In Amazon’s 1970s-set limited series Daisy Jones & The Six, the titular band’s song “Look at Us Now (Honeycomb)” reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and propels them to superstardom. In real life, the tune helped them earn the top spot on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart in March. Back in 1992, the fictional band from Aaron Spelling’s The Heights found similar real-life success.

The Fox show “about a group of diverse — boys, girls; black, white — working-class kids trying to make it collectively as a rock band and singularly as adults,” per THR‘s review, produced a hit in “How Do You Talk to an Angel.” Written by Steve and Stephanie Tyrell and Barry Coffing, with lead vocals from castmember Jamie Walters (previously known for playing Donna’s no-good musician boyfriend Ray Pruit on Spelling’s Beverly Hills, 90210), the song was released as a single in September 1992, one week after the show premiered. Its infectious chorus — “How do you talk to an angel/How do you hold her close to where you are/How do you talk to an angel/It’s like trying to catch a falling star” — caught on quickly, sending it to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 40 Mainstream Chart and No. 4 on the Hot 100 Singles chart.

The tune’s success took everyone by surprise.

“It’s very strange to have the record explode,” Heights producer Spelling told THR at the time. “I guess this is the cart pulling the horse. We went in with the other thing in mind. We thought the show might help the record.” Spelling also admitted, “We didn’t even use the record as the [show’s] theme song at first. We did that three weeks later when we heard the single was doing very well in the top-40 play.”

Unfortunately, the show itself didn’t fare as well. Despite airing in Fox’s plum Thursday 9 p.m. time slot (formerly occupied by 90210), The Heights plummeted in ratings. Though “How Do You Talk to an Angel” would go on to earn a 1993 Emmy nomination for outstanding achievement in music and lyrics, Fox canceled the series less than a week after the song fell from No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

This story first appeared in a June stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.