Are They A One-Hit Wonder?

IdRatherBeSkiing said:
At this point, I think everybody has their own definition.

But even with this definition, the artist who never gets played enough to break into top 40 on next "hit" would not be considered a one-hit wonder? How about the hot 100? Just the release of that second hit disqualifies?
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At this point, everybody has their own definition.
 
jbnv said:
So you agree with my definition that the label "OHW" belongs to people who did one big thing and disappeared and *not* people who have resumes full of minor hits or works outside of the narrow playlists of radio, right?

(BTW, reread what he wrote. He said "most" artists. Not "all.")
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Actually, the statement "There would almost never be a true one hit wonder by that definition" is what Channel98 and I were disproving.

So once we all accept that there are multitudes of true, easily identified OHWs, we can get back to evaluating the more subjective ones. Basically, those of us who were around when the songs first hit the air, can offer their opinion as to whether the minor hits were popular enough (at the time) to make them multiple-hit artists. Yes, it's subjective, but that's the whole point of this thread.

And while everyone may have a different objective definition of OHW, I think we all use the same subjective process (as I outlined above) to resolve the gray areas. So that makes it a worthwhile topic, and not a waste of time.
 
Tossin' & Turnin' by Bobby Lewis & The Joe Rene Chorus was number one for seven weeks in July-August 1961. His follow-up single, One Track Mind, reached #9 in September 1961. Tossin' & Turnin' was played on oldies stations for four decades while One Track Mind was ignored. Maybe the dumb lyrics had something to do with One Track Mind being ignored: "A lot of people like to go on trips. Others stay at home and read the comic strips. But all I want to do is kiss your lips." Gak! And the instrumental break is almost identical to that of Tossin' & Turnin'. Anyway, I conclude that Bobby Lewis was not a one-hit wonder in 1961 but he is a one-hit wonder in 2021.


 
One of our criteria for judging a one-hit wonder is the number of top-40 hits he's had. Here are some (but not all) of the artists who
have had at least forty top-40 hits (including duets and re-releases):

138 - Bing Crosby
117 - Perry Como
104 - Elvis Presley
102 - Frank Sinatra
84 - Glenn Miller
74 - Nat "King" Cole
71 - Andrews Sisters
70 - Louis Armstrong
56 - Elton John
53 - Aretha Franklin
51 - Beatles
45 - Stevie Wonder
44 - James Brown
41 - Rolling Stones
40 - Marvin Gaye
40 - Michael Jackson

Now, are you ready to be sick? Drake beats everyone on that list. His latest single, The Remorse, is his 140th top-40 hit. Gak!
 
Channel98 said:
Now, are you ready to be sick? Drake beats everyone on that list
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Yep. Puke-o-rama!

Here are some other puke-worthy top 40 kings (they're recent and therefore using the newer null-and-void Hot 100 methodology, proving how awful the chart has truly become)

As of 2/11/2020

82, Lil Wayne
56, Kanye West
54, Nicki Minaj
51, Glee Cast
 
Channel98 said:
Drake beats everyone on that list.
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Drake’s Certified Lover Boy posted a monster performance on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week, taking nine of the Top 10 slots and charting all 21 songs in the Top 40.

BROKEN CHART!

When we bought Thriller back in 1982, every time we played the album at home from start to finish, it didn't count as a "spin" for every song. This charting by streaming is BS, and easily manipulated by artists and record labels.

www.theverge.com

Justin Bieber told fans to game Spotify and iTunes to give him a chart-topping song

Using tricks like a VPN
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com
 
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sadchild said:
Drake’s Certified Lover Boy posted a monster performance on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week, taking nine of the Top 10 slots and charting all 21 songs in the Top 40.

BROKEN CHART!

When we bought Thriller back in 1982, every time we played the album at home from start to finish, it didn't count as a "spin" for every song. This charting by streaming is BS, and easily manipulated by artists and record labels.

www.theverge.com

Justin Bieber told fans to game Spotify and iTunes to give him a chart-topping song

Using tricks like a VPN
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com
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Casey Casem's probably glad he's dead.
 
scotchandcigar said:
Casey Casem's probably glad he's dead.
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Back in 1987 when George Michael had a big porno-in-a-song hit that I won't bother to name, Casey Kasem refused to name the song at first but apparently did at some point, because it's in iHeart's replays of those countdowns. I can almost hear him cringing through the radio. (And it only got worse from there.)

If Billboard wanted to be honest they would separate the streaming-era chart records from those before. For that matter, they should separate those for the Hot 100 from 1991 forward as well, since they changed their methodology then as well. A weekly chart, and annual/decade charts based on those weekly charts, are really just snapshots in time. They offer little if any insight as to all-time greatness.
 
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jbnv said:
Back in 1987 when George Michael had a big porno-in-a-song hit that I won't bother to name, Casey Kasem refused to name the song at first but apparently did at some point, because it's in iHeart's replays of those countdowns. I can almost hear him cringing through the radio. (And it only got worse from there.)

If Billboard wanted to be honest they would separate the streaming-era chart records from those before. For that matter, they should separate those for the Hot 100 from 1991 forward as well, since they changed their methodology then as well. A weekly chart, and annual/decade charts based on those weekly charts, are really just snapshots in time. They offer little if any insight as to all-time greatness.
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That still wouldn't wipe away the 100 Grammys that Taylor Swift and Kanye West have received. It's all a clusterfuck, just look away.
 
jbnv said:
Back in 1987 when George Michael had a big porno-in-a-song hit that I won't bother to name, Casey Kasem refused to name the song at first
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I once heard Casey introducing Mystikal "Shake Ya Ass" as just Mystikal (no song name).

I never found that GM song to be pornographic or offensive. If you replace the word 'sex' with 'love', it was no worse than most of the top 40 at the time. Now 2 Live Crew's hit two years later - that was pornographic, even the clean version.
 
sadchild said:
Now 2 Live Crew's hit two years later - that was pornographic, even the clean version.
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That was on the charts in November 1989. IIRC Casey Kasem's post-AT40 show launched in January of that year, so he probably had the misfortune of having to introduce that.

To get us back on topic: Is 2 Live Crew a OHW? They had at least two top 40s... ;)
 
Award Shows are not a very good guide to quality of music. The Awards are usually manipulated and rigged by various insiders to promote the content they are promoting. The new artist of the year nominations and winners in a different thread clearly indicates how poor an indicator these awards are.
 
The Awards are manipulated and rigged by various insiders to promote the content they are promoting.
The weekly charts are gamed by artists and record companies.
So neither are bellwethers of the industry.
 
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