One Hit Wonders who actually had successful music careers

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Pizza, May 13, 2016.

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  1. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    Deborah Allen only had 1 top 40 pop chart hit with Baby I Lied and of course she is a well respected singer-songwriter in country. Sylvia (the country singer) only had Nobody cross over to the pop charts and she was also successful as a country hitmaker.
     
  2. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    He's certainly had more hits in the UK and is not a one hit wonder there. Was this one of them? It didn't chart in the US from what I saw on wiki.
     
  3. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    That's amazing. But she did find a solid fanbase in the US. I'm one!
     
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  4. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    But they had TWO hits in the U.S.

    By contrast, Hendrix had only one U.S. hit single (though more in the U.K.)
     
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  5. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    ELP, I believe, had only one U.S. hit single (From the Beginning).

    Then there's Traffic, who, in spite of lots of great music, and a number of staples on classic rock radio, had NO hit singles in the U.S.
     
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  6. jimod99

    jimod99 Daddy or chips?

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON
    It was a UK No1
     
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  7. Done A Ton

    Done A Ton Birdbrain

    Location:
    Rural Kansas
    Lucky Man?
     
  8. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paradise
  9. the sands

    the sands Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    Robert Wyatt.

    A cover version of The Monkees' "I'm a Believer" was a UK #29 hit in 1974. He is perhaps more recognized for musical qualities than commercial successful. He is also one of my favorite musicians.
     
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  10. jimod99

    jimod99 Daddy or chips?

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON
    Shipbuilding also charted.
     
  11. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    While that is a staple of classic rock radio, the single only made it to #48 in the US.
     
  12. krock2009

    krock2009 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    Warren Zevon

    Graham Parker
     
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  13. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    Not a top 40 single, I don't believe. Which, I assumed, was more or less the criteria here. Which is why I, and others, mentioned Hendrix only had one U.S. hit (Watchtower). Purple Haze, for example, is a classic, but it wasn't a hit single.

    Or the Grateful Dead. Casey Jones, Uncle John's Band, Truckin'... All classics. Touch of Grey was the only bona fide hit single though.
     
  14. pool_of_tears

    pool_of_tears Searching For Simplicity

    Location:
    Midwest
    Lady Blue hit #14
     
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  15. Thom

    Thom Forum Resident

    Nick Lowe is technically a one hit wonder in the US (for the 1980 No. 12 hit "Cruel To Be Kind").
     
  16. Thom

    Thom Forum Resident

    I think Edie Brickell would also qualify. Decent career, but she's known as a one hit wonder (for the 1989 Top 10 hit "What I Am" off her debut album, with New Bohemians).
     
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  17. malcolm reynolds

    malcolm reynolds Handsome, Humble, Genius

    Location:
    Oklahoma
    The Flaming Lips- She Don't Use Jelly
     
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  18. duggan

    duggan Senior Member

    Location:
    sydney
    It was the other way around in the UK.

    The Pink Floyd had a number of hits whilst Pink Floyd only had Another Brick In The Wall. From memory, Money was not even released as a single over there.
     
  19. duggan

    duggan Senior Member

    Location:
    sydney
    I agree, it always amazed me how such a classic rock track was such a success as a single in the very pop oriented UK singles market.
     
  20. Thom

    Thom Forum Resident

    I suppose technically Concrete Blonde are a one hit wonder too (for 1990's "Joey", which was a Top 20 hit on the Hot 100, No. 1 on the Modern Rock chart and No. 2 in Australia), but they had a decent run in the 80s and early 90s. Their 1996 compilation Recollection is a brilliant sampler.
     
  21. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Craig Logan of Bros ended up running EMI in the UK.
     
  22. Thom

    Thom Forum Resident

    And one more: I think Enya would have to be a perfect example. She's sold tens of millions of albums globally (27 million in the US alone), but to most people I think she's known (if she's known at all) as an unlikely one hit wonder for "Orinoco Flow" (a global smash in 1988/89).
     
  23. hackster

    hackster Forum Resident

    Location:
    southern WV, USA
    Strawberry Alarm Clock... and their young guitarist who went on to be somewhat successful - Ed King.
     
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  24. Jennifer Tomkins

    Jennifer Tomkins Well-Known Member

    The late great Alan O'Day was a songwriter with a number of hits under his belt that were sung by other artists. But then he took the vocal honors with the song, "Undercover Angel" (#1 in 1977), and ended up being a one-hit wonder.
     
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  25. Paully

    Paully De gustibus non est disputandum

    Location:
    Tennessee
    Talk Talk: It's My Life
    Love and Rocekts: So Alive

    Both bands put out quite a few magnificent albums, but those are the only songs I can think of that got much radio play or made it into rotation on MTv. Maybe there were other hits but the funny thing is the songs they are most known by don't qualify as their best music in my book, not by a long shot.

    Edit: perhaps Talk Talk was a little more successful over in England than I was familiar with.
     
    Last edited: May 13, 2016
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