ONE HIT WONDERS
What is a One Hit Wonder? This may vary depending on what resource you are using... but generally these are songs attributed to artists that have had only one major hit in the charts. There are different views on what qualifies a song for a One Hit Wonder. A One Hit Wonder could be an artist that had only one song in the top 10, top 20, top 40 or even top100. A One Hit Wonder can be a musical artist who is successful with one hit song, but without a comparable subsequent hit. The term may also be applied to an artist who is remembered for only one hit despite other successes.
Music reviewers and journalists sometimes describe a musical artist as a one-hit wonder, based on their professional assessment of chart success, sales figures and fame. For the purpose of his book 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 Billboard's national, pop, Top 40 just once." In his definition of an "act", Jancik distinguishes between a solo performer and any group he or she may have performed in (thus, for example, Roger Daltrey's "Without Your Love" is counted despite Daltrey's numerous hits as frontman for the Who), and a number of musicians appear multiple times, either with multiple bands or as a member of a band and as a solo artist. (Eponymous bands are generally not separated; thus Charlie Daniels is not counted as a one-hit wonder for "Uneasy Rider" and the hits of the Charlie Daniels Band are credited to him.). Fred Bronson, a journalist and former writer for Billboard magazine, in his book Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits, uses the criterion that an artist is ineligible to be categorized as a "one-hit wonder" if they have a second song listed on the Billboard Hot 100. In both cases, the Billboard Hot 100 was used as an objective standard for one-hit wonder status, since Billboard magazine published the books. (Wikipedia)
Some One Hit Wonders are amazing and it is baffling to me that these artists did not have another major hit.
For this project I plan to present a comprehensive set One Hit Wonders discs split up as follows:
- A general 50 track excursion into One Hit Wonders, mainly UK and US. I will also present a set of One Hit Wonder Collaborations.
- Then, two multi disc compilations of UK and USA One Hit Wonders. For the UK compilations I have included artists who have achieved one number-one hit on the UK Singles Chart and no other entry whatsoever on the chart. The list used is from the strict The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles definition of "one-hit wonder", a term also commonly used more loosely to refer to any act known primarily for one major hit. Some UK artists had one hit in the USA and some US artists had a hit in the UK. For the USA One Hit Wonders I have used Billboard as the reference and also include UK artists that had a top 40 hit in the US.
- Finally, 20 sets of One Hit Wonders. A set for each year from 1960 to 1979. For these One Hit Wonders I have used the Tunecaster Music Encyclopedia and Chart Archive to identify songs which are the most popular by an artist. These One Hit Wonders are included if the artist had exactly one song that made the pop or rock top 20. No artist can be considered a One Hit Wonder who made the top 20 twice. This strict definition may create some strange results where superstar side projects with temporary or transient names may be technical One Hit Wonders.
This has been a massive project (28 separate track lists in total), so I hope you will enjoy it.
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VA - One Hit Wonders CD1+CD2+ Collaborations (A Butterboy Compilation)
https://pixeldrain.com/u/RKMuxxnd
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Track list 1
01 Jerry Keller - Here Comes Summer 02:10 1959
02 Sakamoto Kyu - Sukiyaki 03:06 1962
03 Singing Nun - Dominique 02:57 1963
04 Jewel Akens - The Birds & the Bees 02:08 1964
05 ? & the Mysterians - 96 Tears 02:59 1966
06 T Bone - No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In) 02:17 1966
07 R.B. Greaves - Take a Letter Maria 0:02:46 1969
08 Edison Lighthouse - Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) 02:47 1970
09 Looking Glass - Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) 03:03 1972
10 Hot Butter - Popcorn 02:33 1972
11 Climax - Precious and Few 02:47 1972
12 Stories - Brother Louie 03:57 1973
13 W. Stevenson - My Maria 02:25 1973
14 Clint Holmes - Playground in My Mind 02:56 1973
15 Reunion - Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me) 03:32 1974
16 Dave Loggins - Please Come to Boston 04:07 1974
17 Starland Vocal Band - Afternoon Delight 03:13 1976
18 Johnny Wakelin - Black Superman 03:38 1976
19 Alan O'day - Undercover Angel 03:34 1977
20 Floaters - Float On 04:15 1977
21 Debby Boone - You Light Up My Life 03:39 1977
22 Driver 67 - Car-67 03:55 1978
23 Cheryl Lynn - Got to Be Real 05:09 1978
24 Walter Egan - Magnet and Steel 03:26 1978
25 Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman - Stumblin' In 03:32 1978
Track list 2
26 David Naughton - Makin' It 03:12 1979
27 Tommy Tutone - 867-5309 (Jenny) 03:48 1981
28 Soft Cell - Tainted Love 02:41 1981
29 Lee Marvin - Wanderin' Star 04:27 1981
30 Modern English - I Melt With You 03:56 1982
31 Men Without Hats - Safety Dance 04:31 1982
32 Sheriff - When I'm With You 03:57 1982
33 Big Country - In a Big Country 04:44 1983
34 Nena - 99 Luftballons 03:52 1984
35 A-Ha - Take On Me 03:49 2010
36 Gregory Abbott - Shake You Down 04:06 1986
37 Buster Poindexter & His Banshees of Blue - Hot Hot Hot 04:08 1987
38 Robin Beck - First Time 03:17 1988
39 Alannah Myles - Black Velvet 04:49 1989
40 Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - What I Am 03:43 1989
41 Peacock Palace - Like A Snake 03:54 1991
42 Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction 03:35 1965
43 Heights - How Do You Talk to an Angel 03:47 1994
44 Joan Osborne - One of Us 04:15 1995
45 Omc - How Bizarre 03:46 1996
46 Wallflowers - One Headlight 05:17 1996
47 Natalie Imbruglia - Torn 04:07 1997
48 Jennifer Paige - Crush 03:20 1998
49 Orange Blue - She's Got That Light 03:39 2000
50 A Great Big World - Say Something 03:52 2014
Track list 3
The following collaborations are classified as "One Hit Wonders" by Guinness Hit Singles because each of these particular combinations of artists had a single #1 hit with no other chart entries in this particular configuration. However, in each case, each of the participating artists had at least one additional hit separately.
01 Nancy Sinatra (With Frank Sinatra) - Somethin' Stupid (Duet With Frank Sinatra) 02:39 1967
02 Oliviaa Newton John (With ELO) - Xanadu 03:27 1980
03 Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder - Ebony and Ivory 03:44 1982
04 David Bowie (With Queen) - Under Pressure 04:11 1982
05 Band Aid - Feed the World 04:16 1985
06 David Bowie (With Mick Jagger) - Dancing in the Street 03:11 1985
07 Ub40 Ft. Chrissie Hynde - I Got You Babe 03:11 1985
08 Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson - I Know Him So Well 04:17 1985
09 Aretha Franklin and George Michael - I Knew You Were Waiting for Me 04:02 1987
10 Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden - Ferry 'cross the Mersey 03:56 1989
11 Vic Reeves and the Wonder Stuff - Dizzy 03:17 1991
12 George Michael and Elton John - Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me 05:47 1991
13 Kelly Osbourne & Ozzy Osbourne - Changes 04:10 1993
14 George Michael and Queen - Somebody to Love 05:07 1993
15 Cher, Chrissie Hynde & Neneh Cherry - Love Can Build a Bridge 04:17 1995
16 Puff Daddy and Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You 05:02 1997
17 Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa and Pink - Lady Marmalade 04:27 2001
18 Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman - Somethin Stupid 02:51 2001
19 Elvis Vs. JXL - A Little Less Conversation 03:34 2002
20 Will Young and Gareth Gates - The Long and Winding Road 03:29 2002
21 LMC Vs U2 - Take Me to the Clouds Above 02:52 2004
22 Beyoncé & Shakira - Beautiful Liar 03:20 2007
23 Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua - What a Wonderful World 04:20 2007
24 Military Wives and Gareth Malone - Wherever You Are 02:52 2011
25 Gary Barlow & the Commonwealth Band - Sing 04:02 2012
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