Are They A One-Hit Wonder?

jbnv said:
Per Wikipedia:

Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960)[2] is an English pop singer, DJ and television presenter. She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which reached number two in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award for Best British Female solo artist.[3] In 1986, she had a UK number two hit with a reworked version of the Supremes' song "You Keep Me Hangin' On", which also topped the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1987. Between 1981 and 1996, she had 25 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK singles chart. Her other hits include "Chequered Love" (1981), "You Came" (1988) and "Never Trust a Stranger" (1988). In 2003, she collaborated with Nena on the song "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime", which topped the Dutch charts.

Worldwide, Wilde has sold over 10 million albums and 20 million singles. She holds the record for being the most-charted British female solo act of the 1980s, with seventeen UK Top 40 hit singles. Starting in 1998, while still active in music, she has branched into an alternative career as a landscape gardener, which has included presenting gardening shows on the BBC and Channel 4. In 2005, she won a Gold award for her courtyard garden at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show.

Doesn't sound like the resume of a OHW to me, though most of her success didn't cross the pond.
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If you include the world, we have very few actual OHWs. Dexy's Midnight Runners which is the textbook American OHW had several other UK hits including a second #1.
 
IdRatherBeSkiing said:
If you include the world, we have very few actual OHWs. Dexy's Midnight Runners which is the textbook American OHW had several other UK hits including a second #1.
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You make a valid point, but while that would certainly apply to British, German, French, or Australian bands, there are probably many American bands with 1 hit in the US only. I'm sure you guys can find hundreds of examples from the 60's and 70's, but even as far out as 1998, you have The New Radicals.
 
Yeah this is strictly US two-top-40s and we're trying to determine if subjectively they seem like a OHW. Rockwell is a perfect example of a two-hit wonder that feels like a one-hit wonder.
 
Tammy Wynette
#11 "Justified & Ancient" (with KLF)
#19 "Stand by Your Man"

Here's a tricky one. She's known for a zillion country hits but her only mainstream hit was "Stand By Your Man" ... until KLF asked her to participate in a re-recording of one of their songs 33 years after that one big pop crossover success. Subjectively a OHW?
 
sadchild said:
Tammy Wynette
#11 "Justified & Ancient" (with KLF)
#19 "Stand by Your Man"

Here's a tricky one. She's known for a zillion country hits but her only mainstream hit was "Stand By Your Man" ... until KLF asked her to participate in a re-recording of one of their songs 33 years after that one big pop crossover success. Subjectively a OHW?
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I am well aware of her fame as a country artist even though I she has not had a lot of pop success. While she would be a pop OHW (until her remake) its hard to say she's a OHW with a straight face.
 
sadchild said:
Crowded House
#2 "Don't Dream It's Over"
#7 "Something So Strong"
#42 "Better Be Home Soon"

NPR in 2010:

Let's get one thing straight: Crowded House isn't a one-hit wonder. Sure, the Australian band is known by '80s music fans for its 1987 hit "Don't Dream It's Over" (and maybe the subsequent "Something So Strong"), but songwriter Neil Finn has......

Agreed. Not subjectively a OHW. I think everyone knows both hits, young and old.
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"Chocolate Cake" was a good song too, but didn't chart in the US. I remember seeing the music video.
 
Living Colour
#13 "Cult Of Personality"
#31 "Glamour Boys"

Here they are being called a OHW

I don't think people remember "Glamour Boys" much. And aside from the VJ 40, 80s Lost Hits and maybe Classic Rewind, I don't think it gets any airtime either. Subjective OHW in the pop world.

In the rock world, they're probably still somewhat known for "Middle Man", "Type" and "Leave It Alone" but any FM rock station plays "Cult" 10x more than those three.... combined.... easily.
 
sadchild said:
Living Colour
#13 "Cult Of Personality"
#31 "Glamour Boys"

Here they are being called a OHW

I don't think people remember "Glamour Boys" much. And aside from the VJ 40, 80s Lost Hits and maybe Classic Rewind, I don't think it gets any airtime either. Subjective OHW in the pop world.

In the rock world, they're probably still somewhat known for "Middle Man", "Type" and "Leave It Alone" but any FM rock station plays "Cult" 10x more than those three.... combined.... easily.
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I remember "Glamour Boys", but it's not a very memorable song. I remember the music videos for "Funny Vibe" and "Elvis is Dead". "Elvis is Dead" was played on BET.
 
Another slight tangent.... here are two bands with THREE hits that have been called a OHW

Smashmouth
#4 "All Star"
#11 "Then The Morning Comes"
#25 "I'm A Believer"

Here they are being called a OHW

Glenn Medeiros
#1 "She Ain't Worth It"
#12 "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You"
#32 "All I'm Missing Is You"

Here he is being called a OHW ... and the one hit isn't the #1 song!

My opinion:

Smashmouth is not a subjective OHW. They are remembered for "All Star" "I'm A Believer" and (the not top 40) "Walking On The Sun".

Glenn is subjectively a zero hit wonder (even though I remember his #1 and #12 quite well, I bet most people don't).
 
HecticArt said:
How in the hell is Walking on the Sun not a top 40 and Morning is?
That makes no sense to me.
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Airplay versus sales versus some formula that combines the two (like how the current BH100 takes data from airplay, digital sales, YouTube, etc.).

As for Glenn Meideros, he's definitely a two-hit wonder. But I suspect he's the victim of the licensing issue I alluded to earlier. With one hit falling in the 1980s and the other in the 1990s, he's not likely to get the airplay he would get if both hits had been in the same decade. It also makes give the lazy people a reason to put him in "OHWs of the 1980s."
 
Walkin' On The Sun debuted on the Hot 100 Airplay chart in July 1997 and peaked at #2 in January 1998. It was in the top ten for 25 weeks, in the top 40 for 49 weeks and on the chart for 60 weeks. The song reached number one on the Adult Top 40 chart and the Alternative Airplay chart and #2 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart. It was released as a CD single in Europe and the UK. In the United States, Walkin' On The Sun was available only as a digital download. Interscope Records released a promotional CD maxi-single featuring two remixes, two "radio edits" of the remixes, and a remixed instrumental version. Because the song was not "commercially available," it was ineligible for the Hot 100.
 
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