I was watching this show called "Back in 1981", and in it, they talked about "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes, calling it a one hit wonder simply because it was her only #1 hit.  Then when they talked about the video for the song, they referred to it as "her one and only hit".  I know for a fact that Kim Carnes had 18 hits in the 80's (10 of which went top 40), so how does this make her a 1 hit wonder?

This got me thinking about one hit wonders, so my question is ... how do you define a one hit wonder?

[quote author=whis

For example, Zager and Evans are a one hit wonder on the Hot 100 for "In the Year 2525," and Judas Priest are a one hit wonder on the Hot 100 for "You've Got Another Thing Coming."

Countries also play a part in one hit wonders.  The thing with Judas Priest also is that they had 4 Top 40 hits in the UK, but for some reason, that kind of thing is never taken into consideration when shows and books talk about one hit wonders  :\'(

A good example is Big Country.  They only had 1 US Top 40 hit with "In A Big Country", but they had two other minor hits with "Fields of Fire" and "Wonderland".  Meanwhile in the United Kingdom, they had 15 top 40 hits ... and even here in Canada, they had extended success with the 1986 song "Look Away"

A good example of a true one hit wonder would be the 1983 dance hit "State of the Nation" by Industry (US #81).  It was their only hit in any chart in any country

An example of a questionable one hit wonder would be the 1980 hit "Only A Lonely Heart Sees" by Felix Cavaliere (US #36).  Although It was his only hit, he had many hits in the 60's as the lead singer for The Young Rascals

[quote author=whis

In my opinion a one hit wonder is a band that's synonymous with one song.  This would include Los Del Rio, Crazy Town, a-ha (in US only), Devo, Dexy's Midnight Runners, D4L (hopefully), along with countless others.

In my opinion a one hit wonder is a band that's synonymous with one song.  This would include Los Del Rio, Crazy Town, a-ha (in US only), Devo, Dexy's Midnight Runners, D4L (hopefully), along with countless others.


That's an interesting definition in that it excludes a lot of one hit wonders that would fit under stricter rules. The aforementioned Judas Priest comes to mind, as they're pretty well associated with at least three: their hit and Breakin' the Law and Hell Bent For Leather. What about a group like It's a Beautiful Day that is associated with pretty much one song only ("White Bird") but didn't have an actual hit with it?

What you're describing is a valid sort of thing, but I'm not sure it's "one hit wonder" status per se. Then again, until there's someone who's kind enough to fix the definition for everyone, I guess nobody really can be sure! ;)

Doesn't Nena really qualify as being a "true blue" OHW outside of Europe, I know she had other hits in Europe, but I'm talking about being a "true" OHW in the US, UK because she never had a second hit in some of those countries...

Some singers like Thomas Dolby, Peter Schilling, Falco and perhaps some others don't actually qualify as OHW's because they had some minor hits outside of Europe. Thomas Dolby had a minor second song with 1984's "Hyperactive!", Peter Schilling had a minor second hit with 1989's "The Different Story" and Falco, could you say 1982's "Der Kommissar"