One-Hit Wonders That Are Actually Good

[rucky]

Flaming Lips (hit: She Don't Use Jelly)
Cornershop (hit: Brimful of Asha)
Wall of Voodoo (hit: Mexican Radio)
Fountains of Wayne (hit: Stacy's Mom)
Fun Lovin' Criminals (hit: Scooby Snacks)

most of these "hits" are the stupidest songs they've done.

any others?

edit: Can't believe i forgot Pavement (hit: Cut Your Hair)
will the great Stephen Malkmus forgive me?

[Nlighten1]

1. Flaming Lips...one hit wonders?

The Flaming Lips are staggeringly popular 'round here Squire. Also Fountains of Wayne had several hits before Stacey's Mom...which is a very cool song.

Check both bands out some more they are very cool.

[rucky]

3. Hits?

Both bands have plenty of songs that should have been hits, but the've never charted or got any airplay.

[Nlighten1]

11. No airplay? Where do you live?

They used to be on the radio all the time a few years ago where I live.

[rucky]

12. Oregon... Los Angeles before that

Wherever you are, your radio station is the exception - not the rule. Gawd I wish we had some decent radio here.

[spychoactive]

2. argent: (hold your head up)

jesus jones (right here, right now)

[truthseeker1]

20. Oh, no no no no

Jesus Jones had WAY more good tunes than just that one....check them out.

I recommend:
Info Freako
International Bright Young Thing
Real, Real, Real
Bring It On Down
Move Mountains

(Beware - the production quality on their earlier release "Liquidizer" is crappy)

[regnaD kciN]

58. Rod Argent shouldn't qualify...

He may have only had one hit as a solo artist, but he was previously the leader and keyboard player of the Zombies, who had two hits ("Time of the Season" and "She's Not There").

[spychoactive]

4. steven malkmus will NOT!

maybe for forgetting 'cut your hair', but not for calling Pavement a "one hit wonder"


;)

one love
spike

[TheBlob]

5. The Vapors

Known unfortunately for "Turning Japanese"

Great post-punk-power-pop band.

Kind of in the vein of The Jam and Buzzcocks.

Pick up "New Clear Days" if you can find it.



Other great songs:

News At Ten
Somehow
Sixty Second Interval
Waiting For The Weekend
Letter From Hiro
Prisoners

[Bucky]

6. Jimmy Carter?

[Systematic Chaos]

7. The 80's and early 90's were chock full of OHW's

Let me try and compile a list of my faves off the top of my head:

Chilliwack - My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)
Diesel - Sausolito Summernight
Dead Eye Dick - New Age Girl
Sonic Youth - Bull In the Heather
Lipps Inc. - Funkytown
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
The Proclaimers - I Would Walk 500 Miles
Information Society - Pure Energy
Animotion - Obsession
Taco - Puttin' On the Ritz

And I know there are probably at least 20 or 30 more that I'm spacing off right now.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. Information Society had a couple of others

"Running", "Think", "Repetition".

[truthseeker1]

21. What's On Your Mind? (Information Society) NT

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. More OHW

Gary O - Get It While You Can
Peter Schilling - Major Tom
Nena - 99 Red Ballons
Talk Talk - It My Life
Quarterflash - Harden My Heart

[rucky]

13. So what you're telling me is...

If I buy a Nena album, I'll be surprised by the depth of her talent?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

17. Oh, I was thinking about the hits themselves.

I know john excrement about Nena except 99RB.

[truthseeker1]

19. Quarterflash not a OHW

I don't think Quarterflash was a OHW - they had at least three hits:

Harden My Heart
Find Another Fool
Take Me To Heart

[Norbert]

49. Talk Talk a ont hit wonder?

what about the song Talk Talk?

[chenGOD]

62. I'm sorry, but to call Sonic Youth a OHW is a travesty.

Kool Thing
Sunday
Teenage Riot
Eric's Trip

all hits.

[Syrinx]

9. Sanford-Townsend Band

They were a band from here in Tuscaloosa in the seventies that had a top-ten hit, "Smoke From A Distant Fire," that I thought was pretty good.

[leftofthedial]

25. i played that song six times a week

for a couple of years

in a band I was in.

great song.

[Syrinx]

48. that's cool!

If you have an mp3 of your band playing that song, I would love to hear it.

I think they sound a little like the Doobie Brothers in that song. A little, at least.

[geniph]

14. Wall of Voodoo

known best for Mexican Radio, which is kind of a novelty song, but they did some quite interesting music on Call of the West.

[geniph]

15. What was that song the Hoodoo Gurus had a hit with?

can't remember the song, but I do remember liking the Hoodoo Gurus' other stuff better.

[patcox2]

44. Like wow, wipe out?

Or "whats my scene?" I love the gurus, saw them on the small stage in the stone pony, before there was a big top.

[kixot]

16. Take My Breath Away - Berlin

You remember, from the Top Gun soundtrack?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

18. Berlin had lots of hits..remember METRO?

[NightTrain]

24. Or "Sex (I'm A...)?"

If anything, "Take My Breath Away" was Berlin's WORST record!

[truthseeker1]

29. I TOTALLY agree :-)

[truthseeker1]

22. Berlin - NOT a OHW

See Pleasure Victim (the entire album is great)

[Norbert]

52. No More Words

I have to mention my favorite Berlin song.

[NightTrain]

23. There are tons of great one-hit wonders!

As a matter of fact, I don't even like the term "one-hit wonder," because it often is applied to great artists who produced quality music for 30+ years, even if they only ever had one top forty pop hit.

Be that as it may, though, I'll list some of my favorite (shudder!) one-hit wonders of rock 'n' roll first half-decade, as gleaned from Wayne Jancik's BILLBOARD BOOK OF ONE-HIT WONDERS. If anyone is interested, I can also do follow-up postings on the one-hit wonders of subsequent decades.

The Chords (Sh-Boom, 1954)
The Crows (Gee, 1954)
The Penguins (Earth Angel, 1955)
The DeJohn Sister ((My Baby Don't Love Me) No More, 1955)
Lenny Dee (Plantation Boogie, 1955)
Cliffie stone (The Popcorn Song, 1955)
Chuck Miller (House of Blue Lights, 1955)
The El Dorados (At My Front Door, 1955)
Bonnie Lou (Daddy-O, 1955)
Julie London (Cry Me A River, 1955)
Caterina Valente (The Breeze and I, 1955)
Johnny Ace (Pledging My Love, 1955)
The Bonnie Sisters (Cry Baby, 1956)
The Teen Queens (Eddie, My Love, 1956)
Carl Perkins (Blue Suede Shoes, 1956)
The Cadets (Stranded in the Jungle, 1956)
Sanford Clark (The Fool, 1956)
Eddie Cooley & The Dimples (Priscilla, 1956)
Sonny Knight (Confidential, 1956)
Sil Austin (Slow Walk, 1956)
Ivory Joe Hunter (Since I Met You, Baby, 1956)
Mickey & Sylvia (Love Is Strange, 1957)
Jimmy Bowen & The Rhythm Orchirds (I'm Stickin' With You, 1957)
Bonnie Guitar (Dark Moon, 1957)
Johnnie & Joe (Over The Mountain, Across The Sea, 1957)
The Bobbettes (Mr. Lee, 1957)
Joe Bennett & The Sparkletones (Black Slacks, 1957)
The Tune Weavers (Happy, Happy Birthday, Baby, 1957)
The Rays (Silhouettes, 1957)
Thurston Harris (Little Bitty Pretty One, 1957)
The Shepherd Sisters (Alone (Why Must I Be Alone), 1957)
The Hollywood Flames (Buzz Buzz Buzz, 1957)
Bill Justis (Raunchy, 1957)
The Silhouettes (Get A Job, 1958)
Jimmy McCracklin (The Walk, 1958)
Huey "Piano" Smith (Don't You Just Know It, 1958)
The Monotones (Book of Love, 1958)
Ed Townsend (For Your Love, 1958)
Jan & Arnie (Jennie Lee, 1958)
Jody Reynolds (Endless Sleep, 1958)
The Danleers (One Summer Night, 19580
Johnny Otis (Willie and the Hand Jive, 1958)
The Elegants (Little Star, 1958)
The Quin-Tones (Down the Aisle of Love, 1958)
The Shields (You Cheated, 1958)
Bobby Day (Rockin' Robin, 1958)
Earl Grant (The End, 1958)
The Royaltones (Poor Boy, 1958)
Bill Parsons (The All-American Boy, 1959)
The Bell Notes (I've Had It, 1959)
Frankie Ford (Sea Cruise, 1959)
Rod Bernard (This Should Go On Forever, 1959)
The Virtues (Guitar Boogie Shuffle, 1959)
The Impalas (Sorry (I Ran All The Way Home), 1959)
The Fiestas (So Fine, 1959)
Preston Epps (Bongo Rock, 1959)
The Mystics (Hushabye, 1959)
The Falcons (You're So Fine, 1959)
Nina Simone (I Loves You, Porgy, 1959)
Bo Diddley (Say Man, 1959)
The Rock-A-Teens (Woo-Hoo, 1959)
Ernie Fields (In The Mood, 1959)

[Kat45]

38. Bo Diddley, a one-hit wonder???!

I think of him as a classic. And he's been around forever.

[NightTrain]

40. Now you see why I dislike the term "one-hit wonder."

It's so bloody arbitrary! If you never made the pop top forty more than once, you're a one-hit wonder. And I guess if you never made the pop top forty at all, you're an obscure failure, like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.

[Kat45]

41. Exactly. I never consider those folks one-hit wonders.

The way I define it is as an artist who has had one(probably big) hit and is never heard from again, whether because they're no longer around or that they're known by a few people but are pretty much off the radar screen. I don't count artists with long, particularly long and illustrious, careers as one-hit wonders. And yes, a lot of amazing artists have never made the pop top forty--and there's nothing wrong with that.

[Norbert]

53. Agree with you

Hard to think of talent like Dave Brubeck, Jimmy Ruffin, Rosanne Cash & Marty Balin as one hit wonders but technically they were.

Probably Brubeck couldn't have given a shit if Take Five went top 40 or not.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

45. Same for Nina Simone

A jazz legend.

And Caterina Valente was very popular in Italy for years and frequently appeared on American variety shows in the early 1960s.

[leftofthedial]

26. walking on sunshine

katrina and the waves

[smallprint]

51. that song is the happiest song ever recorded

we used to play that at summer camp, with the campers still learning their instruments... it didn't matter, because it only has about 4 chords, and everyone knows the words...

it's time to feel GOOD!!!!!!

:) :) :) :) :)

[guitar man]

27. Billy Paul

"Me and Mrs. Jones"

From about '71 or '72 I think.


Great song.

[ornotna]

37. It was 1972

From the album "360 degrees of Billy Paul"
Yep, a great song .

[truthseeker1]

28. Laid Back, When In Rome, M/A/R/R/S, Kon Kan, Tin Tin

Just a few of my favorites.....

White Horse - Laid Back
The Promise - When In Rome
Pump Up The Volume - M/A/R/R/S
I Beg Your Pardon (I Never Promised You a Rose Garden)- Kon Kan
Kiss Me - Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy
Pop Muzik - M
Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha - Trio
Safety Dance - Men Without Hats
Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles
Pass the Dutchie - Musical Youth
Life in a Northern Town - The Dream Academy
Genius of Youth - Tom Tom Club
No Stars - Figures on a Beach
Oh Yeah - Yello
Heart and Soul - T'Pau
It's My Life - Talk Talk
Obsession - Animotion
In a Big Country - Big Country
Madness - Our House
Planet Rock - Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force

Debatable:
I Know What Boys Like - The Waitresses (unless you count the xmas song, Christmas Wrapping)
She Blinded Me With Science - Thomas Dolby
I Melt With You - Modern English
Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Situation - Yaz
I Got You - Split Enz
Love and Pride - King
Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant
Word Up - Cameo

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

30. Oops you're busted

:D Buggles had a hit with Clean, Clean too, Split Enz had a hit with Message to my Girl and a few others, Eddie Grant had a hit with Give me Hope, JoHanna, Don't GO was a hit for Yaz (Love Alison Moyet), Mirror in the Bathroom was a hit for Modern English.
Waitresses had another hit...you know...I'm sorry but I don't feel awful...it wasn't the end of the world.
Can't help it...I'm a DJ :D

[jpgray]

32. That's why I give this thread a wide berth

Music freaks are just *waiting* to pounce on me if I get one wrong. :D Did the Fall have more than one hit? What was it anyway--something 80s, like Hit the North or the Victoria cover?

[Whitacre D_WI]

66. I feel so dirty...

I love the Fall, and I think MES is a flippin' genius songwriter.

But my favorite song of theirs is a Kinks cover.

Maybe it's just 'cause I don't care much for "The Frenz Experiment" as an album, and "Victoria" sticks out as being really good. Nonetheless, I can't sit down when I hear that song.

[Philostopher]

35. Well, Split Enz did have a semi-hit with

'Hello Sandy Allen,' a song about the world's tallest woman (at least in the early '80s). The Waitresses also had something of a hit with the theme song from the network TV show 'Square Pegs' -- WOXY (our local modern rock station, which also does mighty well internationally on the Internet) plays it occasionally.

My vote for one hit wonder that actually didn't suck was Pilot's 'Magic' -- I remembered it being a crappy song, but when I heard it played on a classic pop show a few years back, I liked the guitar solo so much I had to find it on Napster. It's actually a decent mainstream rock tune, much to my surprise!

Here's yet another: 'Ariel,' by Dean Friedman. He's written songs that were possibly hits for other people, but under his own name, 'Ariel' was it.

I'll stop now -- I have a freakin' file cabinet of one-hit wonders in my head that just won't quit. Some of them actually didn't stink out loud.

[truthseeker1]

54. Oops! Shoot, I knew I was overdoing it : - )

I knew I was going out on a limb on a few of those, especially the ones I listed as "debatable" - So thanks for debating with me and I stand corrected!

I didn't realize Mirror in the Bathroom was Modern English; have to admit I've never heard Clean, Clean by the Buggles (I listened to it online just now and didn't recognize it); and didn't know about Eddy Grant's long and varied career until looking him up just now....

And I really hesitated putting Yaz down on the list, because I do love most of their stuff and they were one of my first non-mainstream radio discoveries. Where I was living (overseas at the time) I was fortunate to have been exposed to Situation in the youth center where we used to hang out. When we moved back to the states, I found Upstairs at Eric's and listened to it non-stop.

And I went on to discover similar music in Vince Clarke's other projects - - early Depeche Mode and later, Erasure.

[truthseeker1]

55. Wait, wait, wait! Look who's busted now......

Wasn't Mirror in the Bathroom English Beat, not Modern English???

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

60. DOH!

got me :evilfrown:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

31. The Plimsouls "A Million Miles Away"

from the movie 'Valley Girl'

Also Pavement, "Cut Your Hair"

They had other songs but that was their big hit.

[HereSince1628]

33. Zager and Evans...In The Year 2525

[5thGenDemocrat]

34. Saginaw's own Question Mark and the Mysterians: "96 Tears"

Stevie Wonder is also from Saginaw, but I understand he's had a few hits.
John
If you gotta have just one hit, "96 Tears" is a good one to have.

[Bertha Venation]

36. surely no one else remembers

"Pilot of the Airwaves" by Charlie Dore? I loved that song. It had to be around '80 or '81.

pilot of the airwaves
here is my request
you don't have to play it
but I hope you'll do your best
I've been listening to your show on the radio
and you feel like a friend to me

[ornotna]

39. What's going on

By 4 Non Blondes.
By the way, they do a killer version of "Misty Mountain Hop"





Must get dictionary :eyes:

[truthseeker1]

57. What's Going On = What's Up

good one :)

[mitchum]

42. Walter Egan "Magnet and Steel"

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

46. John Stewart Gold

Speaking of people who recorded with Stevie Nicks :D

Stewart wrote a ton of stuff and has several albums but Gold was his only top 40 hit solo

[regnaD kciN]

59. Sniff 'n' the Tears - Driver's Seat

Speaking of songs from the late 70s.

Possibly the best one-musical-phrase song ever recorded.

[mitchum]

61. "...when the lights go down in the California town"

I had forgotten about about that one! Stentorian-voiced folkie...

[absyntheNsugar]

43. STACY'S MOM

has got it going on...LOL

Well crafted pop.

Oh for me - think back to MY generation....
Scritti Politti "Perfect Way"

[onebigbadwulf]

47. adamant - wonderful

[Norbert]

50. Romeo Void - Never Say Never

Icicle Works - Whisper to a Scream (though I was underwealmed with the Album this was on)
The Choir - It's Cold Outside (1967 Garage band with Gary Wright)
Jo Jo Gunne - Run Run Run
Bob Lind - The Elusive Butterfly
The Lords of the New Church - Live for Today
Splinter - Costifine Town (a George Harrison discovery)
The Jaynetts - Sally Go 'Round the Roses

[truthseeker1]

56. ah yes, whisper to a scream - good one!

I'd forgotten about that song - thanks for reminding me :bounce:

Oh btw, Romeo Void had another hit with A Girl in Trouble :)

[NightTrain]

71. Actually, Romeo Void had another hit single.

"A Girl In Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing)." In fact, it cracked the national Top 40, which "Never Say Never" did not do.

[Norbert]

73. I remember that now

but I completely forget what the song sounds like. I'll have to check this one out again.

[Nomad559]

63. DEVO - Whip It

Did they have any other hits?

[Norbert]

72. Working in a Coal Mine

was in the lower reaches of the top 40 in 1981. This probably was the follow-up to Whip It.

[Nomad559]

64. Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/h/harvey-danger/64503.html

[Nomad559]

65. Martika - Toy Soldiers

http://www.flp3.forever-loved.net/ToySoldiers.html

[LanternWaste]

67. Cyrkle's Red Rubber Ball

Cyrkle: Red Rubber Ball. Made and played sometime in the mid-60's. Catchy little ditty I've grown to consider one of my guilty little pleasures.

[NightTrain]

68. Actually, the Cyrkle had two hits, both in 1966.

The other was "Turn Down Day."

[Iverson]

69. Youssou N'Dour: Seven Seconds Away

David Essex: Rock On

[NashVegas]

70. *coughs* - "Tainted Love," Anyone?

Don't touch me, please.

[Insider]

74. tainted love, aye

and 'it takes two' by rob base and dj e-z rock (hot as all get-out)