One hit wonders

Citanul · Apr 17, 2019

Tone said:
What other hits from them?

Oasis - this is just off the top of my head, so may not have been their biggest hits but they had plenty of them, being one the most successful British bands ever.

Simple Minds - they had other songs, which I'm not all that familiar with, but I think this would have been their biggest one after Don't You Forget About Me.

Apologetic_Warrior · Apr 17, 2019

The nerdy part of me just had to dig a little deeper into the notion of "one-hit wonder", and it's interesting to say the least, check this from Wikipedia:

"A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with only one top-20 hit single that overshadows their other work. Sometimes, artists dubbed "one-hit wonders" in a particular country have had great success in other countries. Music artists with subsequent popular albums and hit listings are typically not considered a one-hit wonder. One-hit wonders usually see their popularity decreasing after their hit listing and most often don't return to hit listings with other songs or albums."

Even more interesting from the same article, this list attributed to VH1:

VH1's list of "10 greatest one-hit wonders"

In 2002, the American cable network VH1 aired a countdown of the VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders, hosted by William Shatner.[citation needed] It listed musicians with only one American hit, regardless of international success.

The top ten consisted of:

"Macarena" – Los Del Rio (1996)
"Tainted Love" – Soft Cell (1982)
"Come on Eileen" – Dexys Midnight Runners (1982)
"I'm Too Sexy" – Right Said Fred (1991)
"Mickey" – Toni Basil (1982)
"Who Let the Dogs Out?" – Baha Men (2000)
"Ice Ice Baby" – Vanilla Ice (1990)
"Eye of the Tiger” - Survivor (1982)
"Rico Suave" – Gerardo (1990)
"99 Luftballons" – Nena (1984)

What makes this list interesting? Well, of all those listed I am most familiar with the band Survivor, to the point of owning a greatest hits CD (which I never buy for only one song). Anyway, so I decided to look up the discography page for Survivor because they're definitely not a band I would identify as a "one-hit wonder". So here are my findings:

US Charts Survivor Hit songs that made the Top 20

82' Eye of the Tiger #1
82' American Heartbeat #17
84' I Can't Hold Back #13
85' High On You #8
85' The Search is Over #4
85' Burning Heart #2 (Rocky IV Soundtrack)
86' Is This Love #9

Either VH1 used a strict and different definition than one given above in a different sense of only one #1 hit total throughout a career, or they were way off about Survivor being a "one-hit wonder", I couldn't say about the others on the list. What say you?

Apologetic_Warrior · Apr 17, 2019

In the USA, ah-ha had a #1 hit (below), and only one other track to break into the top 20, peaking at #20. They had greater international success, but this is the only song they're really known for in the US.

And I loved hearing this song on the radio and MTV in the 80's.

Citanul · Apr 17, 2019

Apologetic_Warrior said:
Either VH1 used a strict and different definition than one given above in a different sense of only one #1 hit total throughout a career, or they were way off about Survivor being a "one-hit wonder", I couldn't say about the others on the list. What say you?

Well, Vanilla Ice is actually a two hit wonder as his first single was a version of Play That Funky Music, which got to #4 in the US. Ice Ice Baby was the B-side to that but was eventually released as a single by itself getting to #1.

So that's perhaps sloppy research from VH1, although the others all look like reasonable calls for one hit wonders in the sense of no other top 20 hits. In the US at least, as Right Said Fred and Dexys Midnight Runners had other hits in the UK.

Which raises the question - what countries do you consider when classifying an artist as a one hit wonder? Personally, I'd take into account both the US and UK, so in the case of a single hit in one but multiple hits in the other I'd say not a one hit wonder.

Pavel Mosko · Apr 17, 2019

mnorian said:
The Animals - The House of the Rising Sun

The Animals were not a one hit wonder. I can think of at least another hit they had and I'm pretty sure they had more besides that one.

Halbhh · Apr 17, 2019

mnorian said:
4 Non Blondes - What's Up

One of our own all-time favorite secular songs in our house, say in the top 10.

Tone · Apr 17, 2019

Tone · Apr 17, 2019

Citanul said:
Oasis - this is just off the top of my head, so may not have been their biggest hits but they had plenty of them, being one the most successful British bands ever.

Simple Minds - they had other songs, which I'm not all that familiar with, but I think this would have been their biggest one after Don't You Forget About Me.

All great songs, I heard a few and liked them, just didn't know they were from them. I always think of Wonder Wall as a stand alone monster hit...probably cause it's my favorite song (at least from that era)...I haven't even checked on Oasis' other stuff...that's how much Wonder Wall did it for me...just stuck there.

Apologetic_Warrior · Apr 17, 2019

Citanul said:
Which raises the question - what countries do you consider when classifying an artist as a one hit wonder? Personally, I'd take into account both the US and UK, so in the case of a single hit in one but multiple hits in the other I'd say not a one hit wonder.

Like Bruce Springsteen sang "I was Born in the USA". It is the only country I've known from personal experience, something music is rooted in.

Apologetic_Warrior · Apr 17, 2019

The group La Bouche originated from Germany, but had a couple of hits on the US charts, the song they are most famous for is "Be my Lover" (95') (#6), unfortunately Melanie died in a plane crash in 2001.

Is one of my favorite dance tracks of all time, and it's a mixture of genres, house/techno beat, pop/soul vocals with secondary hip hop vocals. I get into these multi layered songs.

Apologetic_Warrior · Apr 17, 2019

Apologetic_Warrior · Apr 17, 2019

"At the Hop" #1 US Hot 100.

"Rock & Roll is Here to Stay" reached #16 on the US R&B charts, mostly a forgotten group and genre "Doo-wop" from the 40's and 50's. When music was more on the light hearted fun side.

Apologetic_Warrior · Apr 17, 2019

The influences, my dad instilled appreciation for music from the 50's, my mom music more from the 60's and 70's, and I grew up in the 80's and 90's. Created much diversity in my musical tastes.

Citanul · Apr 17, 2019

Tone said:
All great songs, I heard a few and liked them, just didn't know they were from them. I always think of Wonder Wall as a stand alone monster hit...probably cause it's my favorite song (at least from that era)...I haven't even checked on Oasis' other stuff...that's how much Wonder Wall did it for me...just stuck there.

It turns out that Wonderwall was their only top 20 hit in the US, so technically they could be classified a one hit wonder in that context. But it does seem a bit odd to call them that when they sold 75 million albums worldwide and had more than twenty top 10 hits in the UK.

Apologetic_Warrior · Apr 17, 2019

"The Penguins were an American doo-wop group of the 1950s and early 1960s, best remembered for their only Top 40 hit, "Earth Angel", which was one of the first rhythm and blues hits to cross over to the pop charts. The song peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart,[2] but had a three-week run at #1 on the R&B chart, later used in the Back to the Future movies. The group's tenor was Cleveland Duncan.[3]

Coming off the success of "Earth Angel", the Penguins approached Buck Ram to manage them. Ram's primary interest was in managing The Platters, who at that point had no hit singles, but were a profitable touring group. With the Penguins in hand, Ram was able to swing a 2-for-1 deal with Mercury Records, in which the company agreed to take on the Platters as a condition for getting the Penguins (the group that Mercury really wanted).[citation needed] The Platters became the label's more successful act, the Penguins never scoring another hit single." - Wikipedia

Classic love song

keith99 · May 7, 2019

Apologetic_Warrior said:
The nerdy part of me just had to dig a little deeper into the notion of "one-hit wonder", and it's interesting to say the least, check this from Wikipedia:

"A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with only one top-20 hit single that overshadows their other work. Sometimes, artists dubbed "one-hit wonders" in a particular country have had great success in other countries. Music artists with subsequent popular albums and hit listings are typically not considered a one-hit wonder. One-hit wonders usually see their popularity decreasing after their hit listing and most often don't return to hit listings with other songs or albums."

Even more interesting from the same article, this list attributed to VH1:

VH1's list of "10 greatest one-hit wonders"

In 2002, the American cable network VH1 aired a countdown of the VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders, hosted by William Shatner.[citation needed] It listed musicians with only one American hit, regardless of international success.

The top ten consisted of:

"Macarena" – Los Del Rio (1996)

"Tainted Love" – Soft Cell (1982)

"Come on Eileen" – Dexys Midnight Runners (1982)

"I'm Too Sexy" – Right Said Fred (1991)

"Mickey" – Toni Basil (1982)

"Who Let the Dogs Out?" – Baha Men (2000)

"Ice Ice Baby" – Vanilla Ice (1990)

"Eye of the Tiger” - Survivor (1982)

"Rico Suave" – Gerardo (1990)

"99 Luftballons" – Nena (1984)

What makes this list interesting? Well, of all those listed I am most familiar with the band Survivor, to the point of owning a greatest hits CD (which I never buy for only one song). Anyway, so I decided to look up the discography page for Survivor because they're definitely not a band I would identify as a "one-hit wonder". So here are my findings:

US Charts Survivor Hit songs that made the Top 20

82' Eye of the Tiger #1
82' American Heartbeat #17
84' I Can't Hold Back #13
85' High On You #8
85' The Search is Over #4
85' Burning Heart #2 (Rocky IV Soundtrack)
86' Is This Love #9

Either VH1 used a strict and different definition than one given above in a different sense of only one #1 hit total throughout a career, or they were way off about Survivor being a "one-hit wonder", I couldn't say about the others on the list. What say you?

I'm going to say this was a 1 hit wonder as far as The States goes. It sure was not in the U.K. both ways. She had a few other songs that qualify as hits in the U.K. But this song has the distinction of being the only song by a U.K. artist to hit #1 in the U.S. (# 1 on Billboard for 5 weeks and top song for the year) but to not chart in the U.K.

Of course the film was anything but a one hit wonder with Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night also staring Sidney Poitier coming out in the same year (1967).

keith99 · May 9, 2019

Wipe out! The only words in the song and said only once.

An interesting side note is that this was the 'b' side of the single and the 'a' side was their second highest charted and well known song.

jayem · May 9, 2019

This was an enormous #1 hit song in 1976. And won a Grammy. Then the group was never heard from again.

One hit wonders

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