VH1 Top 100 One-Hit Wonders of the 80s Part I: 100-81

Didn't Nik Kershaw have more hits? Or was that just in the UK? And Red Rider had plenty of hits (in Canada though).

I think I'm picking Paul Lekakis.

Rappin Rodney ftw

Yeah, I didn't even know "Lunatic Fringe" was that much bigger than "White Hot". Midnight Oil had at least one other hit in "Blue Sky Mine" (and I thought "Trugannini"?).

voting for Fabulous T-birds (obviously: The Fabulous Thunderbirds thread ) but I don't think of them as one hit wonders at all, they had like 5 or 6 big rock radio hits and if you had made me guess which one was a top 10 crossover hit I'd be as likely to guess "Wrap It Up" or "Powerfull Stuff" as "Tuff Enuff"

The Clemons-Browne collaboration and video is one of the most bizarre misadventures ever recorded.

Stuck between Paul Lekakis and The Church. I think I'm going for Lekakis.

I had no idea that the other big Midnight Oil singles never cracked the top 40. I spent all my time on the Modern Rock chart and they were all over those.

cosign some dude re: the Thunderbirds

Hm, well, "Blue Sky Mine" was #1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart (and #47 on the Hot 100).

Midnight Oil was a little before my time, modern rock-wise, so I only remember "Beds Are Burning" being hugely inescapable and hearing nothing else by them

At the time, if you were listening to the proliferating modern rock/alt rock stations, you were hearing "The Dead Heart", "Blue Sky Mine" and "The Forgotten Years" 24/7 when you weren't hearing Material Issue and Jellyfish.

I was 10 and heard "Blue Sky Mine" all the time between MuchMusic and mainstream rock radio.

and Sinead's "The Emperor's New Clothes" and album cuts from Peter Murphy's Deep.

(but not those.)

I am sooo voting for The Church.

"Forget Me Nots" over Will To Power, but it's close.

Then Haircut 100, Josie Cotton, or Red Rider.

Have never even heard of these:

Gloria Loring & Carl Anderson: “Friends And Lovers”
Frank Stallone: “Far From Over”
Clarence Clemons (and Jackson Browne): “You’re A Friend Of Mine”

But Will To Power had a Top Ten with their 10cc cover!

"Lunatic Fringe" is great anyway so I voted for it.

(It is pretty funny to think of them as a one-hit wonder, though.)

(and it sounds almost exactly like Wall-era Pink Floyd.)

"Forget Me Nots" the best song, but Patrice Rushen is so not a one-hit wonder.

Why did somebody make a song about a lunatic fridge?

Ha, it does kind of sound like that, now that you mention it.

xp xhuxk: Isn't the Anderson/Loring song the syrupy ballad that goes ..."And I'll be your ...friend ...and I'll be ... your lover" and was sort of a forerunner to that Joe Cocker monstrosity "Love lift us up where we belong"?

And yes, I have mentioned Joe Cocker on two separate threads today after not having thought of him in years ...voting the Church, as that's the only song I would remotely mind never hearing again.

If the Loring/Anderson was a big hit, I don't doubt I've overheard it sometime; just never knew what it was.

And yeah, for most of these, it's obviously baloney to call them One Hit Wonders. (Figureed that went without saying. It's a stupid list, though kind of a fun one.)

re: Midnight Oil, VH1 unsurprisingly fucked up several times with this entire list thinking no one would notice.. such as their exclusion of Spandau Ballet and Young MC.. (I don't think any hiphop appeared on this show at all..)

as an aussie it feels faintly ridiculous to see the church and midnight oil being referred to as one hit wonders

.. and those are clearly the best 2 songs here..

Yeah so in a perfect world everyone would love "The Unguarded Moment" and "The Power And The Passion" but as it stands 90% of Americans know nothing other than the hits, and it's supposed to be an American pop culture oriented list and not a "music nerd" list..

I voted for "Love Plus One" because I have loved it for different reasons at different times.

"Lunatic Fringe" was such a monster rock radio hit, that it is hard to understand why it took so many years for that guy to have his second US breakthrough with that "Life is a Highway" song. On the other hand, I have the album and have never even been interested enough to listen to it. Maybe tomorrow.

Did "Boy Inside the Man" not register on US radio at all? That was my Cochrane/Red Rider introduction ca. 1986 on the local AOR station. Later heard "Lunatic Fringe" and loved it, then "Life is a Highway" came around and I loved it too (still kind of do).

Oh, this is great fun. LOL at remembering that stupid ass Rodney Dangerfield song. God forbid another human being hear that again. Similar disdain for the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Midnight Oil were a pretty good band, but god knows that song was so overplayed I'd probably slap someone if they played that at a party or something. Don't remember Paul Lekakis at all, but I'm scared to You Tube it.

Yeah, Haircut One Hundred is starting to look pretty good here. Of course The Church are one of my fave bands but this is like...the one song of them that everyone knows and I'm damn well not going to vote for it here.

Actually I'm tempted to vote for Pac Man Fever, because a friend of mine mentioned that to me recently and I looked it up on You Tube and laughed my ass off remembering that one. That is fucking HILARIOUS in hindsight.

I really don't know what I think of this song now. I don't think I even have an opinion. There are worse songs in the world, I guess. At least it's not Loverboy.

Actually I take that back, I'd rather hear Loverboy.

THE KERSH > Haircut 100 >>>>>>>> everything else on that list

I know, actually I felt bad that I didn't mention Kershaw after I posted that. That was gonna be my footnote. ;)

re: Midnight Oil, VH1 unsurprisingly fucked up several times with this entire list thinking no one would notice.. such as their exclusion of Spandau Ballet and Young MC..

But they weren't two-hit wonders in the States! The Spands had three Top 40 hits.

What???? You on crack. I don't believe that for a minute. Not in the States.

stfu bimble and do some fact checking instead of just screaming that someone else is wrong:

1983 True The Billboard Hot 100 10
1983 Gold The Billboard Hot 100 29
1984 Only When You Leave The Billboard Hot 100 34

Young MC also had a 2nd top 40 hit nobody remembers that kept him off this list

I'm going with "Under the Milky Way," but the Nikk Kershaw track is a very close second.

Young MC also had a 2nd top 40 hit nobody remembers that kept him off this list

"Principal's Office." It's not bad.

I voted for Clarence Clemons for the weirdness factor.

Weird it is.

'Forget Me Nots'

That list is kinda meh - nothing I despise, nothing I love either. I hadn't thought of that Frank Stallone hit in years - it was from the soundtrack of "Stayin' Alive" (directed by Frank's brother Sylvester), you couldn't escape it in the summer of '83. "Rappin' Rodney" was notable for being possibly the first non-boast rap. The covers generally make me appreciate the originals. I don't know if I know "Forget Me Nots" - if I do, I've forgotten it (haha).

Voted Josie Cotton

1983 True The Billboard Hot 100 10
1983 Gold The Billboard Hot 100 29
1984 Only When You Leave The Billboard Hot 100 34

Young MC also had a 2nd top 40 hit nobody remembers that kept him off this list

"Principal's Office." It's not bad.

But they included Twisted Sister in this list who clearly had more than 1 hit song.. Maybe you didn't read what I wrote right after, but this is a "pop culture" oriented list.. that's what VH1 does.. they don't care fact-checking how many songs actually charted.. only about what they thought people would remember, which makes for very subjective choices. For 90% of Americans, "True" is the only Spandau Ballet song. I know they had other charting songs because they play them on Sirius radio all the time.

I forgot about "Principal's Office," and the only reason I know that song is because it was on Beavis & Butthead.

Of course The Church are one of my fave bands but this is like...the one song of them that everyone knows

I hear you, but on the other hand, there's that Will to Power medley that falls into the "if I knew I would never hear it again, my day would be that much brighter." The overpriced supermarket I go to regular plays a song by the Church that isn't that one. It was kinda surprising and nice.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

...ok, seems that I DO remember "Forget Me Nots" (and might've voted for it)

stfu bimble and do some fact checking instead of just screaming that someone else is wrong:

1983 True The Billboard Hot 100 10
1983 Gold The Billboard Hot 100 29
1984 Only When You Leave The Billboard Hot 100 34

― brewer and what (some dude), Tuesday, April 14, 2009 1:18 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Ha! Just the post I was waiting for. I can see it if Gold managed to make some minor inroads, but Only When You Leave (or any other Spandau Ballet track) can suck my ass. I refuse to believe this. Let's not give the UK-ers the wrong idea. These guys didn't mean a damn thing in the US besides "True" and even that song wasn't much, here.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Hahaha! The CHURCH WIN! *Kisses all Around* *Happy Dance*

"Beds Are Burning" got zero :(