back
Todd (VO): That's uh, that's uh, that's something. [clip of The Veronicas - "You Ruin Me"] The big Aussie hit off of it was a slow ballad — the exact opposite of the thing they were known for.
Lisa: I'm your greatest masterpiece, you ruin me
It's an angry breakup ballad that is at least partly aimed at Warner Brothers, [screenshot of another Veronicas tweet bashing Warner Bros.] who they would take lots and lots of shots at over the next few years.
Clip of The Veronicas - "If You Love Someone"
The Veronicas: If you love someone
Todd (VO): The second one is just an anthem for love around the world, but it comes with an anarchist protest video, for some reason. I don't know what was going on in Australia at the time. [clip of...] And then there's the third single, "Cruel".
Jess: Wish I could say you're not the one
[Todd snaps his fingers to the beat]
Todd (VO): Which didn't actually do very well, but... is, like...
Todd: ...clearly the best song they've ever made!
The Veronicas: Feels so cruel, the way you treat me like a stranger
Cruel, when you lookin' like that, oh, cruel
Todd (VO): How-how was this not humongous? Like, this song's amazing. Also, the actor in the video is Lisa's future husband, Logan Huffman. [clip from The Veronicas: Blood Is For Life] And I can tell you from watching their reality show that that guy is - is... a freak. He's had his brain hollowed out by Hollywood.
Logan Huffman: A few years ago, an elder medicine man taught me a ceremony. Now, I have no Native inside me, so I have to preface that.
Yeah, he's a- he's a medicine man, I guess. And he also does, like, tarot and room readings, and he has a large collection of dumb hats, I don't know.
Footage of The Veronicas performing "In My Blood"
The Veronicas: In my blood
Todd (VO): Ok, so at this point, they're basically only big Down Under anymore, and something of a cult act in other countries. But you know, that's still pretty great. You know, that's fine, being big in Australia is awesome; it's an entire-ass continent. Their career is back on track, and they can go on recording albums like they were meant to do.
Todd: Yeah, not so much.
Clip of The Veronicas - "In My Blood"
Todd (VO): They did release a handful of singles after this, but a new album would not come for another seven years.
Todd: And there's a reason for that. Um, you remember how I told you Jess was [screenshot of the Perez Hilton story from earlier] caught making out with a girl in 2008? Uh, I didn't actually tell you who that was.
Clip of MTV Style video
Ruby Rose: This is MTV Style, I'm Ruby Rose and boy, oh boy do we have a show for you today.
Montage clips of MTV Australia video; Orange Is the New Black; John Wick: Chapter 2; Batwoman; Daily Mail interview with Ruby Rose
Todd (VO): Ruby Rose. DJ on MTV Australia, love interest for Piper on Orange Is the New Black, fought John Wick, future Batwoman. Remember her, she was a big deal for a little while? Close to a One Hit Wonder herself, honestly. [clip of MTV video with Ruby and The Veronicas] Anyway, that was her with Jess in '08. [video of Jess and Ruby together] And around this time, she re-enters Jess's life and it's much more serious this time. [clip of The Veronicas - "On Your Side"] Uh, she even wrote, directed and starred in one of their music videos.
Jess: Life isn't pretty, we all get a little wrecked sometimes
And then... something happens. And for the rest of that relationship, the sisters stop talking completely.
Footage from The Veronicas: Blood Is For Life
Jess: Lisa and I didn't talk for a year. I was in a relationship that... [sighs] Wasn't good for me. I became very isolated.
Todd (VO): As you can see, they come just short of accusing Ruby Rose of some serious stuff here.
Lisa: I realized that I had become the enemy in the situation, and I was ultimately- My presence and my love was making it harder for her.
Screenshots of headlines "Ruby Rose Slams Her Girlfriend's Twin Sister for Alleged Homophobic Comment" and "The Veronicas' Jess Origliasso accuses ex Ruby Rose of 'harassment'"
Yeah, it got really ugly. [screenshots of Ruby's Instagram story...] Ruby has threatened on Instagram pretty recently to expose them both, [...and headline about...] and then she kinda backed off of that. Uh, gotta be honest...
Todd: ...Ruby Rose seems like kind of a messy bitch. [image of Jess with...] For the record, Jess also dated Billy Corgan for a short little bit, and she has nothing but good things to say about that guy. So apparently, Ruby Rose was that much worse than Billy Corgan.
Todd (VO): In Ruby's defense, Jess also seems pretty messy herself.
Todd: Like, she's fully admitted she should have never had a Twitter account.
Clip from Little Miss Sunshine
Todd (VO): Like, she had beef with Abigail Breslin at one point. [clip of 60 Minutes interview with The Veronicas] Regardless, they didn't talk for a year, and they didn't re-unite until Ruby Rose was out of the picture, and also because their mom got sick so they had to take care of her. [clip of The Veronicas - "GODZILLA"] Uh, eventually they collected the handful of singles they'd released and spread them out over [album covers for The Veronicas' Human and Godzilla] the course of two new albums of material.
Todd: Those came out in 2021. I listened, and they are tough listens.
Lisa: Like I'm Godzilla
Todd (VO): These are, uh, you can tell that these are the "going through some shit" albums.
Todd: As we all were in 2021.
Clip of The Veronicas live performance in recent years
Todd (VO): But it seems to have been smooth sailing ever since. Uh, they put out a new album last year, which was pretty good. They even toured for it in America; [clips of The Veronicas performing at a pride event...] they show up at pride events in this country all the time. [...and "Perfect"] They're still famous in Oz, it seems like. There - you know, there's really no suggestion that The Veronicas have a lot of reason to be upset with their place in the world right now.
Did they deserve better?
Todd: Yes, yes, oh yeah. [singing] Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah.
Lisa: One, two, three, four!
Todd (VO): You can say this definitively: if The Veronicas failed in any way, it wasn't because they didn't have any star potential. Looks like a lot of shit, some self-inflicted, some not, just kept getting in their way. Even before I did the deep dive, I didn't really think of them as One Hit Wonders, quite honestly. But you know, I didn't request them. And even if I'm not the biggest fan of their big, big hit, I think they're an absolutely worthy band to get into.
Todd: And really, the Australians needed some glamour in their lives, right? Like, if not for The Veronicas and Kylie Minogue, what would the Aussies do besides wrestle crocodiles all day?
The Veronicas: Untouched
Todd: [sighs] God, that was a lot of work for a band that doesn't release anything for seven years at at time, but I think that was pretty entertaining, I think I kept it pretty positive. But I know a lot of you like the episodes where I full-on hate something, so since I know that's what you guys like, may I recommend a little show to you I think you'll enjoy?
Clip from...
Todd (VO): It's called Abolish Everything, where four comedians compete to remove their pet peeve from the entire universe, and whoever can make the strongest case wins. It's a comedy debate, audience participation show like they used to put on cable television before that all collapsed. So imagine seeing your most hated pet peeve; badly trained dogs, that one song you hate, sketchy online mental health services. Imagine seeing people competing for the right to legally ban it from existence, and you get to be the judge. That's the joy of Abolish Everything, and you can...
Clip of ad for...
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Todd: Thank you and good night.
Closing Tag Song: Johnny Orlando & Toby Gad - "Untouched"
THE END
This song is owned by Warner Bros. Records
This video is owned by me
THANK YOU TO THE LOYAL PATRONS!!