Favourite One-Hit Wonders

[Troy]

I don't know if it is just me but I really enjoy watching the countdowns that VH1 have for Great One-Hit Wonders of the 80's, 90's, 00's etc. It brings back a lot of memories because so many of these songs you completely forget about over the years even if they were huge at one stage. There are some artists out there that have one massive hit but can't replicate that feat ever again and it seems to be a pretty common thing. Some great songs are one-hit wonders and so I was interested in finding out what one-hit wonders members like.

There are so many that I could list but I will start with three.

[YOUTUBE]rog8ou-ZepE[/YOUTUBE]
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
I am white and I grew up in the 90's, there is no way this wasn't going to be listed. I still think that it is a good song, who cares if he made up the whole image that is what basically every single artist does these days. Some great lyrics in this song "Cooking MC's like a pound of bacon". Know all the lyrics to this song and have done for many years, still listen to this song at least once a week.

[YOUTUBE]MZjAantupsA[/YOUTUBE]
Cameo - Word Up
Cameo had such a unique sound, it was a mix of Funk, Dance and Hip Hop and it worked so well with Word Up. Really great sound that they just couldn't replicate again. The clip seals it with Levar Burton making an appearance and the red codpiece is hilarious.

[YOUTUBE]bbr60I0u2Ng[/YOUTUBE]
The Knack - My Sharona
Some may debate whether this should be considered a one-hit wonder or not but to me it is. Hugely popular song with a fantastic sound. One of the best guitar riffs ever and just a fun song to listen to again and again. Surprised that they never really had another big hit as they had such a great sound but their follow up songs were just too similar and didn't differentiate from this massive hit.

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I will list some more once others add theirs. What are you favourite one hit wonders?

 

[Mick Donalds]

Sooooo many one-hit wonders that I'm fond of.

Til Tuesday - Voices Carry
Johnny Hates Jazz - Shattered Dreams
Mister Mister - Broken Wings
A Ha - Take On Me
Alphaville - Forever Young
Peter Schilling - Major Tom
Roxette - Must Have Been Love (although they were a HUGE and lengthy career having band in Sweden, I guess..)
Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now

That's just a small sample of the mp3's I have.

 

[Crippler]

[video=youtube;IdclkOJqaRw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdclkOJqaRw[/video]

 

[Troy]

Sooooo many one-hit wonders that I'm fond of.

Til Tuesday - Voices Carry
Johnny Hates Jazz - Shattered Dreams
Mister Mister - Broken Wings
A Ha - Take On Me
Alphaville - Forever Young
Peter Schilling - Major Tom
Roxette - Must Have Been Love (although they were a HUGE and lengthy career having band in Sweden, I guess..)
Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now

That's just a small sample of the mp3's I have.

Take on Me is a great song. I am a fan of their title track for The Living Daylights as well.

With Roxette they were huge in Australia, they had so many other number one hits like Joyride and The Look.

[YOUTUBE]010KyIQjkTk[/YOUTUBE]
Kriss Kross - Jump
Have to add this one to my list as well and it is a bit topical with Chris Kelly passing away at the start of the month. It blows my mind that these two were just 13 years old when they recorded this. They sound better and have better flow than most current rappers. Even more amazing when you add it that this was produced by a then 19 year old Jermaine Dupri.​

 

[Mick Donalds]

^Ahh you're right. Forgot about "The Look". That was a huge song here in the US too.

 

[Andrew]

There is so many to list;

Taxiride and Ilanda being on the list.

[video=youtube;3v7Hga94Nf4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v7Hga94Nf4[/video]

Gotye - Somebody I used to know

and my personal favorite;

[video=youtube;0LpW0N5zeHU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LpW0N5zeHU[/video]

 

[Troy]

I had high expectations for Taxiride after Get Set, it was a shame that they went nowhere after that. Good Aussie band.

[YOUTUBE]DSvKbxOJxkQ[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]ymNFyxvIdaM[/YOUTUBE]
Bomfunk MC's - Freestyler
Another one of my favourites growing up. They were a Finnish group that somehow came up with this great hook. How I never ended up walking around in Dada or Wu Tang Clan clothing as I kid I do not know, I must have been one of the lucky ones.​

 

[ThatGuyFromNukemHigh]

Until last year Matt Mays could have been listed, his Cocaine Cowgirl video made some decent headlines for a Canadian Indy rocker, but with the release of his new album Coyote, he already has 2 more hit singles in Indio & Take it on Faith, and is making the rounds for his first extensive US tour.

[video=youtube;oRGXqP6fdUI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRGXqP6fdUI[/video]

Tag Team comes to mind first & foremost. Whoomp! There It Is just takes me back to a more easy going time in my life.

[video=youtube;Z-FPimCmbX8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-FPimCmbX8[/video]

As a personal favorite, KMFDM comes in with Juke Joint Jezebel(featured in Bad Boys, and on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack)

[video=youtube;MKxosfl1E2g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKxosfl1E2g[/video]

 

[John McHenry]

Gotye - Somebody I used to know

Considering Gotye is still an active band you can hardly call them one hit wonders.


Here are some of mine.

[video=youtube;7xxgRUyzgs0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxgRUyzgs0[/video]

Liked it before Punk was using it.

[video=youtube;vCZ1YteCv5M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCZ1YteCv5M[/video]

[video=youtube;bDbpzjbXUZI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDbpzjbXUZI[/video]

Help from Rick James, Bitch! Also before the days of auto tune.

[video=youtube;KK5YGWS5H84]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK5YGWS5H84[/video]

[video=youtube;Nntd2fgMUYw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nntd2fgMUYw[/video]

Like the song but knowing that we have the first Platinum record from it hanging at our station makes me appreciate it more.

 

[Mick Donalds]

[video=youtube;yG07WSu7Q9w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG07WSu7Q9w[/video]

 

[Keith]

[video=youtube;yG07WSu7Q9w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG07WSu7Q9w[/video]

I wish he had been a one hit wonder, sadly there are a lot of sad people out there (including my older brother lol) who made that freak very sucessful.

 

[Mick Donalds]

^Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Lots of hate for Simply Red??

 

[John McHenry]

Simply Red two hit wonder. "If you don't know me by now" is probably the more popular of the two.

 

[Mick Donalds]

How many children from my generation were conceived to this monster smash? Shitloads, I'll bet.

[video=youtube;hy0pZ_JvL4k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy0pZ_JvL4k[/video]

 

[Mick Donalds]

I guess this guy is a huge Christian rock artist, but as far as Billboard Top 40 stations this was his one hit wonder

[video=youtube;LpXMnY_t03M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpXMnY_t03M[/video]