Flashes in the pan by year, 1984-2009

1988 - Edie Brickell (unless you're Paul Simon)

franz ferdinand

You could basically put almost every UK indie band who released their debut album from 2004-2008 in this thread, tbh.

1998 - Air

2002 - Damien Rice

1988 - Edie Brickell (unless you're Paul Simon)

― Lee626, Wednesday, October 11, 2017 9:54 PM (thirty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

They had a couple of hits between 'em in 2014 iirc.

1987 - Curiosity Killed the Cat

2016 - The 1975 (pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease)

1988 - Tracy Chapman
1998 - Asian Dub Foundation

1994 - Stiltskin
1996 - Babylon Zoo

one-hit wonders but never "big"

i was gonna say damien rice but i guess he had two more albums that did okay? huge uk-usa discrepancies here; let's hear what the mongrels have to say

1996 - Los Del Rio (best selling single ever?)

1984 - Thompson Twins

Tracy Chapman had a #3 hit in 1995.

I was surprised to find out it only went to #95 the UK. It won the Grammy for Best Rock Song and was nominated for Best Song and Best Record.

2000 - Sonique

1990 - Alannah Myles

To be fair, she probably is considered a national treasure in Canada.

G'night and good luck next year

1998 - B*Witched

I can't claim they got respect from the critics but them achieving four number one singles within 10 months to having it all be over less than a year later makes them one of the ultimate flash in the pan cases.

1989 - Bonnie Raitt

I'm about to fight you!

1996 - Los Del Rio (best selling single ever?)

Bing's "White Christmas" is still the biggest seller ever, but I think Macarena is somewhere in the top 10 or 20.

C&C Music Factory gotta be in here somewhere (was that 90 or 91?)

Seems like there were a few in 1996 (along with the ones already suggested). You could include Fugees here if you forget their solo careers. Robert Miles had three big top 10 singles that year and then had just one other modest sized hit a year later. At one point you could have said Peter Andre, but for some reason the public decided to give him a second chance almost a decade later (he's had eight albums since that revival!). R&B boybands Damage and 3T were pretty big that year too. How about Alisha's Attic? Their album hung around for ages.

2002 - Daniel Beddingfield (his sister would have her own flash in the pan moment two years later), Gareth Gates, Samantha Mumba.

1996 - Los Del Rio (best selling single ever?)

Bing's "White Christmas" is still the biggest seller ever, but I think Macarena is somewhere in the top 10 or 20.

― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Wednesday, October 11, 2017 8:47 PM (forty-four minutes ago)

I'm talking global, not the USA.

So was I.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_singles

I think I actually did a poll of these at some point too...

POLL: The 11 best selling singles ever

re list of best selling singles - what a weird collection!

1990 : EMF - Unbelievable.

surely !?

1998 - Air

― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, October 11, 2017 11:18 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

LOL WUT

The original post is pretty obviously about *album* artists not one-hit-wonders, so I don't like Los Del Rio really counts here. Then again if Asian Dub Foundation (two albums that reached #20) are being mentioned then I'm not sure what's even being discussed any more.

I was completely wrong about the Corrs though, I guess the all-consuming hugeness of Talk On Corners wiped everything else from my memory.

Yeah, in my head it's definitely about the act's status in that year, rather than being defined specifically by an album, but one-hit-single wonders are probably not fodder for this.

I think it's a whiff of respectability that links them: Brit and Mercury approval is a big indicator, the sense that this is an important new force in the music industry. Not sure EMF really had that.

point taken re albums vs singles.
the schubert dip' album was a hit, but didn't really dominate 1991 when it was released.

1997 - Natalie Imbruglia

Speaking of EMF - 1990: Jesus Jones (certainly in the UK, I recall much music press chin-stroking about their sampling and other modern wonders)

Stereo MCs and The Shamen maybe?

XP - I guess then The Wonder Stuff and PWEI too?

I wouldn't count PWEI or the Wonderstuff. They were just popular bands who were of their time. They had pretty big followings and released multiple albums and singles over a few years.

It's definitely about that thing where an act is all over the place, all over TV, talked about in ecstatic and revered tones, a huge amount of marketing and possibly a big hit single or album, but forgotten about within months with hardly a glimmer of a comeback.

in the US how about Hootie & The Blowfish?

Their flash sustained itself for four years at least, perhaps longer depending on who you ask.

Would the KLF had been mentioned already were it not for their late 80s years of relative obscurity? That would rule out several other 90s acts itt tho. Also I guess people tend to think of acts that had some sort of brief mainstream acclaim without being ILM-friendly.

didn't dwindle away so much as forcibly remove themselves from the picture

KLF don't count as their legacy never really went away

I don't think these one-three hit wonders really hit the bill. Was EMF really promoted as a "career" band, or taken seriously by critics? Some of these are puzzling, like Corinne Bailey Rae, who made great follow up records but was kind of forgotten by the industry, if not by all critics.

Lisa Stansfield?

I was thinking her, maybe, but her songs still get played all the time on commercial radio where I'm from.
Tracy Chapman? Sinead O'Connor?

I guess this thread throws into question exactly how long the popularity of an act should last. Some acts are just so right for their time and place that they naturally enjoy a short shelf life. Most continue to release a few more albums but they never sell as well as their debut and they never get the press they had at the start

Darius Rucker has a big career in country
I bet most of these "flashes in the pan" can still draw theater crowds that would be the envy of whatever indie rock bands are Pitchfork darlings these days

1984 - Thompson Twins

Their hit-making run started in 1983 in the UK and continued through 1985. They were still big enough in '85 to perform on the US Live Aid stage.

Some of these are puzzling, like Corinne Bailey Rae, who made great follow up records

Her husband died a while after the release of her debut, and her career seemed to lose all its momentum while she took time out.

I had no idea. Definitely strike her from the list.