One-Hit Wonders From The ’80s That We Can’t Get Out Of Our Heads
While the 1970s was filled with disco and glam rock, the ’80s ushered in an era of catchy pop tunes, synthesizer beats, and new wave songs. With so many new sounds to play around with there were a ton of bands who made it big with one song only to never be heard from again on top 10 radio.
These ’80s one-hit wonders may have been the soundtrack to your life. They were the songs that played non-stop in the car on your way to school or the music in the background of your favorite John Hughes movie. See if you remember these totally awesome ’80s one-hit wonders.
“Come On Eileen” By Dexy’s Midnight Runners
The English new wave band Dexy’s Midnight Runners released their song “Come On Eileen” in June 1982. Within a few weeks, it reached number one in the United States and won Best British Single at the 1983 Brit Awards. It was revolutionary for merging new wave music with traditional Celtic folk.
The album the song originated from, Too-Rye-Ay, was a major driver of the band’s momentum, but they broke up after the arduous recording process and muted reception of their ambitious follow-up, Don’t Stand Me Down.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “Relax”
While Frankie Goes To Hollywood released other singles throughout the ’80s, none of them cracked the top 40, while “Relax” made it to number ten. Still, it was a big deal while it lasted and that was evidenced by the “Frankie says relax” shirts people wore after its release in 1984.
Of course, the song’s success wasn’t without controversy, as some offended detractors suspected that the “relax” command paired with the chorus closer of “when you want to come” was a reference to a carnal activity. Naturally, that was precisely what the song was about and the video didn’t make it subtle.
“Take On Me” By A-Ha
“Take On Me” was released by the Norwegian synth-pop band A-ha in 1984. The song quickly climbed the charts and in 1985, it shot to popularity thanks to its innovative and memorable music video.
The famous music video was innovative for combining pencil-sketch animation with live-action clips of A-ha’s lead singer. The video took how six awards at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards and has gone down in history. A-ha was never able to repeat their first success but the band is still making music today.
Toni Basil – “Mickey”
Most people know Toni Basil for her cheerleader-themed cover of the Racey song “Kitty,” even if they don’t know that’s how “Mickey” originated or that she came up with the “hey Mickey, you’re so fine, you’re so fine, you blow my mind” chant herself. However, her sole hit that nonetheless had the distinction of making it to number one was little more than a distraction from her main career.
Although she had been an actress as far back as the 1969 film Easy Rider, her enduring respect within the entertainment industry is owed to her incredible longevity and prominence as a choreographer. She started back in 1964 but served as the choreographer for the Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood at the age of 75.
“Video Killed The Radio Star” By The Buggles
“Video Killed The Radio Star” was technically written in 1979 and released as The Buggles’ debut single that same year but it wasn’t until 1981 that it made a real splash on the U.S. charts. That’s all thanks to the fact that the music video for the song was the first music video ever shown on MTV.
The new wave song perfectly encapsulates the transition i music from the ’70s to the ’80s. It has everything from disco and orchestra vibes to synth and “futuristic sounds.”
Animotion – “Obsession”
Curiously, Animotion had multiple top-ten hits, as “Room To Move” reached number nine in 1989. Nonetheless, it’s still pretty reasonable to say that the public at large only remembers “Obsession,” thanks in large part to its bombastic, ear-catching synth motif.
The lyrics about unhealthy and lascivious obsessions, sung in yelping tones by Bill Wadhams and smoother tones by Astrid Plane, also attracted curiosity in the synth pop classic. Still, that synth line would have likely still prevailed even if the song was about doing your taxes.
“867-5309/Jenny” By Tommy Tutone
The most famous phone number in the world is all thanks to a short-lived power pop band named Tommy Tutone. The song was released in 1981 and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. More important, the song kicked off the fad of people calling the number 870-5309 from all over the world.
In many cases, businesses such as radio stations and pizza parlors would buy the number in order to run a promotional stunt. Admit it. You tried dialing the number at least once.
Falco – “Rock Me Amadeus”
Although Falco enjoyed a great deal of long-term success in his native Austria and the German-speaking world at large, he actually had more of a presence stateside than it may have appeared. That’s not just because the follow-up single to his smash hit, “Rock Me Amadeus,” made it to number 18 either.
In addition to riding the hype of the movie Amadeus to make “Rock Me Amadeus” a number-one hit for three weeks, he also recorded the original version of “Der Kommisar.” Ironically, the English version of this song would be the sole legacy of another one-hit wonder.
After The Fire – “Der Kommisar”
As just mentioned, “Der Kommisar” was originally a hit for Austrian artist Falco, who brought it to number one in his native country, Spain, Italy, and what was then West Germany. If British band After The Fire had intended to capture the English-speaking market with their own version, however, they would have more difficulty than they may have thought.
After their version of “Der Kommisar” failed to chart, the band abruptly announced their impending break-up during a concert in December 1982. However, their cover improbably became a hit that made it to number five after Laura Branigan’s song “Deep in the Dark” used the song’s arrangement.
“Respect Yourself” By Bruce Willis
Yep, you read that right. Never forget the fact that Bruce Willis of Die Hard and The Sixth Sense fame released a pop-blues album. The top single from the album, “Respect Yourself,” was a cover of The Staple Sisters 1971 song.
Willis’ cover version reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 largely thanks to Willis’ Die Hard success. Unsurprisingly, Willis didn’t land another hit. It seems like everyone agreed that he should stick to acting.
“She Blinded Me With Science” By Thomas Dolby
There’s no better example of nerd rock than the one-hit wonder “She Blinded Me With Science” released by British musician Thomas Dolby. The track features a heavy synth beat and even has the real-life British scientist Magnus Pyke yelling “Science!” throughout the song.
Even the music video is the ultimate nerd rock fantasy. Dolby is stuck in a “Home for Deranged Scientists” but is being seduced by a beautiful secretary from the institution. This one-hit wonder was played on repeat by every nerdy high-school kid in the ’80s.
Gary Numan – “Cars”
Although he’s known as a one-hit wonder to the larger public, Gary Numan has commanded decades of respect among fellow musicians for being a veritable synth pop pioneer. Yet while his deep cuts have been sampled many times since his heyday, “Cars” nonetheless looms large over his legacy.
He’s also a rare case among so-called one-hit wonders in that other acts of that stature typically see their biggest hit overshadow a lower-charting single. For Numan, however, only “Cars” even touched the Billboard Hot 100, let alone made the top ten. That guitar riff and synth line was just lightning in a bottle, it seems.
“Whip It” By Devo
Devo was the original new wave synth-pop band of the 1980s. They formed in 1973 and were experimenting with strange tempos and electric sounds before most bands. When they released the single “Whip It” their label expected it to be a flop because of the strange lyrics and “nonstandard tempo.”
Thanks to disc jockeys across the Southeastern U.S., the single became increasingly popular and ended up peaking at No. 14 of the Billboard Hot 100. And of course, who could forget those strange red flower pot hats Devo wears in the music video.
The Weather Girls – “It’s Raining Men”
Although it’s the classic theme to exotic male revues the world over, The Weather Girls’ “It’s Raining Men” wasn’t quite a top 40 hit in 1983, having reached number 46. Nonetheless, it clearly did well enough for its humorous premise and Martha Wash and Izora Armstead’s enthusiastic, soulful singing to have over 40 years of longevity.
The Weather Girls disbanded in 1988 following the diminishing returns of their follow-up singles, but Wash famously sued C&C Music Factory after her voice was used without credit and lip-synced over by model Zelma Davis in the video for “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”.
“Tainted Love” By Soft Cell
Soft Cell formed in England in 1977 and released their debut album in 1980. Their first single off the debut album flopped so the synth-pop duo decided to record a cover version of the 1965 Gloria Jones song “Tainted Love.” The cover was released in 1981 and became a No. 1 hit in 17 countries.
Soft Cell maintained a following in the United Kingdom but was relegated to being a one-hit wonder in the United States.
Yello – “Oh Yeah”
Swiss electronic group Yello was not motivated by chart success, as the group could fairly be described as eccentric entrepreneur Dieter Meier following his muses alongside his collaborator, Boris Blank. As long as he was amused, it’s unlikely that Meier particularly cared what anyone else thought.
Nonetheless, a song as explicitly uncommercial as “Oh Yeah” ended up becoming a moderate pop hit by 1987. Ironically, this was because filmmakers John Hughes and Herbert Ross used the song as a shorthand for seductive ’80s excess in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Secret Of My Success, respectively.
“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” By Bobby McFerrin
Not only was “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” a top ’80s one-hit wonder, but it became the first a cappella song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by Bobby McFerrin and was a cheeky, upbeat tune.
Unfortunately for McFerrin, the success was known to have ended his “musical life as he had known it.” He never found mainstream success again but is still a ten-time Grammy Award winner for his later work as a producer.
Tom Tom Club – “Genius of Love”
While Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth were still members of Talking Heads, the married couple started a new wave group called the Tom Tom Club in 1981. Although Talking Heads frontman David Byrne dismissed the project as commercially-focused, he would be right in a far lesser capacity than he may have thought.
That’s because the only hit the Tom Tom Club was able to score was “Genius Of Love,” which featured production so iconic that it’s been regularly sampled by famous hip-hop and R&B acts after since.
“The Safety Dance” By Men Without Hats
Speaking of hats, this band has none. Men Without Hats is a Canadian new wave band that released their one-hit wonder in 1982. The band wrote the song after getting kicked out of a club for pogo dancing (which was an ’80s dance trend of jumping straight up and down).
While the song was about the freedom to pogo dance, the music video featured a different type of dance where the band members jerk their arms back and forth to make the shape of an S.
Wall Of Voodoo – “Mexican Radio”
It’s not uncommon for the definition of “one-hit wonder” to be stretched in a way that discounts an act’s lesser yet reasonably successful singles in favour of the hit everybody knows them for. However, Wall of Voodoo’s “Mexican Radio” has had its legacy stretched in the opposite direction, as it only peaked at number 58 when it first came out.
Nonetheless, that still means it fared better than anything else they released and its bizarre energy and Stan Ridgway’s warbling vocals were too oddly compelling in retrospect to ignore. Despite is quirkiness, the song’s meaning is fairly simple: Ridgway is tuned in to a Mexican radio station and is vaguely confused by what he’s hearing.
“I Ran (So Far Away)” By A Flock Of Seagulls
Released as their third single off their self-titled debut album, A Flock Of Seagulls saw worldwide success with “I Ran.” The new wave tune topped the charts in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States but surprisingly failed in the band’s native country of England.
The song is about a man who falls for an attractive woman but tries to run away from his feelings, then gets abducted by aliens. If that doesn’t describe the 1980s new wave then I don’t know what does.
“99 Luftballons” By Nena
The West German band Nena released their single “99 Luftballons” in 1983. It tells a story of innocent balloons being released but after floating over the Berlin Wall and being mistaken for UFOs, the balloons are shot down by Soviet airmen and violence breaks out.
The single became extremely popular in Germany and Japan. One year later, Nena released an English-language version of the song titled “99 Red Balloons.” The song peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard charts.
“Electric Avenue” By Eddy Grant
One of 1983’s biggest hits came from songwriter and singer Eddy Grant. The song is a reference to the actual Electric Avenue in London, England, which was one of the first streets to be lit by electricity. The area now has a high population of Caribbean immigrants, which is why the song features a reggae-synth vibe.
The song was so popular that it was nominated for a Grammy Award as the Best R&B song of the year. It narrowly lost out to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”
“Our House” By Madness
The British ska band Madness didn’t land their first big hit until their fourth studio album in 1982. The song was one of the first ska hits to top the charts and prove the genre to work in popular music.
Madness never achieved the same fame as they did with “My House” but the song has remained a huge part of popular culture. Most famously, it was featured in the commercial for Maxwell House Coffee.
“I Want Candy” By Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow are an English band that released their first EP in 1980. Like many bands of the 1980s they rose to fame thanks to an engaging music video. The band released their first EP 1982 featuring the single “I Want Candy.” The album peaked at No. 123 on the Billboard charts until the music video for the song made it extremely popular in America.
The song was notable for having a bubblegum pop sound to it but with “danceable” new wave sounds thanks to the traditional Burundi drum beat in the background.
