The second biggest one-hit wonder group or individual? (other than Zager & Evans or the Starland Vocal Band)

[Dancing Fool]

Starland Vocal Band - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

They had five total albums and a TV variety show for six weeks, but nothing came close to their hit single “Afternoon Delight” the Summer of 1976, which was just a meteor across the sky! 🦁

So, what is the second greatest one-hit wonder band, group, or individual?

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Edit: Based upon the following post and others, I went ahead and added Zager & Evans to our title.

 

[Driftless]

Zager and Evans - In the Year 2525?

 

[Mad Bad Rabbit]

Bobby "Boris" Pickett, who literally zombified his own career with "The Monster Mash" ?

 

[Dancing Fool]

The Sugarhill Gang - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And some kind of honorable mention should go to the The Sugarhill Gang for their 1979 hit “Rapper’s Delight,” which helped kick off Hip Hop music for the 1980s.

The song only hit #36 on the U.S. Billboard [ #4 on R&B], although #3 in UK and #1 in Canada. And they did have a couple of singles which later charted on the U.S. R&B.

So, maybe they don’t meet some technical definition we might come up with, but certainly worthy of a Shout Out ! ! ! 😀

 

[TRH]

How do we define big? Going by sales, I'd say one major contender would be Celtic folk singer Loreena McKennitt, who hit number 18 on the Hot 100 with The Mummers' Dance in 1998. Over the course of her career, she's sold 15 million records.

 

[CV12Hornet]

In terms of single-song impact, no one-hit wonder has outdone Los del Rio. This was Billboard's #7 biggest song of all time back in 2012, and set a slew of records in terms of chart longevity. The single sold 11 million copies just by itself. And it can't be discounted just how ubiquitous it was at its peak. It was everywhere, and not just in the United States.

For fuck's sake, a shitty Christmas remix managed to get some traction!

 

[Pax_Nihil]

Maybe the guy or whoever came up with the 'Happy Birthday ' song? (The basic version as an American would lyricize it)

 

[TRH]

Maybe the guy or whoever came up with the 'Happy Birthday ' song? (The basic version as an American would lyricize it)

That would be Clayton Summy. Thing is, that was back in the 1890s, before there was such a thing as a record industry. Calling that song a pop hit in the modern sense seems wrong.

 

[Pax_Nihil]

That would be Clayton Summy. Thing is, that was back in the 1890s, before there was such a thing as a record industry. Calling that song a pop hit in the modern sense seems wrong.

I'm not calling it that...? Technically it doesn't fit the definition of a "one-hit wonder" but its pretty extensively known by everyone I've ever met, and I've never heard of the OPs example personally. So, yeah. Just throwing it out there lol

Edit: heard the song never knew anything about the band though

 

[dwkelley]

How do we define big?

Heck, how do we define "one hit wonder"? Whatever you do, DO NOT go to Wikipedia on this one - the "talk" is longer that the actual article.

I nominate Looking Glass who did "Brandy (You're a fine girl)", which hit #1 on Billboard and the band broke up less than two years later.

 

[Post]

In terms of single-song impact, no one-hit wonder has outdone Los del Rio. This was Billboard's #7 biggest song of all time back in 2012, and set a slew of records in terms of chart longevity. The single sold 11 million copies just by itself. And it can't be discounted just how ubiquitous it was at its peak. It was everywhere, and not just in the United States.

Similar is the Las Ketchup song. I don't know if it sold that many, but it too was everywhere.

 

[Dancing Fool]

Loreena McKennitt, who hit number 18 on the Hot 100 with The Mummers' Dance in 1998. Over the course of her career, she's sold 15 million records.

I’d say, too much of a major career to be considered “one hit.”

 

[TRH]

I’d say, too much of a major career to be considered “one hit.”

But nothing else that constitutes chart success. Starland Vocal Band had three other songs crack the Hot 100 besides Afternoon Delight. If anything their claim to the status is weaker.

 

[Dancing Fool]

In terms of single-song impact, no one-hit wonder has outdone Los del Rio. This was Billboard's #7 biggest song of all time back in 2012,

The song “Macarena,” with the dance! Yes, i remember it being a big deal — briefly ! — in the mid 90s.

 

[Mad Bad Rabbit]

We'd need metrics for "one hit wonder" (one top-5 song on U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and no previous or subsequent top-100 songs by any band with that lead singer, or that instrumentalist for instrumentals?) and for "biggest" (highest chart position? total weeks on chart? total sales to date? some complex formula combining all these?)

 

[Dancing Fool]

But nothing else that constitutes chart success. Starland Vocal Band had three other songs crack the Hot 100 besides Afternoon Delight. If anything their claim to the status is weaker.

Although I think only as high as the 60s in the U.S. Now, with the “Adult Contemporary” category in Canada, two songs cracked the 20s and two cracked the 30s.

Starland Vocal Band - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yes, this does reduce the “one hit wonder”-ness of it, but I’m going to say only a little, esp. for the person casually listening to radio.

PS Starland Vocal Band is a name people tend to giggle at. Plus, calling yourselves a “vocal band” too much limits your future types of music.

 

[Dancing Fool]

We'd need metrics for "one hit wonder" (one top-5 song on U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and no previous or subsequent top-100 songs by any band with that lead singer, or that instrumentalist for instrumentals?) and for "biggest" (highest chart position? total weeks on chart? total sales to date? some complex formula combining all these?)

Maybe something similar to the “Wins Above Replacement” stat in baseball?

And even though I can understand someone saying, We need to save our brain power for important things like the slow decline of middle-class jobs. But no, play is some helpful in some many ways, I’m all in favor of trying to find unifying stats in other areas.

As someone who was 13-years-old back in 1976, “Afternoon Delight” was all over the radio! And other Starland songs? ? I sure don’t remember hearing them.

So, I’m going to say . . . For the casual listen, even if a song “peaks” at 35, the person hardly notices it at all.

 

[YYJ]

How about Wildflower, by Skylark. 1973
Number 1 in Canada Adult Contemporary.
Number 9 Billboard Hot 100
Number 5 Billboard Adult Contemporary.

Covered and sampled widely, to this day. Band lasted 2 years, and made the charts again, but very low.

Wildflower (Skylark song) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Skylark (Canadian band) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Richardson]

Zager and Evans - In the Year 2525?

According to Wikipedia, they are the only recording group to have a number 1 single in both the US and UK and never have another charting single in the US and UK. None of the other groups mentioned come close to this. I realize you must be of a certain age to have ever heard this song.

 

[mudhead]

Norman Greenbaum​