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The music I can especially relate to (being a '67 model & all) was the late '70's to early '90's pop/rock scene. Last weekend a tune came over the air (Algoa FM) that caused a click? clickety-click, click? click? ziiiing, click-click, doing! in my cerebral cortex. "Hey! that's Tarzan Boy by Baltimore" I shouted at the wife - as though I was a teenager again, and thoroughly enjoyed the 'trip down memory lane'. "You know, it was their one-&-only real hit!" I professed. But it made me wonder: What other one-hit-wonders did we have back then? The only other one I could come up with was Radar Love by Golden Earring - as far as I know it was their only (main) hit. Or like that 80's band called Sigue-Sigue Sputnik? Didn't hey also have a OHW?

Any other OHW's you guys can think of to jolt the memory banks?

How bout Saigon Kick - "love is on the way" - VH1 or MTV did a special a couple years back on the top 50 or 100 OHW's - cool show

How about "Skyhigh" by Jigsaw? It was from the 1975 movie, "Man from Hong Kong" starring George Lazenby. I used to play that song over and over on my Panasonic RQ7115 cassette player.

"I'll Stop The World and Melt With You" by Modern English. It was a decent song and I actually went to see them at a small club downtown here in the early 80s. Their set showed why it was their only hit.


"Big Country" by .... Big Country. I just heard this one the other day.

A couple from my youth that are probably still keeping their writers living comfortably were -

"Spirit in The Sky" by Norman Greenbaum &
"In The Summertime" by Mungo Jerry

Saturday Night Live, hosted by Conan O'Brien, did a pretty good sketch about one hit wonders testifying in the Napster copyright infringement case. Some of the "hits" they parodied:

Right Said Fred - "I'm Too Sexy"
Pet Shop Boys - "West End Girls"
Cameo - "Word Up"
Toni Basil - "Oh Mickey"
Gerardo - "Rico Suave"
Corey Hart - "Sunglasses at Night"

Pretty funny, especially Conan as Right Said Fred!

Golden Earring also had a big hit with "When the Bullet Hits the Bone." and I believe one other , so, not really a OHW. Also Consistant, Pet Shop Boys and Corey Hart each had several radio hits other than what you mentioned. Others that come to mind is :

Smoking in the Boy's Room - Brownsville Station
Black Betty - Ram Jam
Too Shy - Kajagoogoo ( one of my fav. band names)
Escape(The Pina Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes
C'mon Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners
Fantasy (Life is Just a Fantasy?)- Aldo Nova (anyone remember this one?)

There are many more, but these come to mind first.

Pet Shop Boys, by most folks, are considered one-hit wonders for "West End Girls" here in the USA. Not sure what other songs they may have had that would be considered "hits". Although talented musicians with some unique sounds, their music is relegated mostly to dance clubs and such, not to mainstream music. Google "one hit wonders pet shop boys" and you'll see several articles that mention them either directly or by insinuation as one hit wonders. Most of these lament the label, and go on to tell how talented they are, how influential they are, yada-yada-yada - the kind of tripe that only matters to the folks who consider themselves "musically enlightened" or who fancy themselves as cutting edge.

As for Corey Hart, I guess he also had "Never Surrender" (had to look it up), but mention Corey Hart to 20 people and of those who can name one of his songs, I can almost guarantee the first one they'll say is "Sunglasses", and then if any of them can name another of his songs they probably were in his fan club.

While checking on this info, I was reminded of so many OHW as I saw them mentioned, it was amazing how many good acts couldn't repeat the magic, and how many bad acts were able to scrape up the one (mostly the latter!).

How about "My Sharona" by The Knack and "Mexican Radio" by Wall of Voodoo?

Shade

I guess it depends on your personal definition of "one hit wonder". I personally wouldn't put Hart, Pet Shop Boys, Golden Earring, or The Knack in that category. "Never Surrender", "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)", "When the Bullet Hits The Bone", and "Good Girls Don't" (In order of the above) all received constant radio and video play in each's prime that I remember, and still do. "Opportunities" by Pet Shop Boys is one of my all time favorite songs that I remember waiting for to come on the radio as a young teen. "What have I done to Deserve This" -I think that's the title (?) was another pretty big hit for them.. I understand the point though.

A few more that are definite OHWs. Remember :

The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace
Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks
It Never Rains In California - Albert Hammonds
Satisfaction- The Rolling Stones

I'm sure The Knack had more songs that received heavy airplay, though I can't recall them right now so maybe you have a point. Their debut album was huge.

Anyone remember "Green-eyed Lady" by Sugarloaf ?

I still like that song...they did another one "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" that I like as well.

OK, I cheated (googled)...here's some more:

Blues Image "Ride Captain Ride"
Jaggerz "The Rapper"
Shocking Blue "Venus"
Mountain "Mississippi Queen"
Free "All Right Now"

Gary Numan "Cars"
The Vapors "Turning Japanese"

Man, there's too many....

Shade

I still like all 5 of these songs. They all must have come out within a year of each other. The Rapper is a blast from the past. The other 4 are still played regularly on oldies stations. I'd quibble with including Mountain and Free with other one-hit wonders, though. Both were huge hard rock acts for at least a couple of years and singles weren't really their focus.

The Looking Glass - "Brandy"
Billy Paul - "Me and Mrs. Jones"

I thought it was called "Twilight Zone." Nonetheless, both "Twilight Zone" and "Radar Love" are consistently played on oldies/classic rock stations all the time, so I'd hardly consider them a 1 hit wonder.

To throw in a few newer numbers...Eiffel 65's "Blue (Da Ba De)," Lou Vega's "Mambo No. 5," Los Del Rio's "Macarena," and OMC's "How Bizarre."

I recall seeing a show on this and it was actually surprising how many fairly well-known artists and bands had few top singles...for example, "All Along the Watchtower" was Jimi Hendrix's only top 20 hit.

Oh yeah, great song....! Especially the long version!


How about:
C.W. McCall's "Convoy"
Rick Dees’s "Disco Duck"
The Archies - "Sugar, Sugar"
Carl Douglas - "Kung Fu Fighting"