One Hit Wonder Day
- Thread starter Quad Linda
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Yeah, tons of these videos are not of one-hit wonders at all.
Agree but most are of artists that had one really big hit that almost everyone knows, and a few minor hits, that may have charted, but are only well known to a subset of those that know the really big hit.
Doug G.
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Yum! As Archie said, "When she sits down, the mystery's over." (in reply to Obbop's post)
Doug
As I've said before, to me the term "One Hit wonder" is a derogatory term. It implies that the artist only had one good song. Anyone that had more than one song chart at all I would not consider to be a one hit wonder. Yes sadly often that one big hit overshadows the rest of the artist's output, and the artist is deemed to be a one hit wonder by many people.
I find this to be a rather cool thread all the less, even if I'm a purist about what actually qualifies as a one hit wonder.
Unfairly (To others) a very popular group like Black Sabbath would likely not be considered to be a one hit wonder but I only ever remember "Paranoid" charting, does that make them a one hit wonder then? I'm asking others here because I don't really know!
Well it's not like people are going to be penalized if they get one wrong but Sabbath would be more correctly called a band that had an accidental hit... LOL.
If you want an on-the-spot ruling I'd say any band that had multiple albums that went platinum or gold is exempt from being call OHWs.
Doug G.
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
I would consider a more realistic or, perhaps, a looser definition of a OHW to be a band/artist really only remembered for one big hit.
Doug
Doug
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Well, since this is an "old" term. You need to think about it in the past. "Hit" was songs played on the radio and sometimes sales of the songs single- the 45 rpm record. I was clearly seen as a hit in Billboard Magazine.
So a band may have had some great songs, even some that made it to the charts (but like at #87, not #10,) but they are known for that one record that you heard on the radio. (Usually they were a "Top 40" song, not a specific country or rock hit.)
So a band may have had some great songs, even some that made it to the charts (but like at #87, not #10,) but they are known for that one record that you heard on the radio. (Usually they were a "Top 40" song, not a specific country or rock hit.)
MidiMagic
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The ranking system used to determine how good a particular piece of music is is totally bogus. It depends entirely on how rotten the other pieces of music in competition for the #1 title are.. Ranking is statistical garbage.
There were a couple of up and coming songs I thought could shortly be number one. I was watching them rise in the rankings.
Suddenly ELVIS DIED!
Most of the top 40 were suddenly old Elvis songs. Everything that had been on the charts disappeared from both the charts and the record stores.
I managed to get a 45 of one of the songs. Then the songs and the artists vanished into oblivion, never to reappear on the charts or in the record stores.
There were several times when the charts were affected by historical events. Examples:
- The Buddy Holly plane crash
- The Kennedy assassination
- The Apollo 1 fire (two songs about going to the moon dropped off the chart)
- John Lennon assassinated
- The Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash
- Robin Williams' death
There were a couple of up and coming songs I thought could shortly be number one. I was watching them rise in the rankings.
Suddenly ELVIS DIED!
Most of the top 40 were suddenly old Elvis songs. Everything that had been on the charts disappeared from both the charts and the record stores.
I managed to get a 45 of one of the songs. Then the songs and the artists vanished into oblivion, never to reappear on the charts or in the record stores.
There were several times when the charts were affected by historical events. Examples:
- The Buddy Holly plane crash
- The Kennedy assassination
- The Apollo 1 fire (two songs about going to the moon dropped off the chart)
- John Lennon assassinated
- The Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash
- Robin Williams' death
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It's a catch 22. Radio stations want to play what people want to hear (and, especially today, what record companies want them to play.) So when Elvis died, stations paid tribute by playing his songs. That created the hits, because that's what people wanted to hear. Top of mind. I never heard so many John Lennon songs on the radio until he died. But that was then. Radio now is corporate crap.
I was in radio for nearly 40 years in various roles. I cant tell you when the last time was that I listed to an over-the-air terrestrial radio station in 2021. (I do pop on NPR when I'm in my car sometimes in the morning or afternoon. But that's not music.)
That's just the luck (or bad luck) of the draw. No different than any other aspect of life. Would Elton John have made it big if he had never met Bernie Taupin? Would Tom Brady have won 7 Superbowls if he had been drafted by another team? Would you have gotten that big promotion if it weren't for someone calling in sick and giving you the opportunity to handle that big problem that should never have landed in your lap to begin with?
What could be, what should be, doesn't always follow the logical path it should or adhere to any concept of what's fair. Statistics are just a measurement of what DID happen not what was fair or should have happened.
Where did it happen/not happen? Elton John had big hits in the US before he did in Britain. Yet, he's British. Depending on the time and place, Elton might have been a no-hit or one-hit wonder in the past in either country. No, it would seem absurd to think of him as other than a hit machine today.
As I mentioned in a much earlier post in this thread, it can be interpreted in different ways. N 17 by the Saw Doctors was a huge hit in Ireland in '91, yet I expect they didn't chart anywhere else. Not meant as a slam, since I own all their records and have caught them live five times. It was a hit all over again earlier this year by Tolu Makay.
Let's move away from fine details and parameters, Let's just share some music and have fun!
As I mentioned in a much earlier post in this thread, it can be interpreted in different ways. N 17 by the Saw Doctors was a huge hit in Ireland in '91, yet I expect they didn't chart anywhere else. Not meant as a slam, since I own all their records and have caught them live five times. It was a hit all over again earlier this year by Tolu Makay.
Let's move away from fine details and parameters, Let's just share some music and have fun!
Don McLean...not a one-hit wonder. "Vincent" from the same album, hit #12.
Oops, sorry. Just noticed Linda pointed out the same things as I did. Should have read the entire thread before posting.
Gmat25
Senior Member
Not often a song about cannibalism becomes a hit:
Timothy by The Buoys written by (of all people) Rupert Holmes!
Timothy by The Buoys written by (of all people) Rupert Holmes!
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