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The One Hit Wonder
It’s a bit of a specific science the old one hit wonder. In order to qualify to be one you don’t need to have necessarily had one record that has been released and possibly charted, back in the days when being in the charts meant anything. What you do need is to have had a hit and then for all your subsequent releases to have completely and utterly bombed! And then as a natural progression you disappear from music altogether.
There was a time when I prayed for the one hit wonder. It was the late 80’s and the reason was Jive Bunny. Never ending swing mixes of total pap being released without mercy and for some reason the British punters were lapping it up. And if it wasn’t this walking advertisement for myxamatosis then it was the factory of garbage that was Stock, Aitken and Waterman. They had plenty of one hit wonders but their efforts weren’t even laughable, they were offensive. And they just kept on churning them out, Stefan Dennis (pictured) anyone??
And then I got my wish and we entered a period in the early nineties where one hit wonders became the norm. But I should have been careful what I wished for as their were some shockers. Prime candidates included The Scorpions post revolution prog rocker “Wind of Change”, Charles and Eddies helium induced “Would I Lie To You” and “Doop” by, you guessed it “Doop”. I would like to be the only one to remember that, I will bear that cross. If you remember it too call this number…only kidding.
Some of this one off garbage attained legendary status though. Chesney Hawkes is still mentioned today in the same naff vein as Rick Astley. The only thing people forget about Astley was that he did have some other hits. They were crap but that never stopped Nickelback did it? (nod to The Manager). Yes indeed Hawkes’ “The One and Only” (perhaps an ode to his future singles success) is still given many an airing today as is its equal in the bile stakes “Achey Breaky Heart” by Billy Ray Cyrus. This faux western barn dance romp annoyed me then and it annoys me now- it’s possibly the worst record EVER made. If you have never heard it, swap lives with me?
However amongst the cavalcade of crap that was a lot of the early nineties for one hit wonders there were some gems. Honourable mentions go to “Hear The Drummer Get Wicked” by Chad Jackson (just typing it makes me laugh) and Arnee and the Terminators with “I’ll be back”. Classics of their time. Ok that is said a little tongue in cheek but I did enjoy them considerably at the time!
But no there are some true belters too and here is what I consider my top ten from around that period. And the reason I am looking at early nineties is because you don’t really get one hit wonders any more, bands tend to stick around. Selfish.
10) Soup Dragons- I’m Free
Not as you might first assume a tribute to camp unfunny man John Humphries from 70’s romcom Are You Being Served but a fists in their air indie based rant about a bloke who is going to do whatever he wants whenever he wants spliced with a bizarre rambling reggae style rap that doesn’t really go anywhere. Never heard of the band. Not surprising really- they did release an album at the time that did reasonable business but this was their main imprint on chart history. You will have heard it somewhere, trust me. The video was a psychedelic maraca’s infusion too- a classic.
9) Sub Sub- Ain’t No Love (Ain’t No Use)
Can quite remember the name of the woman who sung on this, I think it was Melanie (Williams – Kev) something but that’s not the real story here. This was a guitar synth based dance tune that dominated the charts for weeks with its repetative chorus and funky underlying rhythm. But as damn good as this is the surprise is the guys behind it went on to be the fantabulous Doves- who couldn’t have really ventured into much more of a different sound. Still this packed dance floors nation wide and narrowly missed the number one spot at the time.
8) White Town- Your Woman
The perfect formula for a one hit wonder. A bloke made this in a bedroom. Its cost next to nothing, The video is indescribable nonsense. The lyrics make no sense and the fella was never heard of again. This song came from nowhere, wasn’t really promoted, went in at number one, stayed their briefly and then rapidly vanished like a theif in the night. And it was a bloke singing about how he could never be your woman??. Despite all this it was damn catchy, had a unique riff, and has echoes of late 80’s synth. And at the time I absolutely loved it and evidently so did many others. Definitely one to look up on You Tube my friends.
7) Stiltskin- Inside
As above- went straight in at number one and then disappeared without a trace. The only difference with this song being that if memory serves me correctly it was promoted on the back of a jeans advert. And unlike fellow OHW Babylon Zoo it was the actual song on the advert rather than a speeded up first 30 seconds and then the biggest con job in singles history as the rest of the track turned out to be utter dirge. No this was a good song. It seemed to be a band of gruff liquored up Glaswegians singing it, they didn’t look like pop stars and wore sheepskin coats making them look like they were auditioning for a part on Conan the Barbarian the series for Bravo. However without sounding too cheesy…it rocked!!
Weblinks
Add to favourites6) A Tribe Called Quest- Can I Kick It?
I think this has been re-released about 47 times and has taken on a life of its own in the sense that it is perfect to accompany many a football show in whatever context just cos it contains the word kick. However that shouldn’t betray the facts and the facts are this song was cool. It was so laid back in its presentation, rode the wave of effortless style that was 3 Feet high and Rising by De La Soul and contained a sample of a posh English toff answering the question posed in the title with “Erm… yes you can!”. Genius. Whenever I hear this song it always immediately throws me right back to the moment I bought a rap magazine. I hadn’t done it before and I have never done it since but I still have that free flexi disc single by KRS One somewhere!
5) Tom’s Diner- DNA feat Suzanne Vega
Now admittedly Suzanne Vega isn’t a one hit wonder- although I would struggle to name anything else she has done. But because this is a collaboration it counts. It is also the nearest thing I can thing of to poetry getting in the charts. Vega’s monotone lyrics regarding a lonely woman in a café are hypnotic but not as engaging as the humming (nearest word I can think of to describe it) she performs for the chorus. I can honestly appraise it as unlike any other song you will hear but memorable because of that fact- and another tune to just narrowly miss the number one slot.
4) House of Love- Shine On
While the Stone Roses, Happy Monday and Inspirals were in their indie pomp this little belter snuck in the back door. With quite surreal lyrics and the annoyingly good “She she she shine on” chorus this remains in my opinion as fresh sounding today as it did nearly 20 years ago. It has a Smiths esque styling to it with a guitar solo that sounds like it could have been lifted from Hank Marvin’s back catalogue- but it all works. It didn’t trouble the charts much but was one of the first songs I put on my Ipod collection and there it will remain.
3) Haddaway – What Is Love?
I am throwing this in here to be potentially lambasted or simply for this one not to register because no one remembers it. I hope I am wrong on both counts cos I loved it. It’s a dance track, its stupidly catchy and its just good but you don’t really know why. The singer ain’t brilliant and his voice is a little bit effeminate, it doesn’t get anywhere near the same street cred as its bedfellows like Baby D “Let Me Be Your Fantasy” or Oceanic “Insanity” and its very repetitive. But its just good- this maybe my most guilty pleasure on the list and I will take any flack with a smile! But the bring back Haddaway campaign starts here!
2) Dee-Lite- Groove Is In The Heart
Probably the most commercially successful single on the list and perhaps the one that is generally remembered by the largest amount of people as it is still played to a very large extent today. It isn’t a song I adored, I simply respect and admired its uniqueness and boldness then and still do now. For psychedelic pop it has never truly been rivalled. The lyrics are fantastic, the lead singer exudes a sense of swinging sixties mixed with seventies weirdness, the video is mental and its groovy baby!
It also has one of the best intro’s to a track ever. This was Austin Powers before Mike Myers ever formulated the character. There is debate over whether this song ever actually got to number one although it is not credited as such as for the first and only time this and another track, the re-released The Joker by The Steve Miller Band sold supposedly the same amount of records (this means within around a 100 of each other). An injustice if ever there was one!
1) Mock Turtles- Can You Dig It?
This is the third song in this chart that literally begs a question in the title- but one which I can definitively answer- yes I can dig this! The legend that is Steve Coogan is not the only member of his family to have an important effect of my entertainment upbringing as his brother, Martin I believe, was the mastermind behind this band.
This was re- released a few years back and mirrored the same respectable chart success the original had. But if a theme linking all the above songs is that they were catchy then this is the king of catchiness. I still find myself humming it to this day. It’s a nice subtle build up in the verse to the repetitive title in the chorus with the obligatory “oh yeah” tagged on the end. But my goodness does it get under your skin. And it is another song that has been fortunate enough to be the backing on many a TV programme and advert. Fortunately for this track it hasn’t watered it down too badly over the years and the fondness remains.
So there we are my run down of, to my recollection, my favourite one hit wonders of all time.
All have a certain nostalgia factor to them and all deserve to be remembered. Stefan Dennis was at 11. So close Stefan, so close.
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