# All Time Worst One Hit Wonders **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971 "2007-01-14T20:01:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/21 "2007-01-15T01:48:02Z")
[QUOTE=Stillwell Angel] Too Shy by Kaja GooGoo (sp?) Take on Me by Ah Ha Either one of those is like sandpaper to the teeth. [/QUOTE] :eek: Slight nitpick. a-ha is no one-hit wonder, though that’s how people like to think it went down in the States. “Take On Me” and “The Sun Always Shines On TV” were both Top 20 hits on the Billboard charts in the US, and they have sold 76 million albums worldwide. [Cite.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-ha) They’ve continued to have hits worldwide, pretty much everywhere but America. Kajagoogoo charted three or four singles after “Too Shy” in the UK as well. As for not liking those two pop gems… to each his/her own, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/22 "2007-01-15T01:59:12Z")
Worst song, worst one-hit-wonder - just _worst_ is, of course **Never Been to Me** by **Charlene**. Yes, yes, I post that all the time. I may post it in Worst Buffy Episode sometime and I never watched Buffy. It’s just that bad. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/23 "2007-01-15T02:04:59Z")
[QUOTE=NDP] Insipid song but the Captain and Tennille were not one-hit wonders. [/QUOTE] Well, I can’t remember anything else by them, but that could be just a repressed memory. I _like_ Brandy, you’re a fine girl, what a good wife you would be, but my life, my lover, my lady is the sea… _strolls off humming_ ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/24 "2007-01-15T02:08:53Z")
This thread would be incomplete without at least an honorable mention for _Playground in my Mind_, credited to Clint Holmes although its most annoying moment was the cloying child singer warbling, “My name is Michael, I got a nickel, I got a nickel shiny and bright”. And of course, any mention of Holmes reminds one of Rupert Holmes, but the execrable _Pina Colada Song_ isn’t eligible because Rupert charted a couple of other times. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/25 "2007-01-15T02:11:09Z")
[QUOTE=NDP] Insipid song but the Captain and Tennille were not one-hit wonders. [/QUOTE] Nor were America. (So, it wasn’t even a one-hit song!) ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/26 "2007-01-15T02:48:27Z")
David Geddes scored a #5 and a #18 on the top 40, with two of the ickiest songs in the world: “Run Joey Run” about a pair of star-crossed lovers - the girl is pregnant and tells her father she’s going to marry the boy, but the father tries to shoot the boy and accidentally kills the daughter instead; and “Last Game Of The Season (The Blind Man in the Beachers)” about a baseball player whose blind dad dies, and therefore finally sees his son play (apparently from a seat in heaven.) Uber-ACK from a hack. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/27 "2007-01-15T02:51:09Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Nor were America. (So, it wasn’t even a one-hit song!) [/QUOTE] Absolutely. Hell, America did the whole soundtrack to **The Last Unicorn** with original songs. That mean that to certain of us (i.e ubergeeks under the age of 35), it was mildly surprising that America had “regular” hits. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/28 "2007-01-15T02:52:03Z")
:smack: I meant to add, though Geddes was a two-hit wonder, I think it’s noteworthy that BOTH of them were dreadful. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/29 "2007-01-15T03:05:01Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] [Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandy_%28You%27re_a_Fine_Girl%29) by Looking Glass. [/QUOTE] **HOLY FRAKKIN’ CRAP** was watching the playoffs when I posted, my bad, _Brandy_ is one of the best all-time one-hit wonders, my bad. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/30 "2007-01-15T03:08:02Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] “My name is Michael, I got a nickel, I got a nickel shiny and bright”. [/QUOTE] "Shiny and **new**. Get it right, dammit! [sub]frickin’ song is stuck in my mind now[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/31 "2007-01-15T04:55:06Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] "Shiny and **new**. Get it right, dammit! [/QUOTE] Damn, damn, damn, I pride myself on my knowledge of crappy-song lyrics. Of course it would have to be “new”, because he’s gonna buy him all kinds of candy, that’s what he’s gonna do. God, that song is awful. > [@LifeOnWry](#): > > I meant to add, though Geddes was a two-hit wonder, I think it’s noteworthy that BOTH of them were dreadful. I actually was going to post Geddes, until I looked it up and saw that he had a second hit. If there’s ever a thread about two-hit wonders, he “wins” hands down, beyond any shadow of a doubt, with the case not only open and shut but locked, bolted, and hermetically sealed. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/32 "2007-01-15T04:59:29Z")
_Mac Arthur Park_ =Horrible terrible. But I agree that _2525_ is pretty damn bad. I kinda like Kung Fu Fighting. A little. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/33 "2007-01-15T06:37:34Z")
I hate to admit that I like a _few_ of the songs already mentioned but most of the choices are dead-on accurate. Starland Vocal Band ?? ARRGGHH !!! :mad: Seems you folks _think_ you know bad but how about these gems? \*\*• “You Light Up My Life” by Debbie Boone • “Feelings” by Morris Albert • “Ballad of the Green Berets” by Sgt Barry Sadler \*\* Please refrain from throwing objects until I have left the forum. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/34 "2007-01-15T07:22:47Z")
Nobody has said “The Vapors” Remember “Turning japanese” Or how about: Buckner and Garcia’s, Pac Man Fever Yeah, the 80’s were great. Sgt “Not Martha Quinn” Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/35 "2007-01-15T08:02:25Z")
**"The Night Chicago Died", Paper Lace, 1974** And yes, I know they had _two_ hits in the U.K., but I didn’t live in the U.K. And anyway, their other U.K. hit was a hit in the U.S. for someone else, namely, my other nominee from that year: \*\*“Billy, Don’t Be a Hero”, Bo Donaldson and the Haywoods, 1974. \*\* OK, so they actually had several other Top 40 singles (including two before “Billy”), but I defy anyone to name one from memory. Both of those songs got burned into my mental circuits at the tender age of ten (along with several others already mentioned) and nothing has managed to drive them out. I’ll have to second the nominations of “Afternoon Delight”, “In the Year 2525”, “Seasons in the Sun”, and “Playground in My Mind”; on the other hand, I’d argue against including “Turning Japanese”, “Take on Me”, and “Harper Valley P.T.A.” (and anyway, Jeannie C. Riley had plenty of other hits on the country charts, and “P.T.A.” was written by Tom T. Hall, who knew his way around a country song). ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/36 "2007-01-15T08:08:06Z")
For me, it’s all about “What’s Up?” by **4** **Non Blondes**. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/37 "2007-01-15T08:30:03Z")
At the risk of tacky self-promotion, I recently [started a blog](http://itstheshit.blogspot.com/) on this very subject (though not necessarily limited to one-hit wonders). Many of the aforementioned are already on my list. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/38 "2007-01-15T08:31:22Z")
Already on my list of upcoming posts, I meant to say. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/39 "2007-01-15T09:20:20Z")
Los del Rio should have been shot (I know several million Spanish women who’d volunteer for the firing squad) plus the ditty mentioned in post #2 isn’t even original. It’s a marching song from the military service. Spain used to have a handful of people, some local and some from Latin America, who tried to get “the summer’s song” every year. They’d tour in Spain, then in Mexico and Central America, then South America (by this time it was summer in the South Cone). This kind of singer has pretty much dissapeared, but La Canción Del Verano remains. The aforementioned Macarena. Las Ketchup. Last year’s [Koala](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUoXtjXco2M) “I’m going to build a pen”. A few years ago (also “farm songs” like el Koala), The Yellow Tractor (no idea who was the group). Many, many years ago, in the '70s, La Ramona… The summer’s song has to be impossible to dislodge from your brain. Nobody said it had to be good. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/40 "2007-01-15T13:08:17Z")
Did Rick Dees ever have another hit besides Disco Duck? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971.md?page=3)