100 indie one hit wonders and the song that makes them such

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

maybe not "hit" so much. one great song, the rest of their oeuvre...not so much.

100. Laughing Hyenas - "Stain"

― john'n'chicago, Sunday, 13 March 2005 19:54 (twenty years ago)

99. Deep Blue Something - Breakfast at Tiffany's

― jel -- (jel), Sunday, 13 March 2005 19:58 (twenty years ago)

98. Folk Implosion, "Natural One"

― j.lu (j.lu), Sunday, 13 March 2005 20:04 (twenty years ago)

The La's: There She Goes

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Sunday, 13 March 2005 20:17 (twenty years ago)

96. Toadies - "Possum Kingdom"

― PB, Sunday, 13 March 2005 21:31 (twenty years ago)

95. Urusei Yatsura - Kewpies Like Watermelon

― dog latin (dog latin), Sunday, 13 March 2005 21:46 (twenty years ago)

94. Sone - "Hi-fi Audio"

― john'n'chicago, Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:02 (twenty years ago)

93. The Flys, "Got You Where I Want You"

― James.Cobo (jamescobo), Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:03 (twenty years ago)

92. Bennet - Mum Has Gone To Iceland (I'm going for "hit" rather than "good song" here, if you can't tell)

― ailsa (ailsa), Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:17 (twenty years ago)

91. Blind Melon, "No Rain"

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:18 (twenty years ago)

Not Urusei Yatsura: 'Hello Tiger', 'Slain By Elf'.

90. Astrid - 'High In The Morning'

― Grievo, Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:25 (twenty years ago)

91. Blind Melon, "No Rain"

Indie?

― daavid (daavid), Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:52 (twenty years ago)

89. The Sundays- Summertime

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:56 (twenty years ago)

88. Brian - 'Understand'

― daavid (daavid), Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:57 (twenty years ago)

89. The Sundays- Summertime

What about 'Here's where the story ends'?

― daavid (daavid), Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:58 (twenty years ago)

Sultans Of Ping FC "Where's Me Jumper?"

― Si Carter (Si Carter), Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:59 (twenty years ago)

88 that was :)

― Si Carter (Si Carter), Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:59 (twenty years ago)

or even 86!

― Si Carter (Si Carter), Sunday, 13 March 2005 23:00 (twenty years ago)

DO NOT CONTEST THE CHOICES

― Jimmy Mod Has Returned With Spices And Silks (ModJ), Sunday, 13 March 2005 23:01 (twenty years ago)

85. Sleeper "Inbetweener"
84. 3 Colours Red "This Is My Hollywood"
83. Kingmaker "Really Scrape The Sky"
82. McAlmont and Butler "Yes" (does this count?)

― Si Carter (Si Carter), Sunday, 13 March 2005 23:10 (twenty years ago)

81. Marcy Playground, "Sex and Candy"

― Candicissima (candicissima), Sunday, 13 March 2005 23:15 (twenty years ago)

80. Gravity Kills, "Guilty"

― James.Cobo (jamescobo), Sunday, 13 March 2005 23:22 (twenty years ago)

79> The Farm, "Groovy Train"

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 13 March 2005 23:39 (twenty years ago)

78 king missile - detachable penis

― chris andrews (fraew), Sunday, 13 March 2005 23:41 (twenty years ago)

When I think indie one hit wonders I think of songs like ...And the Native Hipsters - "There Goes Concorde Again" and Medium Medium - "Hungry, So Angry", not fucking "No Rain" or "Groovy Train"! The whole premise of this thread is skewered, methinks.

― Quit glaring at Ian Riese-Moraine! He's mentally fraught! (Eastern Mantra), Sunday, 13 March 2005 23:42 (twenty years ago)

I might be wrong in it's one-offedness but;
77. EMF, "Unbelievable"

― Nick H (Nick H), Sunday, 13 March 2005 23:43 (twenty years ago)

I suppose its "one-hit wonders" vs "the one song everyone remembers this (usually) now-defunct band for".

― Si Carter (Si Carter), Sunday, 13 March 2005 23:49 (twenty years ago)

this thread is dreadful so far

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Sunday, 13 March 2005 23:54 (twenty years ago)

let's just cut to the chase here.

1. Nada Surf: "Popular"

― rockaction (rockaction), Monday, 14 March 2005 00:27 (twenty years ago)

OK then:

bloody "Steamroller" by the Family Cat.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 14 March 2005 00:29 (twenty years ago)

If Folk Implosion and the Sundays had long album-making careers and built healthy followings for themselves, are they really one-hit wonders?

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Monday, 14 March 2005 00:31 (twenty years ago)

Right then...

The Shop Assistants "Safety Net"

Ciccone Youth "Into The Groovey" (haha!)

― Si Carter (Si Carter), Monday, 14 March 2005 00:33 (twenty years ago)

folk implosion had a long career? i only know the one song.

― keith m (keithmcl), Monday, 14 March 2005 00:50 (twenty years ago)

77. EMF, "Unbelievable"

They had another huge UK hit with "I Believe".

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 14 March 2005 00:59 (twenty years ago)

76. The Soup Dragons: I'm Free

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 14 March 2005 00:59 (twenty years ago)

folk implosion had a long career? i only know the one song.

the rest of their songs on the 'kids' soundtrack are pretty great, but i think 'dare to be surprised' is their best.

― rajeev (rajeev), Monday, 14 March 2005 01:03 (twenty years ago)

for some reason the "classic" alternative station here insists on playing 'kingdom chair' by the soup dragons over and over.

― keith m (keithmcl), Monday, 14 March 2005 01:04 (twenty years ago)

75. M/A/R/R/S - "Pump Up the Volume" (4AD)

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Monday, 14 March 2005 01:15 (twenty years ago)

er, how many of these are actually "indie"? maybe three of them???

ps) the laughing hyenas had much better songs than the one that started this thread.

― olde english d, Monday, 14 March 2005 01:23 (twenty years ago)

Sleeper had a lot more hits than just Inbetweener.

Anyway - No Way Sis: I'd Like to Teach the World To Sing
Me Me Me (whatever their song was)
Cornershop - rimful of Asha
Babybird - You're Gorgeous

― Zarr, Monday, 14 March 2005 01:52 (twenty years ago)

Cornershop and Babybird had other hits too.

68(probably)) My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 14 March 2005 01:54 (twenty years ago)

Elastica - Connection

― elgolfo (elgolfo), Monday, 14 March 2005 01:55 (twenty years ago)

what about stutter?

― keith m (keithmcl), Monday, 14 March 2005 02:09 (twenty years ago)

you have to either loosely define indie or loosely define hit.

64. edwyn collins - "a girl like you"

― andrew s (andrew s), Monday, 14 March 2005 02:42 (twenty years ago)

63. The Braids, "Bohemian Rhapsody"

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Monday, 14 March 2005 03:03 (twenty years ago)

76. The Soup Dragons: I'm Free - nix. "Divine Thing" was a much bigger stateside hit.

― Steve Gertz (sgertz), Monday, 14 March 2005 03:09 (twenty years ago)

Cornershop and Babybird never touched the top 20 again. Are you counting a hit as in at number 22 for a week?

― Zarr, Monday, 14 March 2005 03:28 (twenty years ago)

62. Don't Say That's Just For White Boys - Way of the West

― Cranberry Pantsuit, Monday, 14 March 2005 04:16 (twenty years ago)

61. Baby Pain - Intaferon

― Cranberry Pantsuit, Monday, 14 March 2005 04:16 (twenty years ago)

60. The Postal Service - Such Great Heights

― green uno skip card (ex machina), Monday, 14 March 2005 04:25 (twenty years ago)

59. menswear - daydreamer

― corey c., Monday, 14 March 2005 08:17 (twenty years ago)

Menswear had several hits about the same size.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 14 March 2005 10:45 (twenty years ago)

Being Brave was their biggest hit - Top 10

Everything else was about 20 in the charts
And then they went and did their country rock record with songs about horses.

― re, Monday, 14 March 2005 11:38 (twenty years ago)

58 - Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta

― re (rde), Monday, 14 March 2005 11:41 (twenty years ago)

57. The Lotus Eaters - The First Picture of You

― NickB (NickB), Monday, 14 March 2005 11:44 (twenty years ago)

56. Opus, "Live Is Life"

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Monday, 14 March 2005 11:47 (twenty years ago)

68(probably)) My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise

Can't tell if you're being serious or not, but on the off chance you are, I think most people remember "Soon" too - at least in the US, as it's the song that broke them into the American market, and was included on 10 billion compilations during the early 90s (and since)

55) Silver - Silver Saturday
54) Sharkboy - Crystalline

― rentboy (rentboy), Monday, 14 March 2005 11:48 (twenty years ago)

53. White Town, "Your Woman"

― Nick H (Nick H), Monday, 14 March 2005 11:52 (twenty years ago)

52) Spirea X - Chlorine Dream

― rentboy (rentboy), Monday, 14 March 2005 11:53 (twenty years ago)

Can we go back and replace the non-indie ones?

56) "Big rock candy mountain" - The Motorcycle Boy

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 14 March 2005 11:56 (twenty years ago)

55. the Mock Turtles - Can You Dig It

― Deluxe (Damian), Monday, 14 March 2005 12:12 (twenty years ago)

54) semisonic - "secret smile"

― Danny boy, Monday, 14 March 2005 13:28 (twenty years ago)

53) Franz Ferdinand: 'Take Me Out'

― N_RQ, Monday, 14 March 2005 13:32 (twenty years ago)

Ummmm...isn't it a little too early to know whether Franz Ferdinand or the Postal Service are 'one hit wonders'?

You know, at least let them release a second or third album....

― kink, Monday, 14 March 2005 14:19 (twenty years ago)

52) Camper van Beethoven - Take the skinheads bowling
51) Age of Chance - Kiss
50) Doctor and the Medics - Spirit in the Sky

― Kim tortoise, Monday, 14 March 2005 14:22 (twenty years ago)

i'd rather they didn't.

xpost

― N1RQ, Monday, 14 March 2005 14:23 (twenty years ago)

Fair enough...

― kink, Monday, 14 March 2005 14:24 (twenty years ago)

VERUCA SALT SEETHER.

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 14 March 2005 14:29 (twenty years ago)

semisonic - "secret smile"

uhh, what about CLOSING TIME?

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 14 March 2005 14:30 (twenty years ago)

I think there are some geographical divides that need to be addressed via Jimmy's DON'T CONTEST THE CHOICES edict.

― David R. (popshots75`), Monday, 14 March 2005 14:37 (twenty years ago)

UK - semisonic

US - Franz ferdinand.

at least we can agree on;

smashmouth - walking on the sun.

― Danny boy, Monday, 14 March 2005 16:37 (twenty years ago)

now nobody is gonna agree on what constitutes a one hit wonder but out of Franz Ferdinand's four singles according to one source they charted in the UK at #44, #3, #8 and #17. While it doesn't take as much to break the UK top 20 these days as it used to... there's three top 20 singles.

oh yeah, not supposed to contest the choices. well, on another list of this nature I don't see this one entering into the discussion.

― gspm (gspm), Monday, 14 March 2005 18:56 (twenty years ago)

48. Whale - Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe

― gspm (gspm), Monday, 14 March 2005 18:59 (twenty years ago)

47) screaming blue messiahs - i wanna be a flintstone

― rentboy (rentboy), Monday, 14 March 2005 19:09 (twenty years ago)

46. Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out - Bentley Rhythm Ace
45. PF Project - Choose Life

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 14 March 2005 19:20 (twenty years ago)

44. Bound To The Floor--Local H (although this band rocks and should have had many, many more hits--last true grunge band)

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Monday, 14 March 2005 19:26 (twenty years ago)

> at least we can agree on;

> smashmouth - walking on the sun.

Not while there's "All-Star," we can't.

P.S. Opus weren't indie?

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Monday, 14 March 2005 20:03 (twenty years ago)

43. The Dambuilders, "Shrine"

― Lyra Jane (Lyra Jane), Monday, 14 March 2005 20:50 (twenty years ago)

There are no indie one-hit-wonders because YOU CAN'T HAVE A HIT ON AN INDIE LABEL!!

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Monday, 14 March 2005 20:55 (twenty years ago)

There are no indie one-hit-wonders because YOU CAN'T HAVE A HIT ON AN INDIE LABEL!!

Then, explain New Order, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Erasure and Yazoo. :-)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 14 March 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)

MBV's "To Here Knows When" would be better than "Soon" or "Only Shallow", because it charted in Britain's Top 30. I've never heard "Soon Anywhere" and "Only Shallow" was the only single of theirs to really make a slight (VERY slight) impact here.

― Quit glaring at Ian Riese-Moraine! He's mentally fraught! (Eastern Mantra), Monday, 14 March 2005 23:35 (twenty years ago)

Geir, don't forget The Smiths!

― Quit glaring at Ian Riese-Moraine! He's mentally fraught! (Eastern Mantra), Monday, 14 March 2005 23:36 (twenty years ago)

42. Jane - "It's a Fine Day"

― Quit glaring at Ian Riese-Moraine! He's mentally fraught! (Eastern Mantra), Monday, 14 March 2005 23:36 (twenty years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.