# Underappreciated music: Many one hit wonders hide good bands **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627 "2004-12-19T08:18:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/41 "2004-12-20T21:47:35Z")
I remember Eels being quite popular for “novacaine for the soul” I’ve heard some of their songs since and I feel that they have a lot of good music that never really made it well in the US. “Fresh Feeling” is one of my faves. I do think they made a bit of a mini-resurgence with “Mr E’s Beautiful Blues” ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/42 "2004-12-20T23:23:15Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > Blur also did pretty well in the US with “Girls and Boys”. I really don’t think they qualify here. That song is something I hear in the background a lot. But I didn’t know it was by Blur before this thread. I think if you were to ask people who sang “Girls and Boys”, most probably wouldn’t even recognize the song, or else they would know the song but not the artist. Therefore, IMO, Blur still counts. ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/43 "2004-12-20T23:34:26Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > I remember Eels being quite popular for “novacaine for the soul” > > I’ve heard some of their songs since and I feel that they have a lot of good music that never really made it well in the US. “Fresh Feeling” is one of my faves. > > I do think they made a bit of a mini-resurgence with “Mr E’s Beautiful Blues” Aww. I came into this thread specifically to add The Eels. They’re easily one of my top 10 favorite artists of all time. I guess I can add Reel Big Fish, since the only super hit of theirs seems to be “Sell Out” and it was mediocre at best compared to “Beer” and everything off of “Why Do They Rock So Hard” I also nominate Nine Days, whose fleeting presence was overshadowed by Absolutely (Story of a Girl). The entire “Madding Crowd” cd ranged from enjoyable to outright haunting. I haven’t checked out their second cd yet. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/44 "2004-12-21T01:58:14Z")
> [@malkavia](#): > > I also nominate Nine Days, whose fleeting presence was overshadowed by Absolutely (Story of a Girl). The entire “Madding Crowd” cd ranged from enjoyable to outright haunting. I haven’t checked out their second cd yet. They finally released their second CD???!!!??? That thing has been in limbo for years. I must get it, I loved “The Madding Crowd.” ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/45 "2004-12-21T03:27:44Z")
Isn’t Hawkwind technically a one-hit wonder? And they’ve been going on for, what, 35 years now? Sure, their output has been of enormously variable quality, but I think a lot of their good stuff is really underappreciated. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/46 "2004-12-21T03:29:08Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > Warren Zevon, who had a #21 hit with “Werewolves of London”, and no other top 40 hits. I think many on this board could agree that a much greater portion of his catalogue rates much higher than merely “listenable”. I consider Zevon a genius. Procol Harum had only two hits in the top forty: \*Whiter Shade of Pale \* and _Conquistador_, but they turned out a string of very successful albums. (Okay, \*Something Magic \* was something of a stinker, but still … ) Still around today, thoug with considerable changes in the band’s membership. They’ve got a great concert DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/47 "2004-12-21T03:37:04Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > Also, why the heck isn’t **Aimee Mann** a household name? She got some decent recognition for the _Magnolia_ soundtrack, particularly for “Save Me,” but it seems like still no one knows anything else from her. And she’s got some awesome stuff (like all of _Lost in Space_). And all of _Bachelor No. 2_. And most of everything else she’s ever done. Oh yeah. I’m a fan. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/48 "2004-12-21T03:42:04Z")
Has my favorite artist, Tom Waits, EVER had a mainstream hit in his 30+ year career? I can’t think of a single time I’ve ever heard a Tom Waits song on non-college radio (excluding covers, like Rod Stewart’s version of his “Downtown Train”). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/49 "2004-12-21T05:29:41Z")
Well, this is no surprise to Englishmen, but most Americans probably don’t know that Status Quo had a long, fruitful, profitable career. In America, they only had one hit: “Pictures of Matchstick Men.” But they’re the Grand Old Men of hard rock in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/50 "2004-12-21T09:32:34Z")
> [@AwSnappity](#): > > I think if you were to ask people who sang “Girls and Boys”, most probably wouldn’t even recognize the song, or else they would know the song but not the artist. Therefore, IMO, Blur still counts. I think if you quoted the chorus to most people they _would_ recognise it. Not knowing the name of the artist is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![nitroglycerine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nitroglycerine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nitroglycerine)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/51 "2004-12-21T10:16:18Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > The Vapors. Americans only remember them for “Turning Japanese,” but their two albums are surprisingly good. I agree. I just had their two albums on my MP3 player the other day. They held up surprisingly well over the years. I’ve been on a new wave kick lately, listening to stuff like Human Sexual Resonse, Siouxsie, Fad Gadget, Skafish, Crime and the City Solution, Lydia Lunch…I even threw on that crappy Gleaming Spires Lp the other day and listened to it the whole way through! Talk about your one hit wonder…Are YOU ready for the sex girls? The Fleshtones are one of the most underappreciated bands out there. They had a minor hit in the early 80s with “Shadow Line” and they’ve never stopped doing their house rockin soul punk R&B thing, but hardly anyone knows who the fuck they are. Their newest album “Do You Swing” is one of the best albums they ever made. Please check out the Fleshtones. Love them, worship them, see them live… The garage punk band The Fuzztones had a minor hit in the 80s with “Nine Months Later” and then faded back into oblivion. Like the Fleshtones, The Fuzztones’ newest album “Salt For Zombies” is one of their best, but most people will never hear it. Do the Pogues count as being a (US) one hit wonder (“Fairytale of New York”)? Nah, probably not. There’s TONS of Pogues fans around no matter where you are. Does anybody remember the one hit wonder band **Belfegore**? The had an Awesome hit, “All That I Wanted” in the early 80s that was years ahead of its time. It was sort of the Industrial Dance Metal that all the kids were digging by the mid 90s. Then there’s Killing Joke. They had a few US near-hits, like “80s” and “Money Is Not Our God” but their not nearly as popular as they deserve to be. ---
**Author:** ![nitroglycerine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nitroglycerine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nitroglycerine)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/52 "2004-12-21T10:18:29Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Has my favorite artist, Tom Waits, EVER had a mainstream hit in his 30+ year career? I can’t think of a single time I’ve ever heard a Tom Waits song on non-college radio (excluding covers, like Rod Stewart’s version of his “Downtown Train”). “I Don’t Want To Grow Up” was a hit, wasn’t it? I don’t know if it was an actual chart hit, but it was on MTV a lot. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/53 "2004-12-21T13:31:46Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > I think if you quoted the chorus to most people they _would_ recognise it. > > Not knowing the name of the artist is irrelevant. I think in this case some knowledge of the artist is necessary. This thread is about bands whose only recognition to the unwashed masses is that one particular hit, while the rest of their repertoire goes unnoticed. Since most people don’t know that Blur sings “Girls and Boys”, they can’t really say, “Well, I like ‘Girls and Boys’ and ‘Song 2’ so I’m going to check out this artist.” They only know that Blur did “Song 2”, so Blur looks like a one-hit wonder. The entire catalog of Blur can’t be eclipsed by “Girls and Boys” if people don’t know that Blur did that song–people aren’t going to use “Girls and Boys” to make judgments on Blur’s work if they don’t know that Blur did “Girls and Boys”. I think this is actually a good example for this thread: the song “Girls and Boys” is being used in commercials and such, so it _is_ getting some recognition, but because the Blur + “Song 2” association is so strong, people don’t realize that Blur did “Girls and Boys”. Or something like that. It makes sense in my head, but I’m not good with words. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/54 "2004-12-21T13:57:22Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > I’ve been a **Blur** fan since 1990, but many people only seem to know “Song 2” (aka “Woohoo”). And that. Song. Blew. > \*\*! What is a jambochie? Or whatever it is that shaved his head? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/55 "2004-12-21T14:03:12Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Has my favorite artist, Tom Waits, EVER had a mainstream hit in his 30+ year career? I can’t think of a single time I’ve ever heard a Tom Waits song on non-college radio (excluding covers, like Rod Stewart’s version of his “Downtown Train”). Well, he sort of did when he added a monologue to Primus’s Tommy the Cat. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/56 "2004-12-21T14:11:55Z")
> [@Knowed Out](#): > > What is a jambochie? > > Or whatever it is that shaved his head? A jumbo jet? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilHamsterOnCrack)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/57 "2004-12-28T02:48:47Z")
> [@nitroglycerine](#): > > Do the Pogues count as being a (US) one hit wonder (“Fairytale of New York”)? Nah, probably not. There’s TONS of Pogues fans around no matter where you are. I LOVE the Pogues. 🙂 Oh! And I’m not sure, but did the Bloodhound Gang have any other big hits besides “The Bad Touch” (that “lets do it like they do on the discovery channel” song)? I don’t know, I don’t keep up with the charts much. If they didn’t, I’d count em. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/58 "2004-12-28T04:38:17Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > … Zombies…should be held as equals alongside the Beach Boys and the Beatles. I’ve been preaching this for years on end, to dead ears! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![lost\_in\_the\_post](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@lost\_in\_the\_post](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost_in_the_post)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/59 "2004-12-28T04:48:28Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > Many people don’t realize that the Zombies, most known for “time of the season”, were actually an incredibly inventive, interesting band who should be held as equals alongside the Beach Boys and the Beatles. Yeah, an art teacher at school long, long, long ago played one of their albums a lot. Didn’t they also do that “love the one you will” song … ? Hey, now that we have the internet, I can go look for their music! ---
**Author:** ![lost\_in\_the\_post](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@lost\_in\_the\_post](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost_in_the_post)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627/60 "2004-12-28T04:53:36Z")
Face To Face. The original Face to Face, (10 - 9 - 8, Under the Gun), not the punk band that hijacked the name later. They were pretty good. Late 80s, MTV. Singer Laurie Sargent continued on afterward – sang on parts of the Streets of Fire soundtrack, and had a song on Party of Five, and is now part of Twinemen. Interesting indie music. Great voice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underappreciated-music-many-one-hit-wonders-hide-good-bands/280627.md?page=4)