Submitted by Ok_World_8819 t3_125z0cs in Music
Semisonic is a great band with better songs than Closing Time. My favorite is definitely Chemistry.
Not technically a one-hit wonder (they had other pop hits) but for some reason people don't seem to remember Third Eye Blind past Semi-Charmed Life, maybe Jumper but that's about it. Songs like Graduate, Motorcycle Drive By and Anything are better than those two.
In UK …no way are Lizzy classed as a one hit wonder .
True. But in the US, they never broke more than "the boys...".
Same with T.Rex. Over here most people only know "Bang a Gong" instead of so many other great songs and albums.
Jailbreak was a minor hit for them in the US iirc. Personally I always loved Cowboy Song.
That makes me wonder how many one hit wonders are country specific.
Bad Repuation is a pretty damn good song.
So good! Same with "Got to give it up". Gets me pumped every time.
Also "Honesty is no Excuse" from their first album is heart soaring
Philo rules.
Yup. I'll offer Redbone as another early 70's band with the one monster hit (Come and Get Your Love), but a band with really strong material.
As I age, I find myself preferring Deep Purple's "Angel of Death" over Slayer's.
Some people label Jimmy Eat World as a one hit wonder even though they have three S-tier albums and a LOT of great songs.
Still play Futures all the time. Its so good.
The Vapors
Dada
Superdrag
Drivin' n' Cryin'
Hum
Slobberbone
All not only have other great songs but usually at least two or three amazing albums that deserved way more attention than they got.
Vapors for sure, loved them.
Peter Schilling is a synth-pop guy who had a massive world-wide hit in 1982 with a song called "Major Tom (Coming Home)" which lyrically owed a fair bit to Bowie's "Space Odyssey". It was huge here in Canada, as was the album Error in the System. The song was a hit in the U.S. as well, hitting #14.
I thought the album as a whole was outstanding, and it's follow-up "Things to Come", but on the latter point I appear to be the only person in North America who had that opinion. I'm not sure that anyone other than myself actually bought a copy....+
In the U.S., The Tragically Hip are a band that is probably considered a no-hit wonder. They had a couple of songs chart on the Mainstream Rock charts, but they are a truly legendary band here in Canada. Songs like "Ahead by a Century", "Bobcaygeon", "New Orleans is Sinking", "Little Bones" and many more have been staples of Canadian rock radio for decades. Look them up on Youtube and give them a listen.
One of the many minor effects Letterkenny has had on U.S. culture is that WAY more of us know who The Tragically Hip are now.
I did not know that! I am a little ashamed to admit that I have deliberately avoided watching Letterkenny in the past. Perhaps I will check it out.
The Verve.
If you haven't heard "The Drugs Don't Work", go listen to it right now.
The whole Storm in Heaven album, more like - absolute classic.
Lucky Man too. That album was big generally though, in the UK anyway.
Massive album at the time in the UK
Berlin. They're way more than "Take My Breath Away".
That song killed the band.
Metro is my jam.
Sophie B Hawkins had a HUGE hit with Damn I Wish I was Your Lover, and then just nothing. A big part of it was her coming out as bisexual during an interview, which most people didn’t really care about, but the label got cold feet and pretty much just left her hanging. She’s still around, but I think she’s independent of any record label at this point.
And “As I Lay Me Down” … possibly her best song imo
She did have a great performance at greendale community college.
Right Beside You as well !
Blind Melon. Known for the bumblebee girl song, but the rest of their album is so much better than that one. Just not as ‘pop’
That song is actually so sad beneath the fun and happy sound, I just never realized it until recently. Good pick.
Check out both albums (and a posthumously released album that’s unfinished). A lot of pain in those lyrics
VAST had Touched as their only real hit that registered but have a really solid discography.
Smoking Popes is another although technically maybe they had 2 hits?
David Gray had Babylon as his big hit but put out some amazing work. (That might be a US thing as he is probably more popular everywhere else)
#DEVO
Maybe they we more popular in my country. I could name six or seven songs off the top of my head and I'm not a fan.
Nada Surf
Their big hit, 'Popular', was a little before my time. But I picked up the album High/Low at a thrift shop on a whim sometime around 2008. I enjoyed the entire album and immediately checked out the rest of their discography. I'm a big fan. 'Popular' is fine, I like the sarcasm and progressively manic delivery of the lines. But they have better songs and a much bigger discography.
Men Without Hats made the US Top 40 twice, but few people know what the second song was. They did a lot of good music, especially their first three (Folk of the 80s/Rhythm of Youth/Folk of the 80s Part III)
Pop Goes The World, right?
And now it's in replay in my head...lol.
You're welcome.
It's usually more rare for a One Hit Wonder to be a true One Hit Wonder. Usually there's at least one, lesser remembered hit due to momentum of the main hit or earlier success. On YouTube Todd in the Shadows has a great series called One Hit Wonderland, exploring the histories of the people behind One Hit Wonders and there usually is a modest amount of success either before or after the big one.
True. Men Without Hats went five years between Top 40 hits but they had a lot of singles on the dance chart.
Well, I'm not sure if they fit the "One Hit Wonder" definition, but I'd rate the Boomtown Rats as a band that deserves a lot more attention than they got.
Other than "(Tell me why) I Don't Like Mondays" they didn't have any so-called hits (that I can recall). But the entirety of The Fine Art of Surfacing is filled with gems. In fact, their first three albums are awesome.
I suppose I could add both The Plimsouls and Dramarama to this list as well.
Stating the obvious, Push 'em Daisies is not representative of Ween's massive body of work. It might even be their worst song?
Blue Oyster Cult, a 2 hit wonder with Dont Fear the Reaper and Burning For You. Many other great songs on their albums, the latest released in 2021.
Godzilla was a pretty big hit. I also love Veteran of the Psychic Wars.
Fastball. The Way was a big hit but the whole album "All The Pain Money Can Buy" is good all the way through
That debut Third Eye Blind album is incredible. There are so many just excellent, infectious, and perfectly-crafted "alterna-pop" songs on that album.
In terms of your question, I can think of two 80s synth-pop/New Wave acts that are thought of as one hit wonders that actually have a bunch of great songs: Talk Talk (It's My Life) and A Flock of Seagulls (I Ran - So Far Away).
I refuse to call them a OHW (they had songs that charted and even reached #1 on the rock charts, just not the Hot 100), but Blind Melon were an excellent rock band of their era taken from us too soon.
Chumbawumba
Not even representative of the band, honestly. They have better.
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Wall Of Voodoo, The Blues Magoos, The Standells, The Music Machine, Lou Reed, The Dream Academy
Devo.
Only "Whip it" made the top 40.
Working in a Coal Mine almost made it (#43).
Devo I feel like fall under the Grateful Dead Rule: some bands have a long and noteworthy career that surpasses their chart successes.
Actually Secret Smile was the first one I liked … Closing Time was great though
L.A. Guns is way better than Ballad of Jayne
Alien Ant Farm
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Warren Zevon is way more than that Werewolf song!
"Rupert Holmes" (David Goldstein) had a hit for himself with "Escape" (the Pina Colada song) plus wrote "Timothy" for The Buoys
The Boo Radleys are mostly known for Wake Up Boo but they have such depth to their music, some excellent shoegaze early on, experimental weirdness in Giant Steps, bittersweet pop in Kingsize.
Spiderbait and Gotye were two Aus artists that both had great discographies but seem to get written off as one-hit-wonders overseas.
Information Society is mainly remembered for "What's on your Mind" in the 80s, but they still release the occasional album and have a bunch of other great stuff if you're into synthpop.
Toni Basil - "Mickey" (nobody remembers "Shopping From A to Z").
Afroman for sure
sorengray t1_je6utqa wrote
Thin Lizzy. "The boys are back in town" is a tiny slice of how great a band they are, and not at all their best song.