Music - One hit wonders, what makes them different?

[yoda313]

Hello,

I've been listening to my mp3 collection and bumped into some 80's one hit wonders like "the future's so bright". What makes the one hit wonders so different???

They have enough talent to make a band and get a record deal. Do they just implode???? Do they just get shrugged off???

Kevin

[pacmania_2001]

People get sick of them.
They get too big an ego.
They were manufactured.
Etc.

Many reasons why they don't stay a continueing factor.

[yoda313]

People get sick of them.
They get too big an ego.
They were manufactured.
Etc.

Many reasons why they don't stay a continueing factor.

Hello,

Or could it be they don't have the drive of others who started with their own bands??? Maybe the succesful groups have been together awhile before getting contracts. That determination might not be there for these onetimers.

Kevin

[Capmaster]

Music - One hit wonders, what makes them different?

They only have one hit.

[yoda313]

Music - One hit wonders, what makes them different?

They only have one hit.

Hello,

Duh!

I meant why can't they keep it going! Some have the talent but it seems like they quit or get blacklisted or something.

I mean whatever happened to the group that did Macarena??? (Not that I liked it but just an example).

Kevin

[VCDHunter]

I mean whatever happened to the group that did Macarena??? (Not that I liked it but just an example).

Kevin

I don't know but I hope it involved alot of pain and suffering.

[smearbrick1]

There are several examples of bands have one hit that had been together so long before that one hit, that when they finally got some semblance of success, they fell apart.

Other bands, success comes too early and the band isn't comfortable either as band or with actually being successful. There is a big difference between wanting to be famous and being famous.
Some find it isn't really worth it (I personally can't see that, but to each his/her own.).

[tgpo]

I meant why can't they keep it going! Some have the talent but it seems like they quit or get blacklisted or something.

Record companies want to get as much money as they can with the single so they force radio to play it out. Listeners get tired of it and never want to hear anything from them again.

I mean whatever happened to the group that did Macarena??? (Not that I liked it but just an example).

The asian chick looked hot in the video!!

They only did the original version, it was remixed years later by the Bayside boys(I think that's who it was). They release more of their music, but it's folk music, not dance music. It took the remix to make them popular.

[housepig]

and in many cases, the group's one hit is very different from the rest of their material.

think of all the people who heard Extreme's "More Than Words" and picked up their album, only to find the one ballad among 14 hard-rock tracks...

[Ripper2860]

8675309

[bazooka]

"I'm too sexy" by Right Said Fred.

"99 Red Balloons" by Nena

Mickey by Toni Basil

and the list goes on

[glockjs]

because the one hit song that you hear on the radio sounds nothing like the rest of the album

[sacajaweeda]

8675309

Tommy Tutone wasn't quite the hit the band that covered that song was. Those guys had lots of good songs.

[sacajaweeda]

Red Rider & Aldo Nova were some other good one hit wonder bands.

[Ripper2860]

Red Rider & Aldo Nova were some other good one hit wonder bands.

Lunatic Fringe was one of my favorites.

Scored a double on the one-hit-wonder list, as later Tom Cochrane (Lead w/ Red Rider) came out with -- Life is a Highway !!! Another great OHW !!!

[Ripper2860]

"99 Red Balloons" by Nena

I HATED that song with EVERY fiber of my being !!!!!!!

[Ripper2860]

Blues Image -- Ride Captain Ride

[stiltman]

Iron Butterfly---innagodadavida

[Ziffelpig]

Norman Greenbaum-Spirit in the Sky, that guy could play a Fender too bad he couldn't sing,a true one hit wonder.
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida-Iron Butterfly, they have 5 albums and I know they still tour but are known only for that one song.
Big music star Robert Plant(Led Zepplin) goes solo,Sea of Love is his solo debut,way different format than Led Zep one top 20 hit, then nothing,nada,zip,that pretty well ended his career.
Meat Loaf-Bat out of hell, one of the best debut albums of all time-only one real hit, yet he has a huge following,thanks in part to Rocky Horror Picture Show and he just released his second album in 2003 (about 25 years after his first).
Kenny Loggins
Rick Springfield
Shena Easton
Adam Ant
Dexys Midnight Runners
Lou Bega
The Bangles
The GoGo's
Airsupply
Bobby McFerrin
Deep Purple
Thin Lizzy
KC and the Sunshine Band
Ray Parker jr
Frankie goes to Hollywood
Spandau Ballet
Molly Hatchet
Robert Palmer
Poison
Klattu
Cindy Lauper
Wham
Men at Work
Flock of Seagulls
Joe Jackson(pity)

I could go on and on, and from reading my list I'm definitely stuck in the past(music).
If it wasn't for one hit wonders there wouldn't be much of a music industry,and radio stations would have to play even more new crap

[sacajaweeda]

Bah...there's a bunch on your list there that had several.

I will concede Dexie's Midnight Runners and a few others are rightly on that list though.

[stiltman]

The GoGo's
Airsupply
Deep Purple
Thin Lizzy
KC and the Sunshine Band
Ray Parker jr
Molly Hatchet
Robert Palmer
Poison
Cindy Lauper
Wham
Joe Jackson(pity)

I could go on and on, and from reading my list I'm definitely stuck in the past(music).
If it wasn't for one hit wonders there wouldn't be much of a music industry,and radio stations would have to play even more new crap

These are far from 1 hit wonders...Deep Purple...Far Far Far from being a one hit band

[housepig]

Ziffel - got to disagree with most of your list....

Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl, I've Done Everything for You
Shena Easton - Mornin' Train, Sugar Walls

The Bangles - Manic Monday, In My Room
The GoGo's - We Got The Beat, Our Lips Are Sealed, Vacation
Airsupply - Lost in Love, I'm All Out of Love
Deep Purple - My Woman from Tokyo, Smoke on the Water, Space Truckin'
KC and the Sunshine Band - That's the Way I Like it, Boogie Shoes, Get Down Tonight
Frankie goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes, Relax
Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love, Sneaking Sally Through The Alley, Simply Irresistable
Poison - Talk Dirty To Me, Every Rose Has It's Thorn
Cindy Lauper - Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Time After Time, True Colors
Wham - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Careless Whispers
Men at Work - Down Under, Who Can It Be Now, It's A Mistake

and that's the stuff I can remember off the top of my head, when I was an MTV addict in my early teens..

[Ziffelpig]

I realise most of the artists mentioned had more than one hit but the casual listener only remembers the biggest one, hell most people can't remember the title of the song let alone the words.
I remember:
Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl
Shena Easton - Mornin' Train
The Bangles - Manic Monday
The GoGo's - We Got The Beat
Airsupply - I'm All Out of Love(who cares)
Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water, I actually remember a lot more DP, but most people can only name SOTW. I am not dissing them in any way, it's just how it is.
KC and the Sunshine Band - That's the Way I Like it
Frankie goes to Hollywood - Relax
Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love
Poison - Every Rose Has It's Thorn
Cindy Lauper - Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Wham - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
Men at Work - Down Under

@housepig
Your recall of the obscure is amazing, I caught my MTV mostly in bars or lounges that had a satellite feed and pumped quarter after quarter into video games like Space Invaders, Pacman or Galaxian while watching hours videos and drinking lots of lager beer and black russians. Those were the days.

[tgpo]

The Bangles - Manic Monday

Eternal Flame, Walk like an Egyptian

Cindy Lauper - Girls Just Want to Have Fun

She-Bop (he he he)

Men at Work - Down Under

Who can it be now?


I'll mention Oingo Boingo. Weird Science was pretty much their only hit, although I like Goodbye Goodbye more.

Sigue Sigue Sputnik - F1 Love Missle
Herbie Hancock - Rock It
Cornershop - Brimful of Asha
Taco - Puting on the ritz

[richdvd]

Men at Work and Deep Purple aren't one hit wonders. There are a few more listed on here that aren't either. I think people need to go to google and search if they don't know what one hit wonders means.

And the guy who said Poison and Robert Palmer obviously knows nothing about music.

[lordsmurf]

Accept - Balls to the Wall
Butthole Surfers - Pepper
Elastica - Connection
Republica - Ready To Go
Monster Magnet - Space Lord
Nixons - Sister
Oasis - Wonderwall
Primus - Winona's Big Brown Beaver
Sugar Ray - Every Morning
Veruca Salt - Volcano Girls
Union Underground - Turn Me On Mr Dead Man
Reverend Horton Heat - Lie Detector
Marci Playground - Sex and Candy
Bowling For Soup - Girl All the Bad Guys Want
Afroman - Cause I Got High
Custom - Hey Mister
Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
Blues Traveler - Run Around
Hootie And the Blowfish - Every Time I Look Around
Frank Zander/Trio - Da Da Da
Nancy Sinatra - Boots Made For Walkin
Sgt Barry Sadler - Ballad of the Green Beret

By most people's account, all one-hitters.

Here some two-hitters:
Seven Mary Three - Cumbersome, Waters Edge
Tripping Daisy - I Got A Girl, Piranha
Papa Roach - Broken Home, Last Resort
Joan Osborn - Right Hand Man, One of Us
Jewel - Who Will Save Your Soul, You Were Meant For Me
Kid Rock - Ba Wit Da Ba, Cowboy
The Presidents - Lump, Peaches
Rammstein - Du Hast, Links 1234

There's a bunch of country ones too. LOTS more country ones.

Some of these bands got local airplay for other songs, but it was usually gone within a week or so. To me, a HIT has years worth of repeat play, not just the month the album hits the shelf. That's newness, not hit.

[richdvd]

Hootie And the Blowfish - Every Time I Look Around

They had at least a few hits off their first album.

[lordsmurf]

Some of this depends on what you call a "hit". If nobody knows WTF you're talking about within a year, it's not a hit.

To be honest, Hootie sucked. I'm not even sure if that song is one of them or not. Seeing as how it came from a comp CD I made back in the 90s, I just assume it is. My original was stolen back in college, years ago, like 97 or so.

[richdvd]

I call a hit...a song that hits the charts, not whether people have heard of it. ****..I've met people who haven't heard of Metallica let alone Enter Sandman

[tgpo]

Republica - Ready To Go

drop dead gorgeous

Oasis - Wonderwall

Don't Look Back In Anger, Champaine Supernova

Primus - Winona's Big Brown Beaver

Jerry the Racecar Driver, My name is Mud, The Devil Went Down To Georgia

Sugar Ray - Every Morning

You serious? Fly, When it's over

Bowling For Soup - Girl All the Bad Guys Want

1985

Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood

19-2000

Hootie And the Blowfish - Every Time I Look Around

The entire first album

Papa Roach - Broken Home, Last Resort

Getting Away With Murder

The Presidents - Lump, Peaches

Dunebuggy, Mach 5, Volcano, Tiki God


All of the ones I listed were/are Hits