Let's Play A Game: Name as many One-Hit Wonders as you can ...

[jick]

It's a simple game. Just list some one-hit wonders you remember. Of course, no duplication, once it has been listed then that's it and try to find others that haven't been listed. I just want a comprehensive list of one-hit wonders. After all, since they only had 15 minutes of fame - I would have probably forgetten them by now and will only remember them after I read your lists. This may also drive some of you down memory lane. Here's mine....

Modern English - I Melt With You
Love Spit Love - Am I Wrong?
Toad The Wet Sprocket - All I Want
The Outfield - Your Love
Radiohead - Creep
Deep Blue Something - Breakfast At Tiffany's
The Church - Unguarded Moment
Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl
The Monkees - Daydream Believer
Saigon Kick - I Love You
Collective Soul - Shine
Candlebox - Far Behind
Stone Temple Pilots - Plush
New Radicals - You Get What You Give
Debbie Gibson - Electric Youth

I don't think there is really any hard-and-fast rule on how to categorize one hit wonders. Perhaps based on perception and feel. But the main criteria should be that it is not a recent artist, because they are still enjoying their 15 minutes now and it can last longer. So it wouldn't be fair just yet to put Avril's Complicated or Carlton's A Thousand Miles in the list until we see where their careers really end up.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure there's more and I'll add more as soon as I can think of them. Please help populate this list....

Cheers,

J

 

[Aardvark747]

Radiohead??!

 

[IWasBored]

unfortunatly, i think the monkees had a couple other hits.

and "vaseline" seemed to be a far bigger STP song than "plush". of course, i'm going on what the mainstream rock stations are still palying (and it's been years since i've heard "plush"...it's been years since i've listened to the radio regularly, but everytime i do turn on the radio, i hear "vaseline" or some nirvana song or zeppelin).

anyway, i can't think of any others.

wait, i lied.
hanson - mmbop
sugar ray - that one about flying
everlast - what it's like (actually i think he had 2)


you could argue everclear was a one-hit wonder. sure "father of mine" "i will buy you a new life", "santa monica", and "wonderful" were seperate songs which all recieved about an equal amount of play on mainstream radio...but listen to them, they're all the same freaking song. dum dum dum d-d-dum yeah.

 

[IWasBored]

Radiohead??!

i think here jick is just fishing to get a few people worked up.

but if you think about it, it's still the only radiohead song that appears to ever have reached major "hit" status....

i think. i have no real clue. see first thing i said.

cheers.

 

[jick]

i think here jick is just fishing to get a few people worked up.

but if you think about it, it's still the only radiohead song that appears to ever have reached major "hit" status....

i think. i have no real clue. see first thing i said.

cheers.

Creep was their only "hit". They did make interesting music after that but no "hits".

Get over the Radiohead thing. Its only one of the many I mentioned.

Also, as I said -- one-hit-wonders are based a lot of perception too. So my list may be wrong - and many entries you may disagree with. Let's try to make this thread more about listing artist/songs even if some choices may be disagreed upon. Just let out your perceptions.

Cheers,

J

 

[Mac Phisto]

Jick...your list is grossly flawed. See corrections below:

Modern English - I Melt With You
Love Spit Love - Am I Wrong?
Toad The Wet Sprocket - All I Want ("Walk On The Ocean")
The Outfield - Your Love
Radiohead - Creep (High & Dry, Paranoid Android, Karma Police)
Deep Blue Something - Breakfast At Tiffany's
The Church - Unguarded Moment ("Under The Milky Way")
Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl
The Monkees - Daydream Believer ("Last Train To Clarksville", "Hey Hey We're The Monkees", "Not Your Stepping Stone", "I'm A Believer")
Saigon Kick - I Love You
Collective Soul - Shine ("The World I Know")
Candlebox - Far Behind
Stone Temple Pilots - Plush ("Vasoline", "Creep", "Big Empty", "Wicked Garden", "Sex Type Thing", "Sour Girl")
New Radicals - You Get What You Give
Debbie Gibson - Electric Youth ("Only In My Dreams")
Avril Lavine- Complicated ("Skater Boi", "I'm With You")

 

[IWasBored]

deep blue something...?

is that what the people who did that song were called?

how about that "if you want to buy me flowers, then go ahead now" song?

 

[Mac Phisto]

Other one hit wonders:

Marcy's Playground: "Sex and Candy"
Butthole Surfers: "Pepper"
Nada Surf: "Popular"
The Toadies: "Possum Kingdom"
Spacehog: "In The Meantime"
Harvey Danger: "Flagpole Sittah"
Buggles: "Video Killed The Radio Star"
Cracker: "Low"
James: "Laid"
Blind Melon: "No Rain"

 

[Mac Phisto]

deep blue something...?

is that what the people who did that song were called?

how about that "if you want to buy me flowers, then go ahead now" song?

Nope...that's the Spin Doctors. They had two hits, the above song ("Two Princes") and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong".

 

[Dragonfave]

All the Spice Girls singles!!!!!!!!!

 

[phanan]

Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
Chumbawumba - Tubthumbing
Young MC - Busta Move
4 Non Blondes - What's Up
Autograph - Turn Up The Radio

A one-hit wonder is categorized as the only song an artist ever had success with, IMO. This would be based on whether it was a major chart hit or a major radio hit.

Also, an artist may have been a one hit wonder in one country, but had many other hits in another country, so keep that in mind.

I don't know if where Jick lives, those songs he listed were the only hits by that artist, but most of those on his list were definitely not one-hit wonders in the U.S. Even Rick Springfield, I'm sorry to say, had several hits here back in the 80s.

 

[jick]

Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
Chumbawumba - Tubthumbing
4 Non Blondes - What's Up

Wow. I can't believe I missed out on these songs.

And now that you guys have pointed it out, I've seen quite a number of flaws in my list.

But I still stand by Saigon Kick, Deep Blue Something, and Candlebox.

I'm not ever sure if the Love Spit Love song was even a "hit" to begin with.

I'd also like to say that we should not automatically think that just because there is a second single, it is automatically a hit. Take Toad The Wet Sprocket for example ...All I Want was so big, that when it was second single time it just had to be played also on the radio. But it was really just riding on the cotails of the "hit".

I've got some additions:

Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy
Jon Secada - Just Another Day
ABC - Be Near Me
A-Ha - Take On Me
Seona Dancing - More To Lose
When In Rome - The Promise

Cheers,

J

 

[Bono's Doll]

What about that Darkness song--I believe in a thing called love-is that it?

 

[Mac Phisto]

Gin Blossoms had another big hit with "Allison Road". "'Til I Hear It From You" (off the Empire Records soundtrack) got some heavy airplay as well.

A-Ha's reach in the U.S. doesn't extend beyond "Take On Me". I understand however, that they are still together and somewhat popular to this day. I believe they represented their country (Sweden??) at the most recent Olympics. There has to be another hit (or two) in there somewhere.

 

[beau2ifulday]

Nope...that's the Spin Doctors. They had two hits, the above song ("Two Princes") and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong".

I used to confuse 'Two Princes' and 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' all the time. I actually like both songs very much
Good one hit wonders.

Adding to the list:

Bran Van 3000 - Drinking in LA
Chesney Hawkes - The One and Only
The Weather Girls - It's Raining Men
The Mock Turtles - Can You Dig It?
The Rembrandts - I'll Be There For You (The 'Friends' song)

 

[BVS]

James: "Laid"

See the other problem is location. James were big in parts of Europe and had many hits there.

 

[beau2ifulday]

^

If we're thinking of the same James, didn't he also have a pretty big hit with 'Sit Down' too? The location thing does throw it all out a bit.

 

[BVS]

It's not a he, it's a band, but yes 'Sit Down' was very big for them, amongst others.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

ABC - Be Near Me

again, it could be the difference in countries, but abc had several other hits in the early eighties. "poison arrow," "when smokey sings," "how to be a millionaire," "the look of love," etc.

 

[phanan]

If one really wants to get silly about this, one only need look at disco. I'm sure there were tons from that fad of an era. I remember my mother having quite a few 45s back then, and I can remember two one-hit wonders off the top of my head:

Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
Lipps, Inc. - Funkytown

Don't ask me how I remember that!

 

[IWasBored]

Nope...that's the Spin Doctors. They had two hits, the above song ("Two Princes") and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong".

i was hoping someone would tell me who they were.

no idea what the little miss can't be wrong song is, though.

 

[sallycinnamon78]

Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel
The Beatles - Love Me Do
Paul McCartney - The Frog Song
T-Rex - Cosmic Dancer
John Lennon - Imagine
David Bowie - Lets Dance
Oasis - Roll With It
George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
The Rolling Stones - Satisfaction
Rod Stewart - Sailing
The Kinks - Lola
Abba - Waterloo
Spice Girls - Wannabe
The Who - Can't Explain
Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight
Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)
Britney Spears - Hit Me Baby Hard With A Hammer

Seriously though:

Nena - 99 red balloons
rembrandts - i'll be there for you
cutting crew - just died in your arms tonight
john farnham - you're the voice
Norman Greenbaum - spirit in the sky
baltimora - tarzan boy

 

[phanan]

again, it could be the difference in countries, but abc had several other hits in the early eighties. "poison arrow," "when smokey sings," "how to be a millionaire," "the look of love," etc.

Same with Jon Secada. He had several more hits (in the U.S. at least) as well in the early 90s.

 

[sallycinnamon78]

Gin Blossoms had another big hit with "Allison Road". "'Til I Hear It From You" (off the Empire Records soundtrack) got some heavy airplay as well.

A-Ha's reach in the U.S. doesn't extend beyond "Take On Me". I understand however, that they are still together and somewhat popular to this day. I believe they represented their country (Sweden??) at the most recent Olympics. There has to be another hit (or two) in there somewhere.

Norway, not Sweden - i used to love A-ha when I was a kid.

 

[phanan]

Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel
The Beatles - Love Me Do
Paul McCartney - The Frog Song
T-Rex - Cosmic Dancer
John Lennon - Imagine
David Bowie - Lets Dance
Oasis - Roll With It
George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
The Rolling Stones - Satisfaction
Rod Stewart - Sailing
The Kinks - Lola
Abba - Waterloo
The Who - Can't Explain
Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight
Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)

Sure is a real shame these artists couldn't come up with a lasting impression...

 

[GibsonGirl]

Green Jelly - The Three Little Pigs

Remember that one?

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

"The Safety Dance"-Men Without Hats
"Tainted Love"-Soft Cell

Angela

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Green Jelly - The Three Little Pigs

Remember that one?

Yes. Very twisted song (but I sure found it amusing when I was a kid ).

And yeah, the Monkees definitely did have some other hits...I should know seeing as my mom's a big Monkees fan.

Angela

 

[phanan]

"The Safety Dance"-Men Without Hats
"Tainted Love"-Soft Cell

Angela

Two good ones, although Men Without Hats did have another minor hit in the U.S. with Pop Goes The World a few years later...

Heart And Soul - T'pau
Naked Eye - Luscious Jackson
Just A Friend - Biz Markie

Oh, and here's the mother of all one-hit wonders:

Buckner & Garcia - Pac-Man Fever

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Two good ones, although Men Without Hats did have another minor hit in the U.S. with Pop Goes The World a few years later...

Oh, yeah, forgot about that one.

Angela