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Steve Peake

Stephen's 80s Music Blog

By Steve Peake, About.com Guide to 80s Music

This Week's Forgotten Gem of the '80s - Van Stephenson's "Modern Day Delilah"

Sunday December 14, 2008
If you listen long enough to pop music and '80s music in particular, you begin to realize that the one-hit wonder tag so dreaded by many musicians and so scoffed at by some music snobs is really not such a bad thing. That's especially true when an accomplished artist manages only one bona fide hit as a solo artist but continues to sustain a successful music career in various other ways following that fleeting chart success. Late singer-songwriter Van Stephenson stands as a prime example of this kind of music biz story, having earned a permanent place in '80s music lore with his lone Top 40 pop hit, the nostalgia-inducing feast for the ears, 1984's "Modern Day Delilah." Despite being irrevocably tied to its era in ways that could ruin lesser music, this track shines a half-century later as a rock guitar confection fueled by a nifty twist on a well-known Biblical allusion. But in the hit's short and long-term aftermath, instead of bemoaning the fact that he was never again able to scale that height as an individual, Stephenson simply went back to a successful career as songwriter for other artists before serving as a vital member of country band BlackHawk for nearly a decade of collective success. Death from melanoma at age 47 may have halted Stephenson's life and career far too soon, but "Modern Day Delilah" will last forever as a small but distinct flash of '80s music royalty.

Comments

December 21, 2008 at 8:14 pm
(1) Gwen says:

Thanks for writing this! I had forgotten what a good song that was and hadn’t heard it in quite a while. I just listened to it on Youtube.

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