What's your favorite one-hit wonder?

[xmas74]

There are two threads on here about the countdown of the top 100 one hit wonders as shown as VH1. Macarena was considered to be the biggest one hit wonder of all time.

Just curious-what's your favorite one hit wonder? I'm a child of the 80's so it's almost too hard for me to pick!

[-..__...]

1. One hit wonders = Songs the DJ or band plays at wedding receptions.

[xmas74]

2. Not necessarily.

There are a few very well-known bands who only scored one chart hit in their entire career. Some artists wrote music that was considered to be "too progressive" for their time and had very little airplay. Other artists filled specific niches that maybe did not translate well to radio but had a large following outside of that genre.
One of the best-known examples of a band that is technically a one hit wonder is The Grateful Dead. The only song that really hit the charts was Touch of Gray, yet everyone knows who the Dead are.

[Left Is Write]

3. I have never heard "Cars" at a wedding reception.

[xmas74]

5. Neither have I.

And how I used to love that song. It was different from anything I had heard before.

[Left Is Write]

7. There's never been anything like it since.

I still love it.

[xmas74]

8. So do I.

I never realized how much I loved that song and a few other synthesizer songs until a year ago when I was going through some old albums and cassettes that I had in my closet. It was truly innovative and deserves alot of credit for changing the way music sounds today.

[tanyev]

4. Come On, Eileen

Dexy's Midnight Runners. Too-ra-loo-ra-too catchy!

[xmas74]

6. New wave and Irish folk mixed together.

I had it on a 45 and wore it out.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

9. shakespeare's sister "stay"

from 1992

[xmas74]

10. I had that song too.

[JimmyJazz]

11. Inspection 12 - I Think We're Alone Now.

I love that song. :D

[Redstone]

12. Probably "Incense and Peppermints"

by Strawberry Alarm Clock.

Interminable song with inaudible, though stupendously inane lyrics, by a band with one of the dopiest names ever.

YOu gotta love that winning combination.

[Floogeldy]

14. Excellent choice.

:)

[Floogeldy]

15. Excellent choice.

:)

[Deja Q]

21. No 60s band name is dopey compared to late-80s names...

The kiddie high school 'group' I recall at a "talent" show called themselves "Laceration".

Never mind what the big-time famous twerps were getting away with...

[Floogeldy]

13. "Friday On My Mind" by The Easybeats

Cooooooooooooooooooooool song.

:)

[WCGreen]

16. Ariel... By Dean Friedman....

Way on the other side of the Hudson
Deep in the bosom of suburbia....


What a great opening line to a song...

[newyawker99]

17. In the year 2525,

if man is still alive.....


A great sing-along song. :D

[Bhaisahab]

18. 'Where do you go to my lovely' by Peter Sarstedt

You talk like Marlene Dietrich
And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire
Your clothes are all made by Balmain
And there's diamonds and pearls in your hair, yes there are

You live in a fancy apartment
Off the Boulevard Saint-Michel
Where you keep your Rolling Stones records
And a friend of Sacha Distel, yes you do

But where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
Tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head, yes I do

I've seen all your qualifications
You got from the Sorbonne
And the painting you stole from Picasso
Your loveliness goes on and on, yes it does

When you go on your summer vacation
You go to Juan-les-Pins
With your carefully designed topless swimsuit
You get an even suntan on your back and on your legs

And when the snow falls you're found in Saint Moritz
With the others of the jet-set
And you sip your Napoleon brandy
But you never get your lips wet, no you don't

But where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
Won't you tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head, yes I do

Your name, it is heard in high places
You know the Aga Khan
He sent you a racehorse for Christmas
And you keep it just for fun, for a laugh a-ha-ha-ha

They say that when you get married
It'll be to a millionaire
But they don't realize where you came from
And I wonder if they really care, or give a damn

Where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
Tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head, yes I do

I remember the back streets of Naples
Two children begging in rags
Both touched with a burning ambition
To shake off their lowly-born tags, so they try

So look into my face Marie-Claire
And remember just who you are
Then go and forget me forever
But I know you still bear the scar, deep inside, yes you do

I know where you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
I know the thoughts that surround you
'Cause I can look inside your head

[GCP]

19. "Spirit in the Sky" - Norman Greenbaum

Still gets me dancing.

[Deja Q]

20. "Mickey"...

:D

Sung by Toni Basil in 1981... About age 30; she was also in the movie "Head" with Mickey Dolenz so one has to put on the jiffy pop hat and start wondering if she dug his dilly... :rofl:

[tyedyeto]

22. They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Ha

Napolean XIV


Remember when you ran away
And I got on my knees
And begged you not to leave
Because I'd go berserk?
Well. . .

You left me anyhow
And then the days got worse and worse
And now you see I've gone
Completely out of my mind
And. . .

They're coming to take me away, HA HA
They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those nice, young men
In their clean, white coats
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!

You thought it was a joke
And so you laughed
You laughed when I had said
That losing you would make me flip my lid
Right. . .

You know you laughed, I heard you laugh
You laughed, you laughed and laughed
And then you left
But now you know I'm utterly mad!
And. . .

They're coming to take me away, HA HA
They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA
To the happy home
With trees and flowers and chirping birds
And basket weavers who sit and smile
And twiddle their thumbs and toes
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!

I cooked your food
I cleaned your house
And this is how you pay me back
For all my kind, unselfish loving deeds?!!
Hah. . .

Well you just wait
They'll find you yet
And when they do they'll
Put you in the ASPCA, you mangy mutt!
And. . .

They're coming to take me away, HA HA
They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those nice, young men
In their clean, white coats
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!

To the happy home
With trees and flowers and chirping birds
And basket weavers who sit and smile
And twiddle their thumbs and toes
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!

To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those nice, young men
In their clean, white coats
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!

[AirmensMom]

43. Yep, that would be it, tyedyeto!

:evilgrin:

[ThatsMyBarack]

23. One that never made the charts....

....but should have. It's the "Flashbeagle" theme song from the 1984 Peanuts special "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown!", sung by Desiree Goyette and Joey Scarbury! :bounce:

[Left Is Write]

36. My favorite "not a hit" is Dancing In Heaven by Q-Feel.

[ThatsMyBarack]

47. The entire movie soundtrack from "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (1985)....

....is *AWESOME!!!!* Film is great fun, too! :bounce:

[Burma Jones]

24. Diesel - Sausalito Summernight

And

Shango - Day After Day

[Left Is Write]

29. I *love* that Diesel song.

Hit #25 on the Billboard Top 40 chart in 1981.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

25. One Toke Over the Line

[MissMillie]

26. No Myth by Michael Penn

but I also like Jenny (867-5309)

[xmas74]

30. I'll bite.

I have both of them. I wanted my phone number to be 867-5309 and I used to hope that a man would play No Myth for me.

[no name no slogan]

31. My band used to cover "No Myth" in the 1990s

I just had that CD out a couple months ago, too. Michael Penn is seriously underrated, IMHO.

[xmas74]

32. I think so too.

It was a beautiful song and better than almost anything on the radio at that time.

[Left Is Write]

35. I like and have both of them too.

And, yes, I saw Tommy Tutone on the summer series "Hit Me Baby One More Time"!

I saw Michael Penn at the Fine Line Cafe in Minneapolis in 1990.

[xmas74]

39. I would have loved to have watched Michael Penn perform!

And I watched Tommy Tutone on that show too.

[Beer Snob-50]

27. This is probably the GREATEST bar band song of all time

but I don't think the band had another... Louie Louie by the Kingsmen.

[RedCloud]

28. Eddie Gaedel, though he never got a hit.

Check out the career stats on baseball's most diminutive player ever.
Some say it was a publicity stunt.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=gaedeed01

[Crazy Guggenheim]

33. All Along the Watchtower by Hendrix. Yes he had only *one* Top-40

hit.

[xmas74]

38. I know.

I make that point often to people who make fun of what kind of music "one hit wonders" are. Many times the sound is too progressive for radio to pick up.
Grateful Dead is technically another one hit wonder.

[Politically_Wrong]

34. Hey Mickey!

Sadly, I have wasted precious time by memorizing that song...just in case I'm ever at a Karaoke place...

[bertha katzenengel]

37. Pilot of the Airwaves

pilot of the airwaves
here is my request
you don't have to play it
but I hope you'll do your best
I've been listening to your show
on the radio
and you seem like a friend to me

it was a great song for an intensely lonely, introverted 17-yr-old

[5thGenDemocrat]

40. "96 Tears" by Question Mark and the Mysterians

Speaking of great bar songs, ? and the Ms still pack 'em in nearly every weekend up here in their hometown of Saginaw, Michigan. Everybody still wants to boogie down with "96 Tears."
John
Interesting note: The guys sold away the publishing rights to the song for $10,000. They have been rich if they'd kept them, but they're still doing a land-office business catering to us drunks on the weekends.

[billyskank]

41. Quite a lot of Levi ads spawned one-hit wonders

:)

[enigmatic]

42. "Something In The Air"- Thunderclap Newman

Absolute classic.

[XNASA]

44. "Magic" - Pilot

[mvd]

45. Wow.. there are so many

I think I'll choose "Mouth" by Merril Bainbridge, just in the hope that she's still performing and needs recognition. I have a tape of her album The Garden, and wish it was available now on CD.

[Jersey Devil]

46. "Sunny" - Bobby Hebb

Sunny, yesterday my life was filled with rain.
Sunny, you smiled at me and really eased the pain.
The dark days are gone, and the bright days are here,
My Sunny one shines so sincere.
Sunny one so true, I love you.

Sunny, thank you for the sunshine bouquet.
Sunny, thank you for the love you brought my way.
You gave to me your all and all.
Now I feel ten feet tall.
Sunny one so true, I love you...