Solid musicians, no doubt. Still a forgettable band, though.
I’d bet that, in any single year in the past 5-6 decades, there have been dozens of solid bands writing good songs. Most of them never enjoyed success. Of those who did, the majority are remembered as one-hit wonders. Some managed to have a decent career. The bands that made it to durable stardom are a tiny, tiny minority.
What I mean is that solid musicianship in itself is not all that remarquable in a pop music contest.
Looking at their chart performance, it seems that Dexys Midnight Runners were mainly a UK phenomenon, and even there, their career is decent but not particularly outstanding : another number 1 single, two in the lower top 10 and the other ones much, much lower.
I wouldn’t call a #5 in the “lower top 10.” And the fourth one was #7. That’s a pretty solid chart history to me. Many much better known bands have not had anywhere near that kind of chart success.
But my main point is pretty much that a one-hit wonder is whatever people using that term decides it is. Wikipedia’s definition posted above works well, and in the US, which seems to be the focus of this thread, both a-ha and Dexy’s would qualify.
a-ha doesn’t need any more votes, anyway. I’m actually surprised at how “Melt With You” has been polling. Running in third behind “Take On Me” and “Spirit in the Sky” (and occasionally in second–it was tied this morning.) It’s a great song (after all, I nominated it and voted for it, so it has to be ), but I did not expect it to place in the top half. Didn’t realize this song was that fondly remembered. Plus I thought it might split the vote with a lot of the other 80s contenders.
I’m also surprised at how far back in the pack “Tainted Love” is. I don’t like that song myself, but I feel like it always scores high in these types of listener polls.
wiki answers:
*Although “Spirit in the Sky” has a clear Christian theme, Greenbaum was and remains an observant Jew.[4][5] Greenbaum says he was inspired to write the song after watching country singers singing a song on television. In an interview Greenbaum stated that western movies were the real inspiration for “Spirit in the Sky”:[6]
Norman Greenbaum: If you ask me what I based “Spirit In The Sky” on … what did we grow up watching? Westerns! These mean and nasty varmints get shot and they wanted to die with their boots on. So to me that was spiritual, they wanted to die with their boots on.
Ray Shasho: So that was the trigger that got you to write the song?
Norman Greenbaum: Yes. The song itself was simple, when you’re writing a song you keep it simple of course. It wasn’t like a Christian song of praise it was just a simple song. I had to use Christianity because I had to use something. But more important it wasn’t the Jesus part, it was the spirit in the sky. Funny enough … I wanted to die with my boots on.*
Take On Me, no doubt–the signature riff of the song encapsulates the best of eighties pop for me. Quibble with “One hit” if you like, but it’s 100% a wonder.
a-ha doesn’t need any more votes, anyway. I’m actually surprised at how “Melt With You” has been polling. Running in third behind “Take On Me” and “Spirit in the Sky” (and occasionally in second–it was tied this morning.) It’s a great song (after all, I nominated it and voted for it, so it has to be 
), but I did not expect it to place in the top half. Didn’t realize this song was that fondly remembered. Plus I thought it might split the vote with a lot of the other 80s contenders.