One-hit wonder

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.

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

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 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.

"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.

#TitlePerformerYear
21"Somebody That I Used To Know"Gotye2011
20"Tainted Love"Soft Cell1981
19"Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)"Lou Bega1999
18"Venus"Shocking Blue1969
17"Achy Breaky Heart"Billy Ray Cyrus1992
16"Mickey"Toni Basil1982
15"I'll Be Gone"Spectrum1971
14"Tubthumping"Chumbawamba1997
13"Counting the Beat"The Swingers1981
12"Slice of Heaven"Dave Dobbyn and Herbs1986
11"Rockin' Robin"Bobby Day1958
10"Pass the Dutchie"Musical Youth1982
9"Don't Worry, Be Happy"Bobby McFerrin1988
8"99 Luftballons"Nena1983
7"Spirit in the Sky"Norman Greenbaum1969
6"Come on Eileen"Dexys Midnight Runners1982
5"Funkytown"Lipps Inc.1979
4"Turning Japanese"The Vapors1980
3"Video Killed the Radio Star"The Buggles1979
2"Born to Be Alive"Patrick Hernandez1979
1"My Sharona"The Knack1979

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:

#TitlePerformerYear
1"Teenage Dirtbag"Wheatus2000
2"How Bizarre"OMC1996
3"Because I Got High"Afroman2001
4"Ice Ice Baby"Vanilla Ice1990
5"Eye of the Tiger"Survivor1982
6"Tubthumping"Chumbawamba1997
7"My Sharona"The Knack1979
8"Video Killed the Radio Star"The Buggles1979
9"Who Let the Dogs Out?"Baha Men2000
10"I Touch Myself"Divinyls1991

Lists of one-hit wonders in the United Kingdom

Note: not to be confused with the The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles list from 1979 to 2001 which lists acts with their only Top 75 charting record being a one number hit.

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)

One-Hit Wonders from the 1980s

Classic Pop magazine's list[7] only includes acts who made the UK’s Top 40 (as compiled by Gallup) once only in their careers and does not include acts which feature members from other successful bands from the 1980s. The top ten is as follows...

  1. "The First Picture Of You" - The Lotus Eaters
  2. "Twilight Cafe" - Susan Fassbender
  3. "Big In Japan" - Alphaville
  4. "Broken Land" - The Adventures
  5. "Waiting For A Train" - Flash And The Pan
  6. "Waiting For A Star To Fall" - Boy Meets Girl
  7. "99 Red Balloons" - Nena
  8. "Let My People Go-Go" - The Rainmakers
  9. "The Captain Of Her Heart" - Double
  10. "Kissing With Confidence" - Will Powers

One-Hit Wonders from the 2010s

The Official Charts Company's list[8] of the biggest one-hit wonder releases of the 2010s, is based on sales and streams. Like the Classic Pop list it uses the UK singles Top 40 chart as the cut-off point. The top ten is as follows...

  1. "Let Her Go" - Passenger
  2. "7 Years" - Lukas Graham
  3. "Waves" - Mr Probz
  4. "Somebody That I Used to Know" - Gotye featuring Kimbra
  5. "Shut Up and Dance" - Walk the Moon
  6. "Dancing On My Own" - Calum Scott
  7. "Riptide" - Vance Joy
  8. "Feel It Still" - Portugal. The Man
  9. "Ho Hey" - The Lumineers
  10. "This Girl" - Kungs vs. Cookin' on 3 Burners

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.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. OnePoll: The Nation's Favourite One Hit Wonders
  7. https://www.classicpopmag.com/2019/02/top-40-80s-one-hit-wonders/
  8. https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-top-40-one-hit-wonders-of-the-decade__27967/

References
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