Are They A One-Hit Wonder?

Bruce Springsteen recorded a live version of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town in 1975. Columbia first released the song as a single in 1981. In 1985, it went to number one on Billboard's annual Christmas singles chart.

And yes, I forgot about Pop Muzik. M was a studio group led by Robin Edmond Scott. The song went to number one in the US and was their only chart appearance here. In the UK, it reached #2 and three more chart hits followed in 1979-80. A 40th-anniversary remix of Pop Muzik was released in 2019. Hurry and listen!

 
Aaron said:
But we know better...
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I know! What the hell?
sadchild said:
When I saw your answer to Gerardo I lol'd. And I mean literally burst out into audible laughter.
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:hatsoff:
scotchandcigar said:
Berlin is crazy to me, because the stations that play them (today) only play Metro and Sex, never Take My Breath Away
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No Nore Words was huge!
Jon said:
Don't forget Springsteen who NEVER had a #1 hit, closest was (I believe!) Dancing in the Dark which hit #2.
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That shocks me. Born in the USA never hit #1?
Jon said:
Along with a story about how Richard Blade used to bang the lead singer, undoubtedly!
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That bastard can't get through a show without bragging about banging her.
 
Born In The USA reached #8 on Billboard's rock chart and #9 on the Hot 100. Five of Springsteen's songs – Dancing In The Dark, Trapped, Brilliant Disguise, Tunnel Of Love and Human Touch – went to number one on the rock chart but he never had a number-one song on the Hot 100.

Being a southern California native, I always liked Cheech & Chong's Born In East L.A. much better than Born In The USA. "I know what it's like to be 'born to run.'" Classic!

 
scotchandcigar said:
Nick Lowe has had a bunch of hits (probably not top 40), so I don't put him in that group.
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I do have his greatest hits CD. But I also have Tony Bazil's ($1 CD bin at a Columbus Bookstore) so that doesn't say much. If they didn't make the top 40, he is one hit (IMHO) unless he has some really strong cult following (like Grateful Dead).
 
You think of all the great Bob Segar songs in the 70s and early 80s and then you realize that he never hit #1 til 1987 with Shakedown. That song isn't even one of his best and not one he consistently does in concerts now even.

This may be another topic: great artists who never hit #1 on the charts.
 
Great artists who never hit #1 on the charts? Each of Blood Sweat & Tears' first three chart hits peaked at #2. Five Creedence Clearwater Revival songs peaked at #2. Neither group ever had a number-one hit. Brook Benton had 58 chart hits and eight top tens. His biggest hit, The Boll Weevil Song, spent three weeks at #2 in 1961. It couldn't get above Bobby Lewis' Tossin' & Turnin', which was number one for seven weeks. James Brown placed 107 songs on the Hot 100 but never had a number-one hit. His biggest hit was I Got You, which reached #3. He did have 17 number ones on the R&B chart, though.
 
No, Open Arms was Journey's biggest hit and it peaked at #2. Every time I hear the song, I think of the scene in the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup where Mrs. Teasdale tells Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho), "I welcome you with open arms" and Firefly says, "Is that so? How late do you stay open?"

Journey's Separate Ways was number one on the mainstream rock chart, then known as "Top Tracks," for four weeks in February-March 1983.
 
Adding this to my original list (in the first post) of acts that had two top 40 hits ("technically" not a one-hit wonder) but may still be considered a one-hit wonder "subjectively".

Eddie Grant #2 & #26

I say YES, subjectively a one-hit wonder. "Romancing The Stone" was forgotten within ten years of peaking.
 
I should mention George Burns. He and and his wife Gracie had a #6 hit in July 1933 with a comedy recording cleverly titled titled George Burns & Gracie Allen. More than 46 years would elapse before Burns made his second appearance on the chart. I Wish I Was Eighteen Again reached #15 on the country chart and #49 on the Hot 100 in February 1980. It was written by Sonny Throckmorton, who has penned more than a thousand country songs including Smooth Sailin', Why Not Me, Friday Night Blues, The Way I Am, The Cowboy Rides Away and Thinkin' Of A Rendezvous. "Say good night, Gracie." "Good night, Gracie."

 
I listen to the old Burns & Allen shows on SXM Radio Classics. I also enjoy Abbott & Costello (which they rarely play) and Jack Benny.
 
I just gave the 1991 hit a listen. I don't recall that one in the least. I bet a lot of people wouldn't know that one. Subjectively a OHW.
 
Last Wednesday the local FM I listen to was doing "One Hit Wonder Wednesday". They do it once a month. But the DJ was about to play "Cruel to be Kind" by Nick Lowe. The DJ said "he had other hits but none this well known or successful". So for them (and a lot of other people) Nick Lowe is a one hit wonder. Same with Don McLean. A lot of people think American Pie is a one hit wonder.
 
sadchild said:
Escape Club - #1 & #8
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I remember the #8 song really well. I heard it on the radio almost daily when it was a hit (on the pop FM station playing at the sub shop where I worked that summer). And even though I rarely hear it anymore, I still like it. Both of those are on my "Expanding beyond 500+" favorite songs list.

But yeah, culturally these guys are subjectively a one hit wonder. That second hit is LONG forgotten by most.
 
Escape Club is not a one-hit wonder.

Who's fault is it that a song that was a decent hit in its day gets little if any airplay these days, or airplay only on certain shows or formats? Definitely not the artist's. Having a definition of "one-hit wonder" status that depend on "everybody" remembering the song is a crime against art.

Rupert Holmes doesn't think of himself as a one-hit wonder. If you never heard of him until you read his bio on his website, you wouldn't think of him as one; he barely mentioned his "one hit."
 
I agree. I think it's an injustice to have two, three, four top 40s and then be called a one hit wonder 10 years later because people only remember one.

That's why I made the separation of 'technically' a one hit wonder vs 'subjectively'. Technically means one top 40, period, regardless of how VH1 and these other media outlets wanna rewrite history.
 
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