The word "technically" is going to do a lot of work there. All four of these artists have "alternative" fanbases and have several "hits" outside the scope of 2022 corporate playlists.
Are They A One-Hit Wonder?
- Thread starter sadchild
- Start date
sadchild
Dude
Yep. I remember years ago seeing an article calling Faith No More a OHW and I was like "WHAT?". But I realized later, they technically are one... on the pop chart. OHW means mainstream culture. From the gum chomping bleach blonde who just got her drivers license to the 67 year old assembly line worker eating a slice of cake at his retirement party. Having fifteen #1s on the alt chart doesn't mean either of those two have heard any of those songs.
There are chart purists who say "1 top 40? One hit wonder. Period. Jimi Hendrix = one hit wonder. End of story. But Matthew Wilder? Doesn't matter people only remember 'Break My Stride', he had a second top 40 nobody remembers. Not a one hit wonder. That's it." Then there are people who say "You can't call Jimi Hendrix a one-hit wonder! His music gets more airplay than most of these two hit wonders combined! He's known for a dozen classic songs that are woven into the fabric of popular culture!"
So that's why 'technically a two hit wonder' is important to specify.
There are chart purists who say "1 top 40? One hit wonder. Period. Jimi Hendrix = one hit wonder. End of story. But Matthew Wilder? Doesn't matter people only remember 'Break My Stride', he had a second top 40 nobody remembers. Not a one hit wonder. That's it." Then there are people who say "You can't call Jimi Hendrix a one-hit wonder! His music gets more airplay than most of these two hit wonders combined! He's known for a dozen classic songs that are woven into the fabric of popular culture!"
So that's why 'technically a two hit wonder' is important to specify.
That's a rather specious definition of OHW. It suggests that someone should be measured not by what they have accomplished but by the degree that they manage to surface in the mainstream. That plays into cancel culture. I can't accept the idea that someone should be appreciated only for what everyone else plays. (NOTE: I'm not accusing you of promoting cancel culture.)
Channel98
Don't yell or hit.
Mister sadchild, you mentioned "no-hit wonders." I would like to make the first nomination: Limp Bizkit has had six top-40 albums (including two number ones) but has never had a top-40 single on the Hot 100. Rollin', their highest-charting single, reached #65 in 2000. (Note: they've had five top-ten singles on the alternative rock chart.)
scotchandcigar
All I wanted was some steak
That wouldn't be a "chart purist"; that would be an "idiot". Is Beethoven a OHW? How about Mozart? Possibly Duke Ellington?
There's a well-known term called a crossover hit. When a country or R&B artist has a song that gets airplay on the pop charts, they call that a crossover hit. But nobody refers to Garth Brooks or Emmylou Harris or Frank Ocean as OHWs. If a rock artist such as Hendrix or The Who gets a song on the pop charts, it's a crossover hit.
IMO, only pop music bands can be a OHW or THW, if the criteria is ranking on the pop chart. Otherwise, it's like ranking Michael Jordan only as a baseball player.
Channel98
Don't yell or hit.
Actully, Duke Ellington had 60 top-20 hits between 1927 and 1946, including three number ones: Three Little Words in 1930, Cocktails For Two in 1934 and I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart in 1938. And Stevie Wonder wrote a song about him! He never did that for Beethoven or Mozart!
Channel98
Don't yell or hit.
"Actully." I made up a new word. But not intentionally.
Prepare to be amazed. Here are some artists whom you might be surprised to learn had only one top-40 hit: Debby Boone, Nick Gilder, James Blunt, Elle King, Rick Dees, Roger Daltrey, Barry McGuire, Little Milton, k.d. lang, Beck, Devo, Dr. John, Gorillaz, Big Country, Big Mountain, Ratt, Spirit, Starland Vocal Band, Dexys Midnight Runners, Georgia Satellites, Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly, Gnarls Barkley, Hoobastank, Fountains Of Wayne, the Corrs, the Elegants, the Danleers, the Gentrys, the Poni-Tails, the Lumineers, the Youngbloods, the Singing Nun.......I could name hundreds more but it's past my bedtime.
Prepare to be amazed. Here are some artists whom you might be surprised to learn had only one top-40 hit: Debby Boone, Nick Gilder, James Blunt, Elle King, Rick Dees, Roger Daltrey, Barry McGuire, Little Milton, k.d. lang, Beck, Devo, Dr. John, Gorillaz, Big Country, Big Mountain, Ratt, Spirit, Starland Vocal Band, Dexys Midnight Runners, Georgia Satellites, Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly, Gnarls Barkley, Hoobastank, Fountains Of Wayne, the Corrs, the Elegants, the Danleers, the Gentrys, the Poni-Tails, the Lumineers, the Youngbloods, the Singing Nun.......I could name hundreds more but it's past my bedtime.
sadchild
Dude
Yep. But it's out there. A lot. And there are people, and entities KNOWN FOR MUSIC, who go even further and call people with several top 40s a one-hit wonder. I posted this earlier in this thread:
For a purist, it's a good place to have a laugh when VH1 calls The Outfield and Martika one-hit wonders, despite having had five and four top 40 hits respectively.
Like you, I don't agree with it. And that's kinda the point of this thread. Pointing out how the chart does not match the success of an artist. But at the same time, in the mainstream (from gum chomper to retiring dude) there is some truth to the fact that the general populace may only know one or two songs from an artist who has had a string of hits in a certain genre.
I'm basically in agreement with you. I would add that most non-pop artists WANT to be a one-hit or zero-hit wonder. They take pride in not being all over the Hot 100. But they are still technically a one-hit or zero-hit act in the mainstream/outside of their genre.
Bad examples, but I'm still basically in agreement with you. Beck, Frank Zappa, Rush and Ted Nugent are good examples of one top 40 but internationally hugely successful. This is where we laugh at the chart. But at the same time, there are probably plenty of ordinary people out there that only know "Loser" and "Cat Scratch Fever".
Two hit wonder, but baaaaaaarely
Ratt
#12 "Round And Round"
#40 "Lay It Down"
scotchandcigar
All I wanted was some steak
I think in the 70's, Meko covered Beethoven, or there was that song A 5th of Beethoven, and Mozart probably made top 40 because of Amadeus. Ellington is a bad example only because he had a ton of top 40 and #1 hits. But I was trying to reference a jazz great who maybe had something make the top 40.
I'd like to see some evidence of this, but the logic is sound. One really big hit or a handful of minor hits could pay the bills without making someone so famous that they are forced into a life of living up to the fame. It explains why so many female artists disappear entirely after a few years in the spotlight.
Fun fact: George Michael wrote "Careless Whisper" on his own but gave Andrew Ridgley a writing credit as a gift. When was the last time you heard a peep out of Andrew Ridgley?
sadchild
Dude
I wanted to include something to back this up but couldn't find it. I'd swear I recently read (and posted here) about how the Cranberries didn't release a retail single for "Zombie" because they didn't want the song to become a legit pop hit on the Hot 100 and be labeled a pop band. But I can't find anything about it, and am wondering if I'm confusing two songs. Maybe it was a different band that avoided being on the Hot 100 and I have my lines crossed mentally.
Example of a chart purist ^^
Example of a band with several rock chart hits but play those rockers for the average shmoe (aged 16 or 61) and they probably won't know any of them. They'll sure know "More Than Words" though. That's how zero/one/two-hit wonders labels are given. Not on having 15 rock chart hits or 27 country chart hits or 18 jazz chart hits, but the pop chart. The lowest common denominator of humanity.
scotchandcigar
All I wanted was some steak
I have no problem with a person who says an artist with a 3 and 24 has 2 hits, regardless of whether the 24 is remembered today. And if an artist has a 1 and a 45, that's a OHW, even if the 45 was/is very popular. As long as we're talking about pop artists, he's entitled to his opinion.
But when someone starts calling a rock legend a OHW because they had 1 song that made the pop charts, that's what ticks me off.
IdRatherBeSkiing
Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
But not inaccurate depending on how you view the definition. To me, OHW is really One POP Hit Wonder. The POP is implied. Also it should be One Americian Pop Hit Wonder as many OHW have many hits in different countries.
scotchandcigar
All I wanted was some steak
Yes, if someone has only one pop hit, it's not technically inaccurate to categorize them as such. But a One-Hit Wonder is a term that was coined to refer to someone who only had one hit in their career. It's a derogatory term, and I'm fairly certain it's not aimed at artists who achieve crossover success. If an artists has 10 #1 hits on the rock or blues charts, why would you categorize them as having only one hit?
Channel98
Don't yell or hit.
Here is a very surprising one-hit wonder. Irving Berlin – born Israel Baline in 1888 in Tyuman, Russia – wrote more than 1,200 songs including Always, Blue Skies, Cheek To Cheek, White Christmas, God Bless America, Alexander's Ragtime Band, Happy Holiday, Puttin' On The Ritz and I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm – but as a recording artist, he had only one hit, Oh! How That German Could Love in 1910.
Sources: Billboard, Variety Music Cavalcade, Directory Of Popular Music, All The Years Of American Popular Music and History Of Popular Music In America.
Sources: Billboard, Variety Music Cavalcade, Directory Of Popular Music, All The Years Of American Popular Music and History Of Popular Music In America.
IdRatherBeSkiing
Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
I think this would be a case where the term may be used in a derogatory manner.
sadchild
Dude
This is exactly what upset me about Faith No More being called a OHW a while ago. The P is silent in one-hit (pop) wonder.
I guess it's kinda like if someone can fill 2000 seat venues from Boston to DC, but has no pull in the south, midwest or west coast. Someone in NY would go 'Charlie Shmarlie? He's a very successful musician!' But his buddies who live in LA, Dallas and Miami would respond with 'That guy couldn't fill a coffee house! Nobody's heard of him!' I had to step back and say FNM is a very successful rock band that can fill large venues around the world but only has one pop hit in the US.
Take jazz musician Al Jarreau. Very very successful. But no longer well known in the pop world aside from "We're In This Love Together". And I'm pretty sure a large percent of under 40s don't even know that one. And his other 2 top 40 pop hits are long forgotten. Go to a Taylor Swift or Maroon 5 concert and ask how many people know of him. Probably 1%. But go to jazz club and call him a subjective OHW and you'll get a saxophone rammed up your behind.
sadchild
Dude
Dan Hill
#3 "Sometimes When We Touch"
#6 "Can't We Try"
#41 "All I See Is Your Face"
#43 "Never Thought (That I Could Love)"
Another person I think both hits are still fairly well known in the mainstream. Not subjectively a OHW.
Despite others evidently thinking otherwise...
www.discogs.com
#3 "Sometimes When We Touch"
#6 "Can't We Try"
#41 "All I See Is Your Face"
#43 "Never Thought (That I Could Love)"
Another person I think both hits are still fairly well known in the mainstream. Not subjectively a OHW.
Despite others evidently thinking otherwise...
Various - 70s Music Explosion - 70s One-Hit Wonders
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2005 CD release of "70s Music Explosion - 70s One-Hit Wonders" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com
IdRatherBeSkiing
Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
Definitely not OHW in Canada.