One Hit Blunders: Setting The Record Straight For The “One-And-Done” Recording Artists

Let me be clear from the start:

I have come to believe in recent years that the label “one hit wonder” should be officially retired from use.

Having one hit song is not a dubious distinction.

And this objection comes even before we get into the definition of a hit, which makes the moniker even more questionable.

The general understanding is that in assessing how many hits an artist has had, in the U.S., we’re talking about songs that made the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Billboard itself uses this definition. So, for instance, Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” at #3 is considered a hit. “Canned Ham” at #46 and “The Eggplant That Ate Chicago” at #52: not hits.

There are those who don’t place as much importance on a song’s chart success at the time and would suggest that it’s appropriate to apply “one hit wonder” to anyone who has only one song that everyone remembers.

If everyone remembers Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me” but has forgotten “Obscene Phone Caller”, then Rockwell is a one hit wonder, even though the latter charted in the Top 40.

I have questions.

And how does anyone know what everyone remembers?

And if the artist had other songs that were hits at the time of their release that most people don’t remember, why don’t those songs count? Even if we forgot or aren’t aware that something happened, it doesn’t mean it never happened.

I would imagine many people don’t know or remember that the Portland Trail Blazers won the NBA title in 1977.

(That’s not a shot at that particular team. It’s just a random example. I actually do remember that they won that title.)

Can we also talk about an artist that had only one hit in the Top 40, but had scads of hits on another chart, such as country, R&B or dance? 

A significant portion of the nation will remember multiple hits by that artist, while the rest of us are walking around calling them a one hit wonder. Doesn’t make sense.

Here is yet another problem with the term: It is only acknowledging an artist’s success in one country.

I’m just going to say it. Sometimes we in the U.S. need to be reminded that there are other countries that inhabit this earth besides us.

To further my point that the term is not a fair or even at times accurate way of describing a musical act,:

Let’s dive into the 2002 series “VH1’s Greatest One Hit Wonders”, where they counted down what they considered to be the Top 100 songs that were considered to be the only hit by an artist.

I found that out of the 100 artists on the list, 24 of them had more than one hit in the Top 40. Granted, many of these were in the lower tier of the Top 40 and could be easily forgotten or never known at all by the general public, but they were there. Those 24 acts are not one hit wonders.

The inclusion of some acts in particular seems egregious to me. KC and JoJo are on the list with the song “All My Life”. They had three other songs in the Top 40, including “Tell Me It’s Real” which peaked at #2, and spent 20 weeks on the Hot 100.

Vanilla Ice is of course remembered for “Ice Ice Baby.” But his cover of “Play That Funky Music” went to #4. Even if a song is terrible, a hit is a hit. Calling him a one-hit wonder when in fact he had two Top 5 hits is simply inaccurate.

And how does Quiet Riot end up on this list?  If you remember “Cum On Feel the Noize”, how do you not remember “Bang Your Head (Metal Health)” (peaked at #31)? Being that it made it into Weird Al’s polka medley on his 1985 album Dare to Be Stupid, it must have left a cultural imprint.

I also took note of artists on the list that charted a significant number of times in other countries, just to cover a wider perspective on their success and notoriety. While a-ha may be thought of in the U.S. for one song, “Take on Me”, (they actually have two hit songs here, by the way), they have had 18 Top 40 hits in the U.K.

But as certain commenters here are likely aware, it’s a different story elsewhere. For example, she had 11 Top 40 hits in the U.K., and went #1 thrice in Australia. Just a couple of examples of artists on this list that have greater notoriety outside the U.S. and were not a flash in the pan.

Then we have artists on the list with a qualifying “hit” that did not actually reach the Top 40.

I counted six such cases. To be fair, two of them were well-known songs, but were not released as a single so they wouldn’t have been eligible for the chart based on the rules at the time.

But let’s talk about “I Know What Boys Like” by The Waitresses. It only reached #62 on the Hot 100. Why are they even in the discussion? 

If you would like to see the full results of my findings on the 100 artists that were included on VH1’s list, they are below:

Along with whether or not they are an actual one-hit wonder and some notes on success outside of the U.S. I would like to acknowledge that there is an abundance of songs on the list that I personally love, and VH1’s taste in assembling this list overlaps with mine much more often than I would have imagined. “

• “Groove Is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite? 
• “Whip It” by Devo? 
• “A Girl Like You” by Edwin Collins? 
• “Cars” by Gary Numan?
• “Rico Suave” by Gerardo?

Sign me up. And that’s just a few of them. That being said, I wish we could talk about these bangers without having to label the artists as one hit wonders. Can’t they just be great songs? 

VH1’s Greatest One Hit Wonders (2002)

• 1. “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)” – Los Del Rio- Yes
• 2. “Tainted Love” – Soft Cell – Yes (but 11 Top 40 hits in U.K., not counting “Tainted Love ’91”)
• 3. “Come On Eileen” – Dexys Midnight Runners – Yes (but 9 Top 40 hits in U.K.)
• 4. “I’m Too Sexy” – Right Said Fred – Yes (but 7 Top 40 hits in U.K.)
• 5. “Mickey” – Toni Basil – Yes
• 6. “Who Let the Dogs Out” – Baha Men – Yes

• 10. “99 Luftballoons” – Nena- Yes (but 9 Top 40 hits in Germany)
• 11. “You Light Up My Life” Debby Boone- –Yes
• 12. “Baby Got Back- Sir Mix-a-Lot- Yes
• 13. “The Hustle”- Van McCoy- Yes
• 14. “Groove Is in the Heart”- Deee-Lite- Yes (but 8 Top 10 dance hits)
  

• 16. “Rapper’s Delight” – Sugarhill Gang- Yes
• 17. “We’re Not Gonna Take It” – Twisted Sister- Yes
• 18. “Nothing Compares 2 U” – Sinead O’Connor- Yes
• 19. “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” – Iron Butterfly- Yes
• 20. “She Blinded Me With Science” – Thomas Dolby- Yes
• 21. “Cars”– Gary Numan –Yes (but 18 Top 40 hits in U.K.)
• 22. “Play That Funky Music” – Wild Cherry- Yes

• 24. “Whip It”– Devo- Yes
• 25. “Too Shy”– Kajagoogoo- Yes
• 26. “Stumblin’ In”– Chris Norman and Suzi Quatro- Yes (but 11 Top 40 hits in U.K. for Quatro.)
• 27. “It Takes Two”- Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock- Yes
• 28. “Pop Muzik”- M- Yes
• 29. “Pass the Dutchie”– Musical Youth- Yes (but 7 Top 40 hits in U.K.)
• 30. “Seasons in the Sun”– Terry Jacks- Yes (but 7 Top 40 hits in Canada)

• 32. “Hot, Hot, Hot”– Buster Poindexter- Does not qualify, reached #45
• 33. “Got to Be Real”- Cheryl Lynn- Yes (but 13 Top 40 hits on U.S. R&B)
• 34. “Afternoon Delight” – Starland Vocal Band- Yes”
• 35. “Bitch”– Meredith Brooks- Yes36. “Turning Japanese” – The Vapors- Yes
• 37. “I Melt With You” – Modern English- Does not qualify, reached #78

• 39. “Bittersweet Symphony” – The Verve- Yes (but 7 Top 40 hits in U.K.)”
• 40. “In a Big Country” – Big Country- Yes (but 15 Top 40 hits in U.K.)
• 41. “Relax” – Frankie Goes to Hollywood” – Yes (but all 7 singles released in U.K. were Top 40.)
• 42. “Hot Child in the City” – Nick Gilder- Yes (but 7 Top 40 hits in Canada)
• 43. “How Do You Talk to an Angel” – The Heights- Yes

• 45. “Lovefool” – The Cardigans- Does not qualify– Was not released as a single. Went to #9 on U.S. Airplay. “My Favourite Game” went to #16 on same chart. A-two- hit wonder?
• 46. “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” – Bobby McFerrin- Yes

• 49. “Turn the Beat Around”– Vicki Sue Robinson – Yes
• 50. “I Touch Myself- The Divinyls” – Yes (but 10 Top 40 hits in Australia)
• 51. “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” – The Proclaimers – Yes
• 52. “Genius of Love” – Tom Tom Club – Yes

• 54. “Makin’ It” – David Naughton – Yes
• 55. “It’s Raining Men” – The Weather Girls – Does not qualify– reached #46.
• 56. “Lov”in’ You” – Minnie Riperton – Yes

• 58. “What Is Love” – Haddaway- Yes

• 62.“The Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades”– Timbuk 3- Yes
• 63. “Jump Around” – House of Pain – Yes
• 64. “You Get What You Give” – New Radicals – Yes
• 65. “In My House” – Mary Jane Girls – Yes
• 66. “Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of…)” – Lou Bega- Yes
• 67. “Epic”- Faith No More – Yes (though “Mid Life Crisis” went to #1 on U.S. Alt. chart)
• 68. “A Girl Like You” – Edwyn Collins – Yes
• 69. “Funkytown” – Lipps, Inc.- Yes (but 6 U.S. Dance Top 40 entries)
• 70. “The Nights the Lights Went Out in Georgia” – Vicki Lawrence- Yes
• 71. “How Bizarre” – OMC– Does not qualify, not released as a single in U.S, #4 on U.S. Radio.

• 74. “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” – Digable Planets- Yes
• 75. “I’ve Never Been To Me”– Charlene- Yes

• 77. “What I Am” – Edie Brickell & New Bohemians – Yes
• 78. “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” – Crash Test Dummies- Yes (but 10 Top 40 entries in Canada)
• 79. “Puttin’ On the Ritz” – Taco- Yes

• 81. “Just a Friend” – Biz Markie – Yes
• 82. “I Know What Boys Like” – The Waitresses – Does not qualify, reached #62 on Hot 100
• 83. “Safety Dance” – Men Without Hats – Yes
• 84. “You Gotta Be” – Des’ree – Yes
• 85. “Spirit in the Sky” – Norman Greenbaum – Yes

• 89. “Achy, Breaky Heart”– Billy Ray Cyrus- Yes, at the time of the show.
• 90. “Don’t Wanna Fall in Love” – Jane Child – Yes

• 92. “Heart and Soul” – T’Pau – Yes (but 8 Top 40 entries in U.K.)
• 93. “Don’t Give Up On Us” – David Soul – Yes
• 94. “What’s Up?”– 4 Non Blondes – Yes
• 95. “Harper Valley P.T.A.”– Jeannie C. Riley – Yes (but 13 U.S. Country Top 40 entries)
• 96. “I Want Candy “- Bow Wow Wow – Yes
• 97. “Whoomp! (There It Is)” – Tag Team- Yes

• 99. “No Rain” – Blind Melon – Yes
• 100. “Kung Fu Fighting” – Carl Douglas – Yes

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