No Myth

"No Myth" is a song by rock singer Michael Penn from his debut album March.

"No Myth"
Single by Michael Penn
from the album March
Released	November 1989
Recorded	1989
Genre	Pop rock
Length	4:10 (Album version) 4:11 (Single/radio version)
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	Michael Penn
Producer(s)	Tony Berg
Michael Penn singles chronology
"No Myth" (1989) "This & That" (1990)

Released as his debut single in the fall of 1989, the song became Penn's only top 40 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #13.^[1] A vintage electro-mechanical keyboard instrument (called the Chamberlin) was used by Patrick Warren in the song and can be seen in the video as well.

On the back of the success of "No Myth", Penn won the MTV Award for Best New Artist making him the first male artist to win this award. However, label reshuffling stunted his momentum. He explained, "I had a big hit with it, and then the president of the label who signed me is gone, and the record dies. The day after winning the award they canceled the next video."^[2]

Penn's wife and musician Aimee Mann included the song on her list of "songs that made her," explaining: "By 1990, everything on the radio was starting to be Whitney Houston, Taylor Dayne, Tina Turner—it was very pop. Then Michael Penn comes out with this Beatles-esque, melodic song, but still with a little bit of a big snare drum sound. I was like, “Finally, somebody broke through with an actual song.” It was on that tour [around Penn's album, March] when I met Michael for the first time, and then we vaguely kept in touch. We got together years later. I love 'No Myth.' And that record is fantastic from beginning to end. You may think I’m saying this because I’m a nice person who is supportive of their spouse. That's absolutely not true. I'm not that supportive."^[3]

The song plays over the final montage and end credits of Amy Heckerling's 2000 romantic comedy Loser.

Track listing

CD single

1. "No Myth" (Edited version) - 4:11
2. "Big House" - 2:57
3. "No Myth" (Damascus mix) - 4:45

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1990)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[4]	24
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[5]	46
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[6]	7
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[7]	48
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[1]	13
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[8]	22
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[8]	5
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[9]	4

Year-end charts

Chart (1990)	Position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[10]	59

References

1. "Billboard > Artists / Michael Penn > Chart History > The Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
2. "It's No Myth: Michael Penn Is Still Songwriting". Billboard. 3 May 2001. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
3. "Aimee Mann on the Music That Made Her". Pitchfork. 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
4. "australian-charts.com > Michael Penn in Australian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
5. "Ultratop > Michael Penn – No Myth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
6. "Tipparade-lijst van week 7, 1990" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
7. "dutchcharts.nl > Discografie Michael Penn" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
8. AllMusic ((( Michael Penn > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))
9. "Billboard > Artists / Michael Penn > Chart History > Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
10. "Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1990". RPM. Retrieved April 29, 2018.

External links

• Music video on YouTube