What is your favorite one hit wonder?

The Last Film by the brilliantly named Kissing the Pink.
It wasn’t their only hit, but certainly their best.

I’m currently addicted to Gangnam Style

Have a huge feeling it’ll go the way of the Macarena soon, but I’m riding the wave as long as it lasts.

Tequila by The Champs HERE IT IS

Incense and Peppermints by Strawberry Alarm Clock

Question Mark and the Mysterians -96 Tears

Who doesn’t love Mambo No. 5?

This is tough. I have two that immediately spring to mind and I couldn’t decide between them since I always have a blast listening (and singing along to) both.

So just flip a coin between The Toadies – Possum Kingdom and Spacehog – In the Meantime.

I’m really like that song by The Church too though. Even if I had never heard it until I watched Donnie Darko.

Lemon Tree by Fools’ Garden – for some reason this song played often on the radio when I visited my grandparents. Takes me back to a more peaceful time in my life :-)

I like Downtown. I don’t think the original singer did much else, but I could be wrong.

I also like Bus Stop, but I believe that was done by the Hollies and they did other stuff.

House of the Rising Sun by Frijid Pink

@JLeslie “Downtown” was by Petula Clark, she did a lot and was a major star on both sides of the Atlantic. She’s the most commercially successful British solo singer in history.

Some of her hits include “My Place”, “A Sign of the TImes”, and “Don’‘t Sleep in the SUbway Darling.”

Not sure if this counts as a one hit wonder but The Power of Love by Jennifer Rush. She had a fairly succesful career in Europe (Mostly Germany I believe) and I have most of her albums but the US and UK only really remember her for that one song.

@bvdshec17 : Haha, nice, I remember Mambo Number 5. I dare not click on the link; the song is already going to be stuck in my head all day :-p

@amujinx : Possum Kingdom is a great one! It seemed like a nice angsty love song to me when I was a teenager, but I heard somewhere that it’s about a serial killer or something O_O And don’t worry, I only heard of “Under the Milky Way” through Donnie Darko as well ;)

@zenvelo: I only became aware of Petula Clark thanks to various Monty Python’s Flying Circus skits… I think they had Cardinal Richelieu singing “Don’t Sleep in the Subway” haha.

Oh wow…I shall have to ponder this for awhile.
I heard some old Devo the other day in my car, hardly a one hit wonder band, but still…I love “Whip it”...I have been singing it for freaking days now. Make it stop!

@Coloma That’s the problem with one hit wonders, they are perfect ear worm fodder.

Tainted Love
by Soft Cell

Stuck in the Middle with You
by Stealers Wheel

My vote is for The Safety Dance
Plus, the video has a midget in it, and thats always a bonus. :)

^^ That is a great song too.

Some nights by fun

I was just listening to a good one…

She’s a Beauty
by The Tubes

To answer the last question first, it seems that the term “one-hit wonder” is largely a matter of perception. Soft Cell was a one-hit wonder in the US, but had several hits in the UK. Nena had only one hit in the entire English-speaking world, but was fairly successful in Germany. Survivor had several top 10 hits, yet is remembered only for “Eye of the Tiger” (and thus is considered a one-hit wonder by some).

Meanwhile, the band Cracker isn’t even considered to have had one hit by most standards, yet “Teen Angst” and “Low” helped define the early alternative movement and are immediately recognizable to most members of my generation. Similarly, Nirvana just barely missed being considered a one-hit wonder by the common “Billboard Top 40” standard due to “Come As You Are” reaching #32.

So with all that in the way of qualification, I’d say my favorite “one-hit wonder” is Soft Cell with “Tainted Love” (and the many cover versions it has inspired). Honorable mentions go to Nena’s “99 Luftballons” and Blind Melon’s “No Rain.”

It makes me ache to mention them as one-hit wonders – almost as much as it did to hear Blind Melon called that, though I understand why – but Modest Mouse, which has only had one very popular song, is one of my favorite bands. although I loathe that particular song The Dandy Warhols are great, though they’ve got much better songs than their hit “Bohemian Like You”. Jane’s Addiction is pretty much only known for “Been Caught Stealing”, but the rest of their stuff is utterly amazing. It’s funny, the song that the band is known for is almost never exemplary of their sound in general, or of their most skillful and creative work.

Songwise:
Echo & The Bunnymen – “Killing Moon”
Butthole Surfers – “Pepper” (they’ve got a lot of other great songs, too).
Alabama 3 – Woke Up This Morning. (you’ll recognize it)
Iron Butterfly – “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”

@wildpotato Thanks!! Just went and pulled my Iron Butterfly CD and listened to InAGaddaDaVida again. Haven’t thought of it in years. Such a great drum solo.