Throwback Thursday: Eric Bazilian discusses Joan Osborne's "One Of Us"

Chris DeMakes A Podcast

Chris DeMakes

Music History, Music Commentary, Music, Music Interviews

4.9 • 923 Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2025

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For this week’s Throwback Thursday, we’re revisiting Episode 185 from December 11th, 2023. In this episode, Eric Bazilian makes his triumphant return to the show, this time to dive into the fascinating backstory of his iconic song “One Of Us,” made famous by Joan Osborne in 1995. Eric recounts the spontaneous genesis of the track, revealing that he composed it in a single night after his then-girlfriend expressed interest in his recording process. Despite some controversy about the song from a few dimwits of the era, it has endured and continues to resonate today. To add a special touch, Eric even breaks out the very acoustic guitar used in the song’s recording, offering an extra layer of authenticity to this can’t-miss episode. Chris DeMakes A Podcast is brought to you by DistroKid, the ultimate partner for taking your music to the next level. Get 30% off your first YEAR with DistroKid by signing up at ⁠http://distrokid.com/vip/demakes For bonus episode of The After Party podcast, an extensive back catalog of past After Party episodes, early ad-free releases of new episodes of Chris DeMakes A Podcast, full video versions of episodes, and MUCH more, head to the Patreon at ⁠http://www.ChrisDeMakes.com Follow Chris DeMakes A Podcast on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/chrisdemakesapodcast/⁠ Join the Chris DeMakes A Podcast community on Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/2643961642526928/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by DistroKit.
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0:27.2	Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
0:42.0	Hey everybody, it's Throwback Thursday again here at Chris DeMakesa podcast. And this week, we're throwing it back to exactly two years ago today when Eric Bazillion of the Hooters made his return appearance to the show this time to discuss the writing and recording of Joan Osborne's hit 1996 single
0:56.7	One of Us. I just recently watched the Lilith Fair documentary on Hulu, which I highly
1:03.1	recommend to anyone. My buddy and one hit Thunder co-host Matt Kelly told me about the Joan
1:08.5	Osborne part of it, so I had to watch it, and I wasn't
1:11.3	disappointed. So yeah, seriously, go check that out. It's called Lilith Fair Building a Mystery.
1:17.0	You will like it. But before we jump into the episode, I wanted to give you all a little context
1:22.2	about what was happening in the world at the moment that one of us hit its peak. The song peaked at number four on February
1:29.2	3rd, 1996. The three songs above it were missing by Everything But the Girl at number three,
1:36.5	name by Goo Goo Goo Dolls at number two, and One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey and Boys to Men at number
1:43.2	one. It was one spot above Time by Hootie and the Blowfish,
1:48.1	which I knew that Time was like a popular Hootie song, but I didn't realize it was like a top 10
1:54.0	song. I thought that was a little bit deeper of a cut, but maybe that is a deeper of a cut for Hootie
1:58.6	and the Blowfish for some of the giant songs they had in the mid-90s there.
2:03.4	An interesting debut on the charts this week was 1979 from Smashing Pumpkins at number 36,
2:10.4	which in my opinion is one of the first songs that I think of when I think of the 90s.
	...

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