I’ve been listening to a lot of Blind Melon lately. They’re mainly known as the band who made “No Rain”, but their second album “Soup” is actually pretty good. It’s not a 10/10, but it’s good enough that they didn’t deserve to be crowned “one hit wonders”.
What are some bands you like who are known as one hit wonders but actually produced good music beyond their one hit?
Obligatory Grateful Dead reference.
I’ll also go with Bobby McFerrin, who’s far better than his one hit would lead you to believe.
Grateful Dead may have had only one hit, but are they truly considered a one hit wonder? I tend to be on the side of a one hit wonder being a band known for one song (and for nothing else beyond that one song), not necessarily a band who only had one hit.
And then there’s Golden Earring, a band that comes up a lot in these threads. A one-hit wonder (“Radar Love,” of course) in the U.S., but a long and successful career in Europe.
I second this. After all, the Dead were quite well known for decades before they had their sole hit single.
Arlo Guthrie. His one hit “City of New Orleans,” wasn’t even written by him. He’s done some stuff.
Gary Numan is known to most people as a one hit wonder for his 1979 hit Cars, but he actually has a substantial body of work that is highly regarded and has been extremely influential on successive musicians.
Alice’s Restaurant is enough to disqualify him as a one hit wonder.
Sure beats being a no hit wonder.
Lisa Loeb had a #1 hit, “Stay,” before she even had a record contract - a feat unmatched before or since - but her subsequent releases were mildly popular and she faded away. Her stuff back then really was outstanding, though. I guess it got lost amongst all the other singer/songwriters.
Level 42’s “Something About You” was their only major hit but they really were an outstanding band.
Going to nick-pick here. Radar Love in the U.S. got to #13, but they actually had a later bigger hit, Twilight Zone, which reached #10 and I still hear fairly regularly.
Plus Twilight Zone had the great video to fuel its success. Golden Earring had another international hit When the Lady Smiles that didn’t chart in the US because MTV banned the video. Definitely a band whose strong body of work is more appreciated outside the States.
I’ll submit The Tubes for “She’s A Beauty.” I believe it’s the only one of their songs that made it to a reasonable chart position (Billboard #10). They produced several albums of (comparable) music, including*** Remote Control*** (of which I’m pretty fond). I’m pretty sure that the only reason that “She’s A Beauty” even made it to #10 was because of the MTV-friendly video associated with it.
Of course, their stage performances were truly something else.
I was going to post this: in the U.S., I think of Golden Earring as a two-hit wonder. 
(I’m well aware that, in their native Netherlands, they’ve had a very long and successful career.)
Thomas Dolby is known for She Blinded Me With Science. His followup album, Astronauts and Heretics, was unjustly ignored, but it remains one of my favorite albums. The fact that he also started two pioneering silicon valley tech companies is just icing on the cake.
Big fan of Blind Melon! The album with “No Rain” (Blind Melon, not Soup) is one of my favorites of all time.
A little while back I found myself digging in to Harvey Danger’s catalog. They did that “Flagpole Sitta” song (“…I’m not sick but I’m not well/and I’m so hot cuz I’m in hell”). I’m really really in to their other stuff. I just missed them, too - when I started looking into them they had just broken up again for real this time.
Are The Dead Milkmen considered a one-hit wonder? (“Punk Rock Girl”) or are they more like The Greatful Dead who are a popular-with-the-right-people band that only happened to have one hit? Because, to me, everything they do is gold.
Timbuk 3. It’s a crying shame they are only remembered for their hit, the mediocre novelty song “Future’s so bright”.
My favorite T3 song is “Dirty, dirty rice”. Short, gorgeous and funny but unlike “Future…” with a lot of heart. Unfortunately not on youtube. Luckily these are:
Dis•••land (Was Made for You and Me): - YouTube
Sample The Dog: Timbuk3 - Sample The Dog - YouTube
Rev. Jack & His Roamin Cadillac Church: Timbuk 3 "Rev. Jack & His Roamin Cadillac Church" Video - YouTube
A Sinful Life: A Sinful Life - Timbuk 3 - YouTube
And this great “Born to be wild” cover: Timbuk 3 - Born To Be Wild - YouTube
Chumbawamba are my go-to for this, although their stuff isn’t really like Tubthumping.
2-hit wonder, really - Are Friends Electric? was also a hit.
And he’s still at it…
Most lists of one-hit wonders include them.
Mainstream audiences consider Sir Mix-a-lot a one-hit wonder for Baby Got Back but in hip-hop circles he was already pretty well known and continued for a decent run afterwards.
Not in the USA I suppose but he had two other cracking singles in the UK
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