Favourite One Hit Wonders

 



YourValentine wrote:



Midnight Oil are not a One Hit Wonder, they had various well known songs, for example "Truganini" and "Blue Sky Mines". I don't know how they charted but "One Hit Wonder" implies that an artist had only one song that made them famous and then they never had any success anymore.

this is where this topic gets murky as Midnight Oil only had the one hit in the UK and were never heard of again.
the same can also be said of Men At Work who promptly vanished off the face of the Earth in the UK never to be heard of again after 'Down Under' but achieved hits elsewhere in the world.

edit:
also,we could add Under Pressure,the Five Live EP,we will rock you [with 5ive] and C-lebrity as one hit wonders if we really want to be pedantic

Holly2003 wrote:

 



Queen On Ice wrote:



 

 



 



 



Sir GH wrote:



 



Dexys Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen



 

 



 



 



Sir, I love your posts and have a lot of respect for you in your nature and temperament, but with all due respect, Come On Eileen was not a One Hit Wonder... Their song Gino (about Gino Washington - jazzman) was a no.1.



 



 



 



Just wanted to point it out:)



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



My faves include



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



Save Your Love - Renee and Renata



 



 



 



What Would You Say - Hurricane Smith



 



 



 



Jingo (can't remember the artist atm)



 



 



 



Monster Mash (also can't remember the artist LOL)



 



 



 



others I can't place right now :)



 







 

The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band did a cover of the Monster Mash, but they also had a hit with the Urban Spaceman. 

I know they weren't a one-hot wonder, but Crash test Dummies are known in the UK mostly for the 'mmm mmm mmm mmm' song.

Nina's '99 Red Baloons' is a good one.

Brian & Michael "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs"
 
The Seahorses - Love is the Law

Tery Jacks - "Seasons in the Sun" 

i always resented Nena and her 99 hairy armpited balloons for keeping Radio Gaga off the number one spot.

strawberry switchblade-'since yesterday' is great little one hit wonder
plus Sabrina-'boys' [summertime love] is worth watching the video for
belouis some-imagination
animotion-obsession
alphaville-big in japan
murray head-one night in bangkok
and another song whos groups name escapes me at the mo 'the politics of dancing'

JoxerTheDeityPirate wrote:

 



YourValentine wrote:



Midnight Oil are not a One Hit Wonder, they had various well known songs, for example "Truganini" and "Blue Sky Mines". I don't know how they charted but "One Hit Wonder" implies that an artist had only one song that made them famous and then they never had any success anymore.

this is where this topic gets murky as Midnight Oil only had the one hit in the UK and were never heard of again.
the same can also be said of Men At Work who promptly vanished off the face of the Earth in the UK never to be heard of again after 'Down Under' but achieved hits elsewhere in the world.

Not too many ONE HIT WONDERS in this thread.  YV is correct about Midnight Oil.  They were huge in Austrailia and still are, plus they had 3 top 20 singles:  Beds, Forgotton Years, Blue Sky Mine.

As for Men At Work, I must correct you Joxer and tell you a lot more.
This band (and it's singer Colin Hay) are probably my favorite band... even more than Queen.
(But that's just because I've met and worked with Colin and his wife Cecilia Noel.  It was my honor to play at their wedding in Malibu.)

In 1981, Who Can It Be Now was already charting before it hit the states.  In fact, the radio single issued was an unmarked sleeve that simply said "Who Can It Be?"  No mention of the band name, song credits, etc.  It only reached #46 in the UK, but was a #1 in Austrailia and a #2 in the US.

Down Under was released next, far different from the original composition and it hit #1 EVERYWHERE.  The next single Be Good Johnny reached #3 in the US and #8 in Austrailia.  It can also be heard today as the theme song to the Nanny 911 TV show.

Here's where Men At Work's problems began.

When they finally did get around to touring the US (1982) in several sold out shows, their next album had already been recorded (Cargo, 1982).  Columbia decided to release it during the tour.  Men At Work is the only band who has had TWO new albums in the Top Ten at the same time.  That album generated some more singles:  Overkill (#3 US, #5 AUS, #21 UK), Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive (#12 US, #31 UK), It's A Mistake (#6 US, #34 AUS, #33 UK), and Highwire (#23 US).

Tensions started flaring up due to constant touring and band direction.  Colin Hay was writing about 90% of the songs and they were working.  The drummer and bassist were released and a third album was released (Two Hearts) in 1985.  It contained three singles:  Everything I Need (#28 US, #37 AUS), Man With Two Hearts (Uncharted) and Maria (Uncharted).  That was the end of the Men.  Ron Strykert left during the recording sessions of Two Hearts and Greg Ham & Colin parted ways shortly thereafter.

In 1998, they did release a live album which included Greg & Colin as the only two original members left.

But COLIN HAY has had a much more gratifying solo career.  He has just released his 10th solo album American Sunshine.  It is truly amazing.  If you liked the voice of Men At Work (and who didn't?!?!) then you'll love his solo albums.  They are much deeper.  Paul McCartney has called Colin one of his all time favorite songwriters. 

If you watch the TV show Scrubs, Colin was the wandering minstrel on the episode My Troubador.  He also has appeared on The Larry Sanders Show, Don't Forget The Lyrics, and starred alongside Russell Crowe in a great movie called Heaven's Burning.

I encourage you all to check out Colin's amazing voice and guitar.  www.colinhay.com

You will not be disappointed and may start to agree with Paul McCartney after a short while.  Most of his solo albums are still available, the first two have not been re-released because Columbia and MCA (respectively) still own the rights to those great albums:

*Looking For Jack (1987)    features Herbie Hancock on Piano
*Wayfaring Sons (1990)    features the single "Into My Life"
Peaks & Valleys (1992)   an all acoustic album
Topanga (1994)               my favorite album of Colin's
Transcendental Highway (1998)
Going Somewhere (2001)   Paul McCartney's favorite album of 2001
Company Of Strangers (2002)
Man @ Work (2003)
Are You Looking At Me? (2007)
American Sunshine (2009)

* these two albums are out of print.  Copies of Looking For Jack regularly sell on ebay for over $30. 

JoxerTheDeityPirate wrote:

strawberry switchblade-'since yesterday' is great little one hit wonder
plus Sabrina-'boys' [summertime love] is worth watching the video for
belouis some-imagination
animotion-obsession
alphaville-big in japan
murray head-one night in bangkok
and another song whos groups name escapes me at the mo 'the politics of dancing'

Wasn't Forever Young a hit too? It's my favourite Alphaville song.

ParisNair wrote:

 



JoxerTheDeityPirate wrote:



strawberry switchblade-'since yesterday' is great little one hit wonder
plus Sabrina-'boys' [summertime love] is worth watching the video for
belouis some-imagination
animotion-obsession
alphaville-big in japan
murray head-one night in bangkok
and another song whos groups name escapes me at the mo 'the politics of dancing'

Wasn't Forever Young a hit too? It's my favourite Alphaville song.

im not sure if it was a hit in the UK but as ive written elsewhere in this thread this is where this topic gets murky as a complete flop in the UK can be massive hit elsewhere and vice wersa [mull of kintyre being a prime example,number 1 for 9 weeks in the UK but didnt make the top 50 in the USA]

Micrówave wrote:

 



JoxerTheDeityPirate wrote:



 

 



 



 



YourValentine wrote:



 



Midnight Oil are not a One Hit Wonder, they had various well known songs, for example "Truganini" and "Blue Sky Mines". I don't know how they charted but "One Hit Wonder" implies that an artist had only one song that made them famous and then they never had any success anymore.



 

this is where this topic gets murky as Midnight Oil only had the one hit in the UK and were never heard of again.
the same can also be said of Men At Work who promptly vanished off the face of the Earth in the UK never to be heard of again after 'Down Under' but achieved hits elsewhere in the world.

Not too many ONE HIT WONDERS in this thread.  YV is correct about Midnight Oil.  They were huge in Austrailia and still are, plus they had 3 top 20 singles:  Beds, Forgotton Years, Blue Sky Mine.

As for Men At Work, I must correct you Joxer and tell you a lot more.
This band (and it's singer Colin Hay) are probably my favorite band... even more than Queen.
(But that's just because I've met and worked with Colin and his wife Cecilia Noel.  It was my honor to play at their wedding in Malibu.)

In 1981, Who Can It Be Now was already charting before it hit the states.  In fact, the radio single issued was an unmarked sleeve that simply said "Who Can It Be?"  No mention of the band name, song credits, etc.  It only reached #46 in the UK, but was a #1 in Austrailia and a #2 in the US.

Down Under was released next, far different from the original composition and it hit #1 EVERYWHERE.  The next single Be Good Johnny reached #3 in the US and #8 in Austrailia.  It can also be heard today as the theme song to the Nanny 911 TV show.

Here's where Men At Work's problems began.

When they finally did get around to touring the US (1982) in several sold out shows, their next album had already been recorded (Cargo, 1982).  Columbia decided to release it during the tour.  Men At Work is the only band who has had TWO new albums in the Top Ten at the same time.  That album generated some more singles:  Overkill (#3 US, #5 AUS, #21 UK), Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive (#12 US, #31 UK), It's A Mistake (#6 US, #34 AUS, #33 UK), and Highwire (#23 US).

Tensions started flaring up due to constant touring and band direction.  Colin Hay was writing about 90% of the songs and they were working.  The drummer and bassist were released and a third album was released (Two Hearts) in 1985.  It contained three singles:  Everything I Need (#28 US, #37 AUS), Man With Two Hearts (Uncharted) and Maria (Uncharted).  That was the end of the Men.  Ron Strykert left during the recording sessions of Two Hearts and Greg Ham & Colin parted ways shortly thereafter.

In 1998, they did release a live album which included Greg & Colin as the only two original members left.

But COLIN HAY has had a much more gratifying solo career.  He has just released his 10th solo album American Sunshine.  It is truly amazing.  If you liked the voice of Men At Work (and who didn't?!?!) then you'll love his solo albums.  They are much deeper.  Paul McCartney has called Colin one of his all time favorite songwriters. 

If you watch the TV show Scrubs, Colin was the wandering minstrel on the episode My Troubador.  He also has appeared on The Larry Sanders Show, Don't Forget The Lyrics, and starred alongside Russell Crowe in a great movie called Heaven's Burning.

I encourage you all to check out Colin's amazing voice and guitar.  www.colinhay.com

You will not be disappointed and may start to agree with Paul McCartney after a short while.  Most of his solo albums are still available, the first two have not been re-released because Columbia and MCA (respectively) still own the rights to those great albums:

*Looking For Jack (1987)    features Herbie Hancock on Piano
*Wayfaring Sons (1990)    features the single "Into My Life"
Peaks & Valleys (1992)   an all acoustic album
Topanga (1994)               my favorite album of Colin's
Transcendental Highway (1998)
Going Somewhere (2001)   Paul McCartney's favorite album of 2001
Company Of Strangers (2002)
Man @ Work (2003)
Are You Looking At Me? (2007)
American Sunshine (2009)

* these two albums are out of print.  Copies of Looking For Jack regularly sell on ebay for over $30. 

cheers for that :-]
the reason why we only heard of Down Under in the UK was, and still is,the fact that the charts here only really concentrate on the top 40 singles so anything below that doesnt get a look in with regards to being a 'hit',so number 46 would get no airplay or tv coverage whatsoever

JoxerTheDeityPirate wrote:

 







YourValentine wrote:







Midnight Oil are not a One Hit Wonder, they had various well known songs, for example "Truganini" and "Blue Sky Mines". I don't know how they charted but "One Hit Wonder" implies that an artist had only one song that made them famous and then they never had any success anymore.

this is where this topic gets murky as Midnight Oil only had the one hit in the UK and were never heard of again.
the same can also be said of Men At Work who promptly vanished off the face of the Earth in the UK never to be heard of again after 'Down Under' but achieved hits elsewhere in the world.

edit:
also,we could add Under Pressure,the Five Live EP,we will rock you [with 5ive] and C-lebrity as one hit wonders if we really want to be pedantic

   ^ Good point Joxer.
     Same goes for Tom Cochrane's- Life is a Highway is considered a "one hit wonder" here in Canada and on the web.

ParisNair wrote:

 



JoxerTheDeityPirate wrote:



strawberry switchblade-'since yesterday' is great little one hit wonder
plus Sabrina-'boys' [summertime love] is worth watching the video for
belouis some-imagination
animotion-obsession
alphaville-big in japan
murray head-one night in bangkok
and another song whos groups name escapes me at the mo 'the politics of dancing'

Wasn't Forever Young a hit too? It's my favourite Alphaville song.

You gotta love the mullets though.

Wez - Alane

Great post Microwave! Heaven's Burning is a very good movie, btw. :)

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Afroman~ Because I Got High

New Radicals - You Get What You Give (1999)