Shall we go for the trifecta? None of these, either. I realize that whether or not I’ve ever heard these songs is not a requirement for whether they qualify as smashes. But I grew up on 80’s radio, and MTV. And I’ll be damned if I can remember ANY of these songs other than the ones I mentioned. And it seems like I should, given that I grew up listening to 80’s music. And keep the local 80’s station on non-stop in the car. And STILL haven’t heard any of these others.
I agree with the Superdude. I contend that all of those subsequent “successes” were due to a simple ripple effect from their One True Smash, and the accompanying record sales of those singles doesn’t define them as “hits” in any respect. And even though songs can become “popular” whilst not being a “hit”, I contend that any song by The Outfield other than “Your Love” was utter schlock.
Munch, if a single appeared in the Top 40 of Billboard’s Hot 100 list, and was played on Casey Kasem’s “American Top 40,” which was based on the Billboard chart, can you please explain to me in what significant way it wasn’t a hit? That’s what a hit is, by definition. And keep in mind, back in those days, the charts were based on airplay and retailer reports, not SoundScan, so any argument from the record sales standpoint is irrelevant.
EMF - Unbelievable. This is actualy one of my favorite songs. I bought the CD this was on and it isn’t much good, hehe.
Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag. The thing I don’t get is that the CD is pretty good. If they would have released more songs they would have been able to avoid this label. Suppose they still might…doubt it though.
Blur - Song 2. Song was good, the CD sucks. I was sucked into buying this one too. I have seen other videos but they were not hits.
Robyn - Show me love. This was number one in canada anyhow. Yes I have this CD too. The rest of it sucks.
So the moral of this story is…if you see me in your store, walk up to me, try and sell me something, and you can count on the fact that I"ll buy it.
I’m not familiar with Monkey on Your Back by Aldo Nova, was that a hit? I was thinking Aldo Nova was a one-hit wonder with Fantasy.
Some others:
Cars–Gary Numan I Got a Line on You–Spirit All Right Now–Free Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)–John Fred & His Playboy Band Green Tambourine–The Lemon Pipers Born to Be Alive–Patrick Hernandez Angel Eyes–Jeff Healey Band Tarzan Boy–Baltimora Tainted Love–Soft Cell Summertime Blues–Blue Cheer Into the Night–Benny Mardones, his only hit, but it’s hit the top 40 at least twice, does that count?
The Proclaimers, “I would walk 500 miles”
Madness, “Our House”
The Rembrandts, “Friends theme song”
Right Said Fred, “I’m Too Sexy”
Letters to Cleo, “Here and Now”
Kris Kross, “Jump, Jump”
Wreckx n Effect, “Rumpshaker”
Crash Test Dummies, “Mmm mmm mmm mmm…”
Of course, the first two are debatable, as it would depend on whether we’re talking about “One hit (U.S. chart) wonders” or “One hit (anywhere) wonders”. I think I heard somewhere that the Proclaimers and Madness have had other hits in the UK.
Sometimes, you just sort of know a song is going to be a one-hit wonder. For instance, this often seems to be the case with songs associated with TV shows, movie soundtracks, or gimmicky dances. When you watched Right Said Fred a few years ago, you probably were thinking right then, “Enjoy your 15 minutes guys.” rather than “Wow…the greatest musical tour de force SINCE THE BEATLES!!!”
There are several on this thread that I don’t agree with, but, IMHO,The Jeff Healey Band is the most obvious.
[HiJack]
The Jeff Healey band has sold multi-platinum on virtually every album that they have released. “Confidence Man” was a top 10 hit before “Angel Eyes” was even released as a single. They have had several more songs in the top 100 and a couple of covers that made the top 40. They have a newly released album titled “Get Me Some” that is doing well among their existing fan base, but hasn’t really been noticed by the mainstream yet. I bought it a couple of weeks ago and it hasn’t been out of my CD Changer since.
[/HiJack]
Actually, Madness’s “It Must Be Love” was a hit in the US as well.
How about the ultimate in one-hit wonderdom: Bands that made the Hot 100 only once, but topped the chart with that one hit:
“Open the Door, Richard” by The Three Flames (1947)
“The ‘Third Man’ Theme” by A. Karras* (1950) Blanking out on the man’s first name.
“It’s in the Book” by Johny Standley (1952?)
“Let Me Go Lover” by Joan Weber (1955)
“Little Star” by The Elegants (1958)
“Moonglow and Theme from ‘Picnic’” by Morris Stoloff (1958)
“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” by Laurie London (1958)
“Alley Oop” by the Hollywood Argyles (1960)
“Dominique” by The Singing Nun (1963)
“In the Year 2525” by Zager and Evans (1969)
“Pop Muzik” by M (1979)
“Chariots of Fire” by Vangelis (1982)
“We Are the World” by USA for Africa (1985)
“‘Miami Vice’ Theme” by Jan Hammer (1985)
“When I’m With You” By Sherriff (1989)**
“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin (1988)
“How Do You Talk to An Angel” by the Heights (1992)
“Here Comes the Hotstepper” by Ini Kamoze (1994)
Notes/Nitpicks:
*Assuming that you count ‘Jon & Vangelis,’ which had a few minor chart entries, as a separate entity.
**OK, so the record itself charted twice; it still counts a single hit in my book.
A thread like this should indeed be named USA one hit wonders. Many, many of the bands mentioned had strings of hits in Europe (Madness I think had over ten top40 songs in the UK, many of which hit the top 10, Dexy’s midnight runners had at least two more big hits in the UK, Shocking Blue and Focus had a series of hits in Holland and so on).
I might as well call Barry Manilow a one hit wonder. For Holland, that’s what he is - only Copacabana charted. Well, let’s be thankful for that…
It would be interesting to see if there are world-wide one hit wonders. One example (but that’s a bit cheating) is USA for Africa.
I bet you’d recognize them if you heard them. I think I still have a few on >>gasp<< 45!