One Hit Wonders

[Liam]

Yeah, I questioned Thin Lizzy (as did a couple of others), but then again, Boys Are Back In Town would seem to be a lot bigger when you look at what gets stuck on commercially. Whiskey In The Jar does have the fact that with several relatively big covers of it, it will be a well known song, though whether just for Thin Lizzy, its arguable.

Jailbreak is a distant third I guess, but I made a case for that, though it probably isn't comparable with how big Boys Are Back In Town is.

[Blue Rosler]

Bob The Builder - Can We Fix It?

Steve Brookstein - Against All Odds

Michelle McManus - All This Time

One True Voice - Sacred Trust

Blazin' Squad - Crossroads

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

I may hate the song with a passion, but it's a one hit wonder thread and no-one's mentioned it, so

Men At Work - Land Down Under

They also had "Who Can It Be Now?", sorry.

[GhostMachine]

I'm guessing those of you listing Van Halen's "Jump" don't listen to classic rock stations, because if you did you'd hear a lot more than just that, including some stuff from the Hagar era.

And if you do listen to classic rock stations and that's the only VH song they play, then quite frankly they're shitty stations.

DLR era:

Ain't Talkin' Bout Love

And The Cradle Will Rock

Dance The Night Away

Unchained

Runnin' With The Devil

You Really Got Me Going (Kinks cover)

Dancing In The Street (Martha and the Vandellas cover - also has been covered by others, including David Bowie and Mick Jagger who did a version together)

Pretty Woman (Roy Orbison cover)

Jump

Panama

Hot For Teacher

I'll Wait

Hagar era:

Why Can't This Be Love

Best of Both Worlds

When Its Love

Right Now

Dreams

Poundcake

Can't Stop Lovin' You

And I can probably think of a few more, but I don't really want to right now.

So I'm sorry, but Van Halen doesn't qualify just because you hear Jump more than their other hits.

If you're going to list Van Halen, then I'll counter with Led Zeppelin, as I'm sure there are a lot of people who unfortunately only know of Stairway to Heaven and Kashmir.

Edited April 2, 2008 by GhostMachine

[Dublin]

City High - What Would You Do

Daniel Powter - Bad Day

Haddaway - What Is Love

J-Kwon - Tipsy

Kevin Lyttle - Turn Me On | Turn Me On part 2 doesn't count.

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles

Train - Drops Of Jupiter

I was gonna say New Radicals, Eagle Eye Cherry and The Calling, but MPH beat me to it.

Edited April 2, 2008 by Dublin

[lari]

So I'm sorry, but Van Halen doesn't qualify just because you hear Jump more than their other hits.

If you're going to list Van Halen, then I'll counter with Led Zeppelin, as I'm sure there are a lot of people who unfortunately only know of Stairway to Heaven and Kashmir.

Deep Purple with Smoke on the Water or Black Sabbath with Paranoid?

[YI]

Jump is how Van Halen is remembered in the mainstream/music video erm...culture...these days, most definately, at least around here. At a shove most people will know Panama and Runnin' With the Devil...but they're don't particuarly know them as Van Halen songs. Like they know them, but dont know who to associate them with.

People are clearly letting the fact they're fans of the band titlt their views of things.

Edited April 3, 2008 by YI

[GhostMachine]

Got one one-hit wonder I forgot about, and its a shame I did, since I own the cd single of it:

Filter - Take A Picture

Jump is how Van Halen is remembered in the mainstream/music video erm...culture...these days, most definately, at least around here. At a shove most people will know Panama and Runnin' With the Devil...but they're don't particuarly know them as Van Halen songs. Like they know them, but dont know who to associate them with.

People are clearly letting the fact they're fans of the band titlt their views of things.

Not me, because I'm not a particularly big fan of Van Halen. I don't even own any of their albums. Of those songs by them I listed, I personally don't even care for most of them, but they were hits.

The problem is that some people here have a twisted definition of what qualifies for a one-hit wonder. A one-hit wonder is usually a group or artist who releases one hit song, *maybe* a few other songs that do decently on the charts but aren't mega-hits, and maybe even release a few more albums, but whose career pretty much tanks after that big hit and is usually an act who either spends the rest of their careers playing clubs and events milking that one song for all its worth or breaks up and is one of those "I wonder whatever happened to...." acts by everyone unless they go in another line of work.

Its also possible to be successful in your own country but be a one-hit wonder internationally or in another country. Big Country are a perfect example, because "In A Big Country" was their only U.S. hit. Men Without Hats apparently weren't a one-hit wonder because they released a song called "Pop Goes The World" that did well in some countries, but they were a one-hit wonder in the U.S., with "Safety Dance".

Van Halen simply doesn't qualify as a one hit wonder under any definition of the term due to the fact that they were popular in the 70s and 80s and even somewhat into the mid 90s and had several hits.

Vanilla Ice is a one-hit wonder for obvious reasons.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood were one-hit wonders because of "Relax", even though they did release a song called "Two Tribes" that did okay but wasn't a big hit. Most people can't even name any songs by them except "Relax".

MC Hammer is a one-hit wonder because of "Can't Touch This", even though "Pray" also did fairly well on the charts. (And personally, "Turn This Mutha Out" from his previous album is actually my favorite MC Hammer song)

A band that's been around since the 70s and has had multiple hits isn't a one hit wonder just because some people (namely a bunch of posters here) only know them for "Jump" - especially since "Panama" and "Hot For Teacher" were on the same album and are also big hits by them, and frankly I hear "Panama" played more often than I do "Jump". If you're going to call Van Halen one-hit wonders, then I guess I should label The Eagles one-hit wonders due to "Hotel California", Led Zeppelin because of "Stairway to Heaven", and Nine Inch Nails because of "Closer". (I'd say most people only know about "Hurt" because of Johnny Cash's cover of it)

[YI]

I'm not arguing the fact that Van Halen are a one hit wonder...because they clearly AREN'T! But at least to the current crop of young, MTV generation music fans...they are associated with "Jump".

Do people actually not read threads anymore? Christ. As you'd have found out, whilst not a one hit wonder, because they are associated with one song head and shoulders above the rest, they're eligible for Benji's playlist.

Geography plays a big aspect as well, as you say "Frankie Goes To Hollywood" are a one-hit wonder...where here, they're not. They had a handful of hits here (granted all from the same album I think), and "Two Tribes" is just as well known/associated with them as "Relax" is.

Edited April 3, 2008 by YI

[Nerf]

YI, we're disagreeing that Van Halen only have one song they're associated with, though. Hell, on the music stations it seems to be Hot For Teacher that gets played as their token song, not Jump. Just don't think that they're one hit wonders, or even have just one song they're associated with. Sure, Jump was probably their biggest hit, but so many others were close behind.

[YI]

YI, we're disagreeing that Van Halen only have one song they're associated with, though. Hell, on the music stations it seems to be Hot For Teacher that gets played as their token song, not Jump. Just don't think that they're one hit wonders, or even have just one song they're associated with. Sure, Jump was probably their biggest hit, but so many others were close behind.

Really?

Van Halen simply doesn't qualify as a one hit wonder under any definition of the term due to the fact that they were popular in the 70s and 80s and even somewhat into the mid 90s and had several hits.

Says differently.

[Liam]

Glad YI at least is getting it. To be honest, there are a lot of bands you can condense into what thier 'signature tune' is essentially. And commerical radio tends to only grab one or two songs from older bands and use them, so they become the more prevelant ones.

I mean, maybe its just me, but Jump was the only Van Halen song I had any knowledge of until I made an effort to get more into that kinda music. Thats what a commerical radio background does for you >_>

Jump also has a similarity to Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy in that they are used at sporting events, which also widens thier scope.

And as YI also said, its geographical. In the US, Van Halen maybe different, as Frankie Goes To Hollywood is in the UK (using the example).

But yeah, they AREN'T one hit wonders in the convetional sense, but they arguably fit what Benji's criteria was.

[lari]

People are clearly letting the fact they're fans of the band titlt their views of things.

I'm not a fan.

Sure, I own one CD (VH-1, from '78), and they could possibly rank in the bottom half of my top 100 favourite bands if I ever made such a list, but that's just because I have respect over their talent and interest towards similar music.

[Iain76er]

We could throw in Nirvana. Smells Like Teen Spirit is their only song that gets played on 'mainstream MTV culture.' But that would be stupid, wouldn't it?

[Liam]

We could throw in Nirvana. Smells Like Teen Spirit is their only song that gets played on 'mainstream MTV culture.' But that would be stupid, wouldn't it?

Not necessarily, but it goes along the same lines.

The problem there goes with when Nirvana were popular, which was later than Van Halen, so they haven't been condensed down like Van Halen seemingly have...yet.

I mean, you could make arguments for 'Come As You Are' and 'Heart Shaped Box', which although not as big a hit as 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', are still generally well known.

[YI]

We could throw in Nirvana. Smells Like Teen Spirit is their only song that gets played on 'mainstream MTV culture.' But that would be stupid, wouldn't it?

You could make the arguement that Nirvana are associated with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" above anything else. But the likes of "Lithium", "Come As You", "Heart-Shaped Box" etc. all get mainstream play, still.

Whilst I don't listened to much radio, I do find myself watching a fair amount of music TV in my 'hectic' life...and I have honestly never seen a Van Halen song outside of "Jump" played, as far as I can remember...and as a Van Halen fan, I'm more than likely to register it (I'm weird...there's certain bands I can remember what I was doing and all sorts of random shit "what I was eating", "where I had been" etc. when it comes to their music videos).

Liam's hit the nail on the head. Nirvana are still 'relevant' today, so therefore a lot of their material is still out there. Whereas Van Halen, aren't relevant. And haven't been for 20 years. Therefore...outside of fleeting film soundtrack appearences and classic rock stations, their catalogue has been condensed down into one, insanely catchy, cheesy, track. It happens with all bands to be honest. "Imagine" by John Lennon, springs to mind. It's the one song the 'mainstream' has latched onto...fuck the rest of his stuff. Some are lucky and still have a few tracks majorly associated with them, but to be honest that's fairly rare when you think about it.

Edited April 3, 2008 by YI

[METALMAN]

As far as Frankie Goes To Hollywood are concerned, "The Power of Love" gets tons of airplay during Christmas time.

[Benji]

There, added a sub-title for those bothered about the criteria.

[JStarr]

If I was associating one song with Van Halen these days, it'd likely be "Right Now." It gets so much commercial play, and I've heard it on radio TONS more than I've heard "Jump," at least in the last 15 years or so.

And I imagine these guys were far from one-hit wonders in the UK, but The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" is probably my all-time favorite "one-hit wonder" song, since once they got sued by the Stones, Ashcroft went solo and the rest of the band just vanished.

[Dan]

Drugs don't work is/way pretty big over here for Verve.