This is known as the Reverse McLean Stevenson.
Barbara Keith released 2 solo albums in the late 60’s/early 70’s. She disliked the second one so much she gave back her advance money and quit the business, so the record company didn’t promote it and didn’t ship many copies. Her albums were basically unobtainable until the 2000’s (I know this is true because I went back to the record store in 1973 to buy the album I’d heard while browsing the week before and spent the next 30 years searching on and off for a copy).
Many of the songs from that album, written by Keith, have been covered by some high profile artists such as Tanya Tucker, Patty Loveless, Melanie, Delaney and Bonnie, Barbara Streisand, etc.
She re-emerged about 25 years later with what was basically a family band, The Stone Coyotes. Elmore Leonard saw them perform and modeled the band in Be Cool on their band and explicitly refers to their songs in the novel.
No-Hit Wonder, Failure, or Secret Success?
Another good example is Vanna White. She started working on Wheel of Fortune in 1982. In the late eighties she had inexplicably become famous. It would have been easy for her to decide that spinning letters on a gameshow was beneath her. But she decided to stick with her day job while pursuing movie offers. Which meant that while her movie career has passed, she is still working.
She was in a terrible made for tv movie in the late 80s. Her acting was horrible but so was the script and premise.
I don’t know whether Rick Astley really counts, because he sort of decided to be a one-hit wonder. He got a taste of fame and fortune and he hated it. He just wanted to be at home with his wife and child, so that’s how he spent the rest of his days.
Well, except his recent resurgence. He’s touring and occasionally putting out new albums again, with all that involves.
Astley actually wasn’t a one-hit wonder; “Never Gonna Give You Up” is the most remembered of his songs by a wide margin, but he had several top ten hits in the U.K. and the U.S.
What he hated was the image he had been forced to embody by Stock Aitken Waterman, his producers. Astley had started off his career as Van Morrison-esque singer of blue-eyed soul; SAW gave him the “boy next door” image that he became well known for and which he detested.
I believe bands like Quiet Riot with Cum On Feel the Noise and Temper Trap with Sweet Disposition - didnt know it immediately but within a few years they knew for sure.
A former client of mine was a one hit wonder. He lived a decent life from investments, royalties, and some additional income he brought in producing and continuing to perform.
I knew him well after the height of his fame but one thing was clear - he made financial decisions then to pave the way for a happy and comfortable later life without relying on additional hits. If he didn’t know when his hit first broke that he was a one hit wonder, he surely realized quickly enough to avoid irreparable financial mistakes.
Welcome aboard @Masterkiller
I’m surprised to see Quiet Riot on this list. I remember them having the occasional single on the radio and Metal Health immediately came to mind as another hit. Maybe it wasn’t as popular as I thought at the time.
You are right to be skeptical as “Metal Health” was a top 40 hit in 1983.
“Metal Health” went to #31 on the U.S. Billboard chart (“Cum On Feel the Noize” went to #5), but their only other song, beyond those two, to chart in the U.S. was “Mama Weer All Crazee Now” (another Slade cover), though that one only made it to #51.
So, they weren’t precisely one-hit wonders, but close.
And that is just being financially sensible. I’d parallell it with a sports pro: bank the money of that first contract. You don’t know if you’ll get a second one.
I realize its debatable whether or not Quiet Riot should be on this list and a lot of purists will say, “Oh what about the song Metal Health??” and I get that and understand where they are coming from but if you look at the QR from only memory perspective only and remove what song charted where then its clear that QR was a one hit wonder.
Technically trueish, but I can’t place Quiet Riot on the same list as thousands of one-hit-wonders.
Metal Health the album sold over 10 000 000 units, putting it into the upper echelons of album sales in any genre, let alone metal. Having one of the biggest selling albums of all time, with 10 songs comprising the album, isn’t the same as scoring a single charts hit one time - money-wise, fame-wise, impact-wise, legacy-wise, you name it.
It’s also possible for an artist to be utterly unaware of their success in another country, as is very well documented in the film “Searching for Sugar Man”.
Quick summary - two South African fans try to track down Sixto Rodriguez, a US recording artist from the late 60s/early 70s. Rodriguez had quit the music business in 1976, after some success in Australia and New Zealand, and not much success in the US. He had no idea that he was a star in South Africa…
Wiki of the film here - Searching for Sugar Man - Wikipedia
This makes me think there needs to be a different category; perhaps something like bands that are reduced to one hit wonders long after they were hit makers.
There seem to be many bands who in their prime had multiple hits, but 35 years later they’re only really remembered for one song.
This seems to be a difference from a traditional OHW, where “true fans” know they have a deeper catalog, to something where people who weren’t fans, but just listened to the radio at the time, might know more than one of their songs.
Trouble is, even though I was watching MTV and listening to rock and top 40 radio in the 80s, I could only name one Quiet Riot or Rick Astley song. I bet if I heard other songs by them I’d think, “oh yeah, that one!”
I don’t really know how to properly interpret Spotify stream count, but they’re easy to find. Cum on Feel the Noise has nearly 318 million plays, but Metal Health, their second most played, only has 71 million plays. To stick on 80s metal, Ratt is similar with their most popular song having 3 times the plays of the second most popular. Whitesnake doesn’t follow this, with their top two plays being roughly the same at 250-280 million.
“Weird” Al Yankovic is an interesting case because he has had only one song break the Top Ten in the US --“White & Nerdy” in 2006.
But his song parodies are widely known and he tours constantly. He is a lot bigger star than just a “One Hit Wonder”.
Precisely what “one hit wonder” means is open to some interpretation. As I’ve noted, my friend is not technically a one hit wonder, but is still so overwhelmingly remembered for the one huge hit that they are, in that sense, a one hit wonder. I’d argue that subjective legacy is probably more meaningful than the “well, sure, but they had another song that got to number eight.”
Contrast that with drovann’s example of Weird Al, who only had one top ten hit (but Eat It hit number twelve, so he may not qualify.) He ISN’T overwhelmingly known for any one song at all. If you asked 100 people what my acquaintance is known for, 100 out of 100 will cite one song and may not remember any other song at all.
I feel it’s a matter of levels. Having a hit is the equivalent of winning a lottery prize; it’s receiving an amount of money that is significantly higher than the amount you normally have via your career.
So performing in concerts and releasing records in your post-hit career doesn’t negate being a one-hit wonder. If you’re a professional musician, that’s just going back to your regular job.