Dido. Despite the impressive resume, I’d venture to say most people wouldn’t know her name. You’d have to name at least one song she did, and even then, many would only know her because she was in Eminem’s video for “Stan,” and her song “Thank You” was used as a base sample for his song.
Not to say that her career is over, as she’s still touring and releasing albums, but she never popped the way I thought she would.
Robbie Nevil
Kiki Dee
Not just one-hit wonders. I remember predictions of stardom for both.
I have multiple albums from her on my iPod, and she has done a lot of guest appearances with other artists. I think she is under appreciated.
Which is a shame because she really is talented.
I’ve often said if you ever want to jinx a promising new band, just call them “the next Beatles.”
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Kiki Dee
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Didn’t Kiki Dee develope a really bad case of stage fright that prevented her doing live performances? If so, that could explain why her career fizzled.
As for my submission, while she’s still around and still attracts notice during the infrequent times she releases an album, I would say Fiona Apple. I remember reading an article in Entertainment Weekly around 1998 that predicted she’d be the type of artist who’d remain influential over a long period of time. Now, I think most people peg her (unfairly) as a one-hit wonder who was among the gaggle of seeming interchangeable “Lilith Fair” female singer-songwriters during the mid 90s.
Not me, boy. I predicted that the Go-Go’s were gonna be huge. Do not accept horse race tips from me.
I seem to recall that Duffy was being hyped as the next big thing who was going to knock Amy Winehouse off her perch. As it turned out, Amy Winehouse knocked herself off her own perch before she had a chance to prove her longevity, but I still hear her talked about today. Duffy not so much.
Ooo! Oooo! Me! (Raises hand like Horshack)
I have a friend who like to remind me from time to time that I totally called it on Madonna - back in college we were talking about her (this was about the time of Lucky Star & Holiday), and he was of the opinion that she was just a one-hit wonder. I disagreed; my take was that she had enough appeal, enough talent, and a really clear understanding of her own strengths and weaknesses combined with the smarts to use them. I had also heard that she wrote her own stuff (or at least some of it) and that always impresses me, especially in the dance and R&B worlds, where so many artists are producers’ creations.
I can’t say that I called Cindi Lauper’s non-stardom (non super-stardom really, as 30 years later we all know exactly who she is), but I can see it in retrospect. While the creative aspects were there, her quirks were so specific, and her style less morphable than Madonna’s, that her appeal was more limited.
I can’t say I’ve called too many others, so it could be a case of “blind squirrel finds acorn…” 
We’ve discussed this on the SDMB before: Madonna is stuPENdously ambitious and has a business mind as well as whatever other talents related to songwriting, performing etc. She found ways to get everyone to move in her direction. Cyndi is notoriously difficult and self-limiting - I worked with someone who produced one of her albums who is barely willing to speak her name. More power to her for having so much musical talent to stay in the public eye and have huge success with Kinky Boots, but she was her own worst enemy. Madonna was her own best champion.
Well, their leader, Gerry Rafferty had a few smash hits as a solo artist, too.
If Lieber and Stoller thought Rafferty was an extremely talented singer and songwriter with all the tools to be a big star, they were RIGHT.
Unfortunately, he was also a self-destructive alcoholic.
I remember people saying Marshall Crenshaw was supposed to be the next thing. Maybe that was just my neck of the woods.
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I saw her live once, supporting “Tidal,” opening for Counting Crows. She made it through about 5-6 songs, and then was summarily booed off stage. I didn’t think she was all that bad. “Criminal” is still a great song (and I really enjoyed the video. I like skinny girls with small boobs).
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No, she does not.
But on the R&B side, I’d nominate Ashante.
That was pretty mean of them. Was this a case of a testosterone-laden crowd deeply resenting some skinny chick coming on stage to sing about her feelings?
Anyway, what about singers you pegged as one-hit wonders who ending up having far more staying power than you predicted? Katy Perry, for example, with “I Kissed a Girl” seemingly had one-hit-wonder written all other her. Yet, here it’s now been over six years and she’s still charting hit after hit.
From what I’ve heard, she’s a pretty terrible* live performer, suffering from anxiety and stage fright. That alone could hobble your career, not only in the sense of concerts but also promotional stuff on late night talk shows, SNL, etc.
*Not so much a value judgement against her as a person if she suffers from anxiety but still a poor show is a poor show when you’re selling tickets.
I should elaborated, either whether your own predictions or those of the media/music critics.
I was not around in 1984, but I doubt U2 were being compared with the Go-Gos, regardless of their predicted longevity. They have nothing in common! U2 was more comparable with Simple Minds and groups of that ilk.
As for Madonna, it seems not surprising, she churned out albums almost every year during the 1984-1989 period, whereas Cyndi Lauper had big gaps between albums. There were other factors as well.
No the thing was that he boasted that the album which he released in 1987 was the best since The Beatles’ "Sgt. Pepper’s.
You had to admire his audacity though.
Fiona Apple always came off as trying NOT become really famous, it always seemed like she thrived on being an outsider.
My hunch is that Adele will never again capture the huge success of “21” that she enjoyed in 2011 and 2012. Sure she will have some hits, and even successful tours, but I doubt it will match the brief mega success of “21”.
Call me crazy.
Definitely. He’s hardly a one-hit wonder – he’s had a long, long career, and has a dedicated fan base (of which I’m a member), but he’s followed his own idiosyncratic path.
He (and his first band, which was really good, consisting of his brother on drums and a guy named, if I remember right, Chris Donato on bass) was kind of a local phenomenon around here (NYC) back in the early 80s, for quite a while before his first album was released. His song “Someday, Someway,” was a minor hit for Robert Gordon before he recorded it himself.
I remember seeing him frequently at the old Lone Star Roadhouse, and once in a while at CBGB (where he and his band sometimes billed themselves as the “Handsome, Ruthless and Stupid Band”). He always had great covers in his set. At CBGB they did a great cover of the Ramones’ “Rockaway Beach.” For a while they performed “You Gotta Be Sincere” from the musical “Bye Bye Birdie.” And there were others – I’ve forgotten which ones.
He scored some radio airplay back then with “Someday Someway” and “Cynical Girl,” but I don’t remember him getting much mainstream attention after that.
A friend of mine is trying to be a record producer and not dong too well at it. Last summer he got really excited as he was working with Kiki Dee on a few tracks. He tried using it as part of his chat up routine and couldn’t understand why 20 something women were staring at him blankly.