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Archive for the ‘One Hit Wonders’ Category

Matthew Wilder

In 1983 Wilder scored a major hit with “Break My Stride”, a song that managed to top charts worldwide. But his fame was not sustainable, and by the mid 80s, with one commercially unsuccessful albums and two poorly charted singles, Matthew Wilder exited from the public eye.

Dexys Midnight Runners

Dexys Midnight Runners’ first album, entitled Searching for the Young Soul Rebels, featured horns as well as the songwriting ability of Kevin Rowland. Rowland and his British musical collective dressed in dungarees and mingled genres like rock and Celtic soul, but nobody expected this single – whose sing-along chorus overwhelmed the dour lyrical perspective – [...]

Amii Stewart

First getting noticed in the 1975 Broadway musical Bubbling Brown Sugar, Stewart would finally get her lasting imprint on pop culture five years later when she covered the Eddie Floyd standby Knock on Wood to a disco beat. It earned her a Grammy nod and went platinum. Stewart’s follow-up hit, a disco cover of The [...]

Stacey Q

In 1986, Stacey (who previously was part of a new wave group named SSQ), had a Top 5 synth-pop hit with Two of Hearts. A two-episode stint on The Facts of Life followed, with numerous appearances on talk shows. 

Nena

Nena (a nickname) began in a German punk band in 1977, but enjoyed international success in 1983 when her band also named Nena released 99 Luftballons (99 balloons in German) – the English version of the song was 99 Red Balloons.  

Starland Vocal Band

Singer-songwriter Bill Danoff together with wife Kathy Nivert teamed with singers Margo Chapman and husband Jon Carrollto form a folksy-rock quartet. With the catchy name “Starland Vocal Band” they became a household word in 1976 with their international hit song Afternoon Delight.

Icicle Works

Icicle Works was a British band that scored a hit song in the US with the quirky and mysterious title Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly). The jangling guitars and martial drumming echoes the similar sound of early REM. Although the single was the closest the band ever got to success in the US, they [...]

Moon Martin

Contrary to the confusion that arose upon his entry into the New Wave music scene Moon Martin is a singer and songwriter, and not the name of a band. Martin had a minor hit with the power pop song Rolenein 1979. However, he is perhaps most famous not for the hit he sang, but for [...]

M

M was the name of a band, but more specifically the band was really revolved around one man named Robin Scott. In 1979, the electronic music revolution got a kick in the pants from this one man band when the imminently listenable single Pop Muzikwas released. Along with one of the earliest music videos to [...]

Billy Ray Cyrus

One of the most famous one-hit wonders of all time, Cyrus became a household name when his Achy Breaky Heart became one of the biggest songs of 1992. The album, Some Gave All, spent 17 weeks at the top of the charts, selling 9 million copies.