One-Hit Wonders

Like pornography, “one-hit wonders” are hard to define, yet people know them when they see them.

A “one-hit wonder” is technically defined as “a band that has a single hit song in a nation’s official music charts, then fades into obscurity forever”. But, in reality, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

For example, it’s often implied that the “one hit” is huge, like Los del Rio’s “Macarena”, Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out?” or Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping”. This is to differentiate it from a long-running, well-respected indie band who just happened to have one song peak at #39 in the mainstream charts. I call this the “Pixies Clause”, because although the Pixies had a long career and several hits on the US Alternative charts, most mainstream music fans only remember them for “Where Is My Mind?” (a song, incidentally, that was never a single).

But even this is open to interpretation. The Swedish band a-ha landed at #8 on VH1’s “100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders” list of 2002, not to mention countless “One-Hit Wonders of the 80s” lists. But the band actually had two Top 20 singles in 1985: “Take On Me” reached #1 while the arguably better “The Sun Always Shines on TV” reached #20. Similarly, Great White are often considered one-hit wonders for their #5 hit “Once Bitten Twice Shy”, even though “The Angel Song” also made it to Billboard’s Top 40.

Geography is integral with one-hit wonders. A band can be hugely successful in one country but still be considered a one-hit wonder in another. Sweden’s The Cardigans had ten Top 40 singles in the UK, yet are thought of as “one-hit wonders” in the US for their hit “Lovefool”, which became popular after being featured in Leonardo DiCaprio’s version of Romeo + Juliet. Other geographically-hindered bands in the US include Nena, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Dexy’s Midnight Runners and Crash Test Dummies. Flipping it around, Brownsville Station and Alphaville are considered one-hit wonders in the UK, even though both had more than one hit single in the US.

And what about acts that are superstars in their own genres, but still get the one-hit wonder tag? Loreena McKennitt (Celtic), Uriah Heep (heavy metal) and Jars of Clay (Christian) are considered one-hit wonders by the mainstream, even though they’re extremely successful in their respective niches. At the same time, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Roxy Music, Lou Reed, Phish, Janis Joplin, Rush, The Grateful Dead, Iggy Pop, Beck and Radiohead are not considered one-hit wonders, even though all of those acts only had one hit single. So how does that work?

About the only thing people everywhere agree on is that novelty records make easy one-hit wonder targets. “Pac Man Fever” and “Disco Duck” are simply too easy to hit with the one-hit wonder tag.

Interesting one-hit wonder trivia:

Norman Greenbaum is a double one-hit wonder! He released a novelty song called “The Eggplant That Ate Chicago” under the name Dr. West’s Medicine Show and Junk Band in 1968. In 1970, he would get his second hit with the much more popular “Spirit In The Sky”, which was released under his own name..

There’s just something about “Spirit In The Sky”: Doctor and The Medics’ only hit was their 1986 cover of the song, while The Kumars (of the British TV show The Kumars At Number 42) had their one hit in the UK by covering that song in 2003.

The Tom Hanks film That Thing You Do! was all about one-hit wonders. The movie’s fictitious band was originally even called “The Oneders” as if to drive the point home. But here’s the funny thing: the band’s song were recorded under the name “The Wonders” by real-life one-hit wonder Fountains of Wayne (of “Stacy’s Mom” fame). Since the soundtrack made it #26 in the Billboard charts, it was the first time a real and a fictitious one-hit wonder made the charts.

80s pop star Limahl was also a double one-hit wonder in the US. His band Kajagoogoo had but one U.S. hit with “Too Shy”; a year later he had one hit as a solo artist with the theme song to the movie The NeverEnding Story.

Benny Mardones had one hit single (“Into The Night”), however the song hit the Billboard Top 20 twice: once in 1980 and again in 1990.

Lincoln, Nebraska duo Zager and Evans were one-hit wonders in 1969 with the #1 song “In the Year 2525”. That feat came with two interesting distinctions: they’re the only band to have their only single reach #1 after the band broke up and they’re also the only band to have a #1 song and no other song in the charts for the rest of their careers. To make matters worse, they’re the only act to do the second thing not once, but twice, as “In the Year 2525” also went to #1 in the UK.

And lastly, tip your hats to the true weirdoes of one-hit wonderland: acts that were one-hit wonders in both the US and the UK… but for different songs! There are at least four acts that have done so: Carole Bayer Sager: “Stronger Than Before” (US), “You’re Moving Out Today” (UK); Mouth and Macneal: “How Do You Do” (US), “I See A Star” (UK); Art and Dotty Todd: “Chanson D’Amour” (US), “Broken Wings” (UK); Semisonic: “Closing Time” (US), “Secret Smile” (UK).

Freaks!