The nature of One Hit Wonders is that they have a brief moment in the sun and then are lost to the mists of time. Of course, not all One Hit Wonders had only one song and some One Hit Wonders still manage to tour the world preforming their one hit. The one thing all One-Hit Wonders share is that there was one bright, shinny moment when everyone was playing one of their songs. So here is my top ten list of One-Hit Wonders.
10. Da Da Da I Don’t Love You You Don’t Love Me by Trio is one of those really dumb and pointless songs, but maybe that’s why I love it. This silly One Hit Wonder song was one of a handful of 12″ singles that I bought and played over and over again.
9. Money (That’s What I Want) by The Flying Lizards, well, that’s a great name for a band, isn’t it? There something nice about the honest of wanting Money that makes this one hit wonder a favorite among movie makers. After all greed never goes out of style. I always thought she sounded a lot like Zsa Zsa Gabor.
8. Don’t Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin was an amazing song, acapella and deeply profound, as well just damned silly. The video is wonderful as it features not only Bobby McFerrin but Robin Williams and Bill Irwin. How may one-hit wonders get this kind of talent in their videos? I was working the night shift when I first heard this one hit wonder and I thought the singer must be someone that looked like Gandhi. If your gonna have one hit, this is the kind to have.
7. Puttin’ On the Ritz by Taco. Ok I have a weakness for songs from the 1980s and songs from the 1930s so put them together and you get this one hit wonder bit of magic. Taco is a real one hit wonder, as he seems to have promptly vanished after recording this song.
6. Do You Realize by The Flaming Lips is most 1980s song since the end of the 1980s. This one hit wonder has one of the weirdest videos ever. Still, if your gonna make odd music, you might as well make odd videos as well. Not that anyone really cares about videos anymore. Not like they used to anyway.
5. Genius of Love by Tom Tom Club was one of those funky and fun songs with a really cool video. A one hit wonder with depth and lots of levels. Ok, it’s also kind of silly, like most of the songs on my list.
4. Cars by Gary Numan was the one hit wonder that kind of started a techno trend that wouldn’t end until MTV unplugged came along. It’s one of those songs that you can just put on replay and never know when it starts or ends.
3. Turning Japanese by The Vapors. A one hit wonder that makes stalking kind of cool.
2. Mambo No 5 by Lou Bega was one of the first CDs I actually went out and bought, too bad this song was the only good track on it. Still, it is a catchy little tune and I think it one of the best One-Hit Wonders.
1. Macarena by Los del Rio the king of all one hit wonders. Hey, I still like this song.
0. The Friends of Mr Cairo by Jon and Vangelis-I couldn’t help adding this one last One Hit Wonder, this was such a way cool song. It’s another one of those songs that you just don’t hear on the radio, even Jack FM has forgotten about Mr Cairo.
