80s "omg I loved that one" one hit wonders mix tape thread

other than "Crazy," no. But, wow, I love "Electric Blue"'s chorus. Cowritten by John Oates!

Crazy was the bigger hit at the time iirc, but Electric Blue is the one more people remember now.

"Electric Blue" hit the top ten, "Crazy" didn't, but it's possible "Crazy" got more airplay.

Did we make a decision on Romeo Void? Never Say Never would be my choice between the two, but I haven't looked at any chart data. (I guess the fact that there's any debate should strike them from contention.)

Icehouse had a handful of hits but only here so who cares. Also they were shit.

107. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmWxUGStTj4

108. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-mQyRuHIuA

Good call on The Church!

Painful to think of The Church as a ohw, but they probably are as far as the US is concerned.

109. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bOjc70f4p8

okay look, if you're going to limit what counts as a one-hit wonder to "what counts in the USA only" you need to change the subject line

if Jim Carroll fits, then we should add

110. Nails - 88 Lines about 44 Women

111. Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill

112. Alison Moyet - Invisible

BTW, distant xpost, my midwest friends often cite Oran Juice Jones' "The Rain" as a regional one hit wonder (east coast) that never made it here, and "Switchin' to Glide" by the Kings as a monster regional hit 'round here that never made it out east. Man, I miss the days of regional hits ...

113. Soft Cell, "Tainted Love"

"The Rain" was a top ten pop hit.

114.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT6Lv5iBsLM

115. Animotion v. 2.0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87vA2hx0je8

I actually remember that one! From the My Stepmother is an Alien soundtrack.

Animotion did "Obsession" too, right? That was the theme song for the MTV style show.

Is Quarterflash "Harden My Heart" on this list yet?

okay look, if you're going to limit what counts as a one-hit wonder to "what counts in the USA only" you need to change the subject line

That's one of the pitfalls of ILM being largely US/UK-centric, because bands from outside those two markets who may have had numerous hits (like The Church) in Australia or elsewhere seem like odd picks (and even within the US/UK dynamic, a band like Bananarama was minor in one market and major in another).

And songs that may have hit in the US or UK and nowhere else at all leave some people scratching their heads.

I'm fine with say an Aus-heavy band being considered a one-hit wonder if it only charted once pretty much everywhere else (I even nominated Falco despite his huge success in Germany & Austria), but there does seem to be some arbitration based solely on US chart success.

My original intent for this was to list songs by bands who have absolutely zero cache today (and may have only existed long enough to release one album or two). Going back to the original 7 songs in the opening post is a good example.

Oingo Boingo or The Church or Kate Bush etc may technically qualify as one hit wonders on one country's metric vs. another's, but these are all bands or artist's which have an impressive body of work despite little Top 40 success.

I'm perfectly fine letting the thread/list develop organically as people visit and add suggestions, though.

Flesh for Lulu "I Go Crazy"?

imo that would count, even though they had 3 (or more?) albums and even another single from that album that was popular ("Postcards From Paradise"). But tbh Flesh For Lulu is a total relic, trapped in the amber of the 80s.

A lot of the ones I'm thinking of have already been mentioned. Can't believe I didn't see this until tonight. Boo!

My original intent for this was to list songs by bands who have absolutely zero cache today (and may have only existed long enough to release one album or two). Going back to the original 7 songs in the opening post is a good example.

Yeah, that's the spirit of this thread imo and the arbitration worries me a bit (including my own).

Sorry but I have to. "Now isn't that nice, like Miami Vice". lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ppLzUo9O3w

OK what about Wall of Voodoo “Mexican Radio”?

Fuck - n/m someone else suggested that. Gdammit.

The song so nice, it had to be mentioned twice.

On the I.R.S. tip, though...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qrriKcwvlY

(Though wiki is telling me that they released a shitload of records)

Did The Dream Academy have any other real hits besides Life in a Northern Town?

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hmmm. well...

http://www.youtube.com/embed/rdHOyrS72jg%22

Just paste the url from your browser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdHOyrS72jg

don't remember this song at all

One of the better Bowie clone vocals.

Aldo Nova - "Fantasy"

The Firm - "Radioactive"

bowie covered one of his songs according to allrovi so i guess that worked out xp

personal fave:

Mary Jane Girls - "In My House"

Yup -- "Criminal World," one of Let's Dance less onerous album tracks.

and "Switchin' to Glide" by the Kings as a monster regional hit 'round here that never made it out east. Man, I miss the days of regional hits ...

YES, "The Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" could be heard every 10 minutes on WLS-AM in 1980-81. Probably my most enduring memory of that song is that it was the first non-Beatles/non-Lennon song WLS played after Lennon was killed (which is to say, about five days after Lennon was killed).

Modern English - "I Melt With You"

rational youth "i want to see the light"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJh11ngyIHQ

best lost synth pop song ever

The Timelords - "Doctorin' the Tardis"