“No Myth” by Michael Penn

"No Myth" was Michael Penn's first single, released in the fall of 1989 from his debut album March, and it turned out to be the only top 40 hit he ever had, climbing to number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It's a sharp, melodic pop-rock song with a tune that wouldn't have been out of place on a Beatles record, which is exactly what Aimee Mann, later Penn's wife, loved about it: at a time when radio was drowning in glossy pop, she heard somebody sneak through with a real song. Penn handles the guitar, bass and lead vocal, and the texture comes from the side players: Patrick Warren, his long-time collaborator, plays a vintage Chamberlin, and he can be spotted with it in the video, while David Coleman adds electric cello and Art Wood percussion. Tony Berg produced, and Susan Rogers engineered.

The song won Penn MTV's award for Best New Artist, the first time a male solo artist had taken it. Then the momentum stalled: the label president who had signed him left, the record died, and the day after the award the next video was canceled. The song got a late encore in 2000, playing over the final montage and closing credits of Amy Heckerling's comedy Loser.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.