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What "one-hit wonder" do you think has a discography worth exploring?
A "one hit wonder" is a musical artist or band known primarily for one breakout song. While some one-hit wonders stay that way because they put out very little music, others have had surprisingly full careers. (Did you know that Los del Río of "Macarena" fame have put out more than TWENTY albums over the course of SIX DECADES?)
Who is a one-hit wonder that you feel deserves to be known for more than just their "one hit?" What makes their other music worth exploring?
Ok, hear me out - Chumbawumba.
I had no idea that the dorky tubthumpers did anything else until I heard their 60 Songs That Explain the 90s episode. Turns out they've got an extensive catalogue that is all over the place but has some other tunes that are worth a listen. I'm partial to Rappaport's Testament, which is based on a story about an Auschwitz prisoner in Primo Levi's "Moments of Reprieve." There aren't many bands out there that can strike that balance of bouncy, uplifting, depressing, and dorky.
Literally the band that came into my mind as I opened up the comments. Did NOT expect to see someone else have the same suggestion!
This is always my answer to this question.
In addition to all their many excellent records (eg: Give The Anarchist a Cigarette, Homophobia and Torturing James Hetfield), they are also the only band I'm aware of who have done a "Reverse Dylan", where they transitioned from large, loud shouty electric-powered punk band to small acoustic folk outfit (but remained just as, if not more so, furiously angry and articulate while they did).
ALSO, they hold the world record for
the longest album title
The boy bands have won, and all the copyists and the tribute bands and the TV talent show producers have won, if we allow our culture to be shaped by mimicry, whether from lack of ideas or from exaggerated respect. You should never try to freeze culture. What you can do is recycle that culture. Take your older brother's hand-me-down jacket and re-style it, re-fashion it to the point where it becomes your own. But don't just regurgitate creative history, or hold art and music and literature as fixed, untouchable and kept under glass. The people who try to 'guard' any particular form of music are, like the copyists and manufactured bands, doing it the worst disservice, because the only thing that you can do to music that will damage it is not change it, not make it your own. Because then it dies, then it's over, then it's done, and the boy bands have won.
I'm such a big fan of El Fusilado
Everybody knows The Presidents of the United States of America for the song “Lump”. Maybe they know “Peaches” too.
But they’ve got six albums of great stuff. They very much do not take themselves seriously. And I absolutely love the weird gitbass instrument they use a lot.
I’d also nominate my other favorite band, Devo. They just rule. I’m on their wavelength and I love all the weird stuff they do. Most people just know them for “Whip It” (I won’t link it to save you having it stuck in your head all day).
The Girl You Want, Secret Agent Man, Jocko Homo, Mongoloid, Through Being Cool - these are my faves. Their 50th anniversary album is a frequent spin for me.
I recently met a close friend of one of the members (Casale) and he implied he may invite me to a dinner party with him at some point, but I'm not holding my breath.
Love the live album
A few years ago, I threw on their self-titled album just for the hell of it and was pleasantly surprised by how good it is. Kitty, Boll Weevil, Naked and Famous, and Dune Buggy still get a lot of plays.
Not to mention that their lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh has done a bunch of stuff on his own. There's too much to list here (seriously, read the wikipedia page!), but he's been involved in tons of popular shows, movies, and video games. I had no idea until I saw him on Yo Gabba Gabba! and looked him up.
Edit: Spelling!
I'd honestly say more people these days know him from the Rugrats theme than anything else.
Mark Mothersbaugh's soundtrack operation is mindblowing. IIRC doesn't even write the music most of the time, his organization does, but he cultivated this whole organization that's like a musical brain trust.
It's pretty consistent too. There have been a number of times where I'll find myself really enjoying the music in a film, and then wonder to myself if Mark was involved. Then there his name is in the credits. 🙂
PUSA and Devo are good bands. I actually fell in love with Devo's album Something for Everybody, and if you go back through their discography they don't even sound different or outdated.
Gotye immediately comes to mind. Everyone went crazy over Somebody I Used to Know but he is a talented indie multi instrumentalist that has a lot of genuinely great songs on his albums. I don't think people didn't necessarily know that, but that one song went so huge it makes all his others seem obscure.
One of the best album that came out that year. A great listen from start to finish. My favorite song was State of the art... such a weird and catchy song.
Hellogoodbye of "Here (In Your Arms)" fame. Honestly that song is from their first album, which is by far their weakest showing in my opinion. Indie electronic, pop rock.
Eric Hutchinson of "Rock & Roll" fame. Contrarily, his first album is my favorite. But plenty of other singles are great, so I'd recommend checking out his most popular tracks. Singer-songwriter, soft rock, soul.
Watsky of "Pale Kid Raps Fast" fame, a 2011 viral video. The original has since been delisted due to the large shadow it cast over his career. Highly recommend checking out the albums All You Can Do and x Infinity. His music videos are often impressive in some way, and his book is a good read. Alternative hip hop, rap, rock.
That first Eric Hutchinson album is such a classic! And thanks for reminding me about Hellogoodbye. I feel like I used to listed to a pile of their songs and just forgot about them across one of the service moves.
Gary Numan has Cars but has a lot of good music outside the middle of his career.
Gary Numan influenced a lot of people. I didn't realize this until I attended an electronic music festival in Asheville, NC where he was headlining many years ago, and other artists were giving him a shout out during their sets. That was also where I saw NIN for the first time having never listened to their music before.
He really shines in live performances as he adapts his classics to whatever his current style is.
Ran with the goths from what I recall!
I think Kansas is kind of a 2 hit wonder. I don't think I've ever heard anything from them other on radio or streaming other than "Carry On Wayward Son" or "Dust In the Wind". Maybe a few other songs from them were played on the radio in the late 70s or early 80s but not since.
Meanwhile they have a lot of very good albums. The obvious ones are "Leftoverture" and "Point of Know Return", each of which have one of the songs mentioned above. Masque is another very good album. These are good to listen to end-to-end. They are album rock / prog rock, so if you like things like Pink Floyd or Rush you might like them.
I've listened to their entire discography exhaustively in the car when I was attending university (up until Somewhere to Elsewhere). I can sing much of it too! Possibly my favorite american band.
Most people only seem to know Franz Ferdinand for "Take Me Out," if that, but they have several excellent albums. (They also have some definite Kraftwerk influences.)
Side note: I've seen them live twice.
Well, I had a nice post here about Crowded House with some attempts at word play and sappy reminiscence, but it's gone now, all gone. So all I say now is "Crowded House".
So there.
I was about to say, aren't they more of a two-hit wonder with Something So Strong too, but I think that only comes to mind because it's been a favorite of the three grocery store companies I've worked for's playlists, for some reason.
Sadly, because of that, I can't stand that song, but Fall at Your Feet is a perennial favorite of mine.
The Seven Worlds Collide concerts are a treasure - enjoy!
Wow! While it makes perfect sense, I'm a kiwi, so seeing one of NZ/Australia's most iconic bands in a one-hit wonder thread was quite a shock.
My apologies. The loss has been ours, that we have not recognized just how good Crowded House is.
...talk talk had one single crack the top fourty stateside: it's my life, which you might recognise if you listened to the radio fourty years ago...
...if that's all you know of talk talk, grab a copy of spirit of eden, find a nice quiet room with a window you can throw open to the world outside, press play, sit back, and drink in the next fourty minutes...
Laughing Stock also deserves a mention. Maybe close the window and watch a lone candleflame for that one though.
Not sure if Juke Joint Jezebel was a hit, but KMFDM is up there. Great discog.
Also, remember the Trainspotting soundtrack? Underworld had that Born Slippy banger in clubs throughout the 90s, but to me, it's their back catalog of incredible albums that really seals it.
...not to mention that they were a new wave band before going the acid techno route.
"Juke Joint Jezebel" is on Nihil, and the whole album is great! If you like 90s industrial rock.
It's a gooder for sure! I loved their live show - absolutely amazing.
I would have thought A Drug Against War (from Angst) or Godlike (single) would have been more well known.
I love KMFDM.
Yeah, you're probably right. Personally, I'll say that there are few songs that hit like A Drug Against War. It's such an insane track, and when combined with Brute's art for the video, it must have knocked people's socks off in the MTV/MuchMusic era.
They're among my favorites, too. What a legacy!
As someone from that era, it most certainly did (although it only ran during "Headbanger's Ball" once a week at midnight).
Beavis and Butthead also riffed on it - that was my first experience with them.
They did sneak in some very cool songs into that show once in a while. I think their riffing to music was the best part of the show and I believe that when they later released the show, they couldn't include those segments due to licensing.
I think it’s tragic that Bobby McFerrin is only really known for Don’t Worry Be Happy. The accent is a silly affectation, he has an incredible body of more serious work that have earned him 10 Grammys and universal praise.
https://youtu.be/nDBvSDUMCJQ
https://youtu.be/_o2RS8WfcbY
https://youtu.be/WNY0e_hCgOI
Bobby McFerrin is such an incredible musician. I absolutely love his version of Round Midnight!
Bands I'm not super into but are great:
Alien Ant Farm. Deep discography, amazing writing, good lyrics. They have a few hits, but their "Smooth Criminal" was the hit.
Hot Action Cop - this like bro-rock outfit from Nashville, has a surprisingly solid, limited discography. I'd say their hit is "Fever for the Flava," which is actually one of my favorite songs to run through on guitar any time I'm jamming. House of Pain is a huge shift in tone for them, and a solid song off the album Listen Up!.
Presidents of the United States of America - Ironic, catcny, fun songs on instruments created by the band Morphine. PUSA's hits are great, but their deep cuts are better, talented band with a overall good vibe.
One that should get more respect:
I got really into the band Filter and have only gotten more into their stuff. Richard Patrick (brother of Robert Patrick, aka the T-1000 from Terminator) is a great vocalist with a scream unmatched in rock (different than Chris Cornell's, i wouldn't say better though). Their first albums were a take on industrial that was less synth oriented and more heavy guitar, with Richard Patrick describing that he wanted to make the heaviest album he could without writing metal. Title of Record is now one of my favorite albums ever, but their album Short Bus doesn't really miss except for a couple of lyrical fumbles (I'll share that in the sore thumb lyrics thread. The band started after Patrick toured with Nine Inch Nails and complained about the pay to Trent Reznor, who said "Well, write the album next time" and gave him the address of a pizza place looking for a driver. It lit a fire under his ass to strike out on his own to, frankly, pretty good success, but nowhere near NIN's.
Hanson were only ever known for Mmmbop. But they have a load of other good songs and have evolved a lot over the years.
Cases-in-point: Where's The Love, Penny & Me, Thinking 'Bout Somethin'
Robyn gained popularity in the 90's with Show Me Love, but that was one of my least favorite songs of the era. She has since gone on to make a bunch of other songs that I like quite a bit. I'm especially partial to the slow burn of With Every Heartbeat.
Her song "call your girlfriend" is also a banger. Admittedly that's the only song I really know of hers so I'll have to check these others out.
If you like that you'll probably also like "Dancing On My Own".
oh snap I forgot about that one. It is a banger!
Shows how geography-specific the categorisation of one hit wonders might be, as Robyn definitely wouldn't fall under that category here in Sweden.
Robyn’s Body Talk album is pop perfection.
If you know Andrew W.K. it's probably for "Party Hard" (or his appearance on Aqua Teen Hunger Force) but he put out several albums of upbeat party-metal over the years that are all solid. His last couple are different. You're Not Alone is a slower collection of loud ballads and self-help interludes for a different flavor of Andrew's relentless positivity, while God is Partying changes gears for a much heavier sound reminiscent of Devin Townsend.
There's a piano album in there, 55 Cadillac, that's hard to compare to any of his other work.
Yes! I also recommend the article The Crying of Lot 55, which addresses the multitude of… fascinating oddities that surround the man, and the question if he actually even exists. It’s the reason I discovered him, and even if the questions it discusses are nonsense it’s a great read.
Haha yeah, I didn't want to scare anyone off by digging into the meta weirdness of the whole thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_one-hit_wonders_in_the_United_States?wprov=sfla1
One that stuck out to me was The Digital Underground, super weird goofy 90s hip hop group. I like their album Sex Packets.
Edit: deeper in the 90s section of the list and Blind Melon appears! Their whole self-titled album is good, if you like "No Rain" you should dig it.
E2: I'm losing some regard for this list. Beck? Public Enemy? I get that there's specific criteria that wikipedians set for this list but dang, that's not right - those guys are institutions.
E3: I recall The Prodigy's Fat of the Land being pretty great, as far as amped up 90s techno goes. "Smack My Bitch Up" has not aged well though.
E4 and I'm done: I legit love The Bloodhound Gang's One Fierce Beer Coaster and Hooray for Boobies, but be prepared for the most juvenile of Y2K-era teen boy humor. If that's not your thing then focus on the impressive lyricism and catchy jams.
I love me some Digital Underground, and Sex Packets is such a great album. My band in high school was also heavily influenced by P-Funk, but we were more funky rock than hip-hop.
It reads like a list of hits limited to one per band or something. I would never call System of a Down a one hit wonder, and even then it would've been "Chop Suey" or "Toxicity" that did that for them. I mentioned Devo to my mom and she was like "Oh yeah, 'We Are Devo," when the listed song was "Whip It."
Going through some of the sources it looks like they're using other shoddy sources.
I'm actually not into them too much but Dream Theater is worth a mention since they're a long-running, very popular prog metal band. They had one song chart back in 1992 but otherwise never appear on them since they're pretty niche.
So when they put out a compilation album, they called it Greatest Hit (...And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs).
Like prog rock and metal tends to go, if you're into them, you're into a lot of their music.
I've been trying to get into Dream Theatre. Added one of their albums to a playlist, but now whenever those songs come up I'm often skipping them. Any particular recs?
...i've played one dream theatre track, the count of tuscany, too too many times to not yet have tired of it: i don't if i can call it their definitive magnum opus, but it's certainly a contender, not unlike echoes is for pink floyd...
(i believe it was also mike portnoy's final studio recording before leaving dream theatre fifteen years ago, although he's since returned with their new album this year: they're all fine musicians but as the soul of the band his influence was sorely missed)
Big DT fan, been listening to them for years. I think this flowchart is pretty accurate in my book, though I'd personally skip directly to Scenes From a Memory as a first listen - it's by far my favorite album of theirs.
...reminds me of jimmy buffett's greatest hit and other songs you know by heart...
soft cell aren’t really one hit wonders but people only know their tainted love cover. they’ve got loads!
also carter the unstoppable sex machine. they had one number one album and one top ten single from that album but are an amazing slice of high-energy south london wit with some incredibly deep messages hidden within
I can't believe nobody has mentioned "Fountains of Wayne"!
Everyone knows "Stacy's Mom" which was their (in my opinion) pretty mid single that happened to be in the right place at the right time.
If you're a lyrics person, their discography is amazing and full of great stories and insights of everyday life. If you're more into the sound, their music has great melodies and harmonies, and reaches out across timelines and genres.
"Welcome Interstate Managers" is the album that stands out to me (and probably most people). It has the previously mentioned single, but is absolutely full of great songs. Mexican Wine is catchy and fun and Valley Winter Song is my headspace song whenever I want to "go home to New England" where I grew up. It's a perfect winter vibe.
"Traffic and Weather" is my second favorite album. I particularly like Yolanda Hayes and Someone to Love.
I bought this album when they became popular on the radio, and played the whole thing on repeat constantly. It's a really good all around album. Another favorite track (that is criminally short!) is Yours and Mine. I still hum the tune to Mexican Wine probably once a week. Really catchy.
I can't speak for their whole discography but Marcy Playground deserves much better.
Their self titled, the one with Sex and Candy, is chock full of great songs. Literally all of them.
I would argue Sex and Candy is the weakest song on it and it's still very good.
I have listened to the rest of their albums too and they are quite good. I'm just not as familiar as I am with their first. They definitely deserve a deeper dive from music heads.
Sex and Candy is definitely one of the weakest songs on that album. I’m partial to Ancient Walls of Flowers but the whole album is good.