My favorite one-hit wonder is “96 Tears” by ? And the Mysterians. Can’t understand why it’s not on the list.
From the list, I choose “Double Shot.”
Here it is, sorted by year of peak chart position. This means that on cusp years like 1970 or 1980, it’s possible the song was released and already charting in '69 and '79, respectively, but I just went by the year of peak chart position.
1960s:
Barrett Strong - Money 1960
The Kingsmen – Louie, Louie 1963
The Surfaris - Wipe Out 1963
Gale Garnett – We’ll Sing in the Sunshine 1964
Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction 1965
Swingin’ Medallions – Double Shot (of My Baby’s Love) 1966
The Easybeats – Friday On My Mind 1967
Iron Butterfly – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida 1968
John Fred and his Playboy Band - Judy in Disguise (with glasses) 1968
Steam - Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye 1969
Zager & Evans - In the Year 2525 1969
1970s:
Blues Image - Ride Captain Ride 1970
Ides of March - Vehicle 1970
Mungo Jerry – In the Summertime 1970
Norman Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky 1970
The Shocking Blue - Venus 1970
Lee Michaels - Do You Know What I Mean 1971
Argent - Hold Your Head Up 1972
Arlo Guthrie – City of New Orleans 1972
Looking Glass – Brandy 1972
Focus – Hocus Pocus 1973
Hurricane Smith – Oh, Babe What Would You Say 1973
Sammy Johns - Chevy Van 1975
Starland Vocal Band – Afternoon Delight 1976
The Raspberries – Go All the Way 1976
Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music 1976
Ram Jam – Black Betty 1977
Sniff ‘n the Tears – Driver’s Seat 1979
The Buggles – Video Killed the Radio Star 1979
The Knack - My Sharona 1979
1980s:
Gary Numan – Cars 1980
The Kings – The Beat Goes On/Switching To Glide 1980
Soft Cell - Tainted Love 1982
Tommy Tutone – 867-5309/Jenny 1982
After the Fire – Der Kommissar 1983
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen 1983
Taco - Puttin’ on the Ritz 1983
Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me with Science 1983
A-ha – Take On Me 1985
Dream Academy - Life in a Northern Town 1986
Georgia Satellites – Keep Your Hands To Yourself 1987
T’Pau – Heart and Soul 1987
Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance 1989
1990s:
Modern English – I Melt With You 1990
Gerardo - Rico Suave 1991
Right Said Fred - I’m Too Sexy 1992
Blind Melon – No Rain 1993
Harvey Danger – Flagpole Sitta 1998
Natalie Imbruglia – Torn 1998
2000s:
Fountains of Wayne – Stacy’s Mom 2003
Allow me to reiterate. That song never reaches anywhere near it’s level of popularity without that video.
I dig the trumpet. The vocals… not so much.
A bad party-band version of “Take On Me” even appeared in the Oscar-winning La La Land: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqGUu-JnMyg
I really can’t say. I loved the song well before I saw the video. I think it would still be popular without a great video.
Happy National One-Hit Wonder Day!
Thank you pulykamell, you’re awesome. And I was right, almost every song I didn’t know was from before my time. I just didn’t realize how many of the songs were from the sixties!
Here are all the songs with the year each was released:
After the Fire – Der Kommissar - 1983
A-ha – Take On Me - 1985
Argent - Hold Your Head Up - 1972
Arlo Guthrie – City of New Orleans - 1972
Barrett Strong - Money - 1960
Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction - 1965
Blind Melon – No Rain - 1993
Blues Image - Ride Captain Ride - 1970
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen - 1983
Dream Academy - Life in a Northern Town - 1986
Focus – Hocus Pocus - 1973
Fountains of Wayne – Stacy’s Mom - 2003
Gale Garnett – We’ll Sing in the Sunshine - 1964
Gary Numan – Cars - 1980
Georgia Satellites – Keep Your Hands To Yourself - 1986
Gerardo - Rico Suave - 1991
Harvey Danger – Flagpole Sitta - 1998
Hurricane Smith – Oh, Babe What Would You Say - 1972
Ides of March - Vehicle - 1970
Iron Butterfly – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - 1968
John Fred and his Playboy Band - Judy in Disguise (with glasses) - 1967
Lee Michaels - Do You Know What I Mean - 1971
Looking Glass – Brandy - 1972
Modern English – I Melt With You - 1982
Mungo Jerry – In the Summertime - 1970
Natalie Imbruglia – Torn - 1998
Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance - 1989
Norman Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky - 1970
Ram Jam – Black Betty - 1977
Right Said Fred - I’m Too Sexy - 1992
Sammy Johns - Chevy Van - 1975
Sniff ‘n the Tears – Driver’s Seat - 1979
Soft Cell - Tainted Love - 1982
Starland Vocal Band – Afternoon Delight - 1976
Steam - Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye - 1969
Swingin’ Medallions – Double Shot (of My Baby’s Love) - 1966
T’Pau – Heart and Soul - 1987
Taco - Puttin’ on the Ritz - 1983
The Buggles – Video Killed the Radio Star - 1979
The Easybeats – Friday On My Mind - 1967
The Kings – This Beat Goes On/Switching To Glide - 1980
The Kingsmen – Louie, Louie - 1963
The Knack - My Sharona - 1979
The Raspberries – Go All the Way - 1972
The Shocking Blue - Venus - 1969
The Surfaris - Wipe Out - 1963
Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me with Science - 1983
Tommy Tutone – 867-5309/Jenny - 1982
Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music - 1976
Zager & Evans - In the Year 2525 - 1969
Thanks Jeff Lichtman! It must have been old people making these nominations. If I hadn’t started listening to eighties music when hip hop became popular, I’d probably only know about half a dozen on this whole list!
Sure, we can do that. Let’s give it a few more days to ripen.
Back to Take On Me. I listened to it again today, and it does nothing for me. I acknowledge I’m in the minority. I had no idea it was so popular.
mmm
I don’t think it’s possible to divorce a song from its setting.
There’s a whole generation of songs that were introduced via their video, and for many of us cannot be separated from the visuals. Take On Me was a brilliant piece of animation* ("…four months spent doing hand-drawn drawings. It was very thorough stuff.” That might be an understatement: Illustrator Mike Patterson came up with more than 3,000 sketches for the final clip)… *from An EW article.
Now, that also applies to other songs from other times. When my kids ask why I love the “British Invasion” rock of the early 60s, I have to explain how amazing it sounded at the time.
The Top 40 (the only songs we heard on the radio) was dominated by white, schmaltzy Easy Listening like Pat Boone and Perry Como. Imagine a suppressed kid from the suburbs suddenly hearing the Beatles, the Stones and the Yardbirds… and then shocking his parents by playing *Louie, Louie. *
So some of the One Hit Wonders from the 60s and 70s fit this category. Like Take On Me, they might not stand up without their cultural significance… but we can never hear them without that significance.
Oh, i certainly agree. All I could say is that I know I fell in love with the song well before I ever saw the video for it (we didn’t have cable or MTV or any of that around the house.) But, of course, it being in the radio rotation may have been influenced by the video’s popularity. I don’t know. Would “Thriller” or “Sledgehammer” have been as much hits without the video? I actually do think they would, but there’s no alternate universe to compare with.
For the third time, the The Kingsmen are not, in any way shape or form, a one hit wonder.
And neither is A-Ha, thay had a top 20 hit with “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.” and a number of other singel charter.
I think you may be overestimating. When the song was released, radio was still the dominant means of exposure to new music. That is, a heck of a lot more people out there had radios (at home, at work, and in their cars) than cable TV, and that’s going to be how the majority of people first heard and fell in love with the song.
The following artists from the list had more than one song in the U.S. top 40. In each case, I’ve put the song from the list first, followed by the artist’s other hits:
A-ha
Take On Me
The Sun Always Shines on T.V.
Dream Academy
Life in a Northern Town
The Love Parade
Gerardo
Rico Suave
We Want the Funk
Lee Michaels
Do You Know What I Mean
Can I Get a Witness
Looking Glass
Brandy
Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne
Natalie Imbruglia
Torn
Wishing I Was There
Neneh Cherry
Buffalo Stance
Kisses on the Wind
The Kingsmen
Louie, Louie
Money
The Jolly Green Giant
The Knack
My Sharona
Good Girls Don’t
Baby Talks Dirty
The Raspberries
Go All the Way
I Wanna Be With You
Let’s Pretend
Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)
Tommy Tutone
867-5309/Jenny
Angel Say No
I’m sorry, Jeff. Every one of your examples that I’m familiar with (that is, all but Lee Michaels, Looking Glass, and Neneh Cherry), for me, emphasizes the opposite point you’re trying to make. I have never heard, nor heard of, the “other hit(s)” you’ve listed for each artist. These artists are all the epitome of one-hit wonders. Tommy Tutone, fercryinoutloud!
Something interesting is going on here. I’m guessing that, typically, enough people purchase the follow-up single to a big hit to make it “chart” — but that is not a hit, really. It has no cultural impact (okay, maybe in Japan or something). Hey, I’ve done it myself — not with singles, but with albums. For example, I own the Firm’s very forgettable* second LP. (This was Jimmy Page’s late-80s band). I listened to the thing once. But Billboard considered it a purchased product like any other!
*Actually, “Spirit of your Love” is a nice song.
Wikipedia is loaded with interesting info about Louie Louie:
[ul]
[li]International Louie Louie Day is April 11[/li][li]The Kingsmen paid $50 to make their recording of Louie Louie[/li][li]The songs actual, original title contains no comma[/li][li]Paul Revere and the Raiders recorded Louie Louie in the same studio as the Kingsmen, just one week later[/li][li]One of the artists that knocked the Kingsmen out of the number one slot on the Hot 100 is the Singing Nun[/li][/ul]
mmm
Its not on the list but…The Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
Hard to choose between “Hocus Pocus” and “This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ To Glide” so I voted for both.