One Hit Wonders - Defined and Ranked

[Butter]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

That was nearly a month ago.

Don't confuse ignored with merely forgotten

Touche.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Butter

Nice to know that my post #37 in this thread was summarily ignored.

I'm peeved, PEEVED.

Oh man I remember reading that post now But didn't have time to watch the video at the time and I forgot about it. Thank god it came up again and I didn't miss this opportunity to find the video.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Butter

I HATED and still hate "No Rain"

yes

[Breeze]

30. Devo – Whip It (1980)

Total Points – 430
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 1
Highest Ranking – 8

Devo, known for their interesting mingling of kitsch, science fiction themes, deadpan surrealist humor, and social satire often played discordant pop songs with unusual synthetic instrumentation and time signatures that arguably prevented them from achieving greater success, but also proved extremely influential on subsequent popular music, particularly new wave, industrial, and alt rock. Often the band’s eccentric persona caused them to be classified by music critics as a joke band. However, the band, and especially this song, has gone on to become iconic to the point it has transcended pop culture, including having The Simpsons pay homage to the video in an episode, and the band was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. This single, which was the second release from the 3rd album, was not expected to be hit, but DJ Kal Rudman loved it, pushed it, and soon it was being played all over the Southeastern US. The riff is a slightly altered version of Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman”, and the lyrics are mostly nonsensical but revolve around overcoming one’s problems. There are no sadomasochistic aspects of the song, but the video does play on that thought. The idea for the video came from an article that the band read about a former stuntman who marries a stripper, moves to a cattle ranch, and for entertainment removes his wife’s clothes with a whip. This song has been altered and used in many commercials, and Devo’s work has been redone as Devo 2.0 for kids. This might seem surprising for a band that was so cutting edge, but they feel this brings everything full circle and illustrates their belief that everything humanity creates, including their own songs, devolve.


29. The Cardigans – Lovefool (1997)

Total Points – 427
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 13

This Swedish rock band formed in 1992 and has pretty much remained unchanged to this day. It’s interesting to note that both guitarists in this band, with this bubble gum pop song hit, come from heavy metal backgrounds. Originally this song was released in the fall of 1996, but nothing much happened. It was re-released in 1997 and the song found international success. It reached #2 on the UK singles chart, and #1 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart in the US (it didn’t chart on the Hot 100 due to a technical rule at the time), as well as charting on 5 other Billboard charts. Some of the song’s popularity could be attributed to its appearance in Leonardo DiCaprio’s Romeo & Juliet. It was also present in the 1999 movie Cruel Intentions, and 2007’s Decameron Pie. Slant Magazine ranked the song #40 in their list of the 100 Best Singles of the 90s, and Pitchfork Media ranked it #66 in its Top 200 Tracks of the 90s.


28. Gary Numan – Cars (1980)

Total Points – 425
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 3
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 21

Gary Numan, who’s had a long and successful career in the UK, started out as the creative force behind the new wave band Tubeaway Army. In fact, under that band name he released 2 albums and had a #1 hit on the UK Singles Chart, “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?”. With the release of the third album, The Pleasure Principle, Numan dropped the band name and found international success with the release of this single. Cars went to #1 in the UK and Canada, while it peaked at #9 here in the States. The UK tour in support of the album, The Touring Principle, was sold-out everywhere and the concert video it spawned is often cited as the first full-length commercial music video released. The lyrics for the song were inspired by a case of road rage. Apparently, a group of teenagers got upset with Numan, they approached his car and tried to drag him out of it. He locked the doors and drove up on the sidewalk to get away. Numan’s distinctive look was totally unintentional. During an appearance on Top of the Pops he was suffering from a severe case of acne, so they slapped about a half an inch of white makeup on his face. This made his eyes non-distinct, so they used black eye-liner to make them stand out. This combined with Numan’s self-consciousness and lack of showmanship created the robotic/android like appearance. That image flourished, and many of his followers called themselves Numanoids. Amazingly, Numan has a new album, his 23rd, due out later this year, its expected title is Intruder.


27. Debby Boone – You Light Up My Life (1977)

Total Points – 422
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 1
Highest Ranking – 1

This song joins “Walking in Memphis” and “It’s Raining Men” as one of our 6 songs to receive a #1 ranking by the seeding lists. Debby Boone, the 3rd of Pat Boone’s 4 daughters, started touring with her sisters at 14 singing mostly gospel music. Debby, the Boone sisters’ lead singer, was urged to launch a solo career when her two older sisters married, and her younger sister started college. Her first effort was a remake of “You Light Up My Life” which was an unbelievable smash hit. In 1977, Fleetwood Mac released “Rumors”, The Eagles “Hotel California” was practically new, and Boston’s biggest debut album ever was less than a year old, plus disco was on the cusp of exploding in 1978. However, this single, which for all intense and purposes, and from Boone’s own admission to her interpretation of the lyrics, is a Contemporary Christian song, reached #1 on the Hot 100 for TEN STRAIGHT WEEKS. This set a new record (for the Hot 100 which was created in 1958), besting the 9 week record held by Percy Faith’s “Theme from A Summer Place”, and The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”. The record was tied in 1991 by Olivia Newton John’s “Physical”, but not broken until a chart methodology was changed to allow singles longer reigns at #1. It finally lost its top spot to the Bee Gee’s “How Deep is Your Love”, the first of 3 #1 singles from the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack. This single was the biggest selling song of the entire decade, and it is still in Billboard’s Hot 100 all time top 10, ranking #9 as of 2013. Amazingly, despite all the success of this single, Debby never managed to get another song in the Hot 100 top 40. She did change her focus to country where she had some success, before eventually moving, unsurprisingly to Contemporary Christian music.


26. Toni Basil – Mickey (1982)

Total Points – 421
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 1
Highest Ranking – 5

Toni’s career began as a choreographer and dancer in 1964 for the ABC show Shindig! She choreographed and co-directed the music videos “Once in a Lifetime” and “Crosseyed and Painless” by the Talking Heads. She choreographed David Bowie’s “Diamond Dogs” and “Glass Spider” tours. She was also involved as a choreographer in the movies, American Graffiti, The Rose, Peggy Sue Got Married, Something to Talk About, That Thing You Do, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Legally Blonde, Legally Blonde 2, Charlie Wilson’s War, and The House Bunny. Her musical career began in ’66, but she didn’t break out until this single, which was recorded in 1980 but not released until ’82. The video was also recorded in 1980, even before MTV existed. This single is a remake of a tune called “Kitty” by the UK band Racey. The original version of the song lacked the opening chant, which was added to give the song the cheerleading feel. This single reached #1 on the Hot 100 knocking Lionel Richie’s “Truly” from the top spot. In the cheerleading video for the song, Basil is 38 years old, and the stunt, at the beginning where two cheerleaders dive through a human pyramid, is now illegal in competition.

[Breeze]

I'll start counting down the Top 25 on Monday...enjoy your holiday weekend.

[Butter]

Is it ok if when I read all of these synopses, that I do it in a Casey Kasem voice? Not the abusive Casey Kasem either.

[Radii]

I had no expectation of Whip It being #1, but I'm very surprised that its only #30

[Scarecrow]

For those that are interested...

FOFC - One Hit Wonders on Spotify

[Maple Leafs]

Man, we are into the heavyweights now...

Originally Posted by Breeze

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDl3bdE3YQA"]34. Deee-Lite – Groove Is in the Heart (1990)

Total Points – 440
Charts – 4
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 14

Really more of a Dance Club band than a popular music focused group, Deee-Lite found themselves with a crossover hit in 1991 with this song. The song, which was eventually released on the bands own Sampladelic label, was used by the band in night clubs for a couple of years prior to being recorded and released as a single. The single features Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest, the base guitar loop from Herbie Hancock’s “Bring Down The Birds”, and additional vocals from Bootsy Collins, who was a big fan of the band. The hit climbed to #4 on the Hot 100, but like so many other OHWs, Deee-Light was much more successful on other charts, in this case the Dance Club Chart, where they had six #1 hits. In fact, the band was ranked by Billboard as the 55th most successful dance artist of all time, and this song ended up #2 in Slant Magazine’s ranking of the 100 Greatest Dance Songs. The song also was voted by several critics the best song of 1990.

To this day, still the perfect pop song. 100/100 rating in every possible category. Will never happen again.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Man, we are into the heavyweights now...


To this day, still the perfect pop song. 100/100 rating in every possible category. Will never happen again.

Somewhat oddly (I think), this is one of the very few listed so far that I have zero recollection of.

[Breeze]

25. Sinead O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U (1990)

Total Points – 421
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 1
Highest Ranking – 4

This Prince song was originally written for the band The Family, which was a restructuring of the band The Time after Morris Day left. The Family was put together by Prince as a way to record more of this large library of songs. This song was part of the only album they recorded but it was never released as a single. Sinead, reworked the song to explore the feelings of longing from the point of view of the abandoned lover, and it lead to commercial and critical success. The song reached #1 in Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It topped the Hot 100 and the Alternative Chart, and it reached #2 on the Adult Contemporary Chart – held out of #1 by Rod Stewart’s “This Old Heart of Mine”. The video was also a huge smash winning 3 MTV video awards, including Video of the Year, which made O’Connor the first female to ever win that award. At the end of the video, two tears run down O’Connor’s face, according the singer, those tears were real, stating that she learned to channel her emotions into her singing through the “bel canto” style, which is comparable to extreme method acting. Sinead, known for her confrontational nature, recorded Prince’s song by herself, and to that point hadn’t even met him. He summoned her to his house and told her that he didn’t like her using bad words in interviews, her response was, unsurprisingly – Fuck off. At which point things turned violent and she had to flee his house stating that Prince packed a bigger punch than she did. This song was the third biggest hit of 1990 behind only, Roxette’s “It Must Have Been Love”, and Wilson Phillips’ “Hold On”.

[Breeze]

24. ? and the Mysterians – 96 Tears (1966)

Total Points – 420
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 1
Highest Ranking – 5

This American garage rock band of Mexican descent started in the Saginaw and Bay City areas of Michigan. The band took their name from a 1957 Japanese sci-fi movie “The Mysterians”. The band’s organ-driven sound and raw vocals of Rudy Martinez led them to get one of the early punk rock labels, and their approach created a template that other similar groups followed. This was the band’s first single and it reached #1 on the Hot 100, and it kicked off a 15 month run of national prominence, where this song and it’s follow up single “I Need Somebody” kept them in the spotlight. However, subsequent releases failed to generate enough interest to get the band back in the Top 40, though they did have 2 other singles that reached the Hot 100. Unfortunately for the band, their label Cameo-Parkway was shutdown by the Security and Exchange Commission for stock manipulation taking all the band’s money with them. The song was ranked #213 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It also was the 5th biggest hit of 1966 behind, “The Ballad of the Green Berets” by Sgt. Barry Sadler, “Cherish” by the Association, “(You’re My) Soul and Insiration” by the Righteous Brothers, and “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops.

[QuikSand]

I thought Debby Boone was an intriguing candidate for #1 here. That song sat at #1 for weeks and weeks.

[Breeze]

23. Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Relax (1985)

Total Points – 418
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 1
Highest Ranking – 5

The band took their name from a pop art painting by Guy Peellaert of Frank Sinatra that was featured in The New Yorker magazine with the headline “Frankie Goes to Hollywood”. This song was banned by the BBC while it was already at #6 on the UK Singles Chart. It went on to reach #1 for 5 weeks. Amazingly, it also rallied from a declining position following the release of their second single “Two Tribes”. The song once again began to climb the charts getting all the way to #2, giving Frankie Goes to Hollywood the top 2 singles on the chart. This hadn’t been achieved since the early 60s when the industry focused more on singles rather than albums. Eventually, this song sold over 2 million copies in the UK alone and is the 7th best selling single of all time on the UK Singles Chart. After their 3rd single “The Power of Love” reached number 1 in the UK, they became only the second band in history to have their first 3 singles to top the UK charts, tying Gerry and the Pacemakers from the 1960s. In the US, this song upon initial release only got to #67, but a re-release saw it claw its way up the chart to peak at #10. The “Two Tribes” follow up made it to #43, but “The Power of Love” which was a #1 in the UK, didn’t chart on the Hot 100. However, “Welcome to the Pleasure Dome” did chart, topping out at #48. Relax won Best British Single at the 1985 Brit Awards.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Man, we are into the heavyweights now...


To this day, still the perfect pop song. 100/100 rating in every possible category. Will never happen again.

I totally agree. This song has long "been my jam."

[Radii]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Somewhat oddly (I think), this is one of the very few listed so far that I have zero recollection of.

Oh I instantly hear groove is in the heart in my head when i see the name mentioned, and it makes me very unhappy that it isn't fully blocked from my memory.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I thought Debby Boone was an intriguing candidate for #1 here. That song sat at #1 for weeks and weeks.

I think that lists from which Breeze is drawing have a heavy mid-80s and beyond slant, which will end up dominating the top 10.

[Breeze]

22. Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony - The Hustle (1975)

Total Points – 414
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 2
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 13

Van McCoy was a musician, singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor, who has over 700 song copywrites to his credit. He's noted for producing songs for artists, like: Glays Knight and The Pips, The Stylistics, Aretha Franklin, Brenda and the Tabulations, Peaches & Herb, David Ruffin, and Stacy Lattishaw (who was supposed to sing #107 “Ring My Bell”). However, McCoy is probably most famous for this disco and dance single that went on to reach #1 and win the Grammy for best pop instrumental performance. This song is the first in our countdown to appear in the top 20 of more than 1 list. Interestingly, this song was created after McCoy’s music partner Charles Kipps watched people do the Hustle dance in the Adam’s Apple night club. The song was the 21st biggest hit of 1975 according to Billboard. The 12” version which was created and released in 1979 to appease the UK and German labels who were clamoring for it, contained some new material that was composed and performed by McCoy and an unidentified orchestra, however, it wasn’t finished and released until after McCoy’s death.

[QuikSand]

huge

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Scarecrow

For those that are interested...

FOFC - One Hit Wonders on Spotify

[Lathum]

Is 4 non blondes in here somewhere?

[QuikSand]

Listening to the Spotify stream, and I got a State Farm deliberately ad using a variation on the OMC song "How Bizarre" on this list. Smart advertising, or just a fun coincidence?

[Breeze]

21. The Contours – Do You Love Me (1962)

Total Points – 414
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 1
Highest Ranking – 6

Barry Gordy wrote this song whose whole point is to reference different dance steps. However, there is some debate about the intended recipient of the song. One story says the song was written for The Temptations, who had failed to record their first Top 40 single at this point, but he couldn’t find them. No one had informed The Temptations that Barry was working on something for them, so they left Hitsville USA studio to attend a Detroit gospel music showcase. After searching for, and failing to find the band, Gordy ran into The Contours at the studio and because he wanted this song recorded and released as soon as possible he gave it to them. The other story is that The Contours were always the intended target, but Gordy nearly pulled the song from them because they were struggling with it initially. Regardless, The Contours getting this sure-fire hit was important because their first two singles had failed to catch on, and the label was preparing to drop them. Gordy was right about the song – it was a hit – Twice. In 1962 it reached #3 on the Hot 100, and following the inclusion of this song in the movie Dirty Dancing, it peaked at #11 in 1988. While The Contours never had success matching this song again, they did have a number of near Top 40 hits, with “Can You Do It” #41, “Shake Sherry” #43, “Can You Jerk Like Me” “#47, all of which were hits on the R&B Chart.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Is 4 non blondes in here somewhere?

#32. One of only 2 songs to be ranked in all 6 of the seed lists.

[Breeze]

20. Bobby McFerrin – Don't Worry, Be Happy (1988)

Total Points – 407
Charts – 4
Top 40 –1
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 18

Indian mystic and sage Meher Baba often used the expression don’t worry, be happy, and in the ‘60s inspirational posters were made with his face and this saying. In 1988, McFerrin, when visiting jazz duo Tuck and Patti, noticed one of these posters and was inspired stating, “[It] is a pretty neat philosophy in four words.” This song included in the movie Cocktail was initially released in conjunction with that soundtrack, but the song stalled out a #88 on the Hot 100. It was re-released the same year and reached #1 for 2 weeks displacing Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child o’ Mine” All the sounds in this song were created by McFerrin’s voice or by tapping on his chest, there are no musical instruments used, which also makes this song the first a cappella song to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song helped McFerrin win song of the year, record of the year, and best male pop vocal performance at the Grammys. It is also listed in Rolling Stone’s 15 Best Whistling Songs of All Time. Strangely, in 1992 a false rumor was widely circulated that McFerrin had committed suicide. Many believe the rumor was started to point out he didn’t live by the philosophy espoused by this song.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Breeze

20. Bobby McFerrin – Don't Worry, Be Happy (1988)

Total Points – 407
Charts – 3
Top 40 –1
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 18

Indian mystic and sage Meher Baba often used the expression don’t worry, be happy, and in the ‘60s inspirational posters were made with his face and this saying. In 1988, McFerrin, when visiting jazz duo Tuck and Patti, he noticed one of these posters and was inspired stating, “[It] is a pretty neat philosophy in four words.” This song included in the movie Cocktail, and was released in conjunction with that soundtrack, but the song stalled out a #88 on the Hot 100. It was released the same year and reached #1 for 2 weeks displacing Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child o’ Mine” All the sounds in this song were created by McFerrin’s voice or by tapping on his chest, there are no musical instruments used, which also makes this song the first a cappella song to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song helped McFerrin win won song of the year, record of the year, and best male pop vocal performance at the Grammys. It is also listed in Rolling Stone’s 15 Best Whistling Songs of All Time. Strangely, in 1992 a false rumor was widely circulated that McFerrin had committed suicide. Many believe the rumor was started to point out he didn’t live by the philosophy espoused by this song.

That was a number one jam.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

That was a number one jam.

I haven't put a ton of thought into what #1 might be because I've seen too many songs far lower on the list than I expected (not at all a criticism, by the way). That being said, this one was on the shortlist for me.

[Breeze]

19. Nick Gilder - Hot Child in the City (1978)

Total Points – 406
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 1
Highest Ranking – 8

The English born, Canadian raised Gilder stated out as the lead singer of a glam rock band called Sweeney Todd (a band that would later feature a very young Brian Adams). They had a number 1 Canadian hit “Roxy Roller” which bolstered Gilder and guitarist James McCulloch’s feelings that they could achieve international success. They moved to the US, signed with a label and the second solo album contained this hit, which climbed to #1. This song also reached #1 in Canada, making Gilder the first Canadian artist to reach #1 as a lead singer of a band and as a solo artist. He had some other minor success, mostly in Canada, with only 2 additional songs reaching the Hot 100 in the US, and none making the top 40. The song, while poppy in nature, is actually written from the standpoint of a lecher about to take advantage of a young runaway forced into prostitution. It was something Gilder witnessed regularly on Hollywood Blvd and he wanted to address it. While Gilder hasn’t had much success with his own songs, he has written songs for Bette Midler, Joe Cocker, Pat Benatar, Toni Basil (#26 in the countdown) and he co-wrote “The Warrior”, The Scandal hit that featured Patty Smyth. This is the last song in the countdown to only be rated in 3 lists.

[Breeze]

18. Haddaway – What Is Love (1993)

Total Points – 399
Charts – 4
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 1
Highest Ranking – 10

This song was written by Dee Dee Halligan and Junior Torello with Coconut Records well before it was produced, as they waited until the right voice came along. That voice belonged to Nestor Alexander Haddaway a Trinidadian-born German vocalist. Haddaway said that once the 3 men started working on the song it came together really quickly. Haddaway said he had the idea for the melodies in about 45 minutes and the song only took about a half a day to record. That half day resulted in a song that reached #1 in 13 European countries and just missed topping the charts in Sweden, Germany and the UK where it stopped at #2. This debut release started a nice run of hits for Haddaway in Europe where he had numerous top 10 hits. In the US, this song peaked at #11, and the follow up just missed the top 40, stalling out at #41. Nothing else Haddaway has done has charted in the Hot 100. The single has received numerous accolades, including: MTV Dance’s 57th ranked Dance song of the 90s, one of Complex Magazine’s 10 Essential Eurodance Classics, Vibe Magazine #5 in their list of 30 Dance Tracks from the 90s that changed the game, and Buzzfeed had this song ranked #11 in the greatest dance songs of the 90s.

[Breeze]

17. Norman Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky (1970)

Total Points – 385
Charts – 4
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 2
Highest Ranking – 7

This is the first song in our countdown to be ranked in the top 10 of two different lists. Greenbaum was raised an Orthodox Jew in Malden, Massachusetts, and he remains an observant Jew, but he recorded this song which has a clear Christian theme, even mentioning Jesus by name. When he started out in music he was heavily influenced by southern blues and folk music, and initially he said the inspiration for this song came from watching Porter Wagoner sing a gospel song on TV. After seeing that performance, he decided he could write a gospel/rock song, and ultimately it ended up coming easy to him as he had the lyrics finished in about 15 minutes. Later he stated, in what appears to be an obvious attempt to downplay the Christian nature of the song, that it was influenced by watching western movies and the spiritual aspect of wanting to die with your boots on – whatever that means. Greenbaum was the singer of Dr. West’s Medicine Show and Junk Band’s novelty tune “The Eggplant that Ate Chicago”, he also had a couple of other songs that made the Hot 100, but not the top 40. Greenbaum still receives letters from funeral directors around the country stating that Spirit in the Sky is the second most requested song to play at memorial services next to Danny Boy.

[Breeze]

16. Big Country – In a Big Country (1983)

Total Points – 371
Charts – 5
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 1
Highest Ranking – 4

This Scottish Rock band formed in 1981 and they engineered their guitar-driven music to evoke the sound of bagpipes, fiddles and other traditional Scottish folk instruments. Unlike many of the songs on this list that come from debut albums and lead singles, this song was the 3rd release from the debut album. The first release saw modest success in the UK, the second “Fields of Fire” was a top 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart, and this song ended up #17 on that same chart. In the US this was the band’s only single to reach the Top 40, where it also peaked at #17. After another single was quickly released that did well in the UK, the follow up album was a smash hit over there as soon as it was released, entering the UK Album Chart at #1. The band’s success in the UK continued through the mid to late 80s, but they never regained traction in the US, even after recording their 4th album in LA with producer Peter Wolf, in hopes of rekindling the US following. The band members were active in the music industry before and during the height of the bands popularity. Bassist Tony Butler played on Pete Townshend’s hit “Let My Love Open the Door”, the entire band played on Roger Daltrey’s solo album Under the Raging Moon, Butler and drummer Mark Brzezicki performed on Townshend’s White City: A Novel album, and Brzezkcki also worked with the Cult on their Love album, including being featured in the “She Sells Sanctuary” video.

[Breeze]

15. M – Pop Muzik (1979)

Total Points – 366
Charts – 4
Top 40 – 3
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Total Rankings – 24, 27, 30, 61, NR, NR

M was a brief British new wave and synth pop project led by Robin Scott in the late 70s and early 80s. The band included numerous musicians through the years including several from the band Level 42. Originally this song was written to be a funk and R&B sound, but a friend of Scott’s suggested he go with synthesizers. Scott said he decided to make the song because, “I was looking to make a fusion of various styles which somehow would summarize the last 25 years of pop music. It was a deliberate point I was trying to make. Whereas rock and roll had created a generation gap, disco was bringing people together on an enormous scale. That's why I really wanted to make a simple, bland statement, which was, 'All we're talking about basically (is) pop music.'” The single peaked at #2 in the UK, unable to break Art Garfunkel’s 6-week stint at #1 with “Bright Eyes”. In the US the song made it to #1, but M is almost definitely a strict definition OHW, given their only other charting song in the US was “New York – London-Paris-Munich” which only got to #38 on the Dance Club Chart. The image of the baby on the cover of the M album is Scott’s daughter Berenice, who is currently a piano/keyboard player with Phil Gould and Wally Badarou, both former Level 42 members.

[albionmoonlight]

I have no recollection of Pop Muzik at all.

[Butter]

Why did I always think M had something to do with Malcolm McLaren? I guess I was wrong for many years.

15 and 16 are some good stuff.

[bob]

Originally Posted by Breeze

17. Norman Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky (1970)

I heard somewhere a survey of funeral directors said that this is the second most requested song in funeral plans behind Danny Boy.

I always think of the movie Contact when I hear this.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I have no recollection of Pop Muzik at all.

I think I may have owned this on 45.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I think I may have owned this on 45.

I'm 42 years old. This might be one of those instances where just a few years make a huge difference.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I'm 42 years old. This might be one of those instances where just a few years make a huge difference.

I certainly am too young to remember this one at the time, but I did recognize it. It took a little ways into the song for it to click, but yeah I've heard this song a lot, probably in MTV/VH1 shows?

[CraigSca]

I'm 50, and I remember this song from HBO, of all things. Back in the day, when HBO had a gap between movies they'd show cheap filler material like music videos. This is exactly where I saw "Pop Muzik".

[CraigSca]

Dola (do we still do this?)

I was a huge fan of Big Country back in the day. Oddly, it was probably a year after their release of The Crossing (where "In a Big Country" came from). Was always a big fan of their percussion and bass lines. Always felt their first hit overshadowed a pretty darn good band. In 2001 their lead singer, Stuart Adamson, took his own life while in Hawaii. Sad day.

[Breeze]

14. Sir Mix-A-Lot – Baby Got Back (1992)

Total Points – 358
Charts – 4
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 0
Total Ranking – 12, 25, 42, 55, NR, NR

More social commentary than novelty song, Baby Got Back was Sir Mix-A-Lot’s (Anthony Ray) way of criticizing the mainstream interpretation of beauty. The song’s blatant sexual lyrics and especially the references to the female butt created a significant amount of controversy, which led MTV to briefly ban the song, and later to only play it after 9 PM. While the song unquestionably and directly addresses large butts, that’s not all it does. As Sir Mix-a-Lot stated “The song is talking about women who damn near kill themselves to try to look like these beanpole models that you see in Vogue magazine." He explains that most women respond positively to the song's message, especially black women: They all say, About time." The idea for the song came to Ray, who was tired of seeing the wafer-thin models on magazines and television, when he saw a Budweiser ad featuring 2 very thin, valley girl-esque models. Ultimately this led to Ray record the song in an effort to broaden the definition of beauty. The song was a #1 hit for 5 weeks and was the second best selling song of 1992, behind only Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road”. This song was ranked by VH1 as the 17th best hip hop song ever. Sir Mix-a-Lot had a couple other songs that made it into the bottom portion of the Hot 100, and he had a few songs that charted on the R&B/Hip Hop chart, but other than this single, none were Top 40 hits there either.

[Breeze]

13. Right Said Fred – I'm Too Sexy (1992)

Total Points – 343
Charts – 5
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 2
Total Ranking – 4, 10, 45, 75, 97, NR

No social commentary here, just a novelty song written to poke fun at the vain and narcissistic people that worked out at the gym owned by the artists. The band, Right Said Fred, consisted of the Fairbrass brothers, Fred and Richard and guitarist Rob Manzoli. Originally, the song was written as an indie rock song, but no one was interested, until one producer played it in his car, hated it, but the passengers picked up on the “I’m a model, you know what I mean” hook. So the producer asked them to rework the song as a dance track and the rest is history. The Fairbrass bothers actually have a pretty extensive background in the music industry. Initially, they worked as the supporting band for Joy Division. Later Richard was employed as a session bassist for Boy George, Mick Jagger, and David Bowie, including appearing in Bowie’s short film Jazzin’ for Blue Jean. Fred appeared as a guitarist in the Bob Dylan vehicle Hearts of Fire. This song was a huge hit in the UK, spending 6 weeks at #2 behind Bryan Adams’s “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”, this tied the record for the longest period at #2 without ever reaching the top spot. I’m Too Sexy went on to be a #1 hit in 32 countries including the US. The song won the band an Ivor Novello Award, and the band was also nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group. This song is #49 on the Blender Magazine list of the 50 worst songs ever! Watch, Listen and Cringe! Interestingly and appropriately, the name Right Said Fred, comes from the title of a novelty song hit by Bernard Cribbins in 1962.

[Izulde]

I've always been fond of "Baby Got Back" despite preferring the thin girls the song mocks (and had a gf once who liked to say "My anaconda don't want none if you don't got Iz buns, hun" among other lyric puns involving my name while we were dating. Ironically, she was literally a model and yes, had the body the song makes fun of)

"I'm Too Sexy", OTOH, I loathe with every nerve ending in me. Hate the song, hate the video.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Izulde

"I'm Too Sexy", OTOH, I loathe with every nerve ending in me. Hate the song, hate the video.

+1

[sabotai]

"I'm Too Sexy" was what I thought would end up being #1. And to hell with all y'all, I love that song.

[Breeze]

12. Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music (1976)

Total Points – 334
Charts – 5
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 1
Total Ranking – 2, 22, 51, 52, 95, NR

Originally Wild Cherry was just a hard rock band from Steubenville, Ohio. They released a couple of albums on their own before Terry Knight signed them to his Brown Bag Label, but they still weren’t getting any success so the band broke up and the lead singer quit music completely for a while. He reformed the band in 1975. While playing on the club scene in Pittsburgh, disco was becoming increasingly popular and they were constantly asked to play more dance music, which got the band brainstorming for new song ideas. One night the band had a fan shout, “Are you white boys going to play some funky music?”, and that immediately sparked the creative process. The lead singer Rob Parissi starting writing lyrics for the song on a borrowed drink pad order book with a pen he took from the bartender. The song was cut, and was supposed to be the B-Side single for a remake of the Commodores’ “I Feel Sanctified”, but the label suggested it be the A-Side. And the label was right, as this song got to #1 on the Hot 100 and R&B Charts. The band was named the Best Pop Group of the Year by Billboard, and received an American Music Award for Top R&B Single of the year. It also received a pair of Grammy nominations. This song was ranked #93 on Billboard’s All-Time 100 Songs list.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by sabotai

"I'm Too Sexy" was what I thought would end up being #1. And to hell with all y'all, I love that song.

Don't care for the song and I'm surprised it landed this high.

[Breeze]

11. Modern English – I Melt with You (1983)

Total Points – 329
Charts – 4
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 1
Total Ranking – 1, 11, 37, 56, NR, NR

This is the 4th song to receive a #1 ranking by one of the seed lists. Originally, this British band from Colchester, Essex, England, started out producing their own records, but were eventually signed by John Peel of BBC Radio. Their first album in ’81, Mesh & Lace (a lyric that is prominent in this song) was heavily influenced by Joy Division. The follow up, After the Snow, which contains this single, was more keyboard oriented and was more often compared to Simple Minds or Duran Duran. The song wasn’t much of a hit in the UK, but after a long incubation period it finally got traction in the US, and climbed to #7 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, but it only managed to reach #78 on the Hot 100. Despite the lack of commercial success on the charts, this song is considered an absolute new wave classic that critics loved, Billboard commended the song as "classy", describing it as a "dreamy, acoustic-edged rocker”, and AllMusic has called it "one of the most enduring songs of the new wave era." If you’ve listened to the song recently and thought to yourself, that it didn’t sound exactly like you remember, there is good reason for that. First the song was rerecorded in 1990, and it actually charted again – in fact, it charted better in the Hot 100 the second time but only slightly better reaching #76. However, the 1990 version wasn’t as well liked by the critics, in fact the LA Times commented that it was “nearly identical [to the original], yet markedly inferior”, so you could be listening to the 1990 version. Also, the song has several different versions from when it was originally recorded. There is the album version, the single mix, and there is a later singles version that was mixed down to mono from its original stereo recording (which has rarely been available since it was originally released), and all 3 of these songs have some significant differences. Despite not doing much on the Billboard charts, this song was ranked at #39 on VH1s list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Breeze

11. Modern English – I Melt with You (1983)

Total Points – 329
Charts – 4
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 1
Top 10 – 1
Total Ranking – 1, 11, 37, 56, NR, NR

This is the 4th song to receive a #1 ranking by one of the seed lists. Originally, this British band from Colchester, Essex, England, started out producing their own records, but were eventually signed by John Peel of BBC Radio. Their first album in ’81, Mesh & Lace (a lyric that is prominent in this song) was heavily influenced by Joy Division. The follow up, After the Snow, which contains this single, was more keyboard oriented and was more often compared to Simple Minds or Duran Duran. The song wasn’t much of a hit in the UK, but after a long incubation period it finally got traction in the US, and climbed to #7 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, but it only managed to reach #78 on the Hot 100. Despite the lack of commercial success on the charts, this song is considered an absolute new wave classic that critics loved, Billboard commended the song as "classy", describing it as a "dreamy, acoustic-edged rocker”, and AllMusic has called it "one of the most enduring songs of the new wave era." If you’ve listened to the song recently and thought to yourself, that it didn’t sound exactly like you remember, there is good reason for that. First the song was rerecorded in 1990, and it actually charted again – in fact, it charted better in the Hot 100 the second time but only slightly better reaching #76. However, the 1990 version wasn’t as well liked by the critics, in fact the LA Times commented that it was “nearly identical [to the original], yet markedly inferior”, so you could be listening to the 1990 version. Also, the song has several different versions from when it was originally recorded. There is the album version, the single mix, and there is a later singles version that was mixed down to mono from its original stereo recording (which has rarely been available since it was originally released), and all 3 of these songs have some significant differences. Despite not doing much on the Billboard charts, this song was ranked at #39 on VH1s list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s.

Great song! I didn’t realize it had been re-released.

This has been a great thread. Very cool of you to take the time to work through and share with your fellow FOFCers. This is the type of content you could absolutely use to jumpstart a blog/site.

[Breeze]

10. The Vapors – Turning Japanese (1980)

Total Points – 329
Charts – 5
Top 40 – 1
Top 20 – 2
Top 10 – 0
Total Ranking – 11, 20, 36, 69, 81, NR

An early version of this band was playing in a pub in Farncombe when The Jam’s bassist Bruce Foxton spotted them, and he agreed along with Paul Weller’s (also of The Jam) father to manage the band. Originally named the Vapours, the band dropped the U to appear more American. This single got to #3 on the UK charts, and slipped into the top 40 on the Hot 100, peaking at #36. In the US, a rumor started that “Turning Japanese” was believed to euphemistically refer to masturbation. Given the song’s focus on a young man separated from the woman he loves and thus preoccupied by her photos, along with a mental picture of the moment before climax of a man with squinted eyes and front teeth showing through lips like a bad cartoon of a Japanese stereotype, and the reason for the rumor seems pretty logical. However, David Fenton, the writer of the song denied that explanation and said it’s actually about “angst and youth and turning into something you don’t expect.” However, he wished to thank whoever came up with the more salacious interpretation, admitting that it may have helped the song become a hit. When the band wrote this song, they felt they had a hit on their hands, so they decided to delay the release until their second single in hopes of avoiding the OHW label. Unfortunately, for the band they were unable to come close to success of this single again, only getting 2 other songs on the UK singles chart, and neither reached the top 40, and they saw even less success in the US.