Garth Brooks is still the one that baffles me most. I believe his second highest Hot 100 entry was a cover of KISS' "Hard Luck Woman" on a tribute album, which went to #45.
To me, a One-Hit Wonder must have one sole top 40 hit, which I've listed for reference through Wikipedia. Here are some artists that are one hit wonders in the USA, but not in the UK:
- Gary Numan ("Cars")
- Soft Cell ("Tainted Love")
- Twisted Sister ("We're Not Gonna Take It")
- Frankie Goes To Hollywood ("Relax")
- Cypress Hill ("Insane in the Brain")
- Beck ("Loser")
- The Prodigy ("Firestarter")
- B Witched ("C'est La Vie")
- Fatboy Slim ("Praise You")
- Len ("Steal My Sunshine")
- Baha Men ("Who Let the Dogs Out?")
- S Club 7 ("Never Had a Dream Come True")
- Incubus ("Drive")
- Fountains Of Wayne ("Stacy's Mom")
- Bowling For Soup ("1985")
- System Of A Down ("BYOB")
- Gorillaz ("Feel Good Inc.")
- Gnarls Barkley ("Crazy")
- Panic At The Disco ("I Write Sins Not Tragedies")
- Snow Patrol ("Chasing Cars")
- Amy Winehouse ("Rehab")
- Muse ("Uprising")
edited 8th Mar '13 9:32:10 AM by Pokemon39
The Collective
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Incubus had a couple more than that. So did System of a Down. In fact System was and is still pretty damn big. There's a couple more that are questionable or just wrong.
Faith No More were technically one hit wonders("Epic") but are considered more or less legends
edited 12th Mar '13 1:48:28 PM by iamathousandapples
"I could eat a knob at night" - Karl Pilkington
Yes, I remember a ton of different Incubus and SOAD songs getting a lot of airplay at the peak of their popularity. Though it's possible for a song to be popular on radio but not have the sales to be a proper "hit".
The Collective
Incubus had 3 #1 singles on the Alternative chart post-drive, and System of a Down had a single that won them a Grammy in 2003(also a #1 on the Rock charts), not to mention all 3 of their singles charted in the top 10
Unless we're being really technical and saying the top 50, in which case what's the point? According to that, then the White Stripes never charted
"I could eat a knob at night" - Karl Pilkington
First time I learned of this phenomenon was through VH 1's Shatner-hosted 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders series. They had a commercial lead-in side-countdown about all the legends who only had one hit. I also remember a friend complaining about Faith No More's inclusion for "Epic", but pointed out the segment on them was glowing, playing up the influence they had on latter bands and Mike Patton's following.
Though Garth Brooks is a bit surprising given what it was for. He seemed like such a crossover success in the early 90's that I presumed his one hit would be from that era, not Chris Gaines. Heck, I was actively disavowing my country music days and I still liked his singles.
But the no-hit list is a bit of a surprise, with an exception.
I was a huge Marilyn Manson fan up through the early 2000's, big enough to not be surprised at his inclusion. Outside of Sweet Dreams and (for a while) The Dope Show they never got consistent radio play, and those were on the alternative and metal stations. It was mostly controversy and hype that made him a household name/go-to scapegoat for a while, though I do think they were under-rated in terms of actual music.
@3 Funny, that means my initial reaction to Beck was technically right. I heard Loser and loved it, saw some of his other videos on 120 Minutes & Beavis And Butthead and thought he would have a long career with much critical acclaim and a loyal fanbase like many They Might Be Giants, Sonic Youth, and Violent Femmes, but that'd be his biggest hit. And then Where It's At hit a few years later. So I guess I guessed right and underestimated his impact.
Only surprise at Gorillaz being on that list is it wasn't Clint Eastwood. That became inescapable for several months pretty quickly.
edited 27th May '13 1:54:04 PM by TheNthTroper
One Hit Wonders
No hit wonders
I already knew most of the One Hit list, but the no hit list was the suprises. The line that it would be better if Iggy Pop never had a hit instead of having a token hit I agree with. Judas Priest and Marilyn Mason were big shocks for me, givin how popular they were. (Do it!)