Best One-Hit Wonders

[mitsho]

What about "Snappi, der Kleine Krokodil"?

Be aware, she's (the kid) is coming again with 'Ein Lama in Yokohama', just as toxic as the first "song" (ok for children, but hey, we're not children, are we?).

But there is also a French "children song" in the charts, not? "Une monde parfaite" or something like this.
We here in Switzerland get a good chunk of French songs as well. I'm listening to the Charts right now, and since about 30% of the Swiss are Romands (French Swiss) there are quite some French songs in the Swiss charts.
I'm going quite off topic here, but anyone remember "Perdono by First-name-Forgotten-by-me Ferro", and Italian song. At first, when the song was succesfull in Italy, it reached the top twenty because of the Ticinesi (Italian Swiss), then it declined again and was succesfull in France. Now, the Romans bought the song and it reached place 11 or so in the Swiss charts. Finally, the song reached Germany, and "Perdono" climbed up to place 2 or 3 in the Swiss charts. So, I've been too much off topic, sorry.

m

 

[IglooDame]

This is from Wikipedia, listing VH1's top-ten one-hit wonders:

1. Los Del Rio - "Macarena" (1996)
2. Soft Cell - "Tainted Love" (1982)
3. Dexys Midnight Runners - "Come On Eileen" (1982)
4. Right Said Fred - "I'm Too Sexy" (1992)
5. Toni Basil - "Mickey" (1982)
6. Baha Men - "Who Let The Dogs Out" (2000)
7. Vanilla Ice - "Ice Ice Baby" (1990)
8. a-ha - "Take On Me" (1985)
9. Gerardo - "Rico Suave" (1991)
10. Nena - "99 Luftballons" (1984)

Of the ten, 5 and 9 are the only ones I don't recognize and can't play in my head, if I had to pick the best one-hit wonder I'd go with 4 as the guy truly didn't have enough talent to ever make another hit song ever again.

 

[Tatran]

Sounds like the ongoing cultural invasion is about as brutal,

Yep,the torture continues for almost 4 decades.
"Du" - Peter Maffay,"Rote Rosen" - Freddy Breck,"Santa Maria" -
Roland Kaiser,"Ein bisschen Frieden" - Nicole,"Verdammt ich lieb dich" -
Matthias Reim,"Codo" - Tauchen/Prokopetz (Döf),all number one hits in the Netherlands.
This one almost made it to the top spot,Hoeba hoeba hop hop (Guus
Flater en de Marsipulami) - Dennie Christian (no. 2)

Well we Dutch keep on trying the same thing.Here are some to refresh
Doc's memory.
Vader Abraham is already mentioned,"The birdie song"("De Vogeltjesdans") -
Electronica's,André Rieu,Jan(tje) Smit,"Suzanne" - Art Company,
"Una paloma blanca" - George Baker Selection

What about the Crazy Frog?
We're surprisingly resistent against that stuff here by now;

Guess we are not,see pic.

 

[nonconformist]

This is from Wikipedia, listing VH1's top-ten one-hit wonders:
3. Dexys Midnight Runners - "Come On Eileen" (1982)

Actually, Dexy's Midnight Runners also did quite well with "Geno"

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

@IglooDude:
Odd list. Is that specifically for the US?
Dexy's and Soft Cell did have some more success in GB, and a-ha is still selling extremely well in all of Central Europe and Scandinavia. And Nena has dozens of hits in Germany; to tell the truth, some of them aren't really that bad - compared to the rest in our charts, her last hits (yes, she had a successful comeback recently) are often enough the only entry that deserves to be called a 'song' at all...

Edit: Just read that wiki entry...substandard one. Or are you really telling me Madness or ABBA are considered One-hit Wonders???

@Tatran: DÖF...I know, there was some German participation in that one, but I'd call that an Austrian atrocity.
And btw, what about Modern Talking? No one-hit wonders, unfortunately. But I bet they harrass you as well .

 

[IglooDame]

@IglooDude:
Odd list. Is that specifically for the US?
Dexy's and Soft Cell did have some more success in GB, and a-ha in all of Europe. And Nena has dozens of hits in Germany; to tell the truth, some of them aren't really that bad - compared to the rest in our charts, her last hits (yes, she had a successful comeback recently) are often enough the only entry that deserves to be called a 'song' at all...

I think it is, the Wikipedia entry specifically notes that artists may be considered one-hit wonders in one country but not another, and VH1 (to my knowledge) is a US-only television station.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

VH1 (to my knowledge) is a US-only television station.

VH1 appears on Sky...

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Yes, should read the article first...
They do specify that e.g. Soft Cell did have more hits, but this one outshines anything else.
I think it is also reasonable to classify someone like Nena who really is popular only in one country that way.

But a-ah?
They had a Bond theme, the title songs for Olympic games, and still do very well in half of Europe. And 'The Sun always shines on TV' is really as known as 'Take on me', IMHO.

 

[Tatran]

Someone simply should have told Dieter Bohlen not to sing one note.
His Blue System project was a nightmare,on the C.C. Catch records
he also could't shut his mouth.Can't remember him hearing "singing"
on "Midnight lady" - Chris Norman (1986).
I can't deny he wasn't successful with his productions.

Same for AC/DC's singer Brian Johnson,he's only making noise.
Too bad Bon Scott died far too early.

Right Said Fred had at least 3 hits,also ''Don't talk just kiss" and
"Deeply dippy"."I'm too sexy" was more than enough.

 

[Tatran]

This is from Wikipedia, listing VH1's top-ten one-hit wonders:
5. Toni Basil - "Mickey" (1982)

The discussion goes on.Good example here.
No.1 in the US,but never made it to the Dutch charts.

 

[Harbringer]

Same for AC/DC's singer Brian Johnson,he's only making noise.
Too bad Bon Scott died far too early.

I started listening to AC/dc when back in black came out, so i always liked brian johnson better, although Bonhad a much better voice in terms of range.

 

[punkbass2000]

This is from Wikipedia, listing VH1's top-ten one-hit wonders:

1. Los Del Rio - "Macarena" (1996)
2. Soft Cell - "Tainted Love" (1982)
3. Dexys Midnight Runners - "Come On Eileen" (1982)
4. Right Said Fred - "I'm Too Sexy" (1992)
5. Toni Basil - "Mickey" (1982)
6. Baha Men - "Who Let The Dogs Out" (2000)
7. Vanilla Ice - "Ice Ice Baby" (1990)
8. a-ha - "Take On Me" (1985)
9. Gerardo - "Rico Suave" (1991)
10. Nena - "99 Luftballons" (1984)

Of the ten, 5 and 9 are the only ones I don't recognize and can't play in my head, if I had to pick the best one-hit wonder I'd go with 4 as the guy truly didn't have enough talent to ever make another hit song ever again.

Number five, I believe, goes:

"Oh Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind,
Hey Mickey!"

Number Nine I don't know I can help you with. I think I'm only familiar with Weird Al's parody "Taco Grande" and can't remember any lyrics other than the title.

 

[nonconformist]

I only wish The Police could have been one hit wonders. Or that they had perished in a chocolate factory accident, for that matter.

 

[IglooDame]

Thanks, punkbass. That makes it 9 out of 10 for me.

Here's a longer list (and I can hum about 2/3 of these), from http://www.songfacts.com/additionalSearches.lasso?hits=More songs from 1 hit wonders

99 Luftballons - Nena
Achy Breaky Heart - Billy Ray Cyrus
Afternoon Delight - The Starland Vocal Band
Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now - McFadden And Whitehead
Barbados - Typically Tropical
Barbie Girl - Aqua
Because I Got High - Afroman
Breakfast At Tiffany's - Deep Blue Something
Bust A Move - Young MC
Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners
Desiderata - Les Crane
Do You Love Me? - The Contours
Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine) - The Penguins
Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant
Eve Of Destruction - Barry McGuire
Fire - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
Float On - The Floaters
Funkytown - Lipps Inc.
Groove Is In The Heart - Dee-Lite
Heart And Soul - T'Pau
Hot Child In The City - Nick Gilder
How Bizarre - OMC
How Long - Ace
I Touch Myself - The Divinyls
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
I'm Too Sexy - Right Said Fred
I've Never Been To Me - Charlene
Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
Jenny (867-5309) - Tommy Tutone
Journey To The Center Of The Mind - The Amboy Dukes
Keep Your Hands To Yourself - The Georgia Satellites
Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas
Lovin' You - Minnie Riperton
Macarena - Los Del Rio
Mickey - Toni Basil
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm - The Crash Test Dummies
Mother Of Mine - Neil Reid
Moviestar - Harpo
My Sharona - The Knack
Nel Blu, Dipinto di Blu (Volare) - Domenico Modugno
Nobody But Me - Human Beinz
One Toke Over The Line - Brewer And Shipley
Pac-Man Fever - Buckner and Garcia
Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry
Pop Muzik - M
Puttin' On the Ritz - Taco
Rico Suave - Gerardo
Shake You Down - Gregory Abbott
She Blinded Me With Science - Thomas Dolby
Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell
Steal My Sunshine - Len
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Take On Me - a-ha
Teen Angel - Mark Dinning
The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia - Vicki Lawrence
Three Little Pigs - Green Jelly
Tomorrow People - Ziggy Marley And The Melody Makers
Turn The Beat Around - Vicki Sue Robinson
Turning Japanese - The Vapors
Unbelievable - EMF
What's Up - Four Non Blondes
Whip It - Devo
You Get What You Give - The New Radicals
You Light Up My Life - Debby Boone

That last one may be the biggest one-hit wonder ever.

 

[fe3333au]

Surely there are others more worthy of that fate than the Police ... all Boy Bands and BananaRama and virtually every Disco band and Ms. Spears and Ms. Logan and Mr Jackson and heaps of Hip Hopper and Gangsta Rappers and ...

Divinyls and Devo had more than one hit and more than one album

 

[nonconformist]

Anyone remember A whiter shade of Pale or whatever it's called?
Wasn't that a one-hit wonder?

 

[YNCS]

In the Year 2525 by Zager and Evans

 

[Ramius75]

Runaway train - Soul aslyum.

one of the best song out there and one hit wonder...

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Found a nice link:
http://www.br-online.de/bayern3/musik/one-hit-wonder/artikel/ohw-finder/index.xml

In German only, unfortunately; but, you get every song as streaming audio file.
Click on the respective picture for detailed info; and "Vorwärts" means "next". That's all you need.

 

[fe3333au]

A whiter shade of pale - Procol Harum