Two hit wonders - any favorites?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by AFOS, Apr 10, 2021.

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  1. prymel

    prymel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston
    Sam Neely - "Loving You Just Crossed My Mind", "You Can Have Her"
     
  2. Darrin L.

    Darrin L. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Golden, CO
    Yeah...you're missing nine more top ten hits.
     
  3. prymel

    prymel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston
    And 21 Top 40 hits overall.
     
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  4. john hp

    john hp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Warwickshire, UK
    Jimmy Jones

    'Handy Man' #2 (1959/60)
    'Good Timin' #3 (1960)

     
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  5. Darrin L.

    Darrin L. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Golden, CO
    Quite impressive for a six year period.
     
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  6. Buggyhair

    Buggyhair Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ann Arbor, MI
    I was alive and listening to the radio at that time and I've never heard either of those songs. Top 40 didn't really mean much until you got in the top 20. Those were the songs that got heavy rotation. There are a lot of songs from that era in the lower Top 40 that I never heard on the radio. I think of a hit as a song everybody knows.
     
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  7. prymel

    prymel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston
    I agree that "I'm Never Gonna Be Alone Anymore" is comparatively obscure, but I was also listening to radio at the time, and "Don't Ever Be Lonely", while not a Top 10 hit got lots of airplay in my neck of the woods.

    ETA: OP mentioned Top 40 as a criterion, so that's what I based my post on.
     
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  8. Phil D

    Phil D Forum Resident

    The Foundations also had big hits with "In The Bad Bad Old Days" and "Back On My Feet Again"
     
  9. Soulman58

    Soulman58 Forum Resident


    It did reach # 11, that is a reasonable sized hit.
     
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  10. The Dark Elf

    The Dark Elf Curmudgeonly Wordwraith

    Location:
    Michigan
    I'll have to disagree, they had at least 4 gold records for their studio albums from 1968 -70 (plus gold live and greatest hits albums), and in addition to the 2 singles you mentioned, "Rock Me" made it into the top ten on U.S. Billboards in 1969.
     
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  11. paste

    paste Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ohio
    In the UK, they have a long string of hits, but in the US, Madness only had two - Our House (#7) and It Must Be Love (#33).
    Same with Slade - Run Runaway (#20) and My Oh My (#37)

    Some other favorites:
    The Smithereens - A Girl Like You (#38) and Too Much Passion (#37)
    Dream Academy - Life in a Northern Town (#7) and Love Parade (#36)
    The Romantics - Talking in Your Sleep (#3) and One in a Million (#37) (Surprisingly, What I Like About You didn't make the top 40)
    Tommy Tutone - Angel Say No (# 38) and 867-5309 (#4)
    Steel Breaze - Don't You Want Me Anymore (#16) and Dreamin' Is Easy (#30)
    Berlin - No More Words (#23) and Take My Breath Away (#1)

    If you include their collaboration with Jermaine Jackson, Let Me Tickle Your Fancy (#18), Devo would qualify since only Whip It (#14) made it to the top 40.
     
  12. zen

    zen Senior Member

    Agreed. I guess it never got to that next level of over-saturation.
     
  13. Luvtemps

    Luvtemps Forum Resident

    Location:
    P.G.County,Md.
    Special Delivery-I Destroyed Your Love.. The Lonely One... The Unifics-The Court Of Love.. Beginning Of My End.. Dee Clark-Hey Little Girl.. Raindrops.
     
  14. Armjim

    Armjim Music is indeed a gift from Heaven

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    The Poppy Family: Which Way You Goin' Billy? and That's Where I went Wrong

    Shannon: Give Me The Night (Big hit on the dance and R&B charts though just missed the Billboard Top 40 Pop) and Let the Music Play
     
  15. FrasierNervosa

    FrasierNervosa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Honestly, not a great example.

    For one thing, The Hot 100 in the 90s was not an accurate metric for measuring "hit status" as so many hits were airplay-only (as the lack of a retail single for a big hit helped boost album sales).

    Also, I would wager that "Heart Shaped Box" and the MTV Unplugged version of "All Apologies" were hits as well just based on radio and MTV saturation. Songs that even non-Nirvana fans at the time would have likely been familiar with.
     
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  16. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    Sheesh is that ever an understatement. I think their first LP was released in 1966, they released one or two (or more?) every year after that...Golden Earring is one of those bands so many have heard of but so few know how voluminous their catalog actually is.
     
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  17. ed carter

    ed carter Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    The Vapors:
    Turning Japanese
    Jimmie Jones (#34 in US)
     
  18. FrasierNervosa

    FrasierNervosa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I think there is also a difference between hypothetical song X that, let's say went Top 10 on rock radio or R&B radio radio on a national, but only barely cracked the Top 40 of the Hot 100 and hypothetical song Y that had a very minor impact on several radio formats, but snuck into the Top 40. Far more ears would have been exposed to Song X than Song Y.
     
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  19. Pseudonym

    Pseudonym Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit, MI
    Nirvana objectively had exactly two Top 40 hits which fits the OP's criteria. What's confusing here?
     
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  20. FrasierNervosa

    FrasierNervosa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    The nature of "hits" becomes unusual in the 90s because of the way singles were released and charting rules were at that time. I could rattle off a few songs that were objectively very popular and well known hits at the time yet either didn't not make the Top 40 of the Hot 100 or did not chart on the Hot 100 at all.

    That's all I'm saying.
     
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  21. Brian Kelly

    Brian Kelly 1964-73 rock's best decade

    Not in the US. The two songs you mentioned charted at #51 and #59. Hardly "big hits". On the other hand Baby Now That I've Found You was a #11 hit in the US and "Build Me Up Buttercup" hit #3 in the US charts and remains very popular, in part for its inclusion in THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY.
     
  22. Brian Kelly

    Brian Kelly 1964-73 rock's best decade

    "Good Girls Don't" made it to #11, not as big as "My Sharona", but still a big hit.
    On the other hand, Steppenwolf had 5 additional top 40 hits beyond those you mentioned, including the #10 "Rock Me".
     
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  23. prymel

    prymel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston
    I agree. "Stairway To Heaven" is arguably a bigger, more well-known song than 99% of the songs that ever charted in the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100. However, I'm not sure what this has to do with the OP's Two Hit Wonder premise. There were no qualifications made about a song being recognizable to a large portion of listeners. I'm just using the guidelines given and listing examples that fit.
     
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  24. Brian Kelly

    Brian Kelly 1964-73 rock's best decade

    Interestingly I heard "Goodbye To You" on the radio the day before this thread first appeared. I was surprised to see it only made #65. It got a lot of airplay. It was also big on MTV so maybe that's why I think of it as a bigger hit.
    I also think it is better than "The Warrior".
     
  25. JoeOnWheels

    JoeOnWheels Forum Resident

    Location:
    Loveland CO USA
    Them: Here Comes the Night and Mystic Eyes in 1965 (USA)
     
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