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One-hit wonder

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For other uses, see One Hit Wonder (disambiguation).

A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with only one hit single that overshadows their other work. Sometimes, artists dubbed "one-hit wonders" in a particular country have had great success in other countries. Music artists with subsequent popular albums and hit listings are typically not considered a one-hit wonder. One-hit wonders usually see their popularity decreasing after their hit listing and most often don't return to hit listings with other songs or albums.

Music industry

In The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, music journalist Wayne Jancik defines a one-hit wonder as "an act that has won a position on [the] national, pop, Top 40 record chart just once."

This formal definition can[when?] include acts with greater success outside their lone pop hit and who are not typically considered one-hit wonders,[1] while at the same time excluding acts who have multiple hits which have been overshadowed by one signature song,[2] or those performers who never hit the top 40, but had exactly one song achieve mainstream popularity in some other fashion (that is, a "turntable hit" or a song that was ineligible for the top-40 charts).[3] One-hit wonders are usually exclusive to a specific market, either a country or a genre; a performer may be a one-hit wonder in one such arena, but have multiple hits (or no hits) in another.[citation needed]

"21 to 1: One Hit Wonders"

In 2006, the Australian series 20 to 1 aired the episode 20 to 1: One Hit Wonders, a list of songs that had been the only one by that artist to have success in Australia.

# Title Performer Year
21 "Somebody That I Used To Know" Gotye 2011
20 "Tainted Love" Soft Cell 1981
19 "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)" Lou Bega 1999
18 "Venus" Shocking Blue 1969
17 "Achy Breaky Heart" Billy Ray Cyrus 1992
16 "Mickey" Toni Basil 1982
15 "I'll Be Gone" Spectrum 1971
14 "Tubthumping" Chumbawamba 1997
13 "Counting the Beat" The Swingers 1981
12 "Slice of Heaven" Dave Dobbyn and Herbs 1986
11 "Rockin' Robin" Bobby Day 1958
10 "Pass the Dutchie" Musical Youth 1982
9 "Don't Worry, Be Happy" Bobby McFerrin 1988
8 "99 Luftballons" Nena 1983
7 "Spirit in the Sky" Norman Greenbaum 1969
6 "Come on Eileen" Dexys Midnight Runners 1982
5 "Funkytown" Lipps Inc. 1979
4 "Turning Japanese" The Vapors 1980
3 "Video Killed the Radio Star" The Buggles 1979
2 "Born to Be Alive" Patrick Hernandez 1979
1 "My Sharona" The Knack 1979

C4's UChoose40: One Hit Wonders

In September 2006, New Zealand's terrestrial music channel, C4, aired an episode dedicated to "One Hit Wonders" on the weekly theme-based chart show, UChoose40, where the chart was ranked entirely by viewer's votes from the website.[4][5]

The top ten ranking are as follows:

# Title Performer Year
1 "Teenage Dirtbag" Wheatus 2000
2 "How Bizarre" OMC 1996
3 "Because I Got High" Afroman 2001
4 "Ice Ice Baby" Vanilla Ice 1990
5 "Eye of the Tiger" Survivor 1982
6 "Tubthumping" Chumbawamba 1997
7 "My Sharona" The Knack 1979
8 "Video Killed the Radio Star" The Buggles 1979
9 "Who Let the Dogs Out?" Baha Men 2000
10 "I Touch Myself" Divinyls 1991

The Nation's Favourite One Hit Wonders (2016)

A UK poll of 2,000 music fans compiled by marketing research company OnePoll.[6]

  1. Video Killed the Radio Star – Buggles (1979)
  2. It's Raining Men – The Weather Girls (1982)
  3. Spirit in the Sky – Norman Greenbaum (1969)
  4. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) – The Proclaimers (1988)
  5. Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of) – Lou Bega (1999)
  6. Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O'Connor (1990)
  7. Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice (1990)
  8. Don't Leave Me This Way – Thelma Houston (1976)
  9. Cotton Eye Joe – Rednex (1995)
  10. Macarena – Los del Rio (1993)
  11. Sugar Sugar – The Archies (1969)
  12. Who Let the Dogs Out – Baha Men (2000)
  13. Kung Fu Fighting – Carl Douglas (1974)
  14. Seasons in the Sun – Terry Jacks (1973)
  15. Saturday Night – Whigfield (1995)
  16. There She Goes – The La's (1988)
  17. Achy Breaky Heart – Billy Ray Cyrus (1992)
  18. Tell Laura I Love Her – Ricky Valance (1960)
  19. Me and Mrs Jones – Billy Paul (1972)
  20. Mickey – Toni Basil (1982)
  21. Don't Worry Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin (1988)
  22. Stay – Shakespears Sister (1992)
  23. Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry (1976)
  24. What Is Love – Haddaway (1993)
  25. 99 Red Balloons – Nena (1983)
  26. Jump Around – House of Pain (1992)
  27. My Sharona – The Knack (1979)
  28. We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off – Jermaine Stewart (1986)
  29. Turning Japanese – The Vapors (1980)
  30. MMMBop – Hanson (1997)
  31. In the Year 2525 – Zager & Evans (1969)
  32. Funkytown – Lipps Inc. (1979)
  33. A Girl Like You – Edwyn Collins (1994)
  34. Pass the Dutchie – Musical Youth (1982)
  35. Rock Me Amadeus – Falco (1985)
  36. The Hustle – Van McCoy (1975)
  37. Ooh Eeh Ooh Ah Aah Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang – Witch Doctor (1958)
  38. Tubthumping – Chumbawamba (1997)
  39. The Ketchup Song (Aserejé) – Las Ketchup (2002)
  40. Grandad – Clive Dunn (1971)
  41. Spaceman – Babylon Zoo (1996)
  42. Groove Is in the Heart – Deee-Lite (1990)
  43. Don't Give Up On Us – David Soul (1976)
  44. Barbados – Typically Tropical (1975)
  45. Unbelievable – EMF (1990)
  46. Too Shy – Kajagoogoo (1983)
  47. Pop Muzik – M (1979)
  48. You Get What You Give – New Radicals (1998)
  49. The Safety Dance – Men Without Hats (1983)
  50. Somebody's Watching Me – Rockwell (1984)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Melis, Matt; Consequence of Sound staff (20 September 2016). "The 100 Best One-Hit Wonder Songs". Consequence of Sound.
  2. ^ Mann, Brent (2003). 99 Red Balloons ...and 100 Other All-Time Great One-Hit Wonders. Citadel Press. ISBN 9780806525167.
  3. ^ Rahsheeda, Ali (2 May 2013). "100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '80s". [[]]. Viacom International. Rahsheeda cites at least three examples of this: Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio," which peaked at number 58 in the U.S.; The Waitresses' "I Know What Boys Like," which peaked at number 62; and The Weather Girls' "It's Raining Men," which peaked at number 46 (but was a chart-topper on the dance charts and reached the top 40 on the hip-hop charts).
  4. ^ Life (14 November 2009). "One Hit Wonders". onehittwonders.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2016.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ OnePoll: The Nation's Favourite One Hit Wonders

References

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