VH1 Top 100 One Hit Wonders of the '80's

From March 31-April 3 we'll be counting down the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the '80s, and you can help us make the final list - cast your vote now. On the show we'll also tell the stories behind the tunes and give updates on the artists who created them.


Here we go again...  ::)

a-ha, XTC, Will To Power, Vixen, Twisted Sister, The Tubes, Fabolous Thunderbirds, Boomtown Rats, Talk Talk, Spandau Ballet, Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock, Ratt, Phil Collins  :o (OK, this is getting ridiculous) , Oingo Boingo, Nu Shooz, Men Without Hats, Madness, Lita Ford, LA Guns, John Waite, Information Society, Haircut 100, General Public,  Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Dead or Alive, A Flock Of Seagulls, are not one hit wonders...  some are two hit wonders though

Atleast they didn't put Quiet Riot on the poll since somebody from VH1 probably realized that they had three hits


Big Country "King Of Emotions", wasn't their huge US hit "In A Big Country"?


Where's:

Autograph "Turn Up The Radio"
Pretty Poison "Catch Me, I'm Falling"
Times Two "Strange But True"
The Monroes "What Do All The People Know"
The Blow Monkeys "Digging Your Scene"
Re-Flex "The Politics Of Dancing"
Jane Weidlin "Rush Hour"
Waterboys "Whole Of The Moon"
Britny Fox "Girlschool"
Total Coelo "I Eat Cannibals"
Kingdom Come "Get It On"
Johnny Hates Jazz "Shattered Dreams"

It's funny with lists like these as they basically look the other way towards minor hits and go for those who only had 1 US Top 40 hit, yet they include artists like Boomtown Rats, XTC and Oingo Boingo who never even saw the US Top 40. 

What Vh1 fails to realize is that shows like these do air in other countries where some of the artists were NOT one hit wonders.  In the UK, Big Country, T'Pau and Eddy Grant had a whole string of Top 40 hits; In Canada, Alannah Myles, Men Without Hats and Red Rider were FAR from one hit wonders and in Australia, Midnight Oil had 13 Top 40 hits, 5 of which came before 'Beds Are Burning' was even released

Perhaps the folks at Vh1 should take a peek at this little thread I started which I plan to keep adding to over time ...
The NON One Hit Wonders thread

As a kid I thought Oingo Boingo, along with The Cure & The Smiths  were  widely popular (especially that I hear many songs on alternative stations' 80's request hours)  until a few years ago...

US One Hit wonders this time?

nena  99 luft ballons
regina    bayby love

US One Hit wonders this time?


It's almost always US One Hit wonders

It's almost always US One Hit wonders


VH1 does not care about your country.  :D

I'm curious; does MuchMusic Canada have similar show types and if so, do they just document Canadian charts?  ???

VH1 does not care about your country.  :D


VH1 does not care about music.
::)

I'm curious; does MuchMusic Canada have similar show types and if so, do they just document Canadian charts?  ???


MuchMusic doesn't have any, but it's sister station MuchMoreMusic does, and the only time Canada is ever really referenced is when they talk about North America as a whole.  Even Canadian shows don't care about Canada lol

But realistically, do people outside of (or even inside) Canada care that 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' was NOT the Top 40 debut for Simple Minds?  That 'Life is A Highway' was Tom Cochrane's 17th chart single, or that Laid Back, T'Pau and Frankie Goes to Hollywood all had more than 1 Top 40 hit?  Apart from the actual artists themselves, not really.  I'm alone in this world :D

VH1 does not care about music.
::)


I think they used that slogan for awhile! :D

I think they used that slogan for awhile! :D
Add MTV to that list.

JFTR, Phil Collins was no one-hit wonder, although he did help Frieda and Phillip Bailey become them!
(See "There's Something Going On" and "Easy Lover")

Actually, I think the Fabulous Thunderbirds were a three-hit wonder, with "Wrap It Up", "Tuff Enuff", & "Powerful Stuff".

Your Pal,
Doc
8)

The List

The List
Not another list?

How the hell is Quarterflash in that list?  They had 3 US Top 40 hits, and if the morons that voted that list ever listened to a radio back in the day, they would know that

I watched it an enjoyed it alot! Although I wasn't making fun of the one hit wonders in any way!

How the hell is Quarterflash in that list?  They had 3 US Top 40 hits, and if the morons that voted that list ever listened to a radio back in the day, they would know that


or young

Personally, there's artists with several hits  that most people are only familiar with one song

Before having VH1 Classic, I had no idea Steve Winwood had more hits since the only song that been playedfor the past decade  is  "Higher Love" and also wasn't aware that Rod Stewart was still popular in the second hald of the '80's.

or young

Personally, there's artists with several hits  that most people are only familiar with one song

Before having VH1 Classic, I had no idea Steve Winwood had more hits since the only song that been playedfor the past decade  is  "Higher Love" and also wasn't aware that Rod Stewart was still popular in the second hald of the '80's.

Well that's odd, I hear "Valerie" and "Roll With It" all the time.

As for Rod, his popularity pretty much never wavered in America, it was the snobby British critics who turned up their nose at "D'ya Think I'm Sexy" and spent most of the 80's calling him a sellout.(Then again, during the late 70's, it seemed you had to record at least one disco song just so you weren't forgotten, even after the fad died out!) Rod simply diversified his style with a more New Wave sound, giving us hits like "Passion", "Young Turks", "Baby Jane", "What Am I Gonna Do?", "Infatuation", "Some Guys Have All The Luck", and "People Get Ready". Then with the Out Of Order album, he started to mix his old & new styles, and for the rest of the 20th century stayed popular in both the U.S. and Europe. Unfortunately, his Great American Songbook series ran a bit too long, and Rod kinda started to fall out of fashion. OTOH, his album of rock classics, Still The Same, proved to many hardcore fans that even at 64, he's still got it! Rod is pretty much one of those artists you'll NEVER see listed as a one-hit-wonder! I hope this helped.

Your Pal,
Doc
8)

I also notice that 'Lunatic Fringe' by Red Rider is on there as well.  First of all, that song was only a rock hit in America:  Red Rider had 2 chart singles in the US Hot 100 and 'Lunatic Fringe' was NOT one of them. 

VH-1 and shows alike often define one hit wonders as an artist who only reached the US Top 40 once, so I love how they include ones that fell out of the Top 40 (Boom Boom Let's Go Back to My Room) and ones that didn't even chart in the Hot 100 (Johnny Are You Queer)

VH1 does not care about music.
::)

that's how it seems to be anymore ::)

It's funny with lists like these as they basically look the other way towards minor hits and go for those who only had 1 US Top 40 hit, yet they include artists like Boomtown Rats, XTC and Oingo Boingo who never even saw the US Top 40. 

What Vh1 fails to realize is that shows like these do air in other countries where some of the artists were NOT one hit wonders.  In the UK, Big Country, T'Pau and Eddy Grant had a whole string of Top 40 hits; In Canada, Alannah Myles, Men Without Hats and Red Rider were FAR from one hit wonders and in Australia, Midnight Oil had 13 Top 40 hits, 5 of which came before 'Beds Are Burning' was even released

That's exactly what I was thinking when I saw this thread. Once again, those folks at Vh1 fail to do adequate research. Either that or they just assume.




Perhaps the folks at Vh1 should take a peek at this little thread I started which I plan to keep adding to over time ...
The NON One Hit Wonders thread

LOL...Good idea! :D I need to check it out again since I last posted on it.

On the special about women that dated rock stars, VH1 acts as groupies were only around in the 1980's and "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" from Poison was the first power ballad...  ::)

I stopped taking vh1 lists seriously when they stopped keeping the voting exclusive to music industry people and djs adn opened it up to the general public.

I liked this list, especially since they had some interviews with the actual singers mixed with old footage at the time the songs came out. The 100 Greatest 80s songs list a couple years ago around '06 did the same thing - the way they do lists is actually better now, but alot of people probably just are tired of it since they've done so many before.

I like about half to 2/3 of the songs on that list, and it's perfect for new wave songs or maybe someone who only crossed into the top 40 once. I've said this so many times about one-hit wonders, but I wouldn't define it literally, I would say if it's easily recognizable. Sure, alot of those guys hit the Top 40 other times, but I doubt you'd ever hear another A-Ha or John Parr or Big Country song on the radio...that's what they're basing it on I think.

Sure, alot of those guys hit the Top 40 other times, but I doubt you'd ever hear another A-Ha or John Parr or Big Country song on the radio...that's what they're basing it on I think.


Which they shouldn't do because it takes away from the artist.  If you're only listening to the Top 40, then you're generally only getting half the story, and I've seen lots of people debate big time over that wiith the age old "If it's not in the Top 40, then it's not a hit".

I can't speak for the rest of the world, but I know that when I was growing up, alot of the songs I remember being popular, I later discovered weren't in the Top 40 (some just barely scraping into the chart).  In alot of cases, the ones not in the Top 40 were better than the ones that were in the Top 40 :)

Which they shouldn't do because it takes away from the artist.  If you're only listening to the Top 40, then you're generally only getting half the story, and I've seen lots of people debate big time over that wiith the age old "If it's not in the Top 40, then it's not a hit".

I can't speak for the rest of the world, but I know that when I was growing up, alot of the songs I remember being popular, I later discovered weren't in the Top 40 (some just barely scraping into the chart).  In alot of cases, the ones not in the Top 40 were better than the ones that were in the Top 40 :)


I agree.

I hear Parr's "Naughty Naughty" more on the radio here than I do "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)".  a-ha's "Take On Me" gets played quite a bit but back in the day you'd hear "The Sun Always Shines On T.V.", "Train Of Thought" and "Cry Wolf" on radio.  "In A Big Country" doesn't get much play here but more than any other Big Country song, although I remember hearing "Fields Of Fire", "Look Away" and "One Great Thing" on the radio way back then.

I agree.

I hear Parr's "Naughty Naughty" more on the radio here than I do "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)".  a-ha's "Take On Me" gets played quite a bit but back in the day you'd hear "The Sun Always Shines On T.V.", "Train Of Thought" and "Cry Wolf" on radio.  "In A Big Country" doesn't get much play here but more than any other Big Country song, although I remember hearing "Fields Of Fire", "Look Away" and "One Great Thing" on the radio way back then.


'In A Big Country' and 'Look Away' were the two BC hits that got play up here, but more than anything, the former dominated, but as many overseas might say, it was far from their best (but it was still good).  It introduced Big Country to the world, but paved the way for even better songs :)

For anyone not experienced with Big Country, I highly reccomend their 1995 U.S. release 'The Best of Big Country'.  It's only downfall was that it failed to include the hits from their 1993 comeback 'The Buffalo Skinners', but did contain every hit they had from 1982-1991

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/5b/aa/a040024128a0a5760f71f010.L.jpg