# What are your favority 80's one hit wonder songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032 "2004-10-01T15:26:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/121 "2004-10-04T03:18:06Z")
Here’s the link to the CFNY page I was talking about. [The Spirit Of Radio](http://www.spiritofradio.ca/) ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/122 "2004-10-04T03:42:54Z")
I remember lots of those songs, **Sunspace**. My opinion on “Warm Leatherette” is that I don’t like it, but it’s like a train wreck and you can’t look away because you’re inexplicably stunned by its awesome strangeness. _(Robert Plant comes in here, singing “I’m just trying to find the bridge!”)_ I’ve got an album that CFNY put out, with local bands who entered a contest and submitted tapes. I found it a _long_ time after it came out, but it has a brilliant song on it that I heard once on CFNY and had been looking for ever since, with no luck. I believe I found the album in a Goodwill store or a junk shop on Queen St. W. in Toronto for 50 cents. I just walked in and started browsing, and there it was! A song on my Most Wanted List! I love finding records like that, especially for cheap. **TORONTO CALLING : A Sampler** El Mocambo ELMO 759, 1981 The Arrows - Treat Her Right The Arrows - Come On Up Sigi Jonsson - Goodbye Girl Sigi Jonsson - Trying To Find Her Bongo Fury - Alaska Shuffle Voodoo - Stormy Eyes Nobby Clegg & The Civilians - Essay: Me Dad (the song I wanted) Nobby Clegg & The Civilians - I Wanna Be In Commercials Moist & Tender - You’re On My Way Moist & Tender - Alienation I’m sure that most of these recordings are quite rare in this form, and may not have ever been issued commercially by the groups. It’s an unique snapshot of part of the Toronto music scene in 1981. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/123 "2004-10-04T04:01:09Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Here’s the link to the CFNY page I was talking about… :eek: OhMyEffinGhod!!! How did I miss this??? I am in your debt, **fishbicycle** , and can only reply by… um… I’ll think of something. In the NOW Magazine about the protest of the format change, the co-organizer of the protest, **Ross Kuch** , was one of my best friends in electronics school. He used to tape all the CFNY end-of-year retrospectives on the soundtracks of VHS hi-fi tapes, which was pretty-much the best sound recording an average mortal could afford in those days. I would dearly love to have MP3s of those tapes. I was going to post a scan of my copy of that article, but the website already has it. So I’ll post this instead: a [scan](http://www.sunspace.org/cfny-1.jpg) (130kB JPEG) of a drawing of a proposed protest T-shirt from my sketchbook. (Yes, I was the only kid in electronics school with a sketchbook. I used to do English assignments in it and hand it in, too!) ---
**Author:** ![JohnFowles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@JohnFowles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnFowles)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/124 "2004-10-04T04:37:25Z")
Boyfriend - Tom Tom Club Gary Numan - Cars ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/125 "2004-10-04T09:57:08Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > I read a retrospective of Kirsty’s career in late 2001/early 2002 which mentioned that he was in an inpatient psychiatric facility. Seems like it really was a stupid accident (caused by negligence, but not intent) but it has apparently devastated him. ☹ Honestly, I’m glad to hear it. It seems so rare in this day and age that anyone is repentant for the wrong things they do. The news of her tragic death did cast a shadow on that Christmas for me. II just watched a documentary about Kirsty that was done on BBC 4. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/126 "2004-10-04T12:16:42Z")
> [@supervenusfreak](#): > > _“They Don’t Know”_ by Tracey Ullman. It sounds like it was lifted from a Lesley Gore album… Oh yeah! I loved that song! My nomination, though I’m not sure it was their only hit: Seasons Change, by Expose. And **Rodd Hill** , I was wishing just the other day I could hear Two of Hearts. I need you, I need you! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/127 "2004-10-04T12:29:03Z")
[QUOTE=WordMan **The Promise** by When in Rome, featuring Midge Ure …[/QUOTE] Though I can see why you’d think this, Midge Ure did not sing “The Promise”. Go to Midge’s site ([www.midgeure.com](http://www.midgeure.com)) and under Press you’ll find a complete discography. No “When in Rome” guest appearances. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/128 "2004-10-05T18:01:28Z")
Would Mission of Burma’s “That’s when I reach for my revolver” be considered a hit? Boomtown Rats - I don’t like Mondays I am pretty sure Party at Ground Zero was the only Fishbone song to hit the charts I also think Weird Science was the clostest Oingo Boingo came to a hit (unless Dead Man’s Party got closer) Wasn’t Rise the only charter by Public Image LTD? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/129 "2004-10-05T21:43:03Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > Wasn’t Rise the only charter by Public Image LTD? PiL never hit the singles chart in the US (through 2001), but they did have 5 albums on the Top 200, though none charted higher than #106 (_9_ in 1989). ---
**Author:** ![ChristmasEve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@ChristmasEve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChristmasEve)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/130 "2004-10-05T21:46:58Z")
Ah, the soundtrack of my mispent youth…or some of it. My additions: [ul] [li]\*Bad Day \* - Carmel[/li][li]\*Is Vic There? \* - Department S[/li][li]\*Cry Boy Cry \* - Blue Zoo[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/131 "2004-10-05T21:58:38Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I’m getting all jonesy for “Crash” by The Primitives. The epitome of bubble gum 80s pop. I used to have that cassette tape. The whole thing was excellent. I used to (secretly, because I was an altish, punk girl) love _Sister Christian_ by Nightranger. I think they may have had some other minor hits but that was their biggie. It’s got the best chorus… ---
**Author:** ![Winterwren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Winterwren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winterwren)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/132 "2004-10-09T13:04:10Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > Kirsty also wrote **You Broke My Heart in 17 Places** , which Ullman recorded on the record of the same name which featured **They Don’t Know**. > > I have the album and I have the 45 of **They Don’t Know**. > > I really, really hope that the son of a bitch who killed Kirsty on the day before Christmas in 2000 is suffering terribly. It’s kindasortamaybe comforting to know that someone else feels exactly the same way I do about him. I had just learned about Kirsty in November 2000, and was falling madly in love with her music… ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/133 "2004-10-09T15:16:12Z")
Hellos, long, long time lurker, first time poster… and I cannot believe it’s this thread that pulled me out of the shadows! But I had to pop in, because someone mentioned **Nik Kershaw**. I don’t know if I should be posting this here or in guilty pleasures, but here it comes: I was and still am a big fan of Nik Kershaw. :o However, the hit that was mentioned was **Wouldn’t It Be Good** , but I had always thought his biggest hit was the indecipherable **The Riddle**. Then again, I was only about four or five years old when it was released 😉 (Let it be known that The Riddle isn’t meant to be “solved” in any way, Nik states it was a bunch of words he used to set the tune, but when he tried to write other lyrics, they just didn’t fit the way he liked, and so he decided to just go with it, and called it The Riddle - this resulted in fans wanting to figure out the riddle, calling in radio stations demanding to know what it all meant, etc, etc, etc, even long after Nik said on air there was no solution to The Riddle. In Nik’s words: “I knew not what I did.”) ---
**Author:** ![pyrrthon1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@pyrrthon1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pyrrthon1)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/134 "2004-10-09T15:49:42Z")
“She Drives Me Crazy” Fine Young Cannibals ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/135 "2004-10-10T03:24:29Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > My nomination, though I’m not sure it was their only hit: Seasons Change, by Expose. Nope, they also had _Come Go With Me_, _Point of No Return_, _Let Me Be The One_ and their last single, _When I Looked at Him_, go at least Top 20. > [@tremorviolet](#): > > I used to (secretly, because I was an altish, punk girl) love Sister Christian by Nightranger. I think they may have had some other minor hits but that was their biggie. It’s got the best chorus… That wasn’t their biggie. They charted higher with _Sentimental Street_ and _Four in the Morning_ from the album _Seven Wishes_ (which came after _Sister Christian_) and also did okay with _When You Close Your Eyes_, _Goodbye_ and _Don’t Tell Me You Love Me_. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/136 "2004-10-10T03:26:40Z")
> [@pyrrthon1](#): > > “She Drives Me Crazy” Fine Young Cannibals “Good Thing” also went to #1, while “Don’t Look Back” went to #11. They also had three other songs that didn’t make the Top 40. ---
**Author:** ![pyrrthon1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@pyrrthon1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pyrrthon1)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/137 "2004-10-10T19:47:43Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > “Good Thing” also went to #1, while “Don’t Look Back” went to #11. They also had three other songs that didn’t make the Top 40. Is that in the US? If so, I wonder where I was. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/138 "2004-10-10T19:50:43Z")
> [@pyrrthon1](#): > > Is that in the US? If so, I wonder where I was. Yes, it was. ---
**Author:** ![Roberta\_Plant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c89c15/32.png) [@Roberta\_Plant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roberta_Plant)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/139 "2004-10-10T21:08:34Z")
Captain of her Heart by Double I Can’t Wait by Nu Shooz (they may have had another one too, I seem to think they did) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032/140 "2004-10-10T21:20:21Z")
> [@Roberta Plant](#): > > I Can’t Wait by Nu Shooz (they may have had another one too, I seem to think they did) “Point of No Return” - #28 “Should I Say Yes?” - #41 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favority-80s-one-hit-wonder-songs/267032.md?page=8)