One Hit Wonders

[jonnygothispen]

[jonnygothispen]

[Michael Patrick]

[Kenneth Burns]

Back when VH1 was in the business of producing bouncy specials about pop culture (e.g. "40 Most Softsational Soft Rock Songs"), I watched a program about one-hit wonders. Asked how they felt about being one-hit wonders, most replied either a) I'm not a one-hit wonder or b) better a one-hit wonder than a no-hit wonder.

[Kenneth Burns]

[Igor]

[rabble]

Back when VH1 was in the business of producing bouncy specials about pop culture (e.g. "40 Most Softsational Soft Rock Songs"), I watched a program about one-hit wonders. Asked how they felt about being one-hit wonders, most replied either a) I'm not a one-hit wonder or b) better a one-hit wonder than a no-hit wonder.

In the case of R Dean Taylor, he's probably ask "which country?" He had a couple others that were top 10 in Canada and the UK.

[Prof. Wagstaff]

I generally dislike this label (not a dis on the thread topic, btw) since as often as not, it's misapplied. For example, Focus wasn't really a singles group and they had some success on the album chart, Looking Glass actually did have another Top 40 hit, it's just that nobody remembers it, and as rabble points out, some artists had success elsewhere that eluded them in the U.S.

[pjbogart]

I generally dislike this label (not a dis on the thread topic, btw) since as often as not, it's misapplied. For example, Focus wasn't really a singles group and they had some success on the album chart, Looking Glass actually did have another Top 40 hit, it's just that nobody remembers it, and as rabble points out, some artists had success elsewhere that eluded them in the U.S.

When I think of one-hit wonders I often think first of Aha's "Take on Me" but I guess they actually had a long and illustrious career... in Europe. I also tend to leave out alt-rock acts that have incredible influence and actually sell a ton of records... you just don't hear them on the radio. Radiohead (Creep) and The Flaming Lips (She Don't Use Jelly) are good examples. They may have technically had only one hit, but they're not one-hit wonders. And that goes for the "no-hit" wonders too.

I guess in order to be a one-hit wonder you need to be personally obscure and have little influence on music outside of your one hit song.



Love it! Check out that pornstache!

[Prof. Wagstaff]

I generally dislike this label (not a dis on the thread topic, btw) since as often as not, it's misapplied. For example, Focus wasn't really a singles group and they had some success on the album chart, Looking Glass actually did have another Top 40 hit, it's just that nobody remembers it, and as rabble points out, some artists had success elsewhere that eluded them in the U.S.

When I think of one-hit wonders I often think first of Aha's "Take on Me" but I guess they actually had a long and illustrious career... in Europe. I also tend to leave out alt-rock acts that have incredible influence and actually sell a ton of records... you just don't hear them on the radio. Radiohead (Creep) and The Flaming Lips (She Don't Use Jelly) are good examples. They may have technically had only one hit, but they're not one-hit wonders. And that goes for the "no-hit" wonders too.

Yep, this is why I dislike the term -- it rarely tells you the whole (or true) story.
A-Ha is a good example too, since besides their European success, they also had another Top 40 hit right here in the good ol' USA. Anyone remember "The Sun Always Shines On TV"? That topped the charts in the UK and here in the U.S., it went to #20, which means it got plenty of airplay back in 1985 and 1986 but probably hasn't been heard on the radio since. (They also had a #50 hit in 1987 and a #111 in 1993, but "success" in the U.S. is usually defined as "Top 40", which is about as arbitrary as things come.)

Oh, and Matthew Wilder? Nope. You've obviously forgotten his #33 follow-up, "The Kid's American", as has everyone else. (And rightfully so, I might add.) Should've kept the pornstache, I guess. (He also had a #52 hit the same year.)

[Kenneth Burns]

I also tend to leave out alt-rock acts that have incredible influence and actually sell a ton of records... you just don't hear them on the radio. Radiohead (Creep) and The Flaming Lips (She Don't Use Jelly) are good examples. They may have technically had only one hit, but they're not one-hit wonders.

Fountains of Wayne is another good example. "Stacy's Mom" is a terrific song and it's very representative of the band, but there's a lot more to Fountains of Wayne than that sole top 40 hit. In particular, "Stacy's Mom" is a good example of the group's dark irony, which maybe not every top 40 listener picked up on?

[narcoleptish]

For years I just assumed this was only the Bee Gees, not noticing that there was an actual woman's voice in there. This is not a cut on the Bee Gees. I'm a fan.

[jonnygothispen]

http://web.musicaficionado.com/main.htm ... it_Wonders

"20 Artists Who Deserve To Be Known As More Than ‘One-Hit’ Wonders"
Lee Michaels, Focus, Big Country, Doris Troy, Cilla Black, and 15 others...

The Dutch foursome Focus landed one of the silliest hits ever with Hocus Pocus, a 1973 novelty number that got all the way to No. 9 in the U.S. "Hocus" takes the form of a rondo, spiraling through every ridiculous vocal technique short of burps... There's scat, yodeling, whistling and pseudo-operatic flourishes, breaking up a furious guitar riff, mad flute intrusions and killer drum breaks. The song's breakneck speed became its selling point while also red-flagging it as a gimmick. That's too bad, because Focus ranked among the better prog-rock bands of the '70s.

[jonnygothispen]

We've hit the hump of winter...

[PaleoLiberal]

Yeah, One Hit Wonder can be a very misleading term. There are plenty of artists and bands which had a fairly large following for many, many years, but only had one "hit" during that time.

For example, Arlo Guthrie with "The City of New Orleans", or Frank Zappa and the Mothers with "Valley Girl".