# Let's Name the One Hit Wonders and The Bands that Sang'em

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 1, 2001, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491 "2001-08-01T15:47:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/101 "2001-08-07T14:06:14Z")

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“The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”–Vicki Lawrence  
“Believe It or Not” (theme from the Greatest American Hero)–Joey Scarbury  
“Those Were the Days”(theme to All in the Family)–Carrol O’Connor and Maureen Stapleton  
“Three Stars Will Shine Tonight” (Theme from Dr. Kildare)-- Richard Chamberlain  
“Welcome Back” (Theme from Welcome Back Kotter)–John Sebastian  
“Addams Groove” (Theme from the Addams Family)–Hammer (not the rapper)  
Happy Days Theme–Pratt and Mclain  
Dynasty Theme–Bill Conti  
Mission: Impossible Theme–Lalo Shifrin  
“Disco Lucy”–Wilton Place Streen Band  
Bonanza–Al Caiola  
“How Do You Talk to an Angel”–The Heights

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**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/102 "2001-08-07T14:29:26Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Number Six \*
> 
> “Three Stars Will Shine Tonight” (Theme from Dr. Kildare)-- Richard Chamberlain  
> **His version of Love Me Tender reached #21, and All I Have To Do Is Dream made it to #14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.**
> 
> “Addams Groove” (Theme from the Addams Family)–Hammer (not the rapper)  
> **This actually _was_ the rapper. In any event, as just “Hammer”, Too Legit To Quit had earlier reached #5.**
> 
> Dynasty Theme–Bill Conti  
> **This song wasn’t officially a hit in the U.S., because it only reached #52. But Conti _was_ a One Hit Wonder – his only hit, Gonna Fly Now, made it to #1.**
> 
> Bonanza–Al Caiola  
> **The Magnificant Seven made it to #35**

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**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/103 "2001-08-07T17:21:03Z")

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Sigh. So much for using my tv theme songs cd’s as a source.

See guys, you don’t actually have to do any research yourself, just post a few that you think might be one-hit wonders, and whitetho will weed out the ones you missed.

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**Author:** ![MerciBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@MerciBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MerciBill)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/104 "2001-08-07T20:33:18Z")

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ok, did not read every single post, but please consider my all-time one hit wonder favorite - “Brandy”, by Looking Glass

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**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/105 "2001-08-07T21:05:11Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by MerciBill \*  
> \*\*ok, did not read every single post, but please consider my all-time one hit wonder favorite - “Brandy”, by Looking Glass \*\*

Except that they actually managed to have a second Top 40 hit, Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne, which made it to #33 in the U.S. And then, silence…

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**Author:** ![okielady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/fbc32d/32.png) [@okielady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/okielady)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/106 "2001-08-08T03:46:24Z")

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Don’t know if he had any other hits, but what about Randy Van Warmer with “Just When I Needed You Most”?

“Gone Gone Gone (My Girl)” by Chiliwack (although I think I’ve heard they had more than one hit…)

“The Freshmen” by Verve Pipe

“No Rain” by Blind Melon

“Cry” by Godley and Creme

Mind you, I could easily be wrong about these being “one hit” wonders. I’m going by my limited knowledge of music.

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**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/107 "2001-08-08T14:24:17Z")

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[quote]  
“Cry” by Godley and Creme

/quote]

I am pretty sure that Under your thumb and An Englishman in New York charted in the UK. Both are also far superior to Cry IMHO.

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**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/108 "2001-08-08T15:33:46Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by okielady \*  
> Don’t know if he had any other hits, but what about Randy Van Warmer with “Just When I Needed You Most”?  
> **Yes, although for some reason on the single he spelled his name as “Vanwarmer”.**
> 
> “Gone Gone Gone (My Girl)” by Chiliwack (although I think I’ve heard they had more than one hit…)  
> **Two l’s in Chilliwack, and I Believe got to #33 in the U.S. (I also suspect they had numerous hits in Canada, their home country.)**
> 
> “The Freshmen” by Verve Pipe  
> “No Rain” by Blind Melon
> 
> **It’s harder to identify One Hit Wonders in the 90’s, because many record labels stopped issuing singles – they released promotional videos, and you had to buy the full album if you liked the song. (This is the reverse of the 1950’s and early 1960s, when many pop groups only had singles, and no albums.)**
> 
> “Cry” by Godley and Creme  
> **This was their only song to chart in the U.S., although as Dragon Phoenix noted they had additional hits in the Old Country.**

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