'One Hit Wonders' who had more to offer

The Georgia Satellites thread reminded me of this. There are so many great bands dubbed "one hit wonders", and a good load of them had a lot more great songs and should really be remembered further. Few off the top of my head:

Iron Butterfly (everything, and I mean EVERYTHING they did was an acid rock masterpiece IMO)
Devo (they've done everything from alternative punk to new wave to straight up rock n' roll)
Wild Cherry
Crash Test Dummies

got any more?

yeah, it's too bad people know Devo for the couple of singles, they were about something way wackier and cooler.

I live in Canada, and the aforementioned Crash Test Dummies actually had a handful of hits in Canada.

On another board, I was surprised to see that Madness were considered 'one hit wonders' in the US, as they had a number of hits in their UK homeland and at least five big hits here in Australia.

When in Rome

A-Ha

Free........

Jimi Hendrix was actually a one hit wonder. Go figure.

Men Without Hats
A-Ha
Linday Buckingham (solo)
Men at Work

TZ I think Men at Work had a few hit singles, 'Who Can it Be Now' 'Down Under' and 'Its a Mistake', I am sure I have the song titles all wrong.

manny wrote:

TZ I think Men at Work had a few hit singles, 'Who Can it Be Now' 'Down Under' and 'Its a Mistake', I am sure I have the song titles all wrong.

Don't forget my favorite...."Overkill"....one of the most beautiful songs ever...

manny wrote:

TZ I think Men at Work had a few hit singles, 'Who Can it Be Now' 'Down Under' and 'Its a Mistake', I am sure I have the song titles all wrong.

I guess you're right... i forgot those.

BTW when we are talking about One Hit Wonders are talking about singles or albums? If we are talking singles you could add hundreds of platinum acts (such as Hendrix as someone pointed out)?

Boy, I am agreeing with alot of stuff here. Definitely Devo and Madness are both bands that had alot of of great songs. I would add to the list Crowded House. They were one hit wonders here, but were revered in Australia and New Zealand. I actually have all their albums, and everyone is top notch. Modern English is another band that is know for one hit, but "After the Snow" is one of my favorite albums of the 80's. The same is true of "Big Country". The entire album is a classic.

Tesla and WASP. Allow me to explain.

To the pop radio mainstream, both band are pretty much known for 1 hit. Tesla's cover of 'Signs' and WASP's 'Animal', which was more steeped in controvery than being a hit. Sure, we the all-knowing music geeks, know both of these bands have so much more to offer, but to the regular folks out there, these guys are one-hit wonders.

I'd add Great White to that list too. Sadly for them, they are known now for the night club tragedy moreso than their one radio hit, 'Once Bitten...', but we know better.

How about April Wine?


A lot of people only know about "Just Between You And Me" but they have a ton of great songs.

Donnie Iris. He's about a lot more than Ah Leah.

WALL OF VOODOO.....more than "Mexican Radio" both the band and Stan RIdgeway have alot of cool tunes to offer.

THE CHURCH..."Under The Milky Way" is their main well known ditty...great band.."Starfish" is a killer album.

tohostudios wrote:

Donnie Iris. He's about a lot more than Ah Leah.

Are you sure that was a hit? Never heard of him or the song. Can you hum a few notes for me?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Donnie Iris. He's about a lot more than Ah Leah.

Are you sure that was a hit? Never heard of him or the song. Can you hum a few notes for me?

You never heard this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH5Arbm47IQ

tohostudios wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Donnie Iris. He's about a lot more than Ah Leah.

Are you sure that was a hit? Never heard of him or the song. Can you hum a few notes for me?

You never heard this?

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH5Arbm47IQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH5Arbm47IQ[/quote[/url]]

Nope, can't say that I have. The video looks like an early MTV staple though. Is that Donnie Iris in the Buddy Holly get-up?

Good call on Donnie Iris.
Anyone remember The Kings? Switchin to Glide was their one hit but I actually liked some other songs and they were similar to Donnie Iris.
Big Country is pretty much known for the song, In A Big Country.
Simple Minds
The Knack-and they deserve it.
Lou Gramm's solo outings.
Honeymoon Suite

TheNazgul wrote:

Good call on Donnie Iris.
Anyone remember The Kings? Switchin to Glide was their one hit but I actually liked some other songs and they were similar to Donnie Iris.
Big Country is pretty much known for the song, In A Big Country.
Simple Minds
The Knack-and they deserve it.
Lou Gramm's solo outings.
Honeymoon Suite

Switchin' To Glide was an FM rock radio staple when I lived in TN. They played it every Tuesday at 5pm because of the line "Nothin' matters but the weekend from a Tuesday point of view."

[quote="MetalGuy71"]

tohostudios wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Donnie Iris. He's about a lot more than Ah Leah.

Are you sure that was a hit? Never heard of him or the song. Can you hum a few notes for me?

You never heard this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH5Arbm47IQ[/quote]

Nope, can't say that I have. The video looks like an early MTV staple though. Is that Donnie Iris in the Buddy Holly get-up?

Yeah, that's Donnie. Those glasses were part of his schtick. He was in Wild Cherry briefly before going solo.

The Grateful Dead were essentially a one hit wonder as well. Most people have heard about them, but would probably only be able to hum "Touch of Gray".

TheNazgul wrote:

Simple Minds

Really? They had a number of hits in Australia. Neuropete also mentioned Crowded House, who I think only had the one US hit (Don't Dream it's Over), but were absolutely huge (every track off their best of was a single, and virtually all of them went top 10), and were amazing songwriters and players.