Alternative One-Hit Wonders

[Shadow, Thief of the Sun]

http://altmusic.about.com/library/special/bl_onehit.htm


"OK, I know what your thinking; how can there be an Alternative One Hit Wonder? A band cannot be Alternative if they've had a hit, that makes them Pop, right? Well, technically that's true. But, we don't live is such a black and white world. The fact is that Alternative Music crossed over into the Pop realm a long time ago. Luckily for us, there have been countless bands to provide us with a soundtrack for a brief moment in time.

The One Hit Wonder is a strange phenomenon. For some reason, for a band to be called a One Hit Wonder is almost an insult. The work of these bands is often considered novelty throwaway music with very little importance. In reality, these songs are so prized, that they've literally been imbedded into the cultural psyche. That's a huge accomplishment worthy of respect."

[ferrarimodena360]

portishead - glory box
i love dis track

[Potato]

Candlebox - Far Behind

[Ken17625]

I thought about this, then realized that the songs I choose could spark an argument over whether that band really is a "one-hit-wonder" or not.

I don't know what constitutes a one-hit-wonder.

Is there an official scale or something, to tell if a song is a hit or not?

I think the subjectivity negates the thread in some ways.

Also, what if a band comes back out of the blue, and has another "hit"? You'd only be able to choose from retired or disbanded bands.

[joey tribiani]

Does anybody notice that Chad Kempfert the Articles Author looks like a "Chick" :;)

[Arch Stanton]

i think the 80's have to hold the record for the decade with the most 1-hit wonders

just to name a few

big country - in a big country
aha - take on me
gary numan - cars
kajagoogoo - too shy
real life - send me an angel
russ ballard - voices
taco - putting on the ritz
soft cell - tainted lovel

[begoodbebad]

i think the 80's have to hold the record for the decade with the most 1-hit wonders

just to name a few

big country - in a big country
aha - take on me
gary numan - cars
kajagoogoo - too shy
real life - send me an angel
russ ballard - voices
taco - putting on the ritz
soft cell - tainted lovel

Big Country unfortunately had a whole series of hits and I still hate them all. Soft Cell had one other big one, "Say hello, wave goodbye". Gary Numan also had far more than one, He had a huge hit with Tubeway Army before going solo...remember Are Friends Electric? omg I'm old, this all seems like yesterday.

How about

Carl Douglas - Kung Fu Fighting
Terry Jacks - Seasons in the Sun
Paper Lace - Billy Don't be a Hero, just fuck off and die (did I remember that right?)
Hayzee Fantayzee - some awful crap and thankfully the name is purged from my consciousness
Tracy Ullman - Breakaway (and she did too)
Russ Abbot - I love a Party With a Happy Atmosphere (or he would if anyone ever invited him)
David Soul - Silver Lady
Sarah Brightman - I lost my Heart to a Starship Trooper
Baccara - Yes Sir, I Can Boogie (I still fancy these women 25 or 30 years later)


Classics all.... :green. These are only really alternative in the sense that they are an alternative to music anyone might actually buy, apart from Carl Douglas.


Looking at this list it occurs to me that I might be metamorphasisng into Alan Partridge. Time to seek emotional and psychiatric counselling. aha.

[begoodbebad]

kajagoogoo - too shy


hush hush eye to eye


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh

[Arch Stanton]

hmmm,

paper lace also had "the night chicago died"

also, don't forget some of the other horrid tracks produced by the 1970's like:

sammy johns - chevy van
cw mcall - convoy
michael murphy - wildfire
starland vocal band - afternoon delight

[alliercollins]

I thought about this, then realized that the songs I choose could spark an argument over whether that band really is a "one-hit-wonder" or not.

I don't know what constitutes a one-hit-wonder.

Is there an official scale or something, to tell if a song is a hit or not?

I think the subjectivity negates the thread in some ways.

Also, what if a band comes back out of the blue, and has another "hit"? You'd only be able to choose from retired or disbanded bands.

I was just thinking the same thing... Just to name off the ones that I noticed:
-3 Doors Down -What about Loser and Kryptonite? Both went #1 and everyone knows both. I'm also fairly certain that Duck and Run went close to #1.

-Buckcherry - some would dispute For The Movies was a hit, since it was all over the place and finished higher on the Modern Rock charts than Lit Up.

-Cake - Never There was their biggest hit to most, not the Distance. I Will Survive may very well be their best known.

-Counting Crows - Hanging Around? Round Here? Big Yellow Taxi? These guys have a non stop slew of hits and the funny thing is, although Mr. Jones is their standout hit, I know some people who love Counting Crows and have never even heard of it.

-Eve 6 - Inside Out is my favorite, but Promise had a lot of success and Here's To The Night was probably bigger than either.

-Faith No More - Mid Life Crisis went #6 and had a lot of MTV playtime, who cares though, this band is legendary, look them up at all Music, then look up the lead singer... Here is a list of bands he has influenced:
Followers of Faith No More:
Tool Rage Against the Machine Tom Morello Vision of Disorder Limp Bizkit Sugar Ray System of a Down The Flys Staind Papa Roach Peach Deride Flynet Viciana Lostprophets Minus.Driver To My Surprise
Followers Of Mike Patton:
Incubus Tool Fear Factory Slipknot Zack de la Rocha Korn Deftones Limp Bizkit System of a Down Papa Roach Bigdumbface

-Fuel - This one is a joke, Hemmorage was #1 for like 2 months, maybe longer. AS I recall, the only reason it got knocked out was because Innocent came up and put them with two songs in the top 5, then Hemmorage dropped off to make room. Few people even know Shimmer since they weren't that big back then.

-Gin Blossoms - No mention of Til I Hear It From You or Follow You Down, those songs were huge hits in their day and almost everyone still knows them.

-Goldfinger - No love for Superman, despite the fact that most feel that would be their only hit. 99 Red Balloons recieved a lot of attention on the radio to.

-Presidents of the USA - They actually listed that it was disputed because of Peaches, which is very true, both Lump and Peaches were equal.

-Radiohead - Come on, these guys were nominated for every award possible over time, had tons of hit songs, and so forth. Karma Police is just one example, there are so many more.

-Vertical Horizon - You're A God was considered a hit, chicks dig Best I Ever Had. I wouldn't consider them one hit wonders. Maybe one album.

Just thoughts on a few. There were also a few groups who have put out solid songs, solid albums, and so forth over time, yet were listed as one hit wonders. I think A successful career should overshadow that, examples I saw were:
Blur
Tonic
Liz Phair
Barenaked Ladies
Eels

There also should be limitations as to who should be considered, for example Blind Melon's lead singer died after only one album and Mad Season was just a collaboration of Grunge musicians, not an actual group and they never wanted to make another album.

Oh and as a personal thing, they spelled Veruca Salt wrong and the video for Volcano Girls is the best video ever! :)

[shawners]

One hit wonder, means that the song was to reach the number one spot on billboard or something as big as that. In no ways reaching the top ten would constitute a one hit wonder. thats what i got from watching VH1 one hit wonders. They had a series of them. They said that Jimi Hendrix was a one hit wonder since one song ever made it to the top spot, ALl along the watch tower.

[tamarisk]

A one hit wonder is a song by a particular artist that went very well. while the artist continued releasing songs, none of them went well.

[Mels_Smileys45]

Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve! This songs is still one of my favs.

[alliercollins]

You guys are a little off... A one hit wonder is a song that defines a group. It has nothing to do with going number one shawners. A one hit wonder song could very well never reach number one, but still be considered a huge hit. If we go by your logic, then how could there possibly be a category for dispute, since it's only if the song went #1?

Basically a one hit wonder song is one that comes froma group that has never been able to match that success, although the way they did it seems a little off. Yes, songs like Bittersweet Symphony, The Freshman, and so forth were songs like this, but lok at the groups that I listed out. They were listing hugely successful groups as one hit wonders, like Radiohead (Admittingly Creep was so successful that it would be impossible to match, but that would be true for any group and we can't overlook what they did after.), and so forth. The list wasn't terrible, it just needs some tweaking. Some of the groups were not even alternative, while some were in no ways one hit wonders.

[kiwibank]

mungo jerry "in the summertime"
gun "race with the devil"

[g-smooth2k]

Too many 1 hit wonders R there. hehehe

Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
Dishwalla - Counting Blue Cars
The Breeders - Cannonball
The Cardigans - Lovefool
Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
Marvelous3 - Freak Of The Week
Nada Surf - Popular
Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth
Placebo - Pure Morning
Meatpuppets - Backwater
Seven Mary Three - Cumbersome
Radiohead - Creep
The Verve Pipe - The Freshmen
White Town - Your Woman

[lil_amb]

hmmm,


cw mcall - convoy



Good song ....and I cannot think of anymore 1 hitters :P

[shawners]

Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve! This songs is still one of my favs.

Get the whole album!!! ITS very good!! I cant think of the album name, but it has that song on there.

[Afn]

http://altmusic.about.com/library/special/bl_onehit.htm



The One Hit Wonder is a strange phenomenon. For some reason, for a band to be called a One Hit Wonder is almost an insult. The work of these bands is often considered novelty throwaway music with very little importance. In reality, these songs are so prized, that they've literally been imbedded into the cultural psyche. That's a huge accomplishment worthy of respect."

One hit wonders refer to acts that have an extremely successful song, so successful they can not sell anything else. They have 15 minutes of fame, and like a firefly, they glow brightly and fade away.