MUSIC CHALLENGE: Name a band or solo performer that was a TWO-Hit Wonder.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

They're tougher to name than one-hit wonders, but the first one that came to mind was The Romantics...they had the huge hit "What I Like About You," and a lesser, disco-y new age follow-up hit "Talking In Your Sleep." Both were played to death on MTV. After that, it was like Billy Mumy banished them to the cornfield.



:toast:

[CBGLuthier]

1. Golden Earring

Radar Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeRa3RtBiIU

Twilight Zone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1sf2CzEq0w

[HughBeaumont]

2. 10cc -

The great "I'm Not In Love"

and the OK

"The Things We do For Love"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

38. "Dreadlock Holiday" got played to death on FM...

...although that doesn't mean it was a "hit" in the classic sense. In the peak years of "album oriented radio," songs could get "heavy rotation" airplay and still not sell at a gold or platinum level.

For anyone who doesn't recognize that song from the title, it's the one that had the chorus "I don't like reggae...oh no, I LOVE IT."

:toast:

[RZM]

3. Sometimes it depends on where you are talking about. Placebo is a good example

They made a brief splash in the US in 1998-1999 with the album 'Without You I'm Nothing,' which yielded two minor modern rock/alternative hits:

'Pure Morning'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbHkwrGgsoA

'Every me and Every You'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-fJ9ROrW08

The second song was used in the movie 'Cruel Intentions'

But in other parts of the world (especially Europe) they remain big.

[LynneSin]

4. Bay City Rollers

Saturday Night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBn2ux5vRHk

I Only Want to Be With You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGD27WgtKhI&feature=fvwrel

[musette_sf]

44. And "Tartan Horde"!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKcGvHbHduw&feature=related

I'd like to buy a white guitar like Woody
Play it up high
With some other guy singing
"Bye bye baby bye bye"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBmsMXgjNdQ&feature=related

Callin' out across the land
Callin' every single Roller fan
School's been a drag
But that's alright
Cos we're gonna see Woody on stage tonight

G-d, I love Nick Lowe....

[LynneSin]

49. Those songs were never big hits in the USA

so there :D

[SteppingRazor]

5. MORE COWBELL!!

Blue Oyster Cult, "Don't Fear the Reaper" and "Burnin' for You"

[RZM]

6. You forgot 'Godzilla' :) n/t

[KamaAina]

7. Rick Astley!!!

One of them is "Together Forever". The other one has slipped my memory for the moment. :evilgrin:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

39. YEAH! What WAS that OTHER one?

:rofl:

:toast:

[KamaAina]

67. By George, I think I've got it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ&ob=av2e

:P

[Bennyboy]

8. The Grateful Dead!

Trucking in 72
and Touch of Gray in 89.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

40. So true...all those great songs and only two of them were "hits."

Even when they signed with Arista and the label was PRESSURING them to have hits, they had ONE..."Touch of Gray."

:toast:

[hifiguy]

9. The Left Banke

Everyone remembers "Walk Away Renee" one of the most perfect pop songs there ever was, and many will remember the followup, "Pretty Ballerina." When Michael Brown, who wrote most of the band's material as a 16 year old keyboard prodigy, left the hits abruptly stopped coming.

The Renee of the immortal tune was the bass player's girlfriend and Brown had a ferocious and unrequited crush on her.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

10. Maybe The Raspberries

with Go All the Way and I Wanna Be With You..

they may have had more hits, but I can't remember any...

Go All the Way is one of my most favorite power pop songs. It's really a great song.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

47. "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" was their last...somewhat minor...hit.

On "Tonight," Eric Carmen REALLY went for a McCartney-style rocker.

But once again, I heard these played to death on FM radio, which may not be an indication of their "hit" status.

[meegbear]

11. The Greg Kihn Band

"The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8ePSJ44Fiw

Jeopardy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tCEQwww65g

[RZM]

21. Nice catch! n/t

[krispos42]

36. "I Lost on Jeopardy, Baby"

"ooooo, oo aaa ooooo"


Dammit, now it's in my head!!!

[abq e streeter]

12. The Cyrkle with Red Rubber Ball and Turn Down Day

[gratuitous]

14. Red Rubber Ball was written by Paul Simon

Not the Senator, Garfunkel's old partner.

[abq e streeter]

16. Yup, just heard it on the oldies station (we have a pretty good AM one here) last night

That last verse has helped me through some tough times over the years (decades? eons?)

[musette_sf]

43. saw the Cyrkle open for the Beatles

1966

[gratuitous]

13. Johnny Nash

"Stir It Up" and "I Can See Clearly Now."

Yeah, I'm old.

[abq e streeter]

15. Me and hifiguy listed ones older than these. So if YOU'RE old, that makes us...um

oh shit, I don't even wanna think about it.:rofl:

[hifiguy]

17. I was very young at the time. . .

:rofl:

[abq e streeter]

22. me too-or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

18. Robert Palmer

Addicted to Love and Simply Irresistible.


Sharp dresser, was a cool singer.

Although I did not understand the bit with the skinny bony models behind him and their weird eye makeup.

[gratuitous]

19. For a rather humorous rebuttal to Robert Palmer videos

Here's Michelle Shocked with On the Greener Side:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1NyTN3FG9s

[RZM]

20. Palmer had more than two hits in the US and quite a few more in the UK

Other US hits include:

'Bad Case of Loving You'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQdaSpEeBvQ

'Some Like it Hot' (w/Power Station)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-EgychhX4E

[Taverner]

23. and of course "Looking for Clues," which should have been used in a montage on Scooby Doo

[RZM]

24. LOL. That apparently didn't chart in the US. Though it's one of my favorite music videos EVAH!

I can't find it on YouTube though.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

48. It got people talking...

...just like those famous / infamous Roxy Music album covers. Half the buzz of any new Roxy album centered around the album cover photo.

[KamaAina]

25. Soul Asylum

Runaway Train, Without A Trace, then... oblivion. :(

[abq e streeter]

27. Misery got a lot of airplay if I remember(at least here in NM). Cool song too

Saw them open for the Xpensive Winos (Keith Richards)in about 1993 ...and when we listened to them from the lobby of the theater (and were therefore able to hear them more clearly; the sound guys had them just unbearably loud) they were great.

[KamaAina]

29. Good point

and that must've been a hell of a show!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

46. CLASSIC song, and the critics ripped the HELL out of the album.

"Dim Light was the least favorite album of the band, as Columbia, their label at the time, constantly interfered with their creative process."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_Your_Dim_Light_Shine

[KamaAina]

26. Spin Doctors

Two Princes, Little Miss Can't Be Wrong, and poof!

[Archae]

51. Got good news for you...

The Spin Doctors will be in Sheboygan, for Bratwurst Days, on August 5th.

http://www.brat-days.com/

[KamaAina]

62. My birthday!

Good to know Sheboygan is celebrating it in style. Will there be a Scott Walker dunking booth?

[Archae]

65. Don't we wish!

There'd be a line 3 miles long. :-)

[Robb]

28. A-Ha.

"Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on TV."

[dana_b]

30. maybe The Clash

this could be debated but their biggest hits, "Rock The Casbah" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go" are the only ones that I can remember hearing consistently on the radio.

"London Calling", "Know Your Rights" and "Train In Vain" may have made it onto the charts in the UK - I'm not really sure.

[abq e streeter]

31. As a hard core Clash fan, I should have thought of that. You're right...

Those 2 were the only ones that got heavy MTV rotation etc. And I don't know about the U. K. charts either, but yeah, Should I Stay, and Casbah were the only two real "hits" here. A shame, because that's all a lot of people know about The Clash when there's SO much more to 'em ,and while I do like those songs, in my opinion, their best stuff was so damn good, that those two are almost throwaways in comparison. ( key term being "in comparison" cuz they're still pretty cool songs.)

[dana_b]

32. agreed

even on London Calling there was so much more (Clampdown, Spanish Bombs) that I personally liked better. I don't think that the American public, or at least the radio stations/MTV, were ready for Sandanista. Although now when I hear SISOSIG or RTC on the radio, I get really happy.

[abq e streeter]

33. Loved everything on London Calling; I consider it to be among the top 5 rock albums ever recorded

Have you seen this video of Spanish Bombs? Unbelievably powerful (and damned upsetting to put it mildly)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-qcy0-7ngw

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

41. I think it is funny/weird that we hear

Train in Wain way more now - then we did when in the era it was recorded. My 19 year old daughter loves that song, and it introduced her to The Clash.

[pink-o]

34. Hey, do I win a prize??? I'm the first to mention "Steppenwolf" who of course did

"Born to be Wild" and "Magic Carpet Ride"

Yeah, give me a prize for being the OLDEST of the OLD that I remember listening to both those songs on AM transistor radios when they were first released. (FTR: I'm 56, born December 16, 1954)

[krispos42]

37. What's an "AM transistor radio"?

I tried to Wiki it, but it just laughed at me...

[some guy]

53. sorry, you win nothing.

:)

In the US:

Born To Be Wild hit # 2
Magic carpet Ride hit # 3
Rock Me hit # 10
Move Over hit # 31
Monster (! Id not have guessed) hit # 39
Hey Lawdy Mama hit # 35
Straight Shootin' Woman hit # 29

according to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steppenwolf_discography#Singles

[pink-o]

61. of all of those, I only remember "Monster"

...and I don't remember it being a hit. But seeing as I first heard them in 1968, I would trust Wiki far better than my cobwebbed memory!

[mokawanis]

74. Surprised Snowblind Friend didn't make it

My all-time fave by them, one I still listen to from time to time, is Renegade.

[bluesbassman]

35. Head East - Never Been Any Reason and Since You Been Gone

Never Been Any Reason
http://youtu.be/EB7h5aWPPd0

Since You Been Gone
http://youtu.be/XJKZL1EKpdY

[Amerigo Vespucci]

42. They were REALLY reaching for that earworm brass ring, weren't they?

"Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time"

:rofl:

:toast:

[Gidney N Cloyd]

45. Honey Cone: 1) Want Ads 2) Stick Up

[Kat45]

50. It's interesting how we're talking about 2 different kinds of artists.

Bands like the Clash and the Dead who may have only had 2 actual hits but had a number of albums and lots of songs that a lot of people know. Then bands like the Romantics, who really did have only 2 songs that anybody knew.

Edited to add: I tend to think of the latter as two-hit wonders, and similar kinds of bands as one-hit wonders when applicable. It's hard for me to think of bands like the Clash and the Dead in that category. BTW, the Romantics were the first band I thought of when I read the question in the OP.

[some guy]

55. True.

And I can't really think of any two-hit wonder type bands/artists off the top of my head. Partly because I stopped paying attention to top 40 music by the time I was 11, which was hella long ago.

[Mendocino]

52. Five Man Electrical Band

Signs and Werewolf.

[some guy]

54. Marshall Tucker Band

:D

Fire On The Mountain reached # 38
Heard it In A Love Song got all the way to # 14

No other top 40 hits.

according to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marshall_Tucker_Band#Singles

I kind of knew that, but I was just reading about them again today, and had that thought reinforced.

They were a great band; but I stopped following them after Toy Caldwell's death, after his younger brother Tommy had also died. :cry:

and here they are:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e71N7EhaGA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUL68ZeclcA&feature=related

[Amerigo Vespucci]

71. "Take The Highway" and "Can't You See" REALLY didn't chart?

I stopped following them after Toy's death as well. It's like Skynyrd without Ronnie Van Zandt. Granted, they still have Doug Gray's vocals to this day. But without that INSANE thumb-picked playing that put the band on the map, it ain't the MTB.

:toast:

[some guy]

72. Apparently not.

:shrug:

:toast: they shoulda been bigger.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

73. BEFORE MTV...

ABC had "In Concert" on Friday nights. It was the ONLY game in town when it came to REAL rock & roll, NOT "pop."

They had the Mahavishnu Orchestra, at their PEAK.

They had UFO, with Michael Schenker, at their PEAK.

They had a "Southern Rock Double Bill" with the Allman Bros. (shortly after Duane & Berry died, when Gregg started doing that "Sometimes I try to believe...there ain't no such thing...as DYING..." bit), AND Marshall Tucker.

It was like wild bulls coming out of the gates at the rodeo...even the Allmans, who were still reeling from their double loss. It was one of the single most memorable shows ever broadcast.

[abq e streeter]

56. The Seeds-Pushin'Too Hard and Can't Seem to Make You Mine

[abq e streeter]

57. The Electric Prunes--Too Much To Dream, and Get Me to the World On Time

[abq e streeter]

58. If a"hit" includes briefly denting the top 40, then The Knickerbockers and The Soul Survivors

Lies and One Track Mind....and Expressway to Your Heart and Explosion

[Tikki]

59. The Box Tops..."The Letter" & "Cry Like a Baby".....

Tikki

[abq e streeter]

63. Back in my (and your?) day, there was much more regional variation in the charts.

In Chicago, and I'm guessing the midwest in general, The Box Tops had a few more pretty big hits. Soul Deep and Neon Rainbow were in the top ten, and Choo Choo Train was a moderate (top 30 if I recall) hit too. I'm wondering if you just forgot those or whether they didn't hit the charts where you were like they did back in Chicago, where I grew up (using the term "grew up" loosely anyway). I have great respect for your musical tastes and knowledge and am curious (although obviously no big deal in the grand scheme of things) as to whether the ones I mentioned were more regional or whether you, as I do more and more frequently as the years pile up, just spaced them out.

[Tikki]

64. I did not really know those songs...but I know of what you speak, this regional..

hits.
Sir Douglas Quintet (southwestern band) had a dozen hits out here
as did Bobby Fuller Four. And performers like Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
played around these parts longer than their two National hits, "Woolly Bully" and
"(Hey there) Little Red Riding Hood" may have supported them, elsewhere.
We had Regional bands like The Sonics and The Kingsmen and even Paul Revere and the
Raiders rang their bells and took their shots around the Northwest for years before
Dick Clark took them National.

Tikki

[abq e streeter]

68. Enjoy: (if you're a Box Tops/ Chilton fan)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqkCotxAueM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SDYvYNUiBQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhfL_gV2rfo

[Systematic Chaos]

76. Oops wrong place

[saras]

79. Neon Rainbow, and especially Sweet Cream Ladies

now THERE is a bizarre song to have charted in 1969

...Sweet cream ladies, forward march;
Think what you're providing
Sweet cream ladies, show your starch;
What's the use of hiding?
Tell the socialites to look the other way;
It's instinctive stimulation you convey
It's a necessary function,
Meant for those without compunction,
Who get tired of vanilla every day...

[Lance_Boyle]

60. The Human League

"Fascination" and "Don't You Want Me."

Thompson Twins may also count, with "Hold Me Now" and "Doctor Doctor."

[dawg]

70. Lies Lies Lies

Yeah!

[NoGOPZone]

66. The Blackbyrds reached the Top Twenty with 'Walking in Rhythym" and "Happy Music"

and had several other songs make the R&B charts.

[Iggo]

69. Falco.

"Der Kommisar" and "Rock Me Amadeus"

[Systematic Chaos]

75. Soft Cell, with Promises, Promises and Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go

[Systematic Chaos]

77. Thomas Dolby with Blinded Me With Science and Hyperactive

[saras]

78. It depends on your definition of "hit"

Lots of bands released a second song that hit some places but not enough to make them national hits. Two examples

The Strawberry Alarm Clock
Big hit: Incense and Peppermints
Followup: Tomorrow

I heard them both on the radio as "hits". Incense and Peppermints became a classic and Tomorrow faded away as another top-100 that didn't really hit.

Crow
Big Hit: Evil Woman
Followup: Cottage Cheese

Likewise, both were radio hits here. Personally I think the stupid title cost them a second hit. It's a lascivious chunk of hard-rock, that manages to be down-dirty and funny at the same time.

Crowded House
Hit 1: Don't Dream It's Over
Hit 2: Something So Strong
Personally I thought "World Where You Live" deserved to be a hit, but it wasn't.