@JonT She read it and had me pull it back - a few are finding out my IRL deets - she said it was maybe a little too much info for the PTA crowd. But she was, and still is, worth it.
@2many2no I typically think of "one hit wonder" as a band who was mediocre and got lucky with one song. If we are talking about breaking the Top 100 then, The Roots, The Ramones, The Clash, etc would all be considered crappy bands.
@phatmass It all depends on the definition of "one hit wonder."
Officially, it is a band or person that only ever got one song onto the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. That eliminates a lot of excellent bands that never had a Top 40 hit. This is especially true for me, since my preferred genres are hard rock and heavy metal but the Top 40 is mostly pop.
For instance, Queensrÿche's only Top 40 song was "Silent Lucidity," even though they have had a lot of success worldwide.
I get that The Cardigans are seen as a one hit wonder. But I only hear one song when they are mentioned. The intro to Gran Turismo 4. The name of the song was My Favourite Game, which GT4 was for a long time.
@BillLehecka I don't think it did very well. Crappy song tied to a crappy movie. His star was crashing hard at that time. Play that Funky Music may be considered a hit but I think it was halo effect from Ice Ice Baby.
Oh damn. The '90's was my "working DJ" era. So many were here and gone. Just a few I used to enjoy: Mighty Mighty Bosstones-The Impression That I Get, Harvey Danger-Flagpole Sitta, Marcy Playground-Sex & Candy, Everlast-What It's Like Oh so many more...
@JonT I actually liked most of the Let's Face It CD, but the only track that made it to the station's sanctioned playlist was The Impression That I get. For some reason commercial sellout radio only wants to play commercially successful music. Go figure...
@Chops This is why I love the 90's channel on Sirius. So many CD's back then with only 1 good song so I didn't buy them. Now they all live on one channel.
@BillLehecka I must agree with you on The Divinyls. I was young when it came out, and was a little scandalized, but I'm quite fond of it now. High school is a very awkward time. Plus Primitive Radio Gods, swoon! I still love that song.
@rokamortis Oh hey now, they were fairly popular on the indie stations. "Whatever" is on the soundtrack for Baz Lurhman's Romeo + Juliet, and "Jingle of a Dog's Collar" played on the radio a bunch in my college years.
@rokamortis Thank you for posting this, because it reminded me where Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg got their wardrobe inspiration for "Dick in a Box."
@2many2no "Paper Dress" is on the "Crow: City of Angels" soundtrack. Still love "Possum Kingdom" so hard though. I rock out whenever I hear it on SiriusXM Lithium.
The main reason I voted for "Tubthumping" was because of this cover They Might Be Giants did for the AV Club. Tell me this doesn't make your day a little bit better.
@RDW0409 Outstanding choice! Still one of my favorites to this day. Saw them live acouple of times and they put on a great show as well. Too bad they had the perfect mid 90's sound in the late 90's and never got much attention.
I was just starting to form some sense of a musical taste and getting old enough to buy my own music in the early 90s so I bought a bunch of CDs from some of the one-hit wonders mentioned here. This thing got a ton of use around the house:
Chumbawamba – had the Tubthumper album and listened to the shit out of it. Really weird and interesting, there are a bunch of politically-charged messages and clips in the songs because they're an 'anarcho-punk' British band. You'd never guess from the only single they released. I didn't understand any of that stuff at the time at all (and still mostly don't) but I liked the music. I go back and listen occasionally for a nice dose of nostalgia and because it's really catchy and weird.
Mighty Mighty Bosstones – bought Let's Face It based off of "The Impression That I Get" and dipped my toes for the first time into ska. I had no idea that's what it was called at the time, but I know I really loved it. I still remember feeling like a bad kid because one of the songs said "shit".
Snow – I have no idea why I bought "12 Inches of Snow" which had Informer on it or how I even heard about it. I think I just liked how ridiculous and gibberish-y the single sounded. I remember not liking any of the other songs all that much.
I also had a CD from a band called Wank, I would barely call them one-hit wonders. The CD was called Get a Grip On Yourself (the innuendo was sadly lost on me), and their "hit" was Forgiven: It's actually a pretty fun poppy-punk CD that I also go back to for nostalgia every now and then.
I wore this bands CD's OUT!! They only had one song that was played on the radio but that was probably because all of the other songs were too....naughty?? I loved them all though and knew the words to every song BLOODHOUND GANG
I saw Chumbawumba at a Guinness Fleadh music festival in San Jose in 1997 or so. All I knew of them was (of course) Tubthumping so I was planning on going to watch a different stage when they came on, but I stayed and was completely blown away. It was one of the best live shows I've ever seen. (Others being Negativland at The Great American Music Hall around 1989, The Knack at a basketball arena on the Stanford campus around 1980, and They Might Be Giants at The Keystone in Berkeley around 1988.) They were theatrical in the best way. Every song was a short one-act play. They've released a lot of great stuff since. As @JonT says, they were "anarcho-punk" with a strong social message. These days I'd call them more "anarcho-folk" but still with a message. Usually I'm put off by bands with a message but they're a rare exception.
My pipe. I spent most of the 90's in a fog.
@Pavlov aww, you edited it :P
@Pavlov
@JonT She read it and had me pull it back - a few are finding out my IRL deets - she said it was maybe a little too much info for the PTA crowd. But she was, and still is, worth it.
My virginity.
@MsELizardBeth
@MsELizardBeth Under-rated post. I mean, one hit, and BANG! It's gone!
Greatest as in greatest? Or greatest as in worst?
This is an important distinction.
@Mac454 however you wanna interpret it! Both? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
what kind of psycho votes for Tubthumping?! Digable Planets ... all the way.
@carl669 That whole album was great
@The_Baron yeah...good point.
Surprised "Mmmmm Bop" wasn't an option.
@dynamiklol more relevent than 1/2 the options for sure
@dynamiklol Thank goodness they only had the one song; can you imagine if tweens had Twitter back then?
@dynamiklol Aargh! Immediately stuck in my head.
@glindagw mmm bop skip skop doo bob a skibbity dibby dibby do
Green Jelly? No, no, no. They were Green Jellö first!
@clonetek don't gimme no, gimme no, gimme no, gimme no...
Rebirth of Slick is the best song in the list, but Digable Planets were not one hit wonders, so this whole poll is flawed.
@phatmass #15 March 6 1993, their only Top 40 hit. They had songs on other charts (R&B, Rap) but not the Hot 100.
@2many2no I typically think of "one hit wonder" as a band who was mediocre and got lucky with one song. If we are talking about breaking the Top 100 then, The Roots, The Ramones, The Clash, etc would all be considered crappy bands.
@phatmass It all depends on the definition of "one hit wonder."
Officially, it is a band or person that only ever got one song onto the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. That eliminates a lot of excellent bands that never had a Top 40 hit. This is especially true for me, since my preferred genres are hard rock and heavy metal but the Top 40 is mostly pop.
For instance, Queensrÿche's only Top 40 song was "Silent Lucidity," even though they have had a lot of success worldwide.
Chumbawamba Tubthumping...
1992's Sir Mix-a-lot "Baby got back"
This anaconda don't want none, unless you got buns hun.
@BabyBear Sir Mix A Lot is not a one hit wonder.
LFO.
Summer girls.
Worst of the "best" one hit wonders.
@Collin1000 gag http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/lfo/summergirls.html
@Collin1000 Girl on TV was another moderately successful song from them, so they can't really be considered one hit wonders.
Yes, I know this. Yes, I'm super cool. Ask my kids.
@Collin1000 Damn you for making me hear that.
When I dip, you dip, we dip.
Lovefool came up in my shuffle while I was driving for five hours on Sunday. I did not skip it. Don't judge me.
"Greatest one-hit wonder" seems kinda like an oxymoron.
I get that The Cardigans are seen as a one hit wonder. But I only hear one song when they are mentioned. The intro to Gran Turismo 4. The name of the song was My Favourite Game, which GT4 was for a long time.
@Club33NOS definitely not one hit wonder, I had forgotten about that video, thanks! What was up with her tattoo rubbing off?
Quad. City. DJ's. Come on and slam
No 4 Non Blonds?
I mean, what's goin' on?
@G1 I said, hey!
Groove Is In The Heart, Deee Lite.
3 hit wonder ... C+C Music Factory
Greatest, as in "not greatest".
Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
Vanilla Ice has to be the greatest one hit wonder of the 90s.
@rokamortis Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
@Chops Thanks for the video!
@rokamortis I don't know... wasn't Ninja Rap kind of big?
@BillLehecka I don't think it did very well. Crappy song tied to a crappy movie. His star was crashing hard at that time. Play that Funky Music may be considered a hit but I think it was halo effect from Ice Ice Baby.
@rokamortis I'll raise you a Canadian white rapper:
Remember the 90's ...
@rokamortis I love Portlandia, and I legitimately think this is a great song. It gets stuck in my head every time I hear it.
Oh damn. The '90's was my "working DJ" era. So many were here and gone. Just a few I used to enjoy:
Mighty Mighty Bosstones-The Impression That I Get, Harvey Danger-Flagpole Sitta,
Marcy Playground-Sex & Candy,
Everlast-What It's Like
Oh so many more...
@ruouttaurmind A few more I can think of ... Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, K7, Wrex n Effect
@ruouttaurmind how dare you say the Bosstones were a one-hit wonder! I hated that Marcy Playground song though.
@JonT I actually liked most of the Let's Face It CD, but the only track that made it to the station's sanctioned playlist was The Impression That I get. For some reason commercial sellout radio only wants to play commercially successful music. Go figure...
Aqua - Barbie Girl
Looking back at all of these, the 90s was a One-Hit-Wonder making machine.
@Chops This is why I love the 90's channel on Sirius. So many CD's back then with only 1 good song so I didn't buy them. Now they all live on one channel.
I'm not even sure if they officially made "hit" status but I listened to a lot of Cake in the 90s.
@rokamortis me too, but they had a number of top ten songs, before and after Y2K.
@rokamortis great band. Still are.
A few that didn't make the list:
Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
Divinyls - I Touch Myself
And probably the most famous option.
The Rembrandts - I'll Be There For You
@BillLehecka Those are all great examples
Also forgot: Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand
@BillLehecka I must agree with you on The Divinyls. I was young when it came out, and was a little scandalized, but I'm quite fond of it now. High school is a very awkward time. Plus Primitive Radio Gods, swoon! I still love that song.
Butthole Surfers - Pepper
@rokamortis Oh hey now, they were fairly popular on the indie stations. "Whatever" is on the soundtrack for Baz Lurhman's Romeo + Juliet, and "Jingle of a Dog's Collar" played on the radio a bunch in my college years.
Snow - Informer
@rokamortis Thank you for posting this, because it reminded me where Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg got their wardrobe inspiration for "Dick in a Box."
@BillLehecka Haha. I thought they got lot of inspiration from Color Me Badd. But it is hard to distinguish - same basic style.
Oh crap, almost forgot...
Gerardo Mejía - Rico Suave
Thanks Meh - I'm going to be up all night reliving my formative teenage years. Now where did I put my silk shirts and Zubaz pants?
Lots of great music from these guys, but only one ever made the Top 40, so they qualify.
Toadies "Possum Kingdom"
@2many2no "Paper Dress" is on the "Crow: City of Angels" soundtrack. Still love "Possum Kingdom" so hard though. I rock out whenever I hear it on SiriusXM Lithium.
Here's a great video on Chumbawumba:
http://blip.tv/todds-pop-song-reviews/one-hit-wonderland-tubthumping-by-chumbawamba-6456971
@jasontoon You have excellent taste in 90s music judging by your poll options.
The main reason I voted for "Tubthumping" was because of this cover They Might Be Giants did for the AV Club. Tell me this doesn't make your day a little bit better.
Experienced a three-way tie but had to go with Chumbawumba.
@chr Had a few three-ways in the 90's as well.
Blind Melon had a few hits if I recall.
@tallrob The No Rain Video was great!! Made ME want a bee suit to dance in
Sigh, now I feel old today. Thanks Meh. I still like most of these songs. And apparently, I know way too many movie soundtracks from the '90s.
Splender, "Yeah, Whatever." The MP3 of it that I downloaded through LimeWire is still my most-played iTunes track of all time.
@RDW0409 Outstanding choice! Still one of my favorites to this day. Saw them live acouple of times and they put on a great show as well. Too bad they had the perfect mid 90's sound in the late 90's and never got much attention.
EMF - Unbelievable
I have trouble believing that no one else brought up the greatest one hit wonder of the nineties.
what about Rednex - Cotton Eyed Joe?
@carl669 That was my ring tone for a long time and my kids and I still sing loudly whenever we hear it.
I was just starting to form some sense of a musical taste and getting old enough to buy my own music in the early 90s so I bought a bunch of CDs from some of the one-hit wonders mentioned here. This thing got a ton of use around the house:
Chumbawamba – had the Tubthumper album and listened to the shit out of it. Really weird and interesting, there are a bunch of politically-charged messages and clips in the songs because they're an 'anarcho-punk' British band. You'd never guess from the only single they released. I didn't understand any of that stuff at the time at all (and still mostly don't) but I liked the music. I go back and listen occasionally for a nice dose of nostalgia and because it's really catchy and weird.
Mighty Mighty Bosstones – bought Let's Face It based off of "The Impression That I Get" and dipped my toes for the first time into ska. I had no idea that's what it was called at the time, but I know I really loved it. I still remember feeling like a bad kid because one of the songs said "shit".
Snow – I have no idea why I bought "12 Inches of Snow" which had Informer on it or how I even heard about it. I think I just liked how ridiculous and gibberish-y the single sounded. I remember not liking any of the other songs all that much.
I also had a CD from a band called Wank, I would barely call them one-hit wonders. The CD was called Get a Grip On Yourself (the innuendo was sadly lost on me), and their "hit" was Forgiven:
It's actually a pretty fun poppy-punk CD that I also go back to for nostalgia every now and then.
One-hit wonders sure as hell worked on me.
I wore this bands CD's OUT!! They only had one song that was played on the radio but that was probably because all of the other songs were too....naughty?? I loved them all though and knew the words to every song
BLOODHOUND GANG
Meredith Brooks with her song Bitch:
A song I knew I liked a lot, but had no idea what it was called or who it was by:
I saw Chumbawumba at a Guinness Fleadh music festival in San Jose in 1997 or so. All I knew of them was (of course) Tubthumping so I was planning on going to watch a different stage when they came on, but I stayed and was completely blown away. It was one of the best live shows I've ever seen. (Others being Negativland at The Great American Music Hall around 1989, The Knack at a basketball arena on the Stanford campus around 1980, and They Might Be Giants at The Keystone in Berkeley around 1988.) They were theatrical in the best way. Every song was a short one-act play. They've released a lot of great stuff since. As @JonT says, they were "anarcho-punk" with a strong social message. These days I'd call them more "anarcho-folk" but still with a message. Usually I'm put off by bands with a message but they're a rare exception.