One-hit wonders in music

[I’m not Stu]

Can you name any?

[LAKISYLVANIA]

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Kidding aside, everyone should be able to name this one

[Meclazine for Israel]

1. The Buggles

Video Killed the Radio Star (1979)

https://youtu.be/W8r-tXRLazs


2  Matthew Wilder

Break My Stride (1983)

https://youtu.be/B4c_SkROzzo


3. Randy VanWarmer

Just When I Needed You Most (1979)

https://youtu.be/GoMn41bFqVA


4. Mississippi

Kings of the World (1972)

https://youtu.be/32xx6wy5cyI


5. Beeb Birtles and Graeham Goble

I'm Coming Home (1979)

https://youtu.be/FzOVv1ldcmQ

Randy was knocked back 4 or 5 times from getting his song recorded and released. Once it was, it went to Top 10 globally on most charts.

[Orwell]

Fountains of Wayne - Stacy's Mom

[progressive85]

One song that screams "one-hit wonder" is "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred.  It was from the early 90s and extremely cheesy, dopey, and campy.

Actually a top hit on the charts, but after being played so much, it was then an embarrassing joke.

[I’m not Stu]

Rock Kills Kid - “Paralyzed”

[Zinneke]

KT Turnstall

[I’m not Stu]

Do the Ting Tings count?

[Benjamin Frank]

Kidding aside, everyone should be able to name this one

Rick Astley was by no means a one hit wonder. "Together Forever" topped the Hot 100 in the U.S.

I would say Chumbawamba was the most obvious with 'Tubthumping' but I believe their follow up song at least made it into the U.S Hot 100. During 'Tubthumping's' stay on the charts, members of the band even wore t-shirts on stage saying "One hit wonder."

In many cases, a band follows up a top 10 hit song with a song that at least makes the top 100. I think, after the singles era of the 1950s and 1960s and before kind of returning to the singles era with streaming that the phrase 'one album wonder' was more accurate than one hit wonder.

There were also many bands that had long careers as more 'niche artists' but broke through to the mainstream with just one album. The two clearest examples I can think of that off the top of my head are The Mighty Mighty Bostones and Blues Traveller.

Right around the same time as Rick Astley though (mid 1980s) was a somewhat similar sounding American musician named Robbie Nevil who was a mostly one album wonder, with ihs first album producing two top 10 and one top 20 hit singles. His second and third albums produced one lower top 40 single each while his second album failed to crack the top 100 and his third album did not chart at all.

While his debut album only went to #37, it came out in 1986. Sometime in 1986 Billboard changed their method on the top 200 albums from basing it on surveys of leading record stores to using actual point of sales with something called 'Sound Scan.'

Prior to that, many albums had fairly slow climbs up the billboard album chart peaking maybe 2 months after release, whereas with the point of sales, probably not surprisingly it was determined that many records debuted at their peak, with declining sales after that. Since Robbie Nevil's first album to chart was his first album it probably would have climbed up the chart, but it likely would have peaked higher than #37 as name recognition also seemed to make a big difference when the chart was based on surveys.

For example, I believe that Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon which had charted consecutively since its release was nowhere to be seen using actual sales figures.

Billboard made other odd decisions at that time as well. For instance, if an album dropped out of the top 200 for a certain period of time, but then increased sales again (if a song from the album became a hit single being in a film for instance resulting in renewed sales for the album) rather than re-appear on the top 200, it would be placed on a different chart.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

[LAKISYLVANIA]

[LAKISYLVANIA]

That this ever became a hit, like lol. even kids were singing this.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Music industry can be full of one hit wonders.

[kcguy]

I have a book of Top 40 hits from 1955 to 2009.

Here is a list of everyone I could find who met both of the following conditions:
1.  Only one Top 40 hit listed in the book.
2.  That hit had at least one week where it ranked #3 or better.


Abbott, Gregory (1986)  Shake You Down
Ace (1975)  How Long
Akens, Jewel (1965)  The Birds and the Bees
Anderson, Lynn (1970)  Rose Garden
Austin, Patti (1982)  Baby, Come to Me  [duet with James Ingram]
Bailey, Philip (1984)  Easy Lover  [duet with Phil Collins]
Ball, Kenny, and his Jazzmen (1962)  Midnight in Moscow
Basil, Toni  (1982)  Mickey
Bega, Lou  (1999)  Mambo No 5 (A Little Bit of . . .)
Bice, Bo  (2005)  Inside Your Heaven
Bilk, Mr Acker  (1962)  Stranger on the Shore
Bishop, Elvin  (1976)  Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Blane, Marcie  (1962)  Bobby's Girl
Blunt, James  (2005)  You're Beautiful
Boone, Debby  (1977)  You Light Up My Life
Brooklyn Bridge  (1969)  Worst that Could Happen
Brooks, Meredith  (1997)  Bitch
Brown, Arthur [The Crazy World Of]  (1968)  Fire
B.T. Express  (1974)  Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)
Burdon, Eric, and War  (1970)  Spill the Wine
Calloway  (1990)  I Wanna Be Rich
Cantrell, Blu  (2001)  Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)
Capris, The  (1961)  There's a Moon Out Tonight
Caravelles, The  (1963)  You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry
Cardigans, The  (1996)  Lovefool
Carr, Cathy  (1956)  Ivory Tower
Cascades, The  (1963)  Rhythm of the Rain
Cassie  (2006)  Me & U
Channel, Bruce  (1962)  Hey! Baby
Charlene  (1982)  I've Never Been to Me
Child, Jane  (1990)  Don't Wanna Fall in Love
Classics IV  (1968)  Spooky
Climax  (1972)  Precious and Few
Conti, Bill  (1977)  Gonna Fly Now
Crazy Town  (2001)  Butterfly
Day, Bobby  (1958)  Rock-in Robin
DeBarge, El  (1986)  Who's Johnny
Dees, Dick, and His Cast of Idiots  (1976)  Disco Duck (Part I)
Deodato  (1973)  Also Sprach Zarathustra [2001]
DeSario, Teri  (1979)  Yes, I'm Ready  [duet with K.C.]
Dexy's Midnight Runners  (1983)  Come On Eileen
D4L  (2005)  Laffy Taffy
Dinning, Mark  (1960)  Teen Angel
Douglas, Carl  (1974)  Kung Fu Fighting
Drake  (2009)  Best I Ever Had  [this guy only had one hit between 1955 and 2009?  poor guy]
Elegants, The  (1958)  Little Star
Everything But the Girl  (1995)  Missing
Faltermeyer, Harold  (1985)  Axel F
Floaters, The  (1977)  Float On
Fred, John, & His Playboy Band  (1967)  Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)
French, Nicki  (1995)  Total Eclipse of the Heart
George, Barbara  (1961)  I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)
Georgia Satellites  (1986)  Keep Your Hands to Yourself
Gilder, Nick  (1978)  Hot Child in the City
Gnarls Barkley  (2006)  Crazy
Greenbaum, Norman  (1970)  Spirit in the Sky
Greene, Lorne  (1964)  Ringo
Hamlisch, Marvin  (1974)  The Entertainer
Hammer, Jan  (1985)  Miami Vice Theme
Harris, Richard  (1968)  MacArthur Park
Harris, Rolf  (1963)  Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport
Heights, The  (1992)  How Do You Talk to an Angel
Hicks, Taylor  (2006)  Do I Make You Proud
Hollywood Argyles  (1960)  Alley-Oop
Holman, Eddie  (1970)  Hey There Lonely Girl
Holmes, Clint  (1973)  Playground in my Mind
Hoobastank  (2004)  The Reason
House of Pain  (1992)  Jump Around
Ides of March, The  (1970)  Vehicle
Impalas, The  (1959)  Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)
Ingmann, Jorgen, & His Guitar  (1961)  Apache
Jacks, Terry (1974)  Seasons in the Sun
Jaggerz, The  (1970)  The Rapper
Jaynetts, The  (1963)  Sally, Go 'Round the Roses
Jones, Joe  (1960)  You Talk Too Much
Justis, Bill  (1957)  Raunchy
Kamoze, Ini  (1994)  Here Comes the Hotstepper
K-Doe, Ernie  (1961)  Mother-In-Law
Kenner, Chris  (1961)  I Like It Like That, Part 1
Kid Cudi  (2009)  Day 'N' Nite
Knight, Jean  (1971)  Mr Big Stuff
Lawrence, Vicki  (1973)  The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia
Lemon Pipers, The  (1967)  Green Tambourine
Lewis, Donna  (1996)  I Love You Always Forever
Lil' Romeo (2001)  My Baby
Lipps, Inc  (1980)  Funkytown
London, Laurie  (1958)  He's Got the Whole World (In His Hands)
Loring, Gloria  (1986)  Friends and Lovers  [duet with Carl Anderson]
Love and Rockets  (1989)  So Alive
Lumidee  (2003)  Never Leave You -- Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh!
M  (1979)  Pop Muzik
Maddox, Johnny, and the Rhythmasters  (1955)  The Crazy Otto
Mar-Keys  (1961)  Last Night
Masekela, Hugh  (1968)  Grazing in the Grass
Mauriat, Paul, and His Orchestra  (1968)  Love is Blue
McCoy, Van  (1975)  The Hustle
McFerrin, Bobby  (1988)  Don't Worry Be Happy
McGuire, Barry  (1965)  Eve of Destruction
Medley, Bill  (1987)  (I've Had) The Time of My Life  [duet with Jennifer Warnes]
Mercy  (1969)  Love (Can Make You Happy)
MFSB  (1974)  TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)  [with The Three Degrees]
Mills, Frank  (1979)  Music Box Dancer
Modugno, Domenico  (1958)  Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)
Montenegro, Hugo, His Orchestra and Chorus  (1968)  The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Morrison, Mark  (1997)  Return of the Mack
Mungo Jerry  (1970)  In the Summertime
Murmaids, The  (1963)  Popsicles and Icicles
Murphy, Walter  (1976)  A Fifth of Beethoven  [with The Big Apple Band]
Music Explosion, The  (1967)  Little Bit o' Soul
Napoleon XIV  (1966)  They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!
Nena  (1984)  99 Luftballons
Newman, Randy  (1977)  Short People
New Vaudeville Band, The  (1966)  Winchester Cathedral
Nobles, Cliff, & Co  (1968)  The Horse
Ocean  (1971)  Put Your Hand in the Hand
O'Connor, Sinead  (1990)  Nothing Compares 2 U
O'Day, Alan  (1977)  Undercover Angel
Paige, Jennifer  (1998)  Crush
Paper Lace  (1974)  The Night Chicago Died
Perkins, Carl  (1956)  Blue Suede Shoes
Phillips, Phil  (1959)  Sea of Live  [with The Twilights]
Powter, Daniel  (2006)  Bad Day
Proclaimers, The  (1993)  I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
Rich, Tony, Project  (1996)  Nobody Knows
Right Said Fred  (1992)  I'm Too Sexy
Riley, Jeannie C  (1968)  Harper Valley P.T.A.
Riperton, Minnie  (1975)  Lovin' You
Rose, David, and His Orchestra  (1962)  The Stripper
Sakamoto, Kyu  (1963)  Sukiyaki
Sang, Samantha  (1978)  Emotion
Scarbury, Joey  (1981)  Theme from "Greatest American Hero"  (Believe It or Not)
Sebastian, John  (1976)  Welcome Back
Shep and the Limelites  (1961)  Daddy's Home
Sheriff  (1988)  When I'm With You
Shocking Blue, The  (1969)  Venus
Shop Boyz  (2007)  Party Like a Rock Star
Silhouettes, The  (1958)  Get a Job
Singing Nun, The  (1963)  Dominique
Sir Mix-a-Lot  (1992)  Baby Got Back
Smith, Hurricane  (1972)  Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?
S.O.S. Band, The  (1980)  Take Your Time (Do It Right) Part 1
Soul, David  (1977)  Don't Give Up On Us
Starlight Vocal Band  (1976)  Afternoon Delight
Steam  (1969)  Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
Stevens, Dodie  (1959)  Pink Shoe Laces
Stewart, Amii  (1979)  Knock On Wood
Stoloff, Morris  (1956)  Moonglow and Theme from "Picnic"  [with The Columbia Pictures Orchestra]
Stories  (1973)  Brother Louie
Swan, Billy  (1974)  I Can Help
Swayze, Patrick  (1988)  She's Like the Wind  [with Wendy Fraser]
Sylvia  (1973)  Pillow Talk
Tag Team  (1993)  Whoomp! (There It Is)
T-Bones, The  (1965)  No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)
Teddy Bears, The  (1958)  To Know Him, Is to Love Him
Terror Squad  (2004)  Lean Back
Thomas, Timmy  (1972)  Why Can't We Live Together
Tornadoes, The  (1962)  Telstar
Undisputed Truth, The  (1971)  Smiling Faces Sometimes
USA For Africa  (1985)  We Are the World  [okay, this one is majorly cheating]
Vangelis  (1982)  Chariots of Fire - Titles
Verne, Larry  (1960)  Mr Custer
Village Stompers, The  (1963)  Washington Square
Wagner, Jack  (1984)  All I Need
Ward, Anita  (1979)  Ring My Bell
Washington, Grover Jr  (1981)  Just the Two of Us  [with Bill Withers]
Weber, Joan  (1954)  Let Me Go Lover
Weissberg, Eric, & Steve Mandell  (1973)  Dueling Banjos
Wild Cherry  (1976)  Play That Funky Music
Williams, Mason  (1968)  Classical Gas
Williams, Maurice, & The Zodiacs  (1960)  Stay
Wilson, J Frank, and the Cavaliers  (1964)  Last Kiss
Winans, Mario  (2004)  I Don't Wanna Know  [with P. Diddy and Enya]
Wooley, Sheb  (1958)  The Purple People Eater
Wreckx-n-Effect  (1992)  Rump Shaker
Zager & Evans  (1969)  In the Year 2525

[Progressive Pessimist]

Kcguy basically listed all the really well-known ones.

But if you want to watch a Youtube series with interesting insight into one-hit wonders and how they earned their hits as well as what they moved on to doing, I recommend Todd In the Shadows' "One-Hit Wonderland" review series. It's very entertaining and informative as well and covers many of the biggest, and even more obscure ones from throughout time. They usually aren't any longer than 20 minutes each too.

[dead0man]

I have a book of Top 40 hits from 1955 to 2009.
Burdon, Eric, and War  (1970)  Spill the Wine

nitpick Eric Burdon had top 40 hits with The Animals and solo, War had many other top 40 hits as well.

[I’m not Stu]

Rick Derringer - “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo”
The Ting Tings - “Shut Up and Let Me Go”
Rock Kills Kid - “Paralyzed”

[T'Chenka]

Ones I like a lot

The Outfield - Your Love
Player - Baby Come Back
Tommy Tutone - 867-5309 / Jenny
a-Ha - Take On Me

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

筷子兄弟-小苹果 （2014）

If you go to China, show any ability to speak the language, and go to Karaoke, your Chinese friend will try to get you to sing this one.

[Benjamin Frank]

Pop music history from my perspective if anybody cares. The mid to late 1980s had the most diverse music that got played on top 40 radio since the mid 1960s. This was not just in terms of style of play, but in terms of the generations of the musicians. The basic idea was that the 'baby boom' generation was not willing to leave pop culture solely to the youth.

So, a lot of musicians who started in the 1960s had hits/made comebacks in the mid to late 1980s. From what I saw, a lot of young people also liked this music though.

Of course, it kind of blurs the lines with Michael Jackson who started in the 1960s in that he was in his mid 20s when Thriller came out. Steve Winwood (and Stevie Wonder) were also under 40 in the mid 1980s as he got his start as a teenager in the mid 1960s as the lead singer of the Spencer Davis Group (Gimme Some Lovin'.)

However, most were over 40 and had commercial and critical success in the mid to late 1980s, though not all had hit singles: Tina Turner, Paul Simon, Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones (who never really went away), George Harrison, Paul McCartney, The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield, John Fogerty, Diana Ross, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Aretha Franklin...

The Hot 100 singles chart was also diverse. In addition to the pop 'big 4' of Madonna, Whitney Houston, Prince and Janet Jackson whose every song made the top 10 no matter how good or bad they were, there was folk rock with Suzanne Vega and Tracy Chapman, alternative rock musicians inspired by the folk rock of the 1960s like R.E.M and The Cure, 'pop' heavy metal like Def Leppard and Great White, the emergence of rap/hip hop, and early electronic music along with the usual R&B and rock music.

In addition to the 'big 4' and very successful comebacks like Paul Simon with "Graceland" and Steve Winwood with "Roll With It", the biggest albums of the mid/late 1980s show the diversity. As far as I know, these were the #1 albums by sales per year in the U.S, most of these bands had been around since the 1970s:

1985: Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms, a mostly guitar based rock record, but also had folkier songs

1986: Peter Gabriel, So. Not the #1 selling album of 1986 I'm sure, but a huge hit for a former 'alternative musician.' The record was also produced by Daniel Lanois who showed up again with U2.

1987: Inxs, Kick, Australian rock band

1988: U2, The Joshua Tree, Irish rock band, but this record also had a number of more 'atmospheric songs' like With or Without You

1989: Fine Young Cannibals, The Raw and the Cooked. So named because the physical albums (and cassettes) that came out at the time had two sides. Side one, Raw, featured the band playing 'real' instruments, while side two 'cooked' was with them playing electronic instruments.

By the early/mid 1990s though the hitlist had pretty much narrowed to some pop, R&B, rap/hip hop, 'new country' and some rock music. There were likely a lot of one hit wonders as there was quite a bit of turnover around this time. I'm pretty sure it was at this time that the MC of the Grammy awards one year said to the audience 'don't get too comfortable in your seats. Next year you'll all be outside cheering and the people who this year are outside cheering will be in your seats.'

For me, the most interesting songs in the mid to late 1990s were the One hit wonders from the rock musicians. Songs like "Closing Time" By Semisonic, "Brick" by Ben Folds Five, "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth" by Primitive Radio Gods, "Your Women" by White Town, "Female of the Species" by Space, "Good" by Better than Ezra, "Closer to Free" by the Bodeans, "One of Us" by Joan Osborne "Brimful of Asha' by Cornershop and "A Girl Like You" by Edwyn Collins.

Of course, there was also interesting music by 'bands' that had more than one hit, especially Fat Boy Slim.

As an example of the even more than usual unpredictable nature of pop music, there was a 10 part series on PBS that was co-produced with the BBC on the history of Rock music that came out in 1994. In trying to predict where pop music was going, they predicted a rap/hip hop band named Arrested Development that had a hit song called "Tennessee" would be the future of Hip Hop. I don't think they were ever heard from again.

[Benjamin Frank]

I have a book of Top 40 hits from 1955 to 2009.
Burdon, Eric, and War  (1970)  Spill the Wine

nitpick Eric Burdon had top 40 hits with The Animals and solo, War had many other top 40 hits as well.

John Sebastian with "Welcome Back" also had many hits with The Lovin' Spoonful in the 1960s.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Also kind of a one hit wonder (at least from our western perspective) from Japan.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Also kind of a one hit wonder (again from our perspective) but the greatest of all city pop songs ever.

[Benjamin Frank]