As a rule, I don’t generally believe in the concept of the one hit wonder. the way I figure it, every artist who has put out a record has some hardcore fans somewhere. Except for Milli Vanilli. They don’t have fans anywhere. That much I am sure of. Of course, some people only listen to the radio, and for them, there are one hit wonders. And so today, I bring you some of the best one hit wonders I would think of. And a bonus. Don’t forget the bonus.
There are so many great songs on todays list that it really is hard to pick my favorites. If I had to choose, definitely Meredith Brooks’ Bitch and the Flaming Lips song is the the best. But then again, OMC’s How Bizarre and Tubthumping were also crazy great songs. So, I’ll just say that all the music on todays list is great.
The bonus? Biz Markie doing Just a Friend. Say what you want, it is almost so bad it is pure great. In fact, every so often, I start singing this song out of nowhere, thats how memorable it is.
- The Waitresses - I Know What Boys Like
- Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy
- Verve Pipe - The Freshman
- Sophie B Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
- Crash Ttest Dummies - mmm mmm mmm mmm
- Sixpence None the Richer - There She Goes
- Urge Overkill - Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon
- Letters to Cleo - Here and Now
- Flaming Lips - She Don’t Use Jelly
- Cardigans - Lovefool
- Chumbawumba - Tubthumping
- OMC - How bizzare
- Meredith Brooks - Bitch
- The Soup Dragons - I’m Free
- Proclaimers - 500 Mile
- Biz Markie - Just A Friend
18 responses so far ↓
1 lou // Oct 1, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Although it may seem Chumbawumba had its one hit wonder “tub thumping” in the US, they have also been around since 1982, and are still a big hit in the UK. Their cd was one of the first i owned, and may i said listened to it a lot because it really wasn’t bad at all..
2 Infonistacrat // Oct 1, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Thats exactly why I don’t really believe in the whole “one hit wonder” deal. Bow Wow Wow was another band that had a pretty big following in the 80’s. Every band has a big following somewhere. By the way, I have the fight, I just need to watch it.
3 XIII // Oct 3, 2007 at 8:31 am
Yeah, Bow Wow Wow was big, for better or for worse. Sixpence none the richer I vaguely remember for ‘Kiss me’ which got played to death everywhere. The Cardigans have a LOT of hits on their name, so ehm, odd list.
4 Infonistacrat // Oct 3, 2007 at 8:36 am
XIII, It is an odd list. I based it on a list I found elsewhere, can’t remember where. The Cardigans are one reason I don’t believe in One Hit Wonders….90% of the people know Lovefool, but couldn’t name anything else. But if they heard other hit songs by them, you would get the “Oh yeah!” reaction.
5 AntiBarbie // Oct 3, 2007 at 9:17 am
You forgot “I’m too sexy” by Right Said Fred. That song was huge for awhile!
6 cardiogirl // Oct 3, 2007 at 3:51 pm
How about “I’m Walking On Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves and now re-made (!) by Ali and AJ.
7 Infonistacrat // Oct 3, 2007 at 3:54 pm
I did Katrina and the Waves a couple weeks back actually. Has there ever been a more ironic name for a band?
8 cardiogirl // Oct 3, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Come On Eileen, then? Dexie’s Midnight Runners.
9 Infonistacrat // Oct 3, 2007 at 5:36 pm
cardiogirl, I like how you think! But alas, Dexie’s was on a list last month. But you know, who says I can’t repeat myself?
10 Roberto from the UK // Oct 7, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Chumbawumba still a big hit?
Really?
11 Infonistacrat // Oct 7, 2007 at 7:01 pm
I actually never knew that other than Tubthumping, they ever had any other songs, let alone a whole album!
12 Ms. Know-It-All // Oct 9, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Just so you know, Sixpence None the Richer is more of a 2 hit wonder. Their first hit was “Kiss Me.” “There She Goes” wasn’t as big as the first hit and then for some reason, they disappeared. I apologize if this is reiterating other comments (I didn’t have time to read the other comments, so…).
13 Suzieq // Oct 21, 2007 at 2:22 pm
I didn’t knwo that 6pence none the richer first did “there she goes’ I thought the La’s were the ones that did it. Thanks for the track!
14 SUZIEQ // Oct 21, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Hey i just remembered that The Waitresses also had a (minor) hit with “Christmas Wrapping”. One a year, it;s played on the radio…
Rhino records had a multi-disk series dedicatd to those one-hit wonders of the 70’s like Apollo 100 and Sugarloaf. The series is called Have a Nice Day.
15 Yellinck // Oct 31, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Hey, great blog!
Just like to say that Proclaimers had a bigger hit here in Holland with “Letter from America”.
Also a great song.
16 Infonistacrat // Oct 31, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Thanks for the heads up. I don’t think I ever heard that one, so off I go to check it out! Again, much thanks!
17 Ronald // Nov 10, 2007 at 8:33 am
Don’t forget “one day fly” spijkers met koppen en Georg Baker.
18 MissParker0106 // Nov 29, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Thanks so much for *not* including Gary Numan on your list. His song “Cars” shows up on everyone else’s “One-Hit Wonders” list - erroneously, I might add. He also landed a huge hit with “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” and has been charting on and off for the past 30 years. Great blog site!
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