Two hit wonders - any favorites?

Dinosaur Jr. has had two top 10 US Modern Rock hit singles- "Start Choppin'" and "Feel the Pain."

 

Stealers Wheel hit #6 in the US with “Stuck In The Middle With You” and #29 with “Star.” A potential third hit, “Everyone’s Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine,” stalled at #49 — although it reached #33 in the UK, giving them a third Top 40 hit there.

 

Both "Stuck..." and "Star" are insanely catchy. Gerry Rafferty had a real gift for melodic hooks.

 

Uh, Good Girls Don't got all the way up to #11 on the Hot 100, and they even had a third Top 40 hit in 1980 with "Baby Talks Dirty", so really the Knack is a three-hit wonder. And given that even #10 "Rock Me" by Steppenwolf doesn't even register as a hot for you, you must be using a weird definition where only songs that make the top 5 count as hits, or are referring to "hits" in terms of songs you remember, which is by every definition subjective and anecdotal and therefore dubious.

According to what I'm seeing on Wikipedia, the Vapors had exactly one hit in the US, and just barely: Turning Japanese (#1/1980). In fact there wasn't a single country where they had more than one Top 40 hit, and the band's native UK is the only country where they had more than one Top 100 entry.

 

In America, The Tremeloes had two Top 40 Hits. Here Comes my Baby and the more impressive Silence is Golden.

 

These jumped out to me:

Looking Glass: "Brandy" and the superior, but less charted "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne"

Kim Wilde: "Kids In America" and "You Keep Me Hanging On" (based on US charts)

Lindsay Buckinham (solo): "Trouble" and "Go Insane".

Somebody above mentioned the Poppy Family -- I was surprised to see that "Where Evil Grows" was not a US Top 40 hit. I grew up in the Detroit area, so it got a ton of cross-border play -- "That's Where I Went Wrong" didn't have the impact that WEG did.

 

96 Tears - ? (Question Mark & Mysterians # 1
I Need Somebody # 22

Their next biggest only reached the mid 50's

 

Redbone - Come and Get Your Love and The Witch Queen of New Orleans
Jay and The Techniques - Apple, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie and Keep the Ball Rolling although they made some noise with Strawberry Shortcake

 

Soul Survivors - Expressway to Your Heart and Explosion in My Soul. Though I am not certain if the latter made the top 40.
The Standells - Dirty Water and Why Pick on Me - but ditto as above.

 

Ozark Mountain Daredevils - If You Want to Get to Heaven and Jackie Blue.

 

Steppenwolf had several top 40 singles.

 

I think Pop Goes The World is at least as good as The Safety Dance

 

Jimmie Jones is a new one to me, love Turning Japanese so will check it out

 

In those days, you could have a hit in a region of the country that didn't make a dent in others, but it was enough to put you in the national Top 40. There were songs that got a lot of play here in Detroit that you wouldn't have heard in Houston. In fact, if you look at an old copy of Billboard, you'll see separate radio play charts for different big cities, and the songs are different. If you had the #15 song in the country, probably everybody knew the song. If you had the #35, probably not. I'll stick to the rules put down by the OP, but I think Top 20 is more indicative of an actual hit.

 

The Beau Brummels just snuck into the Top 4o with their third single release, "You Tell Me Why" (#38).

But it does go to show how, in those days, what you heard on your local Top 40 station didn't necessarily reflect how well a song did nationally.

I love the song, but I never heard "You Tell Me Why" on the radio — whereas I did hear their fourth single release "Don't Talk to Strangers," which only hit #52. I have a clear memory of walking to a record store at least a mile away on a chilly "Autumn" evening to buy it, since I liked it so much.

 

True, but the insanely catchy "Star" was written and sung lead on by the other Wheel, Joe Egan. "Star" is a big favorite of mine, and credit should go where credit is due. Rafferty gets plenty of credit and raves for the stuff he did do. "Star" was Joe Egan's baby

 

No the Tremeloes had a third Top 40 in America, "Even The Bad Times Are Good" at #36. The two you mentioned did much better, both peaking just short of the Top 10, but the third hit did happen. They charted several more songs afterwards that didn't make the Top 40.

 

The Romantics
-What I Like About You
-Talking In Your Sleep

 

I hate when people just guess in threads like this.

 

The Cyrkle

 

Have to check how high it charted, but I'm sure the song he's best known for is I'm a King Bee.

 

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades....

 

His first single 'I'm a King Bee' b/w 'Got Love if You Want It' may have the two songs he would later be best known for following cover versions of both tracks, but when it was issued in 1957 it did not appear either on the Hot 100 or Billboard's r&b chart.

 

The Marcels

'Blue Moon' #1 (1961)
'Heartaches' #7 (1961)


In between the two hits they released a version of 'Summertime' which peaked at #78 (but I prefer it to 'Heartaches')

 

I thought rock me was a hit