In the UK at least Jamiroquai have had a string of successful albums and singles.
Interesting to know, thanks!
Guess I dropped the ball on that one. I’ve never heard of the last two, but indeed the first two were hits. I just forgot about them. I’m not the first though.
One of my favorite bands, and they’ve been around for 20 years+ now, but as far as American radio is concerned, they’re definitely a 1 Hit Wonder
Dream Theater - Pull Me Under
They even had a little fun with their status by naming their greatest hits album Greatest Hit (…and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)
also Date Rape
And the infamous dance scene in Napoleon Dynamite was Canned Heat by them. Not a hit, but they put out 6 albums all together which is more than most one hit wonders can say.
Lead singer Jay Kay is still famous enough to be asked onto Top Gear, and he’s a total gearhead (petrolhead, they say). He’s rich enough to have a stable of fast cars. Look at that list of charting albums: Jamiroquai - Wikipedia, or these singles: Jamiroquai discography - Wikipedia
Flagpole Sitta – Harvey Danger. Actually, another song off of this album, Carlotta Valdez, is one of my favorite songs of that decade. But it never got radio airplay.
And this song is a total guilty pleasure. Seriously, try watching that video without at least smiling. I dare you.
He has actually been in several movies. I knew about “Can’t buy me love”, but was surprised to see the rest.
(Searching through a list on Wikipedia)
“No Myth”–Michael Penn
“Kiss Them for Me”–Siouxsie and the Banshees
“Baby Got Back”–Sir Mix-a-Lot
“Whoomp! There It Is”–Tag Team
“Naked Eye”–Luscious Jackson
The Men Church of logic, sin, and love.
I’m surprised at the number of artists listed here who aren’t one-hit wonders. Neither of the two bands the OP mentioned are—the Crash Test Dummies had top-ten hits before and after “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm”, and as someone already pointed out, the Presidents had “Lump” in addition to “Peaches”. Veruca Salt had “Volcano Girls” in addition to “Seether”, plus a few more minor charting singles. Elastica had a string of hits in the UK, and two top-ten hits in the US. Blind Melon’s “Tones of Home” hit the top ten before “No Rain” reached number one.
I’m sure there are more examples but I’m not familiar with most of the artists mentioned.
“Baby Got Back” may have been his only crossover hit, but for those of us who grew up as fans of rap music, that song came rather late in his career. “My Posse’s On Broadway” and the even more popular “My Hooptie” were big hits for him long before. I also vaguely recall him doing a song called “Put 'Em On The Glass” that came out around the same time as “Baby Got Back” which also received airplay.
This is a great listing of one-hit-wonders from the 90’s, but it does include a lot of non-one-hit-wonders (Chris Isaak? kd lang? Tom Cochrane? Vince Gill? Seriously?).
Wow, blast from the past - Primitive Radio Gods - “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand.”
One word: Macarena. I can’t believe no one has said that yet (or did I miss it?).
How about:
The Spin Doctors-Two Princes
Nada Surf- Popular
Soul Asylum- Runaway Train
Skee-Lo- I wish
Lisa Loeb-Stay
Also, that song from that FOX show The Heights “How Do You Talk to an Angel?”
Joan Osborne- One of Us
Deep Blue Something- Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Cake- The Distance
Lou Bega- Mambo (ugh) No. 5
Poe- Angry Johnny
Divinyls- I Touch Myself
And The Rembrandts, of course.
Ah, the 90’s. I remember coming home from school in the afternoons and watching that hour of MTV2 they’d show on MTV back then. They showed some good shit on there…and then they’d follow it up with two hours of crap like House of Style or Singled Out.
That Wiki list was pretty good but, seriously, how could anyone call Oasis a “one-hit-wonder?” They certainly didn’t become as popular in the US as they were in Britain or Asia, but “Champage Supernova” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger” were both hits in the US.
Spin Doctors had Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong, Soul Asylum had Somebody to Shove and Black Gold, and Cake had about a billion other singles (No Phone, Short Skirt Long Jacket, Sheep Go To Heaven, a fantastic cover of I Will Survive, and several others I’m forgetting).
Also, I forgot Lovefool.
If defining what a one hit wonder is is throwing people off, the wikipedia article cited here explains it thusly:
The list contains recording artists who reached the Top 40 of the U.S. pop chart (the Billboard Hot 100) with just one single. Those in italics are artists with only one Top 40 hit, but either
* had other songs chart on genre-specific charts
* have had success and influence within their genre or the annals of popular music and/or
o a long-lasting and devoted cult following and/or
o wider success in other fields of the music industry
* if non-American have had wider success in their homeland
* are a supergroup made up of artists who were successful and influential in other bands or as solo artists.
I saw numerous acts throughout the decades that I would never label as a one hit wonder, but you have to draw the line somewhere, and groups have their whole lives to come up with that second hit too. I thought it was funny to see 5 time Grammy winner Norah Jones on one of those lists.
Speaking of those lists (sorry to hijack), I was looking at the 1979 one hit wonder list and saw 2 songs which are almost icons in 80’s music history. Pop Muzik, and Video Killed the Radio Star, commonly known as the first video ever on MTV. Technically they are late 70’s songs, so much for labels.
Certainly not a one-hit wonder in Europe. They also had “Carnival,” which was vastly superior to “Lovefool,” and a cover of “Iron Man.”
Ah, yep, I forgot about “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong,” one of the most annoying songs I’ve ever heard. I never cared much for The Spin Doctors.
Yeah, now I remember that Cake Gloria Gaynor cover, it wasn’t bad at all and was practically a staple of that hour of MTV2 that I mentioned. That and “Mmmmbop” got played every day.
OK, assuming the Wikipedia list is authoritative, here are my (arbitrary number) 20 favorite one-hit wonders (US charts) from the 90s:
Jump Around - House of Pain (The opening strains are guaranteed to pack any dance floor)
Insane in the Brain - Cypress Hill
I’m Too Sexy - Right Said Fred (Shut up. I find this song and video hilarious.)
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O’Connor
Just a Friend - Biz Markie
Joey - Concrete Blonde
Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
Rush - Big Audio Dynamite
Baby Got Back - Sir Mix-a-Lot
Stay - Shakespeare’s Sister
I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
No Rain - Blind Melon
What Is Love - Haddaway
Wonderwall - Oasis
Possum Kingdom - Toadies
Counting Blue Cars - Dishwalla
Novocaine for the Soul - Eels
The Impression That I Get - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Sex and Candy - Marcy Playground
Lullaby - Shawn Mullins