# One hit wonders who don’t deserve to be. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2018, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628 "2018-01-28T01:27:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/41 "2018-01-30T03:34:42Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Fountains of Wayne should be known for more than Stacy’s Mom. Lots of great music. Another vote for FOW. They put out a lot of great power pop. Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger were a crack songwriting team, Jody Porter provided tasty 60s-influenced guitar licks and Brian Young was a solid drummer. I think Chris became disenchanted with the whole “rockstar” scene and without him, that spelled the end of the band. Adam has had quite a bit of success writing for movies (That Thing You Do!) and TV (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend). He also produced The Monkees 2016 album _Good Times!_ ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/42 "2018-01-30T10:16:41Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Definitely. > > They had one other ‘Hot 100’ song ([“Radiation Vibe”](http://www.musicvf.com/Fountains+of+Wayne.art)), and (bizarrely) a second Top 40 hit in the U.K. (“I Want An Alien For Christmas”), a novelty song if ever there was one. I wasn’t sure if Radiation Vibe charted or if it was just an alternative radio hit. I’ve definitely heard that more in the past decade than Stacey’s Mom, but I listen to alternative radio. I assume Stacey’s Mom gets some JACK play or something. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/43 "2018-01-31T14:56:05Z")
Gotye seems to be pretty much only known for _Somebody That I Used To Know_, which is a pity, [his](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpN1j8R5lZ8) [stuff](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyVJsg0XIIk) is all [great](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le34ygtODfI) (although fair warning, Dog People, that last one is heartbreaking). Ditto for Kimbra, who also sang on _Somebody_, I don’t know if she’s had anything else chart outside AuNZ but her [own](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrZHM9BPfH0) [stuff’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eDQdYIqhbE) [fantastic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1hoMlxQmg). ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/44 "2018-01-31T15:48:58Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > In Europe, Status Quo has been popular and prolific, making great hard rock for 40+ years. > > In America, they’re one hit wonders known solely for “Pictures of Matchstick Men.” It’s even worse than you say: In American, that song is more well known from another band. At least among my generation of folks that were in college during this time. :D ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/45 "2018-01-31T16:15:05Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > I think he could have done with a stage name. Possibly so. 🙂 His surname is actually pronounced CO-burn, but only those who know of him already likely know that. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/46 "2018-01-31T18:51:26Z")
Chumbawamba, of tubthumping fame, have a 20 year long career, and charted in Britain a lot more than in the US ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/47 "2018-01-31T19:27:34Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > So far as I’m concerned, this wins the thread. I’ve been a huge Ryche fan since the 90s. Seen them live more times than I can count. > > I also think that **Ben Folds/Ben Folds Five** and Counting Crows deserve to be more well-known. > > But I’m going to suggest Blues Traveler. Known mostly for [Run-around](https://youtu.be/ousaiByU1ko), but they should have been bigger. No pun intended for John Popper. He isn’t? He tours like a madman. In May ill see him, in Oklahoma alone, for the fifth time in 3 years. Appeared in Drunk History. Did that great album with William Shatner. Did that project with Neil Gaiman. I’m pretty sure hes known for more than Brick. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/48 "2018-01-31T21:11:34Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > He isn’t? He tours like a madman. In May ill see him, in Oklahoma alone, for the fifth time in 3 years. Yeah, Blues Traveler had a number of songs on regular rotation on the radio: _Runaround,_ _Hook,_ and _Back In The Day._ That alone would exempt them from the “one hit wonder” category. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/49 "2018-01-31T21:36:50Z")
Some performers have had one hit on the pop charts because of crossover. Hugh Masakela hit #1 with _Grazing in the Grass_ in 1968, and Nina Simone went to #18 in 1959 with _I Loves You, Porgy_. They were both big jazz stars, so it would be ridiculous to consider them one-hit wonders in the same sense as, say, John Fred and His Playboy Band (#1 with _Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)_ in 1967). ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/50 "2018-01-31T21:44:51Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Dexy’s Midnight Runners has a lot of fantastic music and albums, but, here in the US, they are only known for “Come On, Eileen.” Are you sure there’s a comma in that song title? 😉 Anyway, I think Europe is worthy of a mention. They’re best known for “The Final Countdown” and possibly “Carrie”, but they’ve had a long career and lots of albums and popularity mostly in, er, Europe. Plus their biggest hit spawned the best cover in history: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjeMDvCdrtc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjeMDvCdrtc) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/51 "2018-01-31T21:54:01Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Are you sure there’s a comma in that song title? It was the punchline to a joke from that era: “What’s even worse than grease on Olivia Newton-John?” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/52 "2018-01-31T22:21:06Z")
Would the Lemonheads count? I mean, I guess they did technically have two songs charts (that I could think of), but one was a cover. “It’s a Shame About Ray” and “Mrs. Robinson.” They deserve to be remembered for more than that. Lots of solid albums and great songs. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/53 "2018-01-31T23:21:04Z")
I saw Evan Dando open for Fountains of Wayne and I joked that it should have been dubbed the MILF tour for their respective hits. But yeah, I have 5 albums by Fountains of Wayne and got them all as they were released, not upon their success. They’re definitely not a one-hit-wonder and if they were their hit should have been “Leave the Biker” since that is quirky enough to be a 1H1 and is the song I like the most by them. I’ve actually heard that on the radio more often than Radiation Vibe which I’m not entirely sure I’ve actually heard on the radio (I’ve also heard Mexican Wine and Denise.) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/54 "2018-02-01T07:30:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Would the Lemonheads count? I mean, I guess they did technically have two songs charts (that I could think of), but one was a cover. “It’s a Shame About Ray” and “Mrs. Robinson.” “Into Your Arms” was #1 on the Modern Rock chart, and charted higher than either on the Hot 100, too. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/55 "2018-02-01T14:23:51Z")
Arlo Guthrie’s only hit single was City of Orleans, and he didn’t even write it. He deserves better. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/56 "2018-02-01T14:52:52Z")
> [@Taber](#): > > Chumbawamba, of tubthumping fame, have a 20 year long career, and charted in Britain a lot more than in the US Me too on this one. Seen them live about twenty times. They’ve got some wonderful albums and are the example to me that comedy and music can work. They were making an album for their company One Little Indian, and the label nearly went bankrupt. They band had paid all their recording costs and OLI dropped them. In desperate circumstances they signed for EMI who promoted the hell out of the single, which is quite atypical of anything they normally do. In a way they might still be touring and recording nowadays without that song, because I think the 20 odd band members retired off the back of it. Some of them continued as acapella/acoustic for a few albums afterwards. They refused to sell a car company the song “Pass it along” from the album WSIWYG, otherwise you might know that one was well. This one is wonderful too, about the lunatics on facebook: [Chumawamba’s Add Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2TuohSsw4k) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/57 "2018-02-01T15:16:11Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > He isn’t? He tours like a madman. In May ill see him, in Oklahoma alone, for the fifth time in 3 years. > > Appeared in Drunk History. Did that great album with William Shatner. Did that project with Neil Gaiman. I’m pretty sure hes known for more than Brick. I guess I’m interpreting the phrase “one hit wonder” a little differently than others. I’m a huge Ben Folds fan. But, by and large, I’d venture to say that most people would recognize the song more than the artist. Same thing with Blues Traveler. If you mention “The Mountains Win Again” or just about any song besides “Runaround” to the average person on the street, they wouldn’t catch the song or band. If you mention “Runaround,” chances are that more people are aware of it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/58 "2018-02-01T15:34:44Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Arlo Guthrie’s only hit single was City of Orleans, and he didn’t even write it. > > He deserves better. He does. And so does Steve Goodman, who wrote it, who around here is probably mostly known for writing “Go Cubs Go!” (Or possibly also for the much better song, “A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request,” but everybody knows “Go Cubs Go!” even folks who hate the Cubs, and perhaps especially folks that hate the Cubs, as it is a song that tends to grate after hearing it many many times.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/59 "2018-02-01T15:38:27Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Same thing with Blues Traveler. If you mention “The Mountains Win Again” or just about any song besides “Runaround” to the average person on the street, they wouldn’t catch the song or band. If you mention “Runaround,” chances are that more people are aware of it. “Hook” did really well on the charts at the time, too, but I think it may have gotten a bit forgotten over the years (although if you know the famous “Pachelbel Rant” that made the rounds like about a dozen years ago, it’s included in that clip.) Around here, you’re also likely to hear “But Anyway” played on the radio, from the first album. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628/60 "2018-02-01T17:52:21Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Arlo Guthrie’s only hit single was City of Orleans, and he didn’t even write it. > > He deserves better. You forget\* Alices restaurant.\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonders-who-don-t-deserve-to-be/807628.md?page=4)