What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

My countdown list of one hit wonders- 1. Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry) (1 Viewer)

timschochet

Footballguy
100. The Hustle (Van McCoy) 

99. Tubthumping (Chumbawamba)

98. The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia (Vicky Lawrence) 

97. Lovin’ You (Minnie Riperton) 

96. Black Velvet (Alannah Myles) 

95. She's So High (Tal Bachman)

94. Harden My Heart (Quarterflash) 

93. Good (Better Than Ezra)

92. 99 Luftballoons (Nena)  

91. Turn the Beat Around (Vicki Sue Robinson) 

90. Cars (Gary Numan) 

89. Maniac (Michael Sembello) 

88. The Freshmen (The Verve Pipe) 

87. Mickey (Toni Basil) 

86. Funkytown (Lipps, Inc.) 

85. Bad Day (Daniel Powter)

84. Seasons In the Sun (Terry Jacks)  

83. Smokin’ In the Boys Room (Brownsville Station) 

82. Magic (Pilot) 

81. I Love the Nightlife (Alicia Bridges) 

80. You Light Up My Life (Debby Boone) 

79. Der Kommissar (After the Fire) 

78. In the Summertime (Mungo Jerry)

77. I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (The New Seekers)  

76. Escape (The Pina Colada Song) (Rupert Holmes) 

75. Mambo No. 5 (Lou Bega) 

74. The Safety Dance (Men Without Hats) 

73. Stacy’s Mom (Fountains of Wayne)

72. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm (Crash Test Dummies) 

71. Bette Davis Eyes (Kim Carnes) 

70. In a Big Country (Big Country) 

69. Kiss You All Over (Exile) 

68. Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) (Edison Lighthouse) 

67. Walking on Sunshine (Katrina & the Waves) 

66. My Maria (B. W. Stevenson) 

65. Kung Fu Fighting (Carl Douglas)

64. I Know What Boys Like (The Waitresses)  

63. Life In a Northern Town (The Dream Academy) 

62. Pass the Dutchie (Musical Youth) 

61. One Tin Soldier (Coven) 

60. Magnet and Steel (Walter Egan) 

59.Thunder Island (Jay Ferguson) 

58. Sad Eyes (Robert John) 

57. Tainted Love (Soft Cell)

56. Take On Me (A-ha) 

55. Sugar Sugar (The Archies)

54. The Lion Sleeps Tonight (The Tokens) 

53. Mr. Big Stuff (Jean Knight) 

52. Lovefool (The Cardigans) 

51. Torn (Natalie Imbrugria) 

50. Major Tom (Peter Schilling) 

49. Emotion (Samantha Sang) 

48. Mexican Radio (Wall of Voodoo) 

47. Voices Carry (Til Tuesday) 

46. Take a Letter, Maria (RB Greaves) 

45. These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ (Nancy Sinatra) 

44. The Boy From New York City (The Ad Libs) 

43. Under the Milky Way (The Church) 

42. Rock the Boat (Hues Corporation) 

41. Venus (Shocking Blue)

40. Spirit In the Sky (Norman Greenbaum) 

39. You Were On My Mind (We Five) 

38. Undercover Angel (Alan O’Day) 

37. How Bizarre (OMC) 

36. Something In the Air (Thunderclap Newman) 

35. One Toke Over the Line (Brewer and Shipley) 

34. But It’s Alright (JJ Jackson) 

33. Eve of Destruction (Barry Maguire) 

32. Joey (Concrete Blonde) 

31. I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash) 

30. Disco Inferno (The Trammps)

29. I Touch Myself (The Divinyls) 

28. Walk Away Renee (The Left Banke)  

27. When a Man Loves a Woman (Percy Sledge) 

26. What’s Up? (4 Non Blondes) 

25. Get Together (The Youngbloods) 

24. Sweet Soul Music (Arthur Conley) 

23. Dancing in the Moonlight (King Harvest) 

22. 867-5309/Jenny (Tommy Tutone) 

21. My Sharona (The Knack) 

20. Amie (Pure Prairie League) 

19. You Gotta Be (Des’ree) 

18. I’d Love to Change the World (Ten Years After) 

17. Come On Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners)

16. Afternoon Delight (Starland Vocal Band)

15. I’ve Never Been to Me (Charlene) 

14. Do You Love Me (The Contours)   

13. I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) (The Proclaimers) 

12. Rescue Me (Fontella Bass) 

11. O-o-h Child (The Five Stairsteps)

10. Video Killed the Radio Star (The Buggles)

9. Turning Japanese (The Vapors) 

8. All Right Now (Free) 

7. I Melt With You (Modern English)

6. Hot Child In the City (Nick Gilder)  

5. Walking In Memphis (Marc Cohn) 

4. Drift Away (Dobie Gray) 

3. Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl) (Looking Glass) 

2. A Whiter Shade of Pale (Procol Harum) 

1. Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry) 

OK this idea for a countdown of songs was shamelessly stolen from @krista4 and her brilliant Beatles countdown thread. I can’t hope to match her writing skills, humor, or good taste in selections, but I will do my best and hopefully we can get a discussion going. Anyhow I need a break from the dreadful political discussions going on these days. (Anybody who is concerned that this thread might detract from the existing classic album thread: have no fear! that thread will continue with a new album every Tuesday and Thursday.) 

Everytime there is a discussion about one hit wonders, people get bogged down in definitions. The general rule is it’s a song that appears in the Billboard top 40 by an artist who never has another song in the top 40. But there are lots of problems with this: for instance, such a definition would include “Touch of Grey” by the Grateful Dead, their only top 40 hit. It will also NOT include several of the songs I have chosen for this list, because some of the artists did manage to get another song on the top 40, except that nobody remembers it, and other songs here never made the top 40 at all but everybody remembers them due to radio exposure or some other means. 

My only simple, inconsistent rule is: if a song is the only one the artist is remembered for, and/or  if the song is far more famous than the artist who performed it, it’s eligible. As I mentioned, this rule is inconsistent, and there is no doubt I will get some arguments as this list counts down. I will win those arguments. 

As with Krista’s Beatles list, my own list is highly subjective, based largely on personal taste. No, screw that. I’m sick of disclaimers. This list is an objective list of the greatest one hit wonder songs of all time. If you disagree your taste is beneath mine. There I said it. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
May as well get started: 

100. “The Hustle” - Van McCoy & the Disco City Symphony (1975) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeUfDTn5huM

The Hustle was a popular dance set of moves in Manhattan night spots  before the song was written; Van McCoy saw it and decided to write a tune for it on piano, adding a disco beat with the help of the legendary drummer Steve Gadd. McCoy was an accomplished arranger and session musician for Gladys Knight and several other huge performers. “The Hustle” took off like a rocket and pretty soon everyone in the country was doing the dance step. 

Ah sweet memories. At the age of ten, at my first dance ever, 6th grade, and every girl there knew all of the steps, and taught them to all of us boys. I remember it was an easy dance to learn, one of those walk to the left, walk to the right sort of things, almost like a line dance (except that the tune was funky.) But I can’t  remember the moves. I do, however remember the melody, that I will always remember; it’s why this song (just barely) makes this list, while other dance songs (notably the awful “Achy Breaky Heart”) does not. 

Sadly, Van McCoy died only 4 years later at the age of 39 of a heart attack. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
May as well get started: 

100. “The Hustle” - Van McCoy & the Disco City Symphony (1975) 

The Hustle was a popular dance set of moves in Manhattan night spots  before the song was written; Van McCoy saw it and decided to write a tune for it on piano, adding a disco beat with the help of the legendary drummer Steve Gadd. McCoy was an accomplished arranger and session musician for Gladys Knight and several other huge performers. “The Hustle” took off like a rocket and pretty soon everyone in the country was doing the dance step. 

Ah sweet memories. At the age of ten, at my first dance ever, 6th grade, and every girl there knew all of the steps, and taught them to all of us boys. I remember it was an easy dance to learn, one of those walk to the left, walk to the right sort of things, almost like a line dance (except that the tune was funky.) But I can’t  remember the moves. I do, however remember the melody, that I will always remember; it’s why this song (just barely) makes this list, while other dance songs (notably the awful “Achy Breaky Heart”) does not. 

Sadly, Van McCoy died only 4 years later at the age of 39 of a heart attack. 
Also serious workage of the piccolo flute.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
99. "Tubthumping"- Chumbawamba (1997)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5uWRjFsGc

Hard to believe, but this band had 8 albums before "Tubthumping" (they were formed in 1982) and another 7 albums after. This made me hesitate to add them to this list; I was thinking, that's a lot of albums we're talking about here, is it another Grateful Dead, maybe a British version? Am I just clueless in that I never heard of this band either before or after "Tubthumping"?

Well not really. Despite their longevity (they lasted until 2012) apparently nobody ever paid attention to them. Except for that one brief moment in 1997.

Anyhow, the lyrics of this song, while positive, are rather insipid, but the tune is pretty infectious (some would find it annoyingly so.) But I always liked it.  Kind of. Enough to make the bottom of this list anyhow.

 
99. "Tubthumping"- Chumbawamba (1997)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5uWRjFsGc

Hard to believe, but this band had 8 albums before "Tubthumping" (they were formed in 1982) and another 7 albums after. This made me hesitate to add them to this list; I was thinking, that's a lot of albums we're talking about here, is it another Grateful Dead, maybe a British version? Am I just clueless in that I never heard of this band either before or after "Tubthumping"?

Well not really. Despite their longevity (they lasted until 2012) apparently nobody ever paid attention to them. Except for that one brief moment in 1997.

Anyhow, the lyrics of this song, while positive, are rather insipid, but the tune is pretty infectious (some would find it annoyingly so.) But I always liked it.  Kind of. Enough to make the bottom of this list anyhow.
Perfect one-hit wonder.  Really good pop tune.

 
Two other disco hits come to mind. Andrea True's More, More, More and George Mcrae's Rock Your Baby. Andrea was more famous for her porn career, while McRae could really sing.

 
funny, was listening to Sirius Lithium, and they just played a clip of the guy from White Town saying "being a 1 hit wonder is better than being a no hit wonder"

that was a serious 1 hit wonder. hated the song, but ill never forget it.

 
The story goes that Chumawamba, a bunch of anarchist punks, purposely wrote this song hoping that it would become a hit and give them a platform to talk about their politics.

The gamble had worked. Chumbawamba, a collective of anarchists fifteen years deep into a strange career, briefly held the world’s attention — and they made decisive, bold use of it to champion their causes.

Take the 1998 Brit Awards, for example. In one of their first major television appearances, they performed ‘Tubthumping’ against footage of British protest movements, surrounded by the red and black flags of rebellion and anarchy, and clad in jumpsuits with bold phrases like “Sold Out”, “Shift Units”, and “Label Whore”. And throughout the song, they incorporated the phrase “New Labour sold out the dockers, just like they’ll sell out the rest of us”. It was a bold move – Labour had recently been elected after years of conservative rule, amidst plenty of popular support.

But the most infamous moment came later that night, when vocalist Danbert Nobacon ambushed then-deputy Prime Minister John Prescott at his table, dumping a bucket of ice cold water on his head mid-event.
 
99. "Tubthumping"- Chumbawamba (1997)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5uWRjFsGc

Hard to believe, but this band had 8 albums before "Tubthumping" (they were formed in 1982) and another 7 albums after. This made me hesitate to add them to this list; I was thinking, that's a lot of albums we're talking about here, is it another Grateful Dead, maybe a British version? Am I just clueless in that I never heard of this band either before or after "Tubthumping"?

Well not really. Despite their longevity (they lasted until 2012) apparently nobody ever paid attention to them. Except for that one brief moment in 1997.

Anyhow, the lyrics of this song, while positive, are rather insipid, but the tune is pretty infectious (some would find it annoyingly so.) But I always liked it.  Kind of. Enough to make the bottom of this list anyhow.
this would be in my top 25

 
apalmer said:
If "Brandy" isn't #1, swc won't take this thread to the bank, brohan.
There are a lot of contenders.  Brandy is a fine choice, but not the first one to cross my mind.

 
timschochet said:
100. The Hustle (Van McCoy) 

99. Tubthumping (Chumbawamba)

OK this idea for a countdown of songs was shamelessly stolen from @krista4 and her brilliant Beatles countdown thread. I can’t hope to match her writing skills, humor, or good taste in selections, but I will do my best and hopefully we can get a discussion going. Anyhow I need a break from the dreadful political discussions going on these days. (Anybody who is concerned that this thread might detract from the existing classic album thread: have no fear! that thread will continue with a new album every Tuesday and Thursday.) 

Everytime there is a discussion about one hit wonders, people get bogged down in definitions. The general rule is it’s a song that appears in the Billboard top 40 by an artist who never has another song in the top 40. But there are lots of problems with this: for instance, such a definition would include “Touch of Grey” by the Grateful Dead, their only top 40 hit. It will also NOT include several of the songs I have chosen for this list, because some of the artists did manage to get another song on the top 40, except that nobody remembers it, and other songs here never made the top 40 at all but everybody remembers them due to radio exposure or some other means. 

My only simple, inconsistent rule is: if a song is the only one the artist is remembered for, and/or  if the song is far more famous than the artist who performed it, it’s eligible. As I mentioned, this rule is inconsistent, and there is no doubt I will get some arguments as this list counts down. I will win those arguments. 

As with Krista’s Beatles list, my own list is highly subjective, based largely on personal taste. No, screw that. I’m sick of disclaimers. This list is an objective list of the greatest one hit wonder songs of all time. If you disagree your taste is beneath mine. There I said it. 
So, no Frank Zappa?

 
98. “The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia”- Vicky Lawrence (1973) 

The great comic Vicky Lawrence, star of the Carol Burnett Show, was the only one who believed in this tune written by her then husband, country performer Bobby Russell. He himself hated the song after he wrote it, and several performers rejected it (notably Cher- Sonny Bono thought it would piss off her southern fans.) So Vicky recorded it herself and ended up with a #1 hit. 

And why not? Great story tune, good melody, trick ending. As Chad Penn in Reservoir Dogs remarks, “I never realized that she killed Andy!” 

Vicky is still awesome. 

 
Any Sha Na Na in your top 100?  Asking for a friend.

Vicky Lawrence is a great choice.

ETA: I pity the person trying to learn English as a second language reading that sentence.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
98. “The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia”- Vicky Lawrence (1973) 

The great comic Vicky Lawrence, star of the Carol Burnett Show, was the only one who believed in this tune written by her then husband, country performer Bobby Russell. He himself hated the song after he wrote it, and several performers rejected it (notably Cher- Sonny Bono thought it would piss off her southern fans.) So Vicky recorded it herself and ended up with a #1 hit. 

And why not? Great story tune, good melody, trick ending. As Chad Penn in Reservoir Dogs remarks, “I never realized that she killed Andy!” 

Vicky is still awesome. 
Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrQvOvu_eRc

 
99. "Tubthumping"- Chumbawamba (1997)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5uWRjFsGc

Hard to believe, but this band had 8 albums before "Tubthumping" (they were formed in 1982) and another 7 albums after. This made me hesitate to add them to this list; I was thinking, that's a lot of albums we're talking about here, is it another Grateful Dead, maybe a British version? Am I just clueless in that I never heard of this band either before or after "Tubthumping"?

Well not really. Despite their longevity (they lasted until 2012) apparently nobody ever paid attention to them. Except for that one brief moment in 1997.

Anyhow, the lyrics of this song, while positive, are rather insipid, but the tune is pretty infectious (some would find it annoyingly so.) But I always liked it.  Kind of. Enough to make the bottom of this list anyhow.
Maybe one of the worst songs in history.

 
Hypothetical:  Could one guy make this list twice?  Say he fronted a band well-known as a one -hit wonder, and then outdid himself as a solo one-hit wonder artist?

Code:
 
Definitely following along.    Should be lots of annoying big hits.   Or should I say plenty of more big, annoying hits.  

 
Hypothetical:  Could one guy make this list twice?  Say he fronted a band well-known as a one -hit wonder, and then outdid himself as a solo one-hit wonder artist?
I know of a person who came very close to pulling this off. Wasn’t the frontman, but was in a OHW band before striking out with his own OHW.

Hint: Both OHWs hit #1 in the US (Billboard Hot 100 Singles).

Hint 2: The two OHWs were released in different decades, five years apart.

EDIT: Bah, never mind. This guy had three Top 20 hit singles in the US - but only one hit #1. The other two never get airplay and are totally forgotten.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Maybe one of the worst songs in history.
:yes:

I was also going the "if you can't say anything nice" route here, but I must note, in that schlock song draft we had a while back, this was my "hate" song for the 90's - deservedly so.

 
Sunny....Bobby Hebb

Wiki

"Sunny" was recorded in New York City after demos were made with the record producer Jerry Ross. Released as a single in 1966, "Sunny" reached No. 3 on the R&B charts, No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 12 in the United Kingdom.[2][3][4] When Hebb toured with The Beatles in 1966 his "Sunny" was, at the time of the tour, ranked higher than any Beatles song then on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[citation needed] BMI rated "Sunny" number 25 in its "Top 100 songs of the century".

In 1976, Hebb released a newly recorded disco version entitled "Sunny '76". The single was a minor hit reaching No. 94 on the R&B chart.

Alley Oop.....Hollywood Arcyles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7uC5m-IRns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T8PHEAHOBs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKpVQm41f8Y

True story

I was at a little bar on Wikiki back in my  Navy days, yep, partying when the house band started playing ......there's a port in a.....yep, "Brandy".  Talk about the perfect song for the moment.

I was thinking.,....what a great song and just assumed it belonged to that band.  So a few weeks later I hear it on a radio.....I'll be damn they recorded it.....hahahaha!  Found out the real story later.

I get this isn't the topic, but...

TONS, of old blues songs big in the genre where it is the only record ever recorded by them, just one record. Then....poof!

 
Last edited by a moderator:

Users who are viewing this thread

Top