From Monday 3 October 2022
One Hit Wonders
Any song, by any artist(s) or band, from any time, in any country, language, or genre, that did very well on the music charts somewhere but never had a hit again.
Geraldine
PSY – GANGNAM STYLE
On July 15, 2012, South Korean pop star Psy released Gangnam Style, a satirical tune that would go on to become what was once the biggest South Korean hit of all time. It captured the attention of the world and became the first music video to pass 1 billion views on YouTube.
The song and its music video went viral in August 2012 and have influenced popular culture worldwide. In the United States, “Gangnam Style” peaked at number two on Billboard Hot 100 – however, failed to top the US Billboard chart for a second week.
I literally heard hip-hop every day on the radio,” Psy said. “I thought: Oh, if I cannot sing that well, I got to rap. Then I can be the frontman.” Like Freddie Mercury in Queen, who inspired him to become a pop star.
Gangnam means “south of the river”– in this case, south of the Han River. Gangnam is also one of the richest and most glamorous places in Seoul.
Deborah
Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music
“Play that Funky Music” was released by the band Wild Cherry in 1976. It was HUGE. (And I still love it!!)
The song was listed at #93 on Billboard magazine’s “All-Time Top 100 Songs” in 2018 and was certified platinum for selling over 2.5 million copies in the US. None of the band’s subsequent songs came anywhere close.
Wilfred
Ringo (Ballad of a Gunfighter) by Lorne Greene
During a time when it is almost impossible to beat the one regarded as the foremost and most influential music band, The Beatles, Lorne Greene did it. Greene is best remembered for his role as Ben Cartwright on the ’60s TV show Bonanza.
“Ringo” is a ballad about a gunfighter in the old west. The narrator tells the relationship between a Western lawman and Ringo, a notorious gunfighter.
On December 5, 1964, two months after the track’s release, it topped both the US Billboard and Easy Listening chart. The song stayed in the chart’s topmost position for six weeks.
Richard
Lee Marvin – I was born under a Wandering Star
As a frontman, Lamont Marvin was probably not in the same class as Freddie Mercury, Jim Morrison, Roger Daltry or even Bryan Ferry.
His first and only attempt at a hit however topped the charts for two weeks in Ireland and three weeks in the UK.
He sadly failed to follow up on his success and sought recognition elsewhere.
Can you imagine him performing with Queen, Doors, The Who or even Roxy Music?
Zosia
Richard Harris – MacArthur Park
My choice is Richard Harris with Mac Arthur Park which was a number 1 hit in Australia, Canada and top ten in the UK, USA and Ireland
He was born in 1930 in Limerick Ireland and as a youth played 1st division club rugby as well as the Kilkee squash champion
TB put an end to his sports career.
He was equally well known as a hell-raiser and for his acting ability.
A lifesize statue in Kilkee shows him playing squash was unveiled by Russell Crowe
Karen
The Tokens – The Lion Sleeps Tonight
While diehard Disney fans and ’90s kids know this song from The Lion King, long before Timon and Pumbaa’s take, there was The Tokens’ 1961 version. The song was a cover of the 1939 Zulu song “Mbube.” Though there have been countless iterations of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” since The Tokens’ doo-wop track was the first to bring the song to the top of the charts. And while they continued to make music throughout the ’60s and ’70s, none of their other songs could come close to matching the success of their jungle-themed classic.
Lynda
Dexys Midnight Runners, Kevin Rowland – Come On Eileen (1982 Version)
The song not only peaked at the top spot on the dance charts in the U.S., but it stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a whopping eleven weeks. Even after that, though, the song proved to have incredible staying power. In 2017, “It’s Raining Men” topped the Spotify Rewind charts.
Maybe the greatest one-hit wonder of all time? You can certainly make that case about Dexys Midnight Runners and “Come On Eileen,” the band’s 1982 lightning bolt of a single that they never could quite repeat.
Arno
Meredith Brooks – Bitch
Errol
Right Said Fred I`m Too Sexy
“I’m Too Sexy” is a 1991 song by British group Right Said Fred, released as their debut single from their first album, Up. It peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside the United Kingdom, “I’m Too Sexy” topped the charts in seven countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United States.
But that was it. The band may be gone, but the song lives on…
Paul
Thomas Dolby – She Blinded Me With Science
Thomas Dolby said that he wrote this ’80s classic so he could direct a video using a silent movie motif in the style of the old Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton films. Said Dolby: “This was just when music videos were starting to come to the fore, and I was very keen to try out my talent as a music video director. I saw music videos as really a silent movie with a soundtrack, and so I managed to persuade my record company to let me take a shot at writing and directing one. I came up with a script, as it were, just like visiting a home for deranged scientists and this sort of mad professor type played by Magnus Pyke and all these loonies around the place. And a gorgeous Oriental assistant whom I was madly in love with. So that was how the song ‘She Blinded Me With Science’ came about. I was pretty much writing it to accompany a video.”
The song did well in the USA but only reached #49 in his native UK.
Chrisna
4 Non Blondes – What’s Up
What’s Up?” is a song by American rock group 4 Non-Blondes, released as the second single from their 1992 debut album, Bigger, Better, Faster, More! It has gained popularity in the United States[2] and in several European countries, peaking at number one in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Linda Perry was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non-Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed songs for
Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Christa Hillhouse, Gwen Stefani, Dolly Parton.
Liezel
Soft Cell – Tainted Love
Thanks to a memorable performance on the BBC’s Top of the Pops chart show, “Tainted Love” reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, and was known as the best-selling single of 1981 in the UK.
Tainted Love” became a major hit in the US during the Second British Invasion, with the song spending a then-record breaking 43 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100. On the US chart dated January 16, 1982, the song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 90. It appeared to peak at number 64 and fell to number 100 on February 27. After spending a second week at number 100, it started climbing again. It took 19 weeks to crack the American Top 40 and reached number 8 during the summer of 1982.
Overall it’s no 2 on VH1’s top 100 one-hit wonders of all time, second only to The Macarena.