1980s 1 hit wonders

[matt1]

Scritti Politti "Perfect Way" (late 1985)

[matt1]

Rocky Burnette "Tired Of Toein' The Line" (1980)

[matt1]

Delbert McClinton "Giving It Up For Your Love" (early 1981)

[matt1]

Tierra "Together" (late 1980)

[matt1]

Ali Thompson "Take A Little Rhythm" (1980)

[matt1]

Oak "King Of The Hill" (1980) One of the lyrics "One hell of a man"!!

[matt1]

Lee Ritenour "Is It You?" (Summer of 1981)

[matt1]

Amy Holland "How Do I Survive?" (1980) (married to Doobie Brother Michael McDonald)

[tc]

Living In A Box - By Living In A Box

[ChrisWL1980]

"Really gay"? Is that a bad thing?

Assuming our criteria of "one hit wonder" is only one Top 40 Pop hit (though other songs of theirs may have reached the Hot 100 or even the Top 50, or may have been hits on Country, R&B or other charts), here are some favorites of mine. Some of these were songs I discovered listening to Premiere's AT40 reruns. (For the record, a few of the artists already mentioned had other Top 40 hits.)

Baby Love - Regina (1986) (not a Supremes remake)
If The Love Fits Wear It - Leslie Pearl (1982)
Turning Japanese - The Vapors (1980)
10-9-8 - Face to Face (1984)
Breakin'... There's No Stoppin' Us - Ollie & Jerry (1984)
Should've Never Let You Go - Dara Sedaka's duet with her daddy, Neil (1980)
Friends and Lovers - Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson (1986) (both one-hit wonders)
Soul City - Partland Brothers (1986 Canada, 1987 U.S.)
Fascinated - Company B (1987)
Beat's So Lonely - Charlie Sexton (1986)

Country stars with only one crossover hit:
Baby I Lied - Deborah Allen (1984)
What Are We Doin' in Love - Dottie West (duet with Kenny Rogers) (1981)

One-almost-hit wonders:
The Way To Your Heart - Soulsister (1989) - just missed the Billboard Top 40 at #41, but charted Top 40 Radio & Records
Midnight Blue - Louise Tucker & Charlie Skarbeck (1983) - made Top 50 pop and Top 10 AC

Then you had artists like Tracy Chapman and Enya, who ended the decade as one-big-hit wonders but managed to get another (and even bigger) hit some years later. Or Kate Bush, who managed to pull off a "Sheriff" this year with "Running Up That Hill" 37 years after it first charted. Not to mention major artists like The Grateful Dead who aren't usually thought of as "one hit wonders" but were as far as the Top 40 went.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

"Really gay"? Is that a bad thing?

Assuming our criteria of "one hit wonder" is only one Top 40 Pop hit (though other songs of theirs may have reached the Hot 100 or even the Top 50, or may have been hits on Country, R&B or other charts), here are some favorites of mine. Some of these were songs I discovered listening to Premiere's AT40 reruns. (For the record, a few of the artists already mentioned had other Top 40 hits.)

Baby Love - Regina (1986) (not a Supremes remake)
If The Love Fits Wear It - Leslie Pearl (1982)
Turning Japanese - The Vapors (1980)
10-9-8 - Face to Face (1984)
Breakin'... There's No Stoppin' Us - Ollie & Jerry (1984)
Should've Never Let You Go - Dara Sedaka's duet with her daddy, Neil (1980)
Friends and Lovers - Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson (1986) (both one-hit wonders)
Soul City - Partland Brothers (1986 Canada, 1987 U.S.)
Fascinated - Company B (1987)
Beat's So Lonely - Charlie Sexton (1986)

Country stars with only one crossover hit:
Baby I Lied - Deborah Allen (1984)
What Are We Doin' in Love - Dottie West (duet with Kenny Rogers) (1981)

One-almost-hit wonders:
The Way To Your Heart - Soulsister (1989) - just missed the Billboard Top 40 at #41, but charted Top 40 Radio & Records
Midnight Blue - Louise Tucker & Charlie Skarbeck (1983) - made Top 50 pop and Top 10 AC

Then you had artists like Tracy Chapman and Enya, who ended the decade as one-big-hit wonders but managed to get another (and even bigger) hit some years later. Or Kate Bush, who managed to pull off a "Sheriff" this year with "Running Up That Hill" 37 years after it first charted. Not to mention major artists like The Grateful Dead who aren't usually thought of as "one hit wonders" but were as far as the Top 40 went.

No, being gay is fine. I'm bi myself. I was trying to proactively counter the snickers of such bigots.

The "Turning Japanese" song reminds me that there were several anti Asian songs in the 80's for whatever reason. Bowie's "China Girl" being another.

Living In A Box - By Living In A Box

I literally just heard this yesterday on my 80's Oblivion CD.

[matt1]

The late David Lasley "If I Had My Wish Tonight" (from 1982 album "Missing Twenty Grand") who was born in Branch, MI & moved to Sault Ste. Marie, MI.

[matt1]

Honeymoon Suite "Feel It Again" (from "The Big Prize") made it to the Top 40 in 1986 but that was it.

[ChrisWL1980]

"Really gay"? Is that a bad thing?

Assuming our criteria of "one hit wonder" is only one Top 40 Pop hit (though other songs of theirs may have reached the Hot 100 or even the Top 50, or may have been hits on Country, R&B or other charts), here are some favorites of mine. Some of these were songs I discovered listening to Premiere's AT40 reruns. (For the record, a few of the artists already mentioned had other Top 40 hits.)

Baby Love - Regina (1986) (not a Supremes remake)
If The Love Fits Wear It - Leslie Pearl (1982)
Turning Japanese - The Vapors (1980)
10-9-8 - Face to Face (1984)
Breakin'... There's No Stoppin' Us - Ollie & Jerry (1984)
Should've Never Let You Go - Dara Sedaka's duet with her daddy, Neil (1980)
Friends and Lovers - Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson (1986) (both one-hit wonders)
Soul City - Partland Brothers (1986 Canada, 1987 U.S.)
Fascinated - Company B (1987)
Beat's So Lonely - Charlie Sexton (1986)

Country stars with only one crossover hit:
Baby I Lied - Deborah Allen (1984)
What Are We Doin' in Love - Dottie West (duet with Kenny Rogers) (1981)

One-almost-hit wonders:
The Way To Your Heart - Soulsister (1989) - just missed the Billboard Top 40 at #41, but charted Top 40 Radio & Records
Midnight Blue - Louise Tucker & Charlie Skarbeck (1983) - made Top 50 pop and Top 10 AC

Then you had artists like Tracy Chapman and Enya, who ended the decade as one-big-hit wonders but managed to get another (and even bigger) hit some years later. Or Kate Bush, who managed to pull off a "Sheriff" this year with "Running Up That Hill" 37 years after it first charted. Not to mention major artists like The Grateful Dead who aren't usually thought of as "one hit wonders" but were as far as the Top 40 went.

No, being gay is fine. I'm bi myself. I was trying to proactively counter the snickers of such bigots.

The "Turning Japanese" song reminds me that there were several anti Asian songs in the 80's for whatever reason. Bowie's "China Girl" being another.

Living In A Box - By Living In A Box

I literally just heard this yesterday on my 80's Oblivion CD.

Gotcha. I'm gender-queer myself. Thanks for clarifying.
Speaking of Asian cultural appropriation/racially insensitive content in early '80s music... there was this in 1981, which managed to get to #1 in the UK and in several other European countries. She is Scottish, not Japanese. And she could be considered a one-hit wonder as her only other chart record in the UK peaked at #50, according to Wiki. No way in hell would this fly today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyTruRHZsFQ

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

"Really gay"? Is that a bad thing?

Assuming our criteria of "one hit wonder" is only one Top 40 Pop hit (though other songs of theirs may have reached the Hot 100 or even the Top 50, or may have been hits on Country, R&B or other charts), here are some favorites of mine. Some of these were songs I discovered listening to Premiere's AT40 reruns. (For the record, a few of the artists already mentioned had other Top 40 hits.)

Baby Love - Regina (1986) (not a Supremes remake)
If The Love Fits Wear It - Leslie Pearl (1982)
Turning Japanese - The Vapors (1980)
10-9-8 - Face to Face (1984)
Breakin'... There's No Stoppin' Us - Ollie & Jerry (1984)
Should've Never Let You Go - Dara Sedaka's duet with her daddy, Neil (1980)
Friends and Lovers - Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson (1986) (both one-hit wonders)
Soul City - Partland Brothers (1986 Canada, 1987 U.S.)
Fascinated - Company B (1987)
Beat's So Lonely - Charlie Sexton (1986)

Country stars with only one crossover hit:
Baby I Lied - Deborah Allen (1984)
What Are We Doin' in Love - Dottie West (duet with Kenny Rogers) (1981)

One-almost-hit wonders:
The Way To Your Heart - Soulsister (1989) - just missed the Billboard Top 40 at #41, but charted Top 40 Radio & Records
Midnight Blue - Louise Tucker & Charlie Skarbeck (1983) - made Top 50 pop and Top 10 AC

Then you had artists like Tracy Chapman and Enya, who ended the decade as one-big-hit wonders but managed to get another (and even bigger) hit some years later. Or Kate Bush, who managed to pull off a "Sheriff" this year with "Running Up That Hill" 37 years after it first charted. Not to mention major artists like The Grateful Dead who aren't usually thought of as "one hit wonders" but were as far as the Top 40 went.

No, being gay is fine. I'm bi myself. I was trying to proactively counter the snickers of such bigots.

The "Turning Japanese" song reminds me that there were several anti Asian songs in the 80's for whatever reason. Bowie's "China Girl" being another.

Living In A Box - By Living In A Box

I literally just heard this yesterday on my 80's Oblivion CD.

Gotcha. I'm gender-queer myself. Thanks for clarifying.
Speaking of Asian cultural appropriation/racially insensitive content in early '80s music... there was this in 1981, which managed to get to #1 in the UK and in several other European countries. She is Scottish, not Japanese. And she could be considered a one-hit wonder as her only other chart record in the UK peaked at #50, according to Wiki. No way in hell would this fly today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyTruRHZsFQ

That’s awesome. I meant zero offense. I have several GQ and trans friends. Just know that down in Pol Pot, I was attacked for being bi. It’s great that you are here, both on the board and in general.