# What one-hit-wonder songs were actually really good, even GREAT, songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 29, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148 "2007-11-29T05:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/161 "2007-11-30T17:50:36Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] I think we can find a lot in those fluid bands that were created by producers to record one song, but whether or not they’re any good (as the OP wants) is open to debate. “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” by Edison Lighthouse is a good example. According to the band’s [Wikipedia page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_Lighthouse), the lead singer was active in more than one band–indeed, he led other one-hit wonders: [/QUOTE] I was trying to think of this case. I didn’t read the Wiki entry, but does it mention when Burrows performed as lead singer for all four of those songs on one episode of Top Of The Pops? It really freaked out the producers of that show (which was broadcast live, IIRC), and confused the hell out of the audience. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/162 "2007-11-30T18:47:10Z")
[QUOTE=GargoyleWB] I tried to see Zevon in Seattle in the early 90s. Sadly his concert was cancelled for lack of interest, only 20 tickets were sold ☹ I was personally raving and recommending the concert to everyone I knew beforehand also, and everyone just said “who?”. [/QUOTE] ☹ The kid next door was maybe 19 when I was going through some CDs to give to him and said, Do you have this Zevon? and he said he didn’t know who he was. This is a kid with a dad who prides himself on knowing rock and quirky alternative artists. It was unfathomable that he hadn’t heard of him. I forced the CD upon him! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/163 "2007-11-30T18:58:16Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Not being religious helps. As a religious person, I hear “What if God was one of us?” and think “He **was** one of us, and we chose to torture and kill Him” and then switch the station. I admit this is an outlier reaction! 😛 [/QUOTE] Off topic, I love the parody version by Bob Rivers called “What If God Smoked Cannabis?” ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/164 "2007-11-30T22:48:58Z")
“Avenging Annie” by Andy Pratt. I believe he was around for a while, but this was his only big hit. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/165 "2007-11-30T23:04:59Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] As much as it pains me to say it, Warren Zevon qualifies as a one-hit wonder with Werewolves of London, which hit #21 on the Billboard singles chart. If there was any justice, he would have had 10 other songs in the top 40. But Werewolves is a fine song. [/QUOTE] Yes, but wasn’t that song kind of a throwaway bit that ironically became the biggest hit of his career? I also seem to remember Zevon saying the success of “Werewolves” was like having a hit with “The One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater” in that it made people incorrectly assume he was just a novelty song performer. [QUOTE=spoke] “Right Place, Wrong Time” (YouTube clip) - Dr. John [/QUOTE] I take it “Walk on Gilded Splinters” didn’t chart? ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/166 "2007-11-30T23:05:23Z")
I can think of one, but the title escapes me, hmmmm, something from the early 80’s, about a phone number and Jenny. The worst part is I cannot think of the artist. Any help? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/167 "2007-11-30T23:12:28Z")
[QUOTE=NDP] I take it “Walk on Gilded Splinters” didn’t chart? [/QUOTE] Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/168 "2007-11-30T23:26:53Z")
[QUOTE=TommyTutone] I can think of one, but the title escapes me, hmmmm, something from the early 80’s, about a phone number and Jenny. The worst part is I cannot think of the artist. Any help? [/QUOTE] This would have been funnier if not for post #142. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/169 "2007-11-30T23:54:38Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] This would have been funnier if not for post #142. [/QUOTE] It was mentioned in the OP too, but not by that poster. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/170 "2007-12-01T02:28:44Z")
Did Renaissance ever have another hit besides “Northern Lights” (~1978)? If not, they qualify. [QUOTE=Team of Scientists] Yoshimi charted? I never heard it on the radio or anything. I thought “She Don’t Use Jelly” was their most commercially successful track. [/quote] I heard it a number of times on WRNR, the indie-rock station I listen to. Forgot about “She Don’t Use Jelly” which IMHO totally reeks. Never heard it until after I’d heard “Yoshimi” a number of times, and it instantly took my opinion of the Flaming Lips _way_ down. > [@](#): > > I was totally obsessed with “The Way” when it came out. I was in 7th or 8th grade. Sadly, it just doesn’t stand up today. I hate when that happens. I beg to differ, but I think it helps that I _didn’t_ get obsessed with it. Getting obsessed with a good-but-not-great song just wears it out faster in the confines of your head, IME. Kinda the way nobody wanted to hear the Macarena for years after everyone went nuts over it during the summer of 1996. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/171 "2007-12-01T03:40:17Z")
OK, a tough one: Clarence Clemons and Jackson Browne duet “You’re a friend of mine”. Browne had a few other hits, and while Clemons’ music playing is on perhaps hundreds of hits this is the only one I am aware of that he was singing anything besides accompanying stuff. So…one hit wonder? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/172 "2007-12-01T03:46:07Z")
**My Sharona** by The Knack **My Baby Grand** by Billy Joel and Ray Charles ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/173 "2007-12-01T04:16:14Z")
“Life in a Northern Town” - Dream Academy ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/174 "2007-12-01T05:30:06Z")
What about 'Til Tuesday - Voices Carry [QUOTE=Sanity Challenged] **House of Pain** - Jump Around… [/QUOTE] That reminds me… Faster Pussycat - House of Pain ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/175 "2007-12-01T06:19:33Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] **My Baby Grand** by Billy Joel and Ray Charles [/QUOTE] Those gentleman, in case you were not aware, did have a small degree of success as solo artists. It doesn’t count if two multi-hit artists only collaborate once. Come on, we all know what a “one hit wonder” is. A one hit wonder is someone about whom you say “Whatever happened to that guy who did the song about Jenny and the phone number? It ws a guy, right? Or was that what they called the band?” ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/176 "2007-12-01T06:55:32Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] OMC (Otara Millionaires Club) is from New Zealand. [/QUOTE] Interesting (and brief) story: OMC was a joke - Otara being the very poor town where Pauly Fuemana grew up. But then the song charted in dozens of countries, turning Pauly into, ironically (or is it just a coincidence?) the one and only actual millionaire in Otara. Back to the original post, does the band a-ha count? Apparently they charted in America with 2 songs (the second one being “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.”), but is there anyone in America who remembers them for anything other than “Take on Me?” ---
**Author:** ![Klepto21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/65b543/32.png) [@Klepto21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klepto21)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/177 "2007-12-01T06:58:44Z")
Emerge - FischerSpooner Electronic, but very good in my opinion. Havn’t heard a damn good song other than this by them, though. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/178 "2007-12-01T07:05:51Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] …It doesn’t count if two multi-hit artists only collaborate once. … [/QUOTE] Says you. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/179 "2007-12-01T14:45:31Z")
[QUOTE=TheBoltEater] Back to the original post, does the band a-ha count? Apparently they charted in America with 2 songs (the second one being “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.”), but is there anyone in America who remembers them for anything other than “Take on Me?” [/QUOTE] That’s the thing that depresses me a little. A-ha has 7 albums or so, all excellent, they just didn’t hop the pond, as it were. A lot of the bands mentioned here had music that was pretty damned good, they just didn’t chart. ( **Right Said Fred** had a ‘cute little album’ that was better than you’d expect it to have been, based on _I’m too sexy_.) Then there are others ( **Honeymoon Suite** I’m lookin’ at you) that were just crap. The cassette card didn’t even have print on the back side. Although looking at the wiki page for 'em, I guess they’re like a-ha, SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE like’s 'em, as they have 11 albums, most recently in 2007. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148/180 "2007-12-01T16:13:33Z")
[QUOTE=Unintentionally Blank] That’s the thing that depresses me a little. A-ha has 7 albums or so, all excellent, they just didn’t hop the pond, as it were. [/QUOTE] Think of how the Robbie Williams fans feel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-one-hit-wonder-songs-were-actually-really-good-even-great-songs/428148.md?page=10)