# Relatively Obscure Bands With One or Two Instantly Recognizable Hits
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 10, 2008, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021 "2008-11-10T11:10:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/21 "2008-11-10T18:31:17Z")
Who knew that Ed Sanford and John Townsend helped write songs for other artists like Michael McDonald with “I Keep Forgetting”? They still had one hell of a great song on their own with “Smoke of a Distant Fire.” The rest of that album is just as good, in my opinion.
---
### Author:  [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/22 "2008-11-10T18:37:29Z")
Missed the edit: Take a look at [this live performance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wGKNiQ6oQc) from Burt Sugarman’s “Midnight Special.” I don’t understand how they weren’t more successful.
---
### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/23 "2008-11-10T18:43:29Z")
The Knack: M-M-M-My Sharona
The Romantics: That’s What I Like About You.
---
### Author:  [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/24 "2008-11-10T19:03:08Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#):
>
> [The Sun Always Shines On TV](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1pb1IZcaiQ).
I was going to mention this. Great song … oddly singable to _Beautiful Day_ by U2.
---
### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/25 "2008-11-10T19:10:15Z")
Safety Dance by Men Without Hats.
Did they even write any other songs? 😉
---
### Author:  [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/26 "2008-11-10T19:10:28Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#):
>
> Really? Over here (over here being Germany), the song is one of those instantly-recognizable ‘classics’, that just have kind of been around for seemingly ever… You know, the kind you hear in commercials to ‘Super-Hits of the 60s’-compilations and the like.
> I’ve pretty much always known the song, and I wasn’t to come around for thirteen years when it was recorded.
I checked up on Wiki, says it was a pretty big hit but in the UK (which usually transfers over to Germany) but only a minor hit in the U.S.
---
### Author:  [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/27 "2008-11-10T19:35:23Z")
Marcy Playground - Sex and Candy
---
### Author:  [@Sanity\_Challenged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sanity_Challenged)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/28 "2008-11-10T19:39:36Z")
You have to be careful with these. This past summer Survivor played at a local festival, and many jokes were made on their behalf. “You know, Survivor! Eye of the Tiger! And…ummm…you know, Eye of the Tiger!” But once the show started, there were quite a few cases of “I remember asking Stacy McPretty to dance to this song in 6th grade!” and “Oh my god, we used to rock out to this 3-wheelin’ in the dunes!” It was an odd trip down the sidestreet of Memory Lane where the songs have no names.
---
### Author:  [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/29 "2008-11-10T19:47:48Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#):
>
> Safety Dance by Men Without Hats.
>
> Did they even write any other songs? 😉
Pop Goes the World 😛
---
### Author:  [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/30 "2008-11-10T23:00:17Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#):
>
> Pop Goes the World 😛
In which they actually sampled “Safety Dance!”
---
### Author:  [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/31 "2008-11-10T23:04:59Z")
> [@interface2x](#):
>
> Quick challenge for US Dopers …
>
> Name a song by Aha that’s _not_ “Take on me”.
Not American, but I’ve always really, really liked ‘Velvet’. It’s fun to sing.
---
### Author:  [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/32 "2008-11-10T23:42:05Z")
Nena had a US hit with “99 Luftballoons” (the German language version doing better than the English version) and was pretty much never heard from again in the US. She’s still pretty prominent in Europe, though.
---
### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/33 "2008-11-10T23:44:22Z")
> [@Jragon](#):
>
> Barenaked Ladies - If I had $1,000,000 and One Week are instantly recognized by near anyone. However, almost no one has even HEARD most of their other songs.
You are so clearly not Canadian.
Up here, anything from Gordon (especially Enid, Brian Wilson, or Grade Nine), their version of Lovers in a Dangerous Time\*, My Old Apartment, Another Postcard\*\*, and probably Alcohol or Who Needs Sleep would be easily recognized.
- Speaking of, aside from a version of I Saw Three Ships which was played to death at Christmas on the radio station played at my last job, I couldn’t name another Bruce Cockburn song if you payed me.
\*\* My personal favourite. _hums_
---
### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/34 "2008-11-10T23:51:07Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> Who is Murray Head? Well, he did the original recordng of “Superstar” from Jesus Christ Superstar and decades later “One Night In Bangkok” from Chess.
>
> BTW, he was the only singer to take a percentage of the profits from the record instead of the flat out $2500 payment. A decision that made him a millionaire.
He’s also Anthony Stewart Head’s brother.
---
### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/35 "2008-11-11T00:21:11Z")
> [@Leaffan](#):
>
> The Knack: M-M-M-My Sharona
> The Romantics: That’s What I Like About You.
-
Good Girls Don’t (But I Do)\* was a lot better than _My Sharona_. So those are the two the OP called for.
My entry will be Procol Harum _A Whiter Shade of Pale_, followed by _A Salty Dog_
---
### Author:  [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/36 "2008-11-11T00:46:04Z")
> [@Tengu](#):
>
> You are so clearly not Canadian.
>
> - Speaking of, aside from a version of I Saw Three Ships which was played to death at Christmas on the radio station played at my last job, I couldn’t name another Bruce Cockburn song if you payed me.
Okay, those two statements are causing me some cognitive dissonance. Really? You can’t name any other Bruce Cockburn songs? I’d better you’d know them if you heard them. Okay, well wait, maybe depending on how old you are. Certainly if you were the right age from the 80s, I’d think that you’d remember _If I Had a Rocket Launcher,_ and _Waiting for a Miracle_.
---
### Author:  [@beckwall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckwall)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/37 "2008-11-11T01:15:31Z")
The Refreshments had a song called Banditos back in the 90s, it was played incessantly on the radio down here in the southwest. Those of you in the PHX area would recognize the song, also that the band broke up and evolved into Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. I guess they’re pretty big in that area since I see on their website that they are playing at the opening of the Tempe light rail station 🆒.
---
### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/38 "2008-11-11T01:39:57Z")
I doubt whether anybody my age (47) could name a single member of Focus, or a single Focus song besides “Hocus Pocus.”
But that one song was a classic, even if the guys in the band were serious prog-rockers who regarded that track as a goof.
---
### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/39 "2008-11-11T01:48:26Z")
> [@PastAllReason](#):
>
> Okay, those two statements are causing me some cognitive dissonance. Really? You can’t name any other Bruce Cockburn songs? I’d better you’d know them if you heard them. Okay, well wait, maybe depending on how old you are. Certainly if you were the right age from the 80s, I’d think that you’d remember _If I Had a Rocket Launcher,_ and _Waiting for a Miracle_.
I was born in '77, so (googling) I was 7 when Stealing Fire was released, and 10 when Waiting for a Miracle came out…somewhat younger than ‘the right age’, I suspect.
I only know about Lovers in a Dangerous Time because of BNL’s cover, for that matter.
---
### Author:  [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021/40 "2008-11-11T05:07:14Z")
I came in here just to mention the band “Toad the Wet Sprocket.” Most people, I believe, wouldn’t recognize the band name, bug just \*might \*recognize their few hits. These include “Walk on the Ocean” and “All I Want.” I totally freaked out my older brother by including a TTWS CD when he asked for some music to rip for his children who were just “discovering” music.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021.md?page=1)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-obscure-bands-with-one-or-two-instantly-recognizable-hits/472021.md?page=3)