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*** 1980's One Hit Wonders . . .​​​​ #1 - LIPPS, INC. - Funkytown *** (3 Viewers)

Anarchy99

Footballguy
Given some other threads out there, I decided to compile a list of all songs from the 1980's that would be classified as "one hit wonders" from the 1980's. Here is the definition . . .

- All artists must have one and only one song that AT ITS PEAK ranked in the Top 40 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from 1/5/1980 to 12/30/1989. Note that when the song was recorded does not factor into this at all . . . it's when the song ranked at it's peak on the singles chart.
- For our purposes, if the song was a collaboration or duet, I used the primary artist (the one listed first or the one whose album the song appeared on) as the one that charted the song.
- On a couple of occasions, there were duets that were a part of soundtracks, in which case either party would be eligible if that was their only hit song.
- A song by an artist that released a song away from their primary band as a solo artist is considered as a song eligible on its own right.

Here are some examples that DO NOT meet the criteria . . .

Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes does not qualify, as she had 11 Top 40 songs (sorry, had to list this one).
Tommy Tutone - 867-5309/Jenny does not make the list because Angel Say No hit #38.
a-ha - Take On Me gets excluded because The Sun Always Shines On TV reached #20.
Murray Head - One Night in Bangkok reached #3 in 1985 but doesn't make it because of Jesus Christ Superstar, which hit #14 in 1971.

More disqualifications include:

Wall Of Voodoo - Mexican Radio because it only reached #58.
Modern English - I Melt With You, which was released multiple times but the highest it ever charted was #76.
Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy as it stalled at #62.
Split Enz - I Got You only climbed to #53.

So even though . . .

The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star was the first video ever played on MTV, it charted in 1979 and doesn't count.
Which is the same issue for M - Pop Musik.

And on the other end . . .

Michael Penn - No Myth came out and charted in 1989, it peaked in 1990 so doesn't make the cut.
Which is the same fate for Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers - Swing The Mood, which came out in 1989 but hit #11 in early 1990.

One more example of an exclusion is . . .

The Contours - Do You Love Me, which charted in the 1960s and charted again after the release of Dirty Dancing. They had no other Top 40 songs, but the song charted higher in its initial run.

I will present all the songs in a Casey Kasem Top 40 style format (as the numbers get smaller the hits get bigger). So I will start will all the one hit songs that made it to #40 on the chart (oldest to newest). Then all the songs that peaked at #39, Then the ones that reached #38 and so on and so forth. When we get to the #1 songs, I will list those from fewest weeks at #1 to longest stretch at #1.

I reviewed EVERY official Billboard Weekly Hot 100 list (520 of them in total) TWICE, so the list should be pretty accurate (although if I missed any please let me know). There are 272 artists / songs that qualify (I may review the list again, but that is the number at present).

I will let Tim's One Hit Wonder list play out before I get started.

And for the record, unless you are 45 or 50 years old, you more than likely will DESPISE the selections included here. I will post a link to the original video whenever possible (and the audio if not). I have some ideas for keeping things interesting when there are some, cough, less than stellar songs on the list. We'll laugh, we'll cry, we'll want to stick a sharp object in our eyes. But it will be an interesting journey.

And to reiterate, there is no decision making involved here. It's just posting a list of songs, so I am not "choosing" anything . . . it's just the songs presented in the order that they charted. Feel free to praise or vomit where appropriate . . . Hopefully the old people here will remember some of them (even perhaps fondly).

 
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CHANGE - A Lover's Holiday (#40 - 7/19/1980)
RAINBOW - Stone Cold (#40 - 6/19/1982)
JOYCE KENNEDY & JEFFREY OSBOURNE - The Last Time I Made Love (#40 - 10/6/1984)
THE COMMUNARDS - Don't Leave Me This Way (#40 - 3/7/1987)
SPIDER - New Romance (It's A Mystery)(#39 - 6/7/1980)
GET WET - Just So Lonely (#39 - 5/30/1981)
POINT BLANK - Nicole (#39 - 9/5/1981)
PRISM - Don't Let Him Know (#39 - 3/12/1982)
CHERI - Murphy's Law (#39 - 6/5/1982)
VANDENBERG - Burning Heart (#39 - 3/12/1983)
JOHN HUNTER - Tragedy (#39 - 2/16/1985)
GRAHAM PARKER & THE SHOT - Wake Up (Next To You) (#39 - 6/22/1985)
ZIGGY MARLEY & THE MELODY MAKERS - Tomorrow People (#39 - 7/9/1988)
NIELSEN / PEARSON - If You Should Sail (#38 - 11/22/1980)
CHARLIE - It's Inevitable (#38 - 8/13/1983)
FACE TO FACE - 10 - 9 - 8 (#38 - 7/28/1984)
ARTISTS AGAINST APARTHEID - Sun City (#38 - 12/14/1985)
BOURGEOIS TAGG - I Don't Mind (#38 - 12/5/1987)
THE DAN REED NETWORK - Ritual (#38 - 5/17/1988)
ROB BASE & D.J. E-Z ROCK - It Takes Two (#38 - 10/29/1988)
RODNEY CROWELL - Ashes By Now (#37 - 7/5/1980)
EMMYLOU HARRIS - Mister Sandman (#37 - 4/25/1981)
T.G. SHEPPARD - I Loved 'Em Everyone (#37 - 5/16/1981)
CHRIS CHRISTIAN - I Want You, I Need You (#37 - 11/21/1981)
EYE TO EYE - Nice Girls (#37 - 7/24/1982)
HAIRCUT 100 - Love Plus One (#37 - 8/7/1982)
TANE CANE - Holdin' On (#37 - 9/18/1982)
ICICLE WORKS - Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream) (#37 - 6/9/1984)
THE MODELS - Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight (#37 - 6/21/1986)
DAVID & DAVID - Welcome To The Boomtown (11/29/1986)
ONE 2 MANY - Downtown (#37 - 5/20/1989)
SUGARHILL GANG - Rapper's Delight (#36 - 1/12/1980)
FELIX CAVALIERE - Only A Lonely Heart Sees (#36 - 4/19/1980)
RICK PINETTE & OAK - King Of The Hill (#36 - 7/19/1980)
THE VAPORS - Turning Japanese (#36 - 11/29/1980)
DAVID LASLEY - If I Had My Wish Tonight (#36 - 5/1/1982)
MARSHALL CRENSHAW - Someday, Someway (#36 - 8/28/1982)
PIA ZADORA - The Clapping Song (#36 - 2/19/1983)
MARTIN BRILEY - The Salt In My Tears (#36 - 7/30/1983)
JOBOXERS - Just Got Lucky (#36 - 11/19/1983)
SAM HARRIS - Sugar Don't Bite (#36 - 11/10/1984)
JENNIFER RUSH WITH ELTON JOHN - Flames Of Paradise (7/11/1987)
THE KANE GANG - Motortown (#36 - 12/19/1987)
BARDEUX - When We Kiss (6/4/1988)
ROMEO VOID - A Girl In Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing) (#35 - 10/27/1984)
C-O-C-K ROBIN - Your Heart Is Weak (#35 - 8/31/1985)
DEVICE - Hanging On A Heart Attack (#35 - 8/19/1986)
WA WA NEE - Sugar Free (#35 - 11/14/1987)
E.U. - Da' Butt (#35 - 5/21/1988)
TOM JOHNSTON - Savannah Nights (#34 - 1/12/1980)
SNEAKER - More Than Just The Two Of Us (#34 - 1/23/1982)
HONEYMOON SUITE - Feel It Again (#34 - 5/10/1986)
DE LA SOUL - Me Myself And I (#34 - 7/22/1989)
SHARON BRYANT - Let Go (#34 - 10/14/1989)
THE AFTERNOON DELIGHTS - General Hospi-tale (#33 - 10/3/1981)
TOMMY SHAW - Girls With Guns (#33 - 11/17/1984)
JESSE WINCHESTER - Say What (#32 - 6/13/1981)
JIM STEINMAN - Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through (#32 - 8/15/1981)
SILVER CONDOR - You Could Take My Heart Away (#32 - 9/19/1981)
FRANK ZAPPA - Valley Girl (#32 - 9/11/1982)
ROBERT ELLIS ORRALL WITH CARLENE CARTER - I Couldn't Say No (#32 - 5/21/1983)
PAT METHENY GROUP WITH DAVID BOWIE - This Is Not America (#32 - 3/23/1985)
OPUS - Live Is Life (#32 - 3/29/1986)
NANCY MARTINEZ - For Tonight (#32 - 12/27/1986)
JUDSON SPENCE - Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (#32 - 12/10/1988)
CHERYL PEPSII RILEY - Thanks For My Child (#32 - 12/24/1988)
BERNADETTE PETERS - Gee Whiz (#31 - 5/30/1980)
THE OUTLAWS - (Ghost) Riders In The Sky (#31 - 3/7/1981)
REX SMITH & RACHEL SWEET - Everlasting Love (#31 - 8/1/1981)
TOM TOM CLUB - Genius Of Love (#31 - 4/24/1982)
LARRY ELGART & HIS MANHATTAN ORCHESTRA - Hooked On Swing (#31 - 7/24/1982)
TALK TALK - It's My Life (#31 - 5/19/1984)
ALISON MOYET - Invisible (#31 - 6/1/1985)
BRYAN FERRY - Kiss And Tell (#31 - 4/30/1988)
DENISE LOPEZ - Sayin' Sorry (Don't Make It Right) (#31 - 8/20/1988)

 
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FRANKIE SMITH - Double Dutch Bus (#30 - 8/15/1981)
JUNIOR - Mama Used To Say (#30 - 4/24/1982)
PATRICK SIMMONS - So Wrong (#30 - 5/7/1983)
KATE BUSH - Running Up That Hill (#30 - 11/30/1985)
J.J. FAD - Supersonic (#30 - 6/18/1988)
The LARSEN-FEITEN BAND - Who'll Be The Fool Tonight (#29 - 10/11/1980)
MOVING PICTURES - What About Me (#29 - 2/12/1983)
ANGNETHA FALTSKOG - I Can't Shake Loose (#29 - 11/5/1983)
THE STYLE COUNCIL - My Ever Changing Moods (#29 - 6/9/1984)
AUTOGRAPH - Turn Up The Radio (#29 - 3/16/1985)
THE OTHER ONES - Another Holiday (#29 - 10/17/1987)
THE JAMES LAST BAND - The Seduction (Love Theme) (#28 - 5/24/1980)
EDDIE SCHWARTZ - All Our Tomorrows (#28 - 2/20/1982)
LESLIE PEARL - If The Love Fits Wear It (#28 - 8/14/1982)
OXO - Whirly Girl (#28 - 4/23/1983)
JIM CAPALDI - That's Love (#28 - 6/18/1983)
THE FIRM - Radioactive (#28 - 4/13/1985)
UTOPIA - Set Me Free (#27 - 4/19/1980)
JIMMY HALL - I'm Happy That Love Has Found You (#27 - 11/20/1980)
JEFF LORBER & KARYN WHITE - Facts Of Life (#27 - 2/21/1987)
WORLD PARTY - Ship Of Fools (Save Me From Tomorrow) (#27 - 4/25/1987)
PARTLAND BROTHERS - Soul City (#27 - 6/27/1987)
JONATHAN BUTLER - Lies (#27 - 8/29/1987)
ROBBIE PATTON - Don't Give It Up (#26 - 8/22/1981)
SKYY ME - Call Me (#26 - 3/6/1982)
DONALD FAGEN - I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World) (#26 - 11/27/1982)
SAGA - On The Loose (#26 - 2/26/1983)
DEBORAH ALLEN - Baby I Lied (#26 - 1/21/1984)
LAID BACK - White Horse (#26 - 5/12/1986)
CHERRELLE WITH ALEXANDER O'NEAL - Saturday Love (#26 - 4/19/1986)
THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS - Heartbreak Beat (#26 - 5/23/1987)
IVAN NEVILLE - Not Just Another Girl (#26 - 12/10/1988)
DIESEL - Sausalito Summernight (#25 - 11/21/1981)
STARPOINT - Object Of My Desire (#25 - 12/14/1985)
ANDY TAYLOR - Take It Easy (#25 - 8/2/1986)
TIMOTHY B. SCHMIT - Boys Night Out (#25 - 11/7/1987)
ROACHFORD - Cuddly Toy (#25 - 6/10/1989)
DON WILLIAMS - I Believe In You (#24 - 12/20/1980)
JOHN O'BANION - Love You Like I Never Loved Before (#24 - 5/16/1981)
RE-FLEX - The Politics Of Dancing (#24 - 3/17/1984)
REBBIE JACKSON - Centipede (#24 - 12/24/1984)
TA MARA & THE SEEN - Everybody Dance (#24 - 1/8/1986)
BENJAMIN ORR - Stay The Night (#24 - 2/14/1987)
THE CHURCH - Under The Milky Way (#24 - 6/18/1988)
ALDO NOVA - Fantasy (#23 - 5/29/1982)
PATRICE RUSHEN - Forget Me Nots (#23 - 7/3/1982)
JOHN TAYLOR - I Do What I Do . . . (Theme From 9 1/2 Weeks) (#23 - 4/26/1986)
SHIRLEY MURDOCK - As We Lay (#23 - 3/28/1987)
DANNY WILSON - Mary's Prayer (#23 - 9/5/1987)
STRYPER - Honestly (#23 - 1/30/1988)
MORRIS DAY - Fishnet (#23 - 4/23/1988)
CLIMIE FISHER - Love Changes (Everything) (#23 - 7/30/1988)
MICKEY GILLEY - Stand By Me (#22 - 8/2/1980)
AMY HOLLAND - How Do I Survive (#22 - 10/11/1980)
PHIL SEYMOUR - Precious To Me (#22 - 3/28/1981)
ROSEANNE CASH - Seven Year Ache (#22 - 7/18/1981)
BALANCE - Breaking Away (#22 - 9/26/1981)
JENNIFER HOLLIDAY - And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going (#22 - 8/28/1982)
VAN STEPHENSON - Modern Day Delilah (#22 - 6/30/1984)
ROBERT TEPPER - No Easy Way Out (#22 - 3/29/1986)
GAVIN CHRISTOPHER - One Step Closer To You (#22 - 8/16/1986)
THE ROBERT CRAY BAND - Smoking Gun (#22 - 4/18/1987)
BRUCE COCKBURN - Wondering Where The Lions Are (#21 - 6/7/1980)
RUSH - New World Man (#21 - 10/30/1982)
TWISTED SISTER - We're Not Gonna Take It (#21 - 9/22/1984)
CHICO DEBARGE - Talk To Me (#21 - 2/21/1987)
DONNA ALLEN - Serious (#21 - 5/9/1987)
COMPANY B - Fascinated (#21 - 6/13/1987)
TIMES TWO - Strange But True (#21 - 2/21/1988)

 
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ROGER DALTREY - Without Your Love (#20 - 11/29/1980)
SCARLETT & BLACK - You Don't Know (#20 - 4/16/1988)
SUAVE - My Girl (#20 - 5/14/1988)
SYBIL - Don't Make Me Over (#20 - 12/2/1989)
YARBROUGH & PEOPLES - Don't Stop The Music (#19 - 4/11/1981)
STANLEY CLARKE & GEORGE DUKE - Sweet Baby (#19 - 8/1/1981)
TIMBUK 3 - The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades (#19 - 12/27/1986)
HIPSWAY - The Honeythief (#19 - 4/4/1987)
THE KORGIS - Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime (#18 - 12/27/1980)
TIERRA - Together (#18 - 2/21/1981)
LEROUX - Nobody Said It Was Easy (Lookin' For The Lights) (#18 - 4/17/1982)
MIDNIGHT STAR - Operator - #18 - 2/2/1985)
CLARENCE CLEMONS - You're A Friend Of Mine (#18 - 1/18/1986)
GREG GUIDRY - Goin' Down - (#17 - 5/1/1982)
BIG COUNTRY - In A Big Country (#17 - 12/3/1983)
LIMAHL - Never Ending Story (#17 - 6/15/1985)
CHARLIE SEXTON - Beat's So Lonely (#17 - 3/22/1986)
LIVING IN A BOX - Living In A Box (#17 - 8/22/1987)
MIDNIGHT OIL - Bed's Are Burning #17 - 7/2/1988)
BOB & DOUG MCKENZIE (WITH GEDDY LEE) - Take Off (#16 - 3/27/1982)
GODLEY AND CREME - Cry (#16 - 10/5/1985)
DOUBLE - The Captain Of Her Heart (#16 - 9/13/1986)
JUMP 'N THE SADDLE - The Curly Shuffle (#15 - 1/21/1984)
PAUL HARDCASTLE - 19 (#15 - 7/20/1985)

#100 - SYLVIA - Nobody (#15 - 11/20/1982 - 15 weeks)
#99 - GIUFFRIA - Call To The Heart (#15 - 2/2/1985 - 15 weeks)
#98 - LEE RITENOUR - Is It You (#15 - 6/27/1981 - 16 weeks)
#97 - ALI THOMSON - Take A Little Rhythm (#15 - 8/23/1980 - 17 weeks)
#96 - KON KAN - I Beg Your Pardon (#15 - 3/11/1989 - 18 weeks)
#95 - RIC OCASEK - Emotion In Motion (#15 - 11/15/1986 - 19 weeks)
#94 - DAVID FOSTER - Love Theme From St. Elmo's Fire (#15 - 11/16/1985 - 22 weeks)
#93 - GTR - When The Heart Rules The Mind (#14 - 7/12/1986 - 16 weeks)
#92 - THE BELLE STARS - Iko Iko (#14 - 5/13/1989 - 18 weeks)
#91 - JOHN SCHNEIDER - It's Now Or Never (#14 - 8/15/1981 - 19 weeks)
#90 - THE BLOW MONKEYS - Digging Your Scene (#14 - 8/2/1986 - 19 weeks)
#89 - DOTTIE WEST WITH KENNY ROGERS - What Are We Doin' In Love (#14 - 6/27/1981 - 20 weeks)
#88 - PETER SCHILLING - Major Tom (Coming Home) (#14 - 12/24/1983 - 22 Weeks)
#87 - DEVO - Whip It (#14 - 11/15/1980 - 25 weeks)
#86 - BAND-AID - Do They Know It's Christmas (#13 - 1/19/1985 - 9 weeks)
#85 - CHARLIE DORE - Pilot Of The Airwaves (#13 - 5/3/1980 - 17 weeks)
#84 - TERRI GIBBS - Somebody's Knockin' (#13 - 4/25/1981 - 22 weeks)
#83 - GIANT STEPS - Another Lover (#13 - 11/12/1988 - 22 weeks)
#82 - M|A|R|R|S - Pump Up The Volume (#13 - 2/20/1988 - 23 weeks)
#81 - FRIDA - I Know There's Something Going On (#13 - 3/26/1983 - 29 weeks)
#80 - BALTIMORA - Tarzan Boy (#13 - 3/1/1986 - 38 weeks)
#79 - THE NYLONS - Kiss Him Goodbye (#12 - 8/1/1987 - 17 weeks)
#78 - BOYS DON'T CRY - I Wanna Be A Cowboy (#12 - 6/21/1986 - 19 weeks)
#77 - SA-FIRE - Thinking Of You (#12 - 5/6/1989 - 24 weeks)
#76 - STEVE FORBERT - Romeo's Tune (#11 - 2/23/1980 - 19 weeks)
#75 - KIX - Don't Close Your Eyes (#11 - 12/16/1989 - 23 weeks)
#74 - SCRITTI POLITTI - Perfect Way (#11 - 12/21/1985 - 25 weeks)
#73 - WHEN IN ROME - The Promise (#11 - 12/10/1988 - 25 weeks)
#72 - BENNY MARDONES - Into The Night (#11 - 9/6/1980 - 37 weeks)

 
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#71 - FRANK STALLONE - Far From Over (#10 - 10/1/1983 - 16 weeks)
#70 - WATERFRONT - Cry (#10 - 6/17/1989 - 17 weeks)
#69 - MUSICAL YOUTH - Pass The Dutchie (#10 - 2/26/1983 - 18 weeks)
#68 - FORCE M.D.'S - Tender Love (#10 - 4/12/1986 - 19 Weeks)
#67 - THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS - Tuff Enuff (#10 - 7/12/1986 - 19 Weeks)
#66 - LOUIS CLARK & THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC - Hooked On Classics (Parts 1 And 2) (#10 - 1/30/1982 - 20 Weeks)
#65 - REGINA - Baby Love (#10 - 9/13/1986 - 20 Weeks)
#64 - THE DEELE - Two Occasions (#10 - 5/21/1988 - 21 Weeks)
#63 - DENNIS DEYOUNG - Desert Moon (#10 - 11/10/1984 - 22 Weeks)
#62 - FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD - Relax (#10 - 3/16/1985 - 23 Weeks)
#61 - JIMMY HARNEN WITH SYNCH - Where Are You Now (#10 - 6/10/1989 - 36 Weeks)
#60 - THE GRATEFUL DEAD - Touch Of Grey (#9 - 9/26/1987 - 15 Weeks)
#59 - OLLIE & JERRY - Breakin' . . . There's No Stopping Us (#9 - 8/4/1984 - 18 Weeks)
#58 - BUCKNER & GARCIA - Pac-Man Fever (#9 - 3/27/1982 - 19 Weeks)
#57 - ORAN "JUICE" JONES - The Rain (#9 - 11/15/1986 - 19 Weeks)
#56 - JANE WIEDLIN - Rush Hour (#9 - 7/30/1988 - 19 Weeks)
#55 - GARY NUMAN - Cars (#9 - 6/7/1980 - 25 Weeks)
#54 - TRACEY ULLMAN - They Don't Know (#8 - 4/28/1984 - 17 Weeks)
#53 - ROCKY BURNETTE - Tired Of Toein' The Line (#8 - 7/26/1980 - 19 Weeks)
#52 - DELBERT MCCLINTON - Giving It Up For Your Love (#8 - 2/21/1981 - 19 Weeks)
#51 - TIMEX SOCIAL CLUB - Rumors (#8 - 8/16/1986 - 19 Weeks)
#50 - BOYS CLUB - I Remember Holding You (#8 - 1/14/1989 - 21 Weeks)
#49 - SHANNON - Let The Music Play (#8 - 2/25/1984 - 24 Weeks)
#48 - BERTIE HIGGINS - Key Largo (#8 - 4/17/1982 - 29 Weeks)
#47 - SOFT CELL - Tainted Love (#8 - 7/17/1982 - 43 Weeks)
#46 - THE BREAKFAST CLUB - Right On Track (#7 - 5/30/1987 - 19 Weeks)
#45 - EDIE BRICKELL & NEW BOHEMIANS - What I Am (#7 - 3/4/1989 - 19 Weeks)
#44 - SCANDAL - The Warrior (#7 - 9/22/1984 - 21 Weeks)
#43 - AL B. SURE! - Nite And Day (#7 - 7/16/1988 - 21 Weeks)
#42 - MARY JANE GIRLS - In My House (#7 - 6/8/1985 - 22 Weeks)
#41 - SLY FOX - Let's Go All The Way (#7 - 4/12/1986 - 25 Weeks)
#40 - PSEUDO ECHO - Funky Town (#6 - 7/18/1987 - 15 Weeks)
#39 - ANN WILSON & ROBIN ZANDER - Surrender To Me (#6 - 3/11/1989 - 19 Weeks)
#38 - BRUCE WILLIS - Respect Yourself (#5 - 3/7/1987 - 14 Weeks)
#37 - DEON ESTUS WITH GEORGE MICHAEL - Heaven Help Me (#5 - 4/29/1989 - 16 weeks)
#36 - LEVERT - Casanova (#5 - 10/31/1987 - 18 Weeks)
#35 - KAJAGOOGOO - Too Shy (#5 - 7/9/1983 - 19 Weeks)
#34 - MIKE RENO & ANN WILSON - Almost Paradise (#5 - 7/14/1984 - 20 Weeks)
#33 - JOHNNY LEE - Lookin' For Love (#5 - 9/20/1980 - 21 Weeks)
#32 - AFTER THE FIRE - Der Kommisar (#5 - 4/30/1983 - 21 Weeks)
#31 - THOMAS DOLBY - She Blinded Me With Science (#5 - 5/14/1983 - 22 Weeks)
#30 - THE JEFF HEALEY BAND - Angel Eyes (#5 - 9/2/1989 - 22 Weeks)
#29 - THE DAZZ BAND - Let It Whip (#5 - 7/17/1982 - 23 Weeks)
#28 - TACO - Puttin' On The Ritz (#4 - 9/3/1983 - 21 Weeks)
#27 - THE SYSTEM - Don't Disturb This Groove (#4 - 7/18/1987 - 21 weeks)
#26 - T'PAU - Heart And Soul (#4 - 8/8/1987 - 27 Weeks)
#25 - HAROLD FALTERMEYER - Axel F (#3 - 6/1/1985 - 19 Weeks)
#24 - LOVE & ROCKETS - So Alive (#3 - 8/5/1989 - 20 weeks)
#23 - THE S.O.S. BAND - Take Your Time (Do It Right) (#3 - 8/16/1980 - 21 weeks)
#22 - ROGER - I Want To Be Your Man (#3 - 2/13/1988 - 21 weeks)
#21 - PATRICK SWAYZE - She's Like The Wind (#3 - 2/27/1988 - 21 Weeks)
#20 - CHARLENE - I've Never Been To Me (#3 - 5/22/1982 - 23 Weeks)
#19 - THE GEORGIA SATELLITES - Keep Your Hands To Yourself (#2 - 2/21/1987 - 20 Weeks)
#18 - GLORIA LORING & CARL ANDERSON - Friends And Lovers (#2 - 9/27/1986 - 21 Weeks)
#17 - JACK WAGNER - All I Need (#2 - 1/19/1985 - 22 Weeks)
#16 - TERI DESARIO WITH KC - Yes, I'm Ready - (#2 - 1/26/1980 - 23 Weeks)
#15 - NENA - 99 Luftballoons (#2 - 3/3/1984 - 23 Weeks)
#14 - PHILIP BAILEY & PHIL COLLINS - Easy Lover (#2 - 2/2/1985 - 23 Weeks)
#13 - GROVER WASHINGTON, JR. (#2 - Just The Two Of Us - 5/2/1981 - 24 Weeks)
#12 - JOEY SCARBURY - Theme From Greatest American Hero (Believe It Or Not ) (#2 - 8/15/1981 - 26 Weeks)
#11 - BILL MEDLEY & JENNIFER WARNES - (I've Had) The Time Of My Life (#1 - 11/28/1987 - 21 Weeks - 1 Week at 1)
#10 - JAN HAMMER - Miami Vice Theme (#1 - 11/9/1985 - 22 Weeks - 1 Week at #1)
#9 - GREGORY ABBOTT - Shake You Down (#1 - 1/17/1987 - 22 Weeks - 1 Week at #1)
#8 - DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - Come On Eileen (#1 - 4/23/1983 - 23 Weeks - 1 Week at #1)
#7 - TONI BASIL - Mickey (#1 - 12/22/1982 - 27 Weeks - 1 Week at #1)
#6 - VANGELIS - Chariots Of Fire Theme (#1 - 5/8/1982 - 28 Weeks - 1 Week at #1)
#5 - SHERIFF - When I'm With You (#1 - 2/4/1989 - 28 Weeks - 1 Week at #1)
#4 - BOBBY MCFERRIN - Don't Worry, Be Happy (#1 - 9/24/1988 - 26 Weeks - 2 Weeks at #1)
#3 - PATTI AUSTIN WITH JAMES INGRAM - Baby, Come To Me (#1 - 2/19/1983 - 32 Weeks - 2 Weeks at #1)
#2 - USA FOR AFRICA - We Are The World (#1 - 4/13/1985 - 18 Weeks) - 4 Weeks at #1
#1 - LIPPS, INC. - Funkytown (#1 - 5/31/1980 - 23 Weeks - 4 Weeks at #1)

 
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If my Google skills are working I'm very confused. I'm seeing three song titles where there should be one.
I believe the Dance / Club version is a remixed medley of three songs from the album. But the Hot 100 release is only one song. And the odd part is the song they released as a single DOES NOT have Luther Vandross singing (but he sings lead on the other two).

 
I was going to wait before kicking this thread off in earnest, but it's going to take a LONG time to get through so am going to kick things off now. To give people an idea, it will end up being one part about the music, one part about the history of the music, one part about the history of the time, and one part autobiographical where I reminisce about the times and how the music related to my personal experiences. I will include how well I remember the song, how much I liked it at the time, and how much I like it now. So without further ado . . .

Our first entry in the Anarchy list of all the One Hit Wonders of the 1980's is . . .

CHANGE - A Lover's Holiday (#40 - 7/19/1980)
How well I remember it: 4 (I remember the bass line and the chorus)
How well I liked it then: 3 (Not a huge dance / disco guy)
How well I like it now: 5 (It was in my folder of 80's music on my computer already, so I clearly don't hate it)

Change was a band that Luther Vandross was in to start the 80's. As mentioned above, the band's remixed medley of A Lover's Holiday / The Glow Of Love / Searching ranked #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart for 9 weeks, which was a record at the time. A Lover's Holiday was their only Top 40 song and Vandross was not the featured vocalist. He left the band the following year to launch a successful solo career (he had 12 platinum albums including 10 in a row after leaving Change). The band pressed on without him and released 6 albums in the 80's and reformed 25 years later and put out another 2 albums.

As far as taking a representative snapshot of the time . . .

- A gallon of gas cost $1.19 (up from 0.88 cents in 1979).
- The average income in the country was $19,500.
- A new car cost $7,200.
- On a national basis, the average cost for a new house was $68,700.

- Empire Strikes Back was #1 for the 9th consecutive week (on it's was to 12 straight weeks at the top before succumbing to Smokey & The Bandit II).
- Airplane! had just opened the week before and Caddyshack would open the week after.
- The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum had just ended a 16 week run at the top of the NY Times Best Seller list.
- Rage Of Angels by Sidney Sheldon replaced The Bourne Identity and started its own 11 week stretch as a best seller.
- AC/DC's Back In Black album would be released that week.
- China hit the 1 billion mark in total population (now up to 1.4 billion).
- And the future Mrs. Tom Brady and super model Gisele Bundchen was born.

Anarchy was 13 years old and living in Connecticut and was in the summer between 8th and 9th grade. I was recovering from a NASTY broken arm suffered at travel team practice. I was was shagging flies in the outfield when someone hit a ball over the fence (which wasn't that tall). In an effort to retrieve the ball, I got a running start to jump over the fence . . . but my cleats caught the top of the fence and I face planted just over the fence. To my dismay, there was a giant rock / boulder on the other side of the fence that I didn't see and my left arm got the worst of it when it and slammed against the rock. People all over the park heard the snap.

If you remember Gordon Hayward's leg injury, imagine that as an arm injury instead. I had bones sticking out bent in the wrong direction and my arm was mangled. Even more unfortunate was one of the bones broke at an angle length wise so the break was a foot long. I went into shock and ultimately passed out. My last memory before waking up in the hospital was other players throwing up on the field.

I ended up in a cast for 8 months in the middle of which I had to have my arm re-broken because it wasn't healing properly. Good times. I ended missing two seasons of baseball, tried a comeback, and never made it back. (Just prior to the injury, I had returned from the Little League Summer Baseball Camp where the LL Word Series is held and had been selected as their player of the camp, so I was actually pretty good). Oddly enough, the arm injury ended up not being as big a factor as having astigmatism (blurred vision and had issues picking up the spin of the ball).

Any how, that's entry #1 with many more to follow.

 
Love the effort.  I am probably going to miss a few in the early part of the decade, but I will be interested to see if anything from 1985-1989 is there that I don't recognize.

 
Love the effort.  I am probably going to miss a few in the early part of the decade, but I will be interested to see if anything from 1985-1989 is there that I don't recognize.
They are going to be listed by chart position not by chronology, so there will be songs from all across the decade all mixed in.

 
No. I am listing all the songs that qualified as 1980's One Hit Wonders. I am starting with the ones that only reached #40 on the Top 40 charts. Then I will list the ones that peaked at #39. Then the ones that stalled at #38. And so on and so on until we hit the ones that ranked #1.
Right. What I meant was: what order are you listing all of the 40s in?

ETA: In other words, why did "A Lover's Holiday" get posted first? 

 
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Good stuff in here. I can see your write ups  will be far superior to mine. I plan to enjoy this thread very much. 

 
RAINBOW - Stone Cold (#40 - 6/19/1982)
How well I remember it: 10 (It was cross over classic rock and on pop stations.)
How well I liked it then: 10 (It was a staple on my rock mix tapes)
How well I like it now: 8 (Still listen to it when it comes up on shuffle play)

Rainbow's Straight Between The Eyes album produced their lone Top 40 single. The band released 8 albums over their 20 year run and at various times featured several rock luminaries including Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio, Joe Lynn Turner, Roger Glover, and Cozy Powell (among others).

Other notable Rainbow tracks include:

Street Of Dreams
Since You've Been Gone
Man On The Silver Mountain
Power

At the movies, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial is released and will go to be the film that earns the most revenue in the decade. Poltergeist and Star Trek II The Wrath Of Khan are released. M*A*S*H and Too Close For Comfort are the top tv shows, but the #1 show that week was Barbara Walter's interview of Clint Eastwood. That week, 750,000 people attend an Anti-Nukes show featuring Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, and Linda Ronstadt.

In general news, a proposed Equal Rights Amendment fails to pass. The 1982 World Cup kicks off (Italy wins). Postage is 20 cents. And a 19 inch Sony color television costs $499.

 
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Up next, a duet with a provocative title featuring the singer from Mother's Finest and a male singer that had 8 Top 40 hits.

 
Stone Cold is still a must turn up the volume and listen to song for me.  
Agreed. The song seems to be experiencing a bit of a renaissance, as I've heard it several times on SiriusXM and Pandora over the past year or so. Probably more than the 20 years prior.

Great tune indeed.

 
JOYCE KENNEDY & JEFFREY OSBOURNE - The Last Time I Made Love (#40 - 10/6/1984)
How well I remember it: 1 (I may have heard it, but I don't remember it.)
How well I liked it then: 1 (Can't say that I loved it then.)
How well I like it now: 1 (Can't say that I love it now.)

Joyce Kennedy was the lead singer of a band called Mother's Finest that put out 10 albums across their initial 20 year run. They toured extensively and opened for performers much more up my alley including Ted Nugent, Black Sabbath, The Who, Aerosmith, and AC/DC. Kennedy recorded this song while Mother's Finest was on a break. The song reached # 2 on the R&B chart and barely cracked the Top 40 on the singles chart.

Mother's Finest - Baby Love is a little more entertaining than the song that charted when she was a solo artist.

People need to be prepared that not all One Hit Wonders are a) great songs, b) of interest, or c) songs that people ever heard of. There will be many others that move the needle a lot more than this one does.

Not a lot of noteworthy news. The top tv shows were Dallas, Simon & Simon, The Bill Cosby Show, The A-Team, Knots Landing, and Family Ties. That week, Farrah Fawcett starred in the made for tv movie The Burning Bed, which was the highest rated tv broadcast of the year. At the cinema, Amadeus came out that week and The Terminator was released the week after. Frederick Forsyth had the nation's best selling book with The Fourth Protocol. And the Tigers won the World Series that week.

Anarchy was living in California at the time and had just started college. I remember asking a pretty young thing if she wanted to go to the Billy Squier show happening that week in LA. I got a ration of why-would-I-want-to-go-see-Billy-Squier-his-music-sucks with a side order of I-can't-believe-you-thought-I-would-actually-want-to-go-see-him. The next week I saw her walking around campus in a Billy Squier tour t-shirt. I believe what she meant to say was she didn't want to go see Billy Squier WITH ME.

 
Up next, a 1975 soul song by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes that was remade by Thelma Houston as a disco song in 1976 gets a tech / electronic dance makeover in 1987.

 
👍

Will be interesting to see if they have all the songs. I was going to say when all is said and done I have all the songs as mp3's if anyone wants them. Or better still, I can provide people with an 80's music sampler (ie all the popular stuff) as I pretty much have almost every song that ever charted in the 80's in my collection.

 
JOYCE KENNEDY & JEFFREY OSBOURNE - The Last Time I Made Love (#40 - 10/6/1984)
How well I remember it: 1 (I may have heard it, but I don't remember it.)
How well I liked it then: 1 (Can't say that I loved it then.)
How well I like it now: 1 (Can't say that I love it now.)

Joyce Kennedy was the lead singer of a band called Mother's Finest that put out 10 albums across their initial 20 year run. They toured extensively and opened for performers much more up my alley including Ted Nugent, Black Sabbath, The Who, Aerosmith, and AC/DC. Kennedy recorded this song while Mother's Finest was on a break. The song reached # 2 on the R&B chart and barely cracked the Top 40 on the singles chart.

Mother's Finest - Baby Love is a little more entertaining than the song that charted when she was a solo artist.

People need to be prepared that not all One Hit Wonders are a) great songs, b) of interest, or c) songs that people ever heard of. There will be many others that move the needle a lot more than this one does.

Not a lot of noteworthy news. The top tv shows were Dallas, Simon & Simon, The Bill Cosby Show, The A-Team, Knots Landing, and Family Ties. That week, Farrah Fawcett starred in the made for tv movie The Burning Bed, which was the highest rated tv broadcast of the year. At the cinema, Amadeus came out that week and The Terminator was released the week after. Frederick Forsyth had the nation's best selling book with The Fourth Protocol. And the Tigers won the World Series that week.

Anarchy was living in California at the time and had just started college. I remember asking a pretty young thing if she wanted to go to the Billy Squier show happening that week in LA. I got a ration of why-would-I-want-to-go-see-Billy-Squier-his-music-sucks with a side order of I-can't-believe-you-thought-I-would-actually-want-to-go-see-him. The next week I saw her walking around campus in a Billy Squier tour t-shirt. I believe what she meant to say was she didn't want to go see Billy Squier WITH ME.
@simey Bat Signal

This record was a typical mid-80s soul ballad. It's not better or worse than most of the others, except it had better singers than almost all of them.

Anarchy posted a bit about Joyce - she was one of the late '70s best rock singers.

Jeffrey Osbourne had an all-time great voice and not just on ballads. He came out of a band called LTD. You can still hear their biggest hit in dentist offices to this day

 
@simey Bat Signal

This record was a typical mid-80s soul ballad. It's not better or worse than most of the others, except it had better singers than almost all of them.

Anarchy posted a bit about Joyce - she was one of the late '70s best rock singers.

Jeffrey Osbourne had an all-time great voice and not just on ballads. He came out of a band called LTD. You can still hear their biggest hit in dentist offices to this day
Love the song, but all that video needs is a willing young 18 year old coed and it could be on Redtube. That picture in the Youtube video is frightening.

 
More disqualifications include:

Wall Of Voodoo - Mexican Radio because it only reached #58.
Modern English - I Melt With You, which was released multiple times but the highest it ever charted was #76.
Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy as it stalled at #62.
These 3 surprised me as non qualifiers. All 3 had heavy play on MTV back in the day, I figured they were bigger hits chart wise. Had you not listed their spots I would have guessed Mexican Radio would have been the lowest of the 3, yet it's the highest. Shows what I know. Lol.

Cool thread, I'll be following.

 
For a OHW, to me it's not where it peaked overall, but rather the gap between the highest peaking song and their 2nd highest peaking.  If you peak at #43 and your next highest was 138, that's a OHW.

 
I was going to wait before kicking this thread off in earnest, but it's going to take a LONG time to get through so am going to kick things off now. To give people an idea, it will end up being one part about the music, one part about the history of the music, one part about the history of the time, and one part autobiographical where I reminisce about the times and how the music related to my personal experiences. I will include how well I remember the song, how much I liked it at the time, and how much I like it now. So without further ado . . .

Our first entry in the Anarchy list of all the One Hit Wonders of the 1980's is . . .

CHANGE - A Lover's Holiday (#40 - 7/19/1980)
How well I remember it: 4 (I remember the bass line and the chorus)
How well I liked it then: 3 (Not a huge dance / disco guy)
How well I like it now: 5 (It was in my folder of 80's music on my computer already, so I clearly don't hate it)

Change was a band that Luther Vandross was in to start the 80's. As mentioned above, the band's remixed medley of A Lover's Holiday / The Glow Of Love / Searching ranked #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart for 9 weeks, which was a record at the time. A Lover's Holiday was their only Top 40 song and Vandross was not the featured vocalist. He left the band the following year to launch a successful solo career (he had 12 platinum albums including 10 in a row after leaving Change). The band pressed on without him and released 6 albums in the 80's and reformed 25 years later and put out another 2 albums.

As far as taking a representative snapshot of the time . . .

- A gallon of gas cost $1.19 (up from 0.88 cents in 1979).
- The average income in the country was $19,500.
- A new car cost $7,200.
- On a national basis, the average cost for a new house was $68,700.

- Empire Strikes Back was #1 for the 9th consecutive week (on it's was to 12 straight weeks at the top before succumbing to Smokey & The Bandit II).
- Airplane! had just opened the week before and Caddyshack would open the week after.
- The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum had just ended a 16 week run at the top of the NY Times Best Seller list.
- Rage Of Angels by Sidney Sheldon replaced The Bourne Identity and started its own 11 week stretch as a best seller.
- AC/DC's Back In Black album would be released that week.
- China hit the 1 billion mark in total population (now up to 1.4 billion).
- And the future Mrs. Tom Brady and super model Gisele Bundchen was born.

Anarchy was 13 years old and living in Connecticut and was in the summer between 8th and 9th grade. I was recovering from a NASTY broken arm suffered at travel team practice. I was was shagging flies in the outfield when someone hit a ball over the fence (which wasn't that tall). In an effort to retrieve the ball, I got a running start to jump over the fence . . . but my cleats caught the top of the fence and I face planted just over the fence. To my dismay, there was a giant rock / boulder on the other side of the fence that I didn't see and my left arm got the worst of it when it and slammed against the rock. People all over the park heard the snap.

If you remember Gordon Hayward's leg injury, imagine that as an arm injury instead. I had bones sticking out bent in the wrong direction and my arm was mangled. Even more unfortunate was one of the bones broke at an angle length wise so the break was a foot long. I went into shock and ultimately passed out. My last memory before waking up in the hospital was other players throwing up on the field.

I ended up in a cast for 8 months in the middle of which I had to have my arm re-broken because it wasn't healing properly. Good times. I ended missing two seasons of baseball, tried a comeback, and never made it back. (Just prior to the injury, I had returned from the Little League Summer Baseball Camp where the LL Word Series is held and had been selected as their player of the camp, so I was actually pretty good). Oddly enough, the arm injury ended up not being as big a factor as having astigmatism (blurred vision and had issues picking up the spin of the ball).

Any how, that's entry #1 with many more to follow.
HFS on that injury. Brutal.

 
In the higher numbers I am going to guess that we won’t see a ton of memorable stuff...maybe a lot of bands that were on the cusp, but didn’t break through etc

as we get down to top 20 and top 10 songs, these will be more well known...

 

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