One-Hit Wonders and songs they made that didn't suck

[Buck]

One Headlight -- Wallflowers

Really? "Sixth Avenue Heartache" was a bigger hit, wasn't it?

'One Headlight' was a much bigger hit, reached No. 2 on Billboard.
'6th Avenue Heartache' only reached 25.

 

[Songbird]

No. 2 on this VH1 list is "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls, which is ridiculous.

http://www.vh1.com/music/tuner/2013-05-02/100-greatest-one-hit-wonders-of-the-80s/100/

Space Age Love Song is great:

Wishing (Photograph of You) is great:

 

[Dick Whitman]

One Headlight -- Wallflowers

Really? "Sixth Avenue Heartache" was a bigger hit, wasn't it?

'One Headlight' was a much bigger hit, reached No. 2 on Billboard.
'6th Avenue Heartache' only reached 25.

I edited that post. You're right. But they were not a one-hit wonder.

 

[Songbird]

Same VH1 list has Thomas Dolby's 1-hit wonder as being She Blinded Me With Science.

Wrong.

Hyperactive was strong:

 

[Songbird]

Devo was more than Whip It.

Freedom of Choice was great, if not better:

 

[Buck]

'Freedom of Choice' is actually the greatest Devo song.

 

[Buck]

followed closely by 'That's Good.'

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Men Without Hats -- known for 'The Safety Dance', but had a pretty catchy release four years later with 'Pop Goes the World'

Jesus Jones --- primarily remembered for 'Right Here, Right Now', but I always liked 'International Bright Young Thing'

 

[Songbird]

Rob Base made it big with It Takes Two but Joy and the Pain was pretty good too.

 

[Songbird]

John Waite was famous for Missing You.

But he also killed it with Change, which was one of the great sounds on the Vision Quest soundtrack.

 

[Songbird]

That VH1 list has XTC's Dear God as its one hit but Senses Working Overtime, a great song, came out before then.



Making Plans for Nigel was popular:

 

[Riptide]

Hard to beat "My Sharona." The Knack owned radio for six months in 1979.

I missed the original premise of this thread. So: "My Sharona" is a fun song to this day, but by the end of its run it was awful to hear because radio grabbed it and shook it and wouldn't let go when it became a monster hit. It still holds up as a great power-pop tune, but who wasn't sick of it by early 1980?

The Knack followed with "Good Girls Don't," as mentioned above, which I didn't like much back then but is kinda OK in retrospect. But the Knack had another song, "Frustrated," that got only a little radio play but was a good track in itself.



I'd like to have instrumental copies of "My Sharona" and "Frustrated" just to hear the Knack stripped bare. The singing style gets whiny sometimes, but that tight, pounding garage-band pulse never gets old.