January 6, 2018 • 27 mins
The term "one-hit wonder" gets thrown around a lot, and - yes - you probably are using it correctly, but Chuck Bryant went to the trouble to really define what makes a one-hit wonder in the article this episode is based on. Join him and Josh as they get to the bottom of this disparaging term.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, it's me Josh and for this week's s
Y s K Selects, I've chosen how one Hit Wonders Work,
which originally published in March of two thousand and This
is the episode where we help heal the world by
pointing out that professional musicians who cracked the top forty
once in their careers still have feelings and don't much
(00:21):
appreciate being called one hit wonders. So maybe take that
little bit of advice and put in your pipe and
smoke it and and go for it from that point on. Enjoy.
Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from House Stuff Works
dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark.
(00:50):
There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. Say something. Um, yeah, I
didn't even say say something funny. I just said say
something froze. Yeah, it's all right, man. That's good quality
in a broadcaster to freeze up on the air and
a professional talker. Yeah yeah, how you doing? Was? Um?
I'm good man, I'm This is a fun, goofy little
(01:13):
topic and we haven't done one like that in a while.
This is a fun article written by a guy named
Charles W. Bryant, a writer for the site. Yeah, I
will go ahead and say one thing I was disappointed
in in this article, and I would still like to
see someone tackle this in documentary style. Maybe is the
psychology of being a one hit wonder? Oh? Like what
it does to your psyche? Yeah? Is it better to
(01:35):
have that one hit and fade away and at least
you had that? Or is it better to have never?
You know? I just I would be real curious to
see a series of interviews with one hit wonders to see,
like how they feel about it. You're saying, is it
better to have hit and lost than never to have
hit at all? Exactly? And I couldn't really find anything
on that. So I'm sure there's one or two who
like listen to the podcast and if you do, right
(01:57):
in let us know how it is we're interested in
Blue Vega Yeah, um, the fake Loue Vega. So, Chuck,
I wanted to commend you for this article because you
really like this is a tough one for with how
stuff works articles, we typically take a topic that is,
(02:19):
you know, has a lot of research done on it,
it's very well defined, and then we deconstruct it. This
one is, like I looked on the Internet, and if
you type in one hit Wonder there is like zero
scholarly work done on it for good reason. Yeah well,
I mean it's interesting though too. Like you brought up
the psychology of being a one there shouldn't have been
anyone ever done a study like that. There is nothing.
(02:40):
It's all just lists. And I actually did find one
good website. It's called um one Hit Wonder central dot
com and they have everything and you can play like
every song they have it by year who the one
hit Wonder was from like the sixties to the two thousands,
maybe fifties. There are some of the greatest songs to me,
or some of the one hit Wonders. And I mean
that's the points, Like you know, one hit Wonder is
(03:01):
just something that everybody liked at one time. We just
didn't like whatever else they were making, right Yeah, um,
at least as a large collective group. Anyway, back to
me commending you, Um, you had to take something that
was really amorphous that everybody knew and we knew if
you got wrong, and whipping into shape like a definable shape,
(03:22):
and you got it right. I think you did a
great job. So, Um. The first thing you pointed out
was that no one is certain of the origin of
this phrase, that's right, but we figured out that it
was it first came in print. N right, Well, that's
what phrases dot org says, and I couldn't find anything
to dispute it. But a writer there wrote the sentence
in July seventy seven about abba instead of becoming what
(03:46):
everyone expected a one hit wonder, they soon had a
string of hits behind them. And although the website phrase
dot org does say it appears to have already been
a used phrase, but this is the first time they've
seen it in print, right, and and so, and there
actually is like a definition for one hit wonder, like
there's well a hit, I guess you can find a hit,
(04:09):
and then it's got to be on the because we're
so American centric, has to be on the billboard top
one and then specifically in the top forty to be
considered a hit. Right, Yeah, technically for like when most
people like there have been books written about one hit
wonders and that's usually what what they say. Okay, so
that wasn't just you or anything saying. And I thought
it was a great definition. No, it's a good definition,
(04:31):
but that's the generally held definition. But then that's where
it gets really blurry, as we're about to find out. Right, well,
in many ways, I mean, yeah, you make a point
that there's a lot of one hit wonders by that definition.
Who are legendary musicians like Jimi Hendrix one hit, Janis
Joplin one hit, Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines. Yeah, that's
(04:55):
this only Billboard hit. Yeah, this is only Billboard Top
forty hit. Yeah, but he had country hits. It just
lived on the country top ten. But yeah, as in
the mainstream top forty. His only hit was this Chris
Kaines with the haircut and the soul patch man that
was Yeah, I don't know what the song that was
(05:17):
even I don't need um Beck Yeah, the Dead, The Dead,
the White Stripes, lou Reid, Iggy Pop Divo, some like
iconic bands and musicians that have only had one hit. Um.
And then you've got artists who never had that hit
but are still considered one hit wonders. Because what you
(05:39):
end up realizing is, despite the definition of what a
hit is, a one hit wonder is something different. It's
just an artist and a song who captured something for
a moment in time. It doesn't matter if it was
a top for forty hit, right like you you say,
um Wallavoodoo's Mexican Radio. Absolutely it was not a top
(05:59):
forty hit. No, but that's definitely a hit in the zeitgeist.
Did you put it about? Who else? I'll melt with
you Modern English, the weather Girls, it's raining men, Like
you would say, all of these are definitely one hit wonders,
and none of them had top forty hits, right, So,
but sticking to the strict definition, um that I mean
(06:21):
that still works too, rite like the Penguins, Earth Angel. Yeah,
in the fifties, right, Um, in the sixties you had
um Summertime Blues by Blue Cheer, but they really spent
blue on like their one there, one thing there, one
shot was covered in blue Blue Cheer did Summertime Blues?
Green Tambourine? Remember that song? No, I didn't mean tambourine.
(06:45):
It was very like psychedelic No and the Lemon Pipers.
You know, it's one of those songs where sort of
like in the seventies, argents, hold your head up like
everybody knows that song. But I bet ninety nine people
out of a hundred I have never heard of the
band Argent. No, they probably think, oh, wasn't that the
guests who? Or wasn't that Joe Dirt? Or yes, that
(07:09):
was it? Yeah, I really I never saw that movie.
What I never saw Joe Dirt? Oh man, such a
great like keep your Chin Up movie is so good.
Like I really can hate David Spade, you can hate
all of that kind of comedy, but that movie has
such like it's got heart. It's a cute movie. Well,
(07:31):
I had friends. It's on Netflix streaming. Yeah, I had
friends that worked on it. And that's where I have
my Gary Busey insider story. Oh yeah, yeah, I think
I told you. You know he was. He was supposed
to play the father and if you'll notice in the
film he does not play the father. No, it's done
by one Fred Ward. Yeah, so Gary Busey was on
set for a day and it didn't work out. He
made it. I could tell the whole story. He made
it into Black Sheep with Chris Farley and um David Spade. That. Yeah,
(07:55):
he was like the crazy guy who lived in a
school bus in the woods. It was the party was
born to play exactly. Please don't come to our office guy. Um.
(08:35):
All right, so that was the fifties, and that's generally
when the rock era in the fifties is when you
people say you can start talking about things like one
hit wonders, like not some guy who had one big
band hit in the nine although I'm sure they were there,
you know that's true. Uh. There has been one song
that was a one hit wonder for two bands, which
(08:56):
is interesting. Oh yeah, let's hear funky Town really yeah,
Lips Incorporated. And then I don't know if you remember
Pseudo Echo. They did a version of that in it
was a little more electric and upbeat, and that was
a bona fiight top forty hit as well. Seems can't
people couldn't get enough of Funky Town. I hope whoever
(09:17):
wrote that like really cast in Yeah, you know. So
the sixties all right, Now, the sixties was the Green
Tambourne seventies songs like Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum.
Yeah that's a good song. Uh it was an Apollo
thirteen one took over the line. I I literally wrote
(09:38):
shutter next to that, what like, oh you hate that song?
It's pretty bad. Brewer and Shipley and then Seasons in
the Sun, great song, Terry Jack's never heard of the Guy,
No No, No Revy, no ref Um. And you also
make the point that the seventies were lousy with disco
one hit wonders, And in our disco episode we talked
(09:59):
about why because it was all producer driven rather than
artists driven. Exactly. I didn't even bother to like list
any in here. You know, it's you can just name
a disco song and there you have. The eighties, of course,
you had bands like Soft Cells, Tainted Love and Oh Mickey,
You're So Fine, Tony Basil, Uh, I want Candy by
bow Ka. Remember what song I don't remember? Is that
(10:23):
who that? Yeah? Uh So the eighties was lousy with it,
but a lot of those songs are great songs, and
a lot of the artists in the eighties were popular
in other countries, yeah, and are known as one hit
wonders here in the US. Like I was reading an
article on I think Cracked maybe about one hit Wonders
(10:45):
and they were saying, like, Aha had take on Me,
which was a hit here in the United States, but
that was it. But they're like one of the top
fifty grossing bands of all time worldwide, yeah. Well, and
aha falls into another weird category, which is a band
that's known as a one hit wonder who actually had
a quieter second hit. Oh really Yeah, they had a
(11:05):
song called the Sun Always Shines on TV that was
like a top twenty hit. I think, wow, I don't
remember that one. Nobody does. They're good though, now they're awesome. Um.
And then remember right, said Fred, I'm Too Sexy huge
in England. Yes, like there, I'm Too Sexy was actually
only hit number two in England. They had another one
(11:25):
that hit number one, but here in the States, Yeah,
I think it hit number one here. I think so too.
And then that was it for right, said Fred. Uh
the same with Frankie Goes to Hollywood and uh yeah,
they were really big in Europe. And Gary Newman, Yeah
that was a good song though. That song holds up
car back and listen to cars. Yeah, that dude was
a good musician. Well, and he was hugely popular and
(11:47):
still like tours today. Yeah, so he's he's one of
those guys that's like, please don't call me a one
hit wonder. I've had a long successful career. Look at
my house, you know it's a car. No, I think
it's like a mansion. He lives in his car. It's
pre feels safest, he can lock all his doors. Uh.
Falco and oh yeah Nina were really big in German
(12:10):
speaking countries. Yeah yeah, I can see that. But you
know had the ninety nine red balloons balloons and then
Falco's uh rock Me Off My dais Yeah, huge hit here.
It's like it didn't occur to my young brain that
that wasn't from the Amadeus soundtrack, because remember it came
out at about the same time as the movie, and um,
(12:33):
like I just thought it was part of the soundtrack, yeah,
the movie soundtrack. Well, the point with this though, is
that one hit wonder it's sort of a sort of
a derogatory term to throw on unearnest. So a lot
of these people are like in America, like you jerks,
I was huge in Europe or maybe some other country
and uh yeah, who cares so much for you? One
(12:57):
hit the nineties crash test Stummies, remember those dudes. Well
that was the song. Oh yeah, yeah, that's right, the Macarena,
even though I don't even like to count that. Um,
what about Faith No More's epic? Yeah, see that's a
band that hugely critically popular and had a big cult following.
(13:18):
But yeah, just the one hit, the epic. Yeah right,
you want it all, but you can't have it. That
was I remember hearing that song on the first time.
This is the coolest thing I've ever heard. Yeah, and
that lead singer, what's his name, Mike something, he's like
super respected. He's been another band like Mr. Bungle. Yeah. Yeah, yeah,
it's a big like has a big cult following and
(13:41):
not among cults even like among people who aren't in cults.
All right, So that's music. That's an overview. Yeah. You
make a really good point in this article that, like
one hit wonder, that derogatory term isn't just um aimed
at people only in the music industry, although that's where
the lion's share of it is. Yeah, but it shows
up in spot. You pointed out a couple of them,
(14:01):
a couple of instances. Yeah. Well, if you have one
hit in baseball, then you've been a complete and utter failure.
But a couple of guys have had one hit and
that one hit was a home run, which is pretty cool,
which is pretty interesting. Who was that? There was a
guy named um Chris Jellic whose name I recognize for
some reason, and I don't follow the Mets or anything,
(14:22):
but I guess I just saw that that bit of
trivia before that he had one hit and it was
a home run. Yeah. Maybe. So there's a guy who
didn't have a hit UM named Eddie Goodell, but he
had one plate appearance in a nineteen fifty one game
for the Yankees, and he was a little person and
they put him in against the St. Louis Browns and
(14:43):
he drew four consecutive um uh balls and got a walk. Yeah,
and his jerseys in the Hall of Fame, and it's
you can't see me doing this right now, and I'm
rubbing my face. His number was one eight really, but
he was I guess you could say a one hit
sports wonder. It was kind of a fun story until then. Yeah. Yeah,
(15:06):
but I mean that's that was his JM. That's what
he got paid for, and that's I mean, he was
aware that he was a little person. So money off
of what about the art world, design world. There's a
very famous person, Harvey Belle, who has the perfect name
for what he did. Why is it the perfect name,
Harvey bell It sounds like the creator of the smiley face. Yeah,
(15:26):
the iconic seventy smiley face. He created that as a
marketing campaign, UM kind it sounded like an internal um
morale campaign for State UH Mutual Life Assurance company UM
and it took off. I don't know if the company
made the money or what, but he was paid two
bucks for it. And he never had another artistic hit.
(15:51):
And I looked to see if there were any other
artists who were considered one hit wonder. I found some,
but I didn't recognize any of them. I did recognize
one Grant would the painter of American Gothic. Oh, yeah,
he painted that, and it was He won all sorts
of prizes, became like this, like caused celeb like all
over the art world, and the media started digging into
(16:12):
his life and realized that he was a middle aged
bachelor who lived at home with his mother and sister
and like wanted to know more about that, and all
of a sudden, he like just really couldn't handle the
the limelight. And it's it's a pretty sad story. I
think I read an article about it on Mental Flaws.
It was worth reading. So he never painted again, or
I don't think he ever kind of went for the
(16:33):
gusto if he didn't just stop painting altogether. I don't
remember the end of the article. Well, the art world
certainly has a lot of people famous, super famous for
a single painting, but they may have been, you know,
very revered in other areas like faith. No more to
the Faith, no more of the art world. I told
just all the scream this last trip to New York.
Oh yeah, and you're like, man, yeah, this was like
(16:56):
I can't see what you're talking. I mean, like you
bill something like that up in your head, see it everywhere,
and then just to see the real one. It's either
going to go one of two ways. You're gonna be
underwhelmed or amazed. You know, I completely agree. And that's
been my uh, that's been what's happened to me with art,
because you know how I feel about art. I know
how you feel about art. I love it. Uh. What
(17:18):
about books? Yeah? Um, To Kill a Mockingbird. Yeah, that's
the one most often cited as the one hit wonder
because Harperle wrote one book. That's some one of those
rare ones where I actually think the movie is better
than the book, and I love the book. It's one
of my favorite books of all time. And I hadn't
(17:38):
read it in a while, and I went back and
read it, and then I watched the movie shortly after.
I was like, holy cow, the movies better than the book. Yeah,
Gregory Peck, I mean yeah, talk about one of the
best casting. But every like, all of those actors were amazing,
every single one of them. Yeah, Yeah, that's good stuff.
She wrote, um the one book, and she worked on
a second for a while, called The Long Good Vibe,
(17:59):
but shelved it. Than in the nineteen eighties, she started
another book and never finished that one either, And I
guess she just procrastinated. I think she just I don't know.
I don't know if anyone has an answer why she
never wrote again. Same with the Sallenger, Yeah, Catching the Rye.
That was it, except he wrote short stories too, but
I mean he never published another novel. Yeah, And I
(18:21):
will never know. And John Kennedy tool sure, Confederacy of
Dunce is how often do you think about that book
just in your normal life? How, I don't know, almost never, maybe, yeah,
a couple of times a year. Maybe when it's like
a movie you'll be in the works. That never happens
I was thinking about that movie or that book yesterday
(18:44):
and I hadn't read this article yet. Have you read it? No? Yeah,
it's good. It's like I think a lot of people
have these expectations because it's known as this like genius
work after this guy committed suicide, and it is really good.
But um, I don't think it's like one of the
greatest books of all time or anything. Yeah, so what
happened to him? Do you know? No? I I just
I've never read the book. I don't know much about it.
(19:06):
I know it's kind of like a wacky Southern gothic Yeah, yeah,
um kind of novel I lived with his aunts, I think,
or something like yeah, this crazy character in Louisiana that
It's always grabbed my attention because it's just like a
perfect title. And then the guy's name is perfect as well,
John Kennedy Tool or the character his the author got you. Well,
(19:26):
he killed himself. He was clearly now suffered some sort
of mental illness and um could not get published, and
that drove him to eventually commit suicide in nineteen nine,
and his mother made it her life's work to get
it published and did so. And then his second book
was published in the on Bible I think in six
(19:48):
and that was made into a movie. So he's not
a one hit wonder then, well Neon Bible wasn't a
huge hit. But but yeah, I would say he's a
one hit wonder. Um. And you also bring up movies too, man, Yeah,
and on books again, Sylvia Plath is on here for
the bell Jar. I kind of wish I hadn't put
that in here because she was a well known poet.
(20:09):
That's why I hadn't mentioned it, you know. But she
did write the one book and then would she do
stick her head in the oven or something. I don't
know how she killed herself. I think Virginia Wolf drowned herself, right,
Sylvia Plath herself on herself? I think did she That
sounds right. I can't remember that scene in Wonder Boys
where Toby McGuire rattles off the famous celebrity suicides. It
(20:31):
was really great. That was a great movie. Joseph Heller
with Catch twenty two. Yeah, that's certainly a one hit wonder. Um.
So yeah, movies, um, I mean there more directors and
actors that you could even mention that had one hit.
But legit, super super hits people like Michael. Is it
Chimino or Semino? Semino? I think, although if it's if
(20:54):
you're speaking in the Italian, it would be Chimino. Uh.
He did The Deer Hunter, of course, one Best Picture
and four other Academy Awards. Did he huh? Did he maw?
That's what they tell him when they were like making
him play Russian Roulette? Did he Yeah, except they probably
scream it. Yeah. Yeah, that scene was so intense. I
(21:14):
saw that very young, really young to be seeing that
movie in retrospect, like it made an impression on you. Yeah, huge? Um.
But yeah. He famously made Heaven's Gate um as his
follow up, which was one of the notorious disasters, along
with Ishtar. Wasn't like water World? Was skate War in
Baby Movie too? Or is that Heaven Can Wait? He
(21:38):
was in Heaven Can Wait and Ishtar? So what about Heavens?
What was that about? Yeah? I think it was a
Western if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, and it was just
a notorious failure and a very expensive one. And then
Tomino never He made a few other movies, but you
haven't heard of many of them. He did Year of
the Dragon was like with Mickey Rourke, which the only
(21:59):
other like notable movie that was supposed to be a
good one. Yeah, but it was far from a hit,
you know what I'm saying. And then my favorite, uh,
Steve Gordon, one of my favorite movies of all time.
I have not seen it. You didn't see Arthur. Not
only have I not seen the original Arthur, I haven't
seen the remake that includes our friend Hodgeman as a
(22:19):
candy store manager believer. That was terrible, by the way,
not Hodgman's bit, not Hodgment was great, but the remake
was really bad. And it was so sad because Arthur
is one of the movies that I hold very very
dear to me. And Steve Gordon wrote and directed it
and then died afterwards. It was the only movie he
ever made by his own hand. No. I think he
(22:40):
had a heart attack or something and died young but
young ish. Uh. And it was just so like it
was a gut wrenching experience watching the remake for me.
Why did you watch it? Like? For example, I think
Red Dawn is one of my favorite movies of all time.
There's not a chance that I will ever see the
remaker of Red Dawn. Well, I'm not either, and I
(23:00):
learned after Arthur. So that's the one that taught you
the lesson. Yeah, I'm not gonna watch anything that was
really precious to me if they rebooted or remake it again,
never again. It sounds like Hodgeman tell you a valuable lesson. Yeah,
And I like Russell Brand, you know, And I thought,
you know, they made Helen Mire and John Gilgod's character
and was just enough of a spin when I was like, well,
(23:21):
that's could be interesting. But then everything about the movie
was just some new little spin to make it different.
And it was like, hey, let's make the man a woman.
Let's make the the white guy Puerto Rican, you know,
and it was like Louis Guzman. It was just it
was bad, so bad. Yeah, well that's it for Arthur. Yeah. Um,
(23:47):
if you want to learn more about Arthur, you can
type that word in this service part. Isn't that what
this podcast is about? I forgot Arthur. One hit wonders more,
that's what it was. You should read this article by Chuck.
It's a good one. Um. You can tell one hit
wonders in the search bar how stuff works dot Com
and it will bring up this article. Again. Uh, commendable article,
(24:08):
thanks sir, uh and I said commendable. So it's time
for word from our sponsors. Just start sky so much start.
(24:34):
Oh now it's time for listener mail. Josh, I'm gonna
call this. Uh, we're gonna give this guy's wife a
tongue my shoe. Oh jeez, what you do? Let's see, dudes.
Have been an avid listener since shortly after its inception.
I'm a huge fan, especially enjoy listening to it while
I'm stressed out. That always a soues my nerves stack
(24:54):
here of your bander. Over the years, I've tried to
convince my now wife Elizabeth to listen. Oh I know this. Unfortunately,
she's always insists that you two are stoners and that
you're retty repartee is contrived, this is so far off.
She makes me change over to this American Life or
Radio Lab great shows. What's your podcast? I download to
fill the time between stuff you should know releases. I've
(25:17):
repeatedly informed her that you guys are not stoners. You've
done frequent podcasts on the l effects of drugs, and
this is not convinced her. Still listen within the when
you read letters during listener mail about couples who enjoy
listening together. That's so sad. I know, if I'm not mistaken,
one pair even became engaged during a listener mail segment. Yeah,
(25:38):
we don't know about that yet. I'm not vouching for that. Um.
It recently struck me that perhaps if you were to
give Elizabeth a shout out at the end of the show,
she might be impressed enough to become a fan as well.
You could say hi to Elizabeth at the end of
the show, you'd be contributing to my marital blitz. So
wait a second, way second, you realize what's going on here.
(25:59):
We're being manipulated, Yeah, to to say hey to somebody
who doesn't even like us. I know. I feel like
there should be some money exchanged for this. Well, no,
I feel instead of saying hi to Elizabeth, she needs
to get a tongue lashing for these baseless accusations of
us sitting around like in a garage, smoking marijuana, marijuana
(26:21):
and just like talking. Yeah, it's bs. That's someone who's
never listened to the show. We have banter. We might
go off on tangents and we might say, like five
million times in a sentence. But we're not sitting around
smoking weed just rambling. Yeah, we're just relaxed. A lot
of work goes into the show. So Elizabeth mellow out. Dude, Yeah, seriously,
(26:43):
maybe you need to go in the garage. Not so anyway,
this guy is a neurologist and he said to alien
hand syndrome part struck close to his heart. Awesome, And Devin,
if this doesn't do it, then Elizabeth can just listen
to this American Life and Radio Life. Let her hang
out with our glass. And I'm sorry for your marriage
(27:05):
because it is clearly, clearly headed in the wrong direction.
I think we had her until just that last sence
right there. No, she's great on Churchill Pill. Tune in. UM,
we'll find out. Let us know, Devin, will you if
you want us to say something specific to somebody you know? Um,
we very well might do it if you ask it.
Might we have before? Um. You can tweet to us
(27:28):
at s Y s K podcast. You can join us
on Facebook dot com, so list Stuff you Should Know.
You can send us an email to Stuff Podcasts at
Discovery dot com, and you can always find us at
our home on the internet. Stuff you Should Know dot
Com For more on this and thousands of other topics.
(27:49):
Does it, How stuff works? Dot com
Hey everyone, it's me Josh and for this week's s
Y s K Selects, I've chosen how one Hit Wonders Work,
which originally published in March of two thousand and This
is the episode where we help heal the world by
pointing out that professional musicians who cracked the top forty
once in their careers still have feelings and don't much
(00:21):
appreciate being called one hit wonders. So maybe take that
little bit of advice and put in your pipe and
smoke it and and go for it from that point on. Enjoy.
Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from House Stuff Works
dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark.
(00:50):
There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. Say something. Um, yeah, I
didn't even say say something funny. I just said say
something froze. Yeah, it's all right, man. That's good quality
in a broadcaster to freeze up on the air and
a professional talker. Yeah yeah, how you doing? Was? Um?
I'm good man, I'm This is a fun, goofy little
(01:13):
topic and we haven't done one like that in a while.
This is a fun article written by a guy named
Charles W. Bryant, a writer for the site. Yeah, I
will go ahead and say one thing I was disappointed
in in this article, and I would still like to
see someone tackle this in documentary style. Maybe is the
psychology of being a one hit wonder? Oh? Like what
it does to your psyche? Yeah? Is it better to
(01:35):
have that one hit and fade away and at least
you had that? Or is it better to have never?
You know? I just I would be real curious to
see a series of interviews with one hit wonders to see,
like how they feel about it. You're saying, is it
better to have hit and lost than never to have
hit at all? Exactly? And I couldn't really find anything
on that. So I'm sure there's one or two who
like listen to the podcast and if you do, right
(01:57):
in let us know how it is we're interested in
Blue Vega Yeah, um, the fake Loue Vega. So, Chuck,
I wanted to commend you for this article because you
really like this is a tough one for with how
stuff works articles, we typically take a topic that is,
(02:19):
you know, has a lot of research done on it,
it's very well defined, and then we deconstruct it. This
one is, like I looked on the Internet, and if
you type in one hit Wonder there is like zero
scholarly work done on it for good reason. Yeah well,
I mean it's interesting though too. Like you brought up
the psychology of being a one there shouldn't have been
anyone ever done a study like that. There is nothing.
(02:40):
It's all just lists. And I actually did find one
good website. It's called um one Hit Wonder central dot
com and they have everything and you can play like
every song they have it by year who the one
hit Wonder was from like the sixties to the two thousands,
maybe fifties. There are some of the greatest songs to me,
or some of the one hit Wonders. And I mean
that's the points, Like you know, one hit Wonder is
(03:01):
just something that everybody liked at one time. We just
didn't like whatever else they were making, right Yeah, um,
at least as a large collective group. Anyway, back to
me commending you, Um, you had to take something that
was really amorphous that everybody knew and we knew if
you got wrong, and whipping into shape like a definable shape,
(03:22):
and you got it right. I think you did a
great job. So, Um. The first thing you pointed out
was that no one is certain of the origin of
this phrase, that's right, but we figured out that it
was it first came in print. N right, Well, that's
what phrases dot org says, and I couldn't find anything
to dispute it. But a writer there wrote the sentence
in July seventy seven about abba instead of becoming what
(03:46):
everyone expected a one hit wonder, they soon had a
string of hits behind them. And although the website phrase
dot org does say it appears to have already been
a used phrase, but this is the first time they've
seen it in print, right, and and so, and there
actually is like a definition for one hit wonder, like
there's well a hit, I guess you can find a hit,
(04:09):
and then it's got to be on the because we're
so American centric, has to be on the billboard top
one and then specifically in the top forty to be
considered a hit. Right, Yeah, technically for like when most
people like there have been books written about one hit
wonders and that's usually what what they say. Okay, so
that wasn't just you or anything saying. And I thought
it was a great definition. No, it's a good definition,
(04:31):
but that's the generally held definition. But then that's where
it gets really blurry, as we're about to find out. Right, well,
in many ways, I mean, yeah, you make a point
that there's a lot of one hit wonders by that definition.
Who are legendary musicians like Jimi Hendrix one hit, Janis
Joplin one hit, Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines. Yeah, that's
(04:55):
this only Billboard hit. Yeah, this is only Billboard Top
forty hit. Yeah, but he had country hits. It just
lived on the country top ten. But yeah, as in
the mainstream top forty. His only hit was this Chris
Kaines with the haircut and the soul patch man that
was Yeah, I don't know what the song that was
(05:17):
even I don't need um Beck Yeah, the Dead, The Dead,
the White Stripes, lou Reid, Iggy Pop Divo, some like
iconic bands and musicians that have only had one hit. Um.
And then you've got artists who never had that hit
but are still considered one hit wonders. Because what you
(05:39):
end up realizing is, despite the definition of what a
hit is, a one hit wonder is something different. It's
just an artist and a song who captured something for
a moment in time. It doesn't matter if it was
a top for forty hit, right like you you say,
um Wallavoodoo's Mexican Radio. Absolutely it was not a top
(05:59):
forty hit. No, but that's definitely a hit in the zeitgeist.
Did you put it about? Who else? I'll melt with
you Modern English, the weather Girls, it's raining men, Like
you would say, all of these are definitely one hit wonders,
and none of them had top forty hits, right, So,
but sticking to the strict definition, um that I mean
(06:21):
that still works too, rite like the Penguins, Earth Angel. Yeah,
in the fifties, right, Um, in the sixties you had
um Summertime Blues by Blue Cheer, but they really spent
blue on like their one there, one thing there, one
shot was covered in blue Blue Cheer did Summertime Blues?
Green Tambourine? Remember that song? No, I didn't mean tambourine.
(06:45):
It was very like psychedelic No and the Lemon Pipers.
You know, it's one of those songs where sort of
like in the seventies, argents, hold your head up like
everybody knows that song. But I bet ninety nine people
out of a hundred I have never heard of the
band Argent. No, they probably think, oh, wasn't that the
guests who? Or wasn't that Joe Dirt? Or yes, that
(07:09):
was it? Yeah, I really I never saw that movie.
What I never saw Joe Dirt? Oh man, such a
great like keep your Chin Up movie is so good.
Like I really can hate David Spade, you can hate
all of that kind of comedy, but that movie has
such like it's got heart. It's a cute movie. Well,
(07:31):
I had friends. It's on Netflix streaming. Yeah, I had
friends that worked on it. And that's where I have
my Gary Busey insider story. Oh yeah, yeah, I think
I told you. You know he was. He was supposed
to play the father and if you'll notice in the
film he does not play the father. No, it's done
by one Fred Ward. Yeah, so Gary Busey was on
set for a day and it didn't work out. He
made it. I could tell the whole story. He made
it into Black Sheep with Chris Farley and um David Spade. That. Yeah,
(07:55):
he was like the crazy guy who lived in a
school bus in the woods. It was the party was
born to play exactly. Please don't come to our office guy. Um.
(08:35):
All right, so that was the fifties, and that's generally
when the rock era in the fifties is when you
people say you can start talking about things like one
hit wonders, like not some guy who had one big
band hit in the nine although I'm sure they were there,
you know that's true. Uh. There has been one song
that was a one hit wonder for two bands, which
(08:56):
is interesting. Oh yeah, let's hear funky Town really yeah,
Lips Incorporated. And then I don't know if you remember
Pseudo Echo. They did a version of that in it
was a little more electric and upbeat, and that was
a bona fiight top forty hit as well. Seems can't
people couldn't get enough of Funky Town. I hope whoever
(09:17):
wrote that like really cast in Yeah, you know. So
the sixties all right, Now, the sixties was the Green
Tambourne seventies songs like Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum.
Yeah that's a good song. Uh it was an Apollo
thirteen one took over the line. I I literally wrote
(09:38):
shutter next to that, what like, oh you hate that song?
It's pretty bad. Brewer and Shipley and then Seasons in
the Sun, great song, Terry Jack's never heard of the Guy,
No No, No Revy, no ref Um. And you also
make the point that the seventies were lousy with disco
one hit wonders, And in our disco episode we talked
(09:59):
about why because it was all producer driven rather than
artists driven. Exactly. I didn't even bother to like list
any in here. You know, it's you can just name
a disco song and there you have. The eighties, of course,
you had bands like Soft Cells, Tainted Love and Oh Mickey,
You're So Fine, Tony Basil, Uh, I want Candy by
bow Ka. Remember what song I don't remember? Is that
(10:23):
who that? Yeah? Uh So the eighties was lousy with it,
but a lot of those songs are great songs, and
a lot of the artists in the eighties were popular
in other countries, yeah, and are known as one hit
wonders here in the US. Like I was reading an
article on I think Cracked maybe about one hit Wonders
(10:45):
and they were saying, like, Aha had take on Me,
which was a hit here in the United States, but
that was it. But they're like one of the top
fifty grossing bands of all time worldwide, yeah. Well, and
aha falls into another weird category, which is a band
that's known as a one hit wonder who actually had
a quieter second hit. Oh really Yeah, they had a
(11:05):
song called the Sun Always Shines on TV that was
like a top twenty hit. I think, wow, I don't
remember that one. Nobody does. They're good though, now they're awesome. Um.
And then remember right, said Fred, I'm Too Sexy huge
in England. Yes, like there, I'm Too Sexy was actually
only hit number two in England. They had another one
(11:25):
that hit number one, but here in the States, Yeah,
I think it hit number one here. I think so too.
And then that was it for right, said Fred. Uh
the same with Frankie Goes to Hollywood and uh yeah,
they were really big in Europe. And Gary Newman, Yeah
that was a good song though. That song holds up
car back and listen to cars. Yeah, that dude was
a good musician. Well, and he was hugely popular and
(11:47):
still like tours today. Yeah, so he's he's one of
those guys that's like, please don't call me a one
hit wonder. I've had a long successful career. Look at
my house, you know it's a car. No, I think
it's like a mansion. He lives in his car. It's
pre feels safest, he can lock all his doors. Uh.
Falco and oh yeah Nina were really big in German
(12:10):
speaking countries. Yeah yeah, I can see that. But you
know had the ninety nine red balloons balloons and then
Falco's uh rock Me Off My dais Yeah, huge hit here.
It's like it didn't occur to my young brain that
that wasn't from the Amadeus soundtrack, because remember it came
out at about the same time as the movie, and um,
(12:33):
like I just thought it was part of the soundtrack, yeah,
the movie soundtrack. Well, the point with this though, is
that one hit wonder it's sort of a sort of
a derogatory term to throw on unearnest. So a lot
of these people are like in America, like you jerks,
I was huge in Europe or maybe some other country
and uh yeah, who cares so much for you? One
(12:57):
hit the nineties crash test Stummies, remember those dudes. Well
that was the song. Oh yeah, yeah, that's right, the Macarena,
even though I don't even like to count that. Um,
what about Faith No More's epic? Yeah, see that's a
band that hugely critically popular and had a big cult following.
(13:18):
But yeah, just the one hit, the epic. Yeah right,
you want it all, but you can't have it. That
was I remember hearing that song on the first time.
This is the coolest thing I've ever heard. Yeah, and
that lead singer, what's his name, Mike something, he's like
super respected. He's been another band like Mr. Bungle. Yeah. Yeah, yeah,
it's a big like has a big cult following and
(13:41):
not among cults even like among people who aren't in cults.
All right, So that's music. That's an overview. Yeah. You
make a really good point in this article that, like
one hit wonder, that derogatory term isn't just um aimed
at people only in the music industry, although that's where
the lion's share of it is. Yeah, but it shows
up in spot. You pointed out a couple of them,
(14:01):
a couple of instances. Yeah. Well, if you have one
hit in baseball, then you've been a complete and utter failure.
But a couple of guys have had one hit and
that one hit was a home run, which is pretty cool,
which is pretty interesting. Who was that? There was a
guy named um Chris Jellic whose name I recognize for
some reason, and I don't follow the Mets or anything,
(14:22):
but I guess I just saw that that bit of
trivia before that he had one hit and it was
a home run. Yeah. Maybe. So there's a guy who
didn't have a hit UM named Eddie Goodell, but he
had one plate appearance in a nineteen fifty one game
for the Yankees, and he was a little person and
they put him in against the St. Louis Browns and
(14:43):
he drew four consecutive um uh balls and got a walk. Yeah,
and his jerseys in the Hall of Fame, and it's
you can't see me doing this right now, and I'm
rubbing my face. His number was one eight really, but
he was I guess you could say a one hit
sports wonder. It was kind of a fun story until then. Yeah. Yeah,
(15:06):
but I mean that's that was his JM. That's what
he got paid for, and that's I mean, he was
aware that he was a little person. So money off
of what about the art world, design world. There's a
very famous person, Harvey Belle, who has the perfect name
for what he did. Why is it the perfect name,
Harvey bell It sounds like the creator of the smiley face. Yeah,
(15:26):
the iconic seventy smiley face. He created that as a
marketing campaign, UM kind it sounded like an internal um
morale campaign for State UH Mutual Life Assurance company UM
and it took off. I don't know if the company
made the money or what, but he was paid two
bucks for it. And he never had another artistic hit.
(15:51):
And I looked to see if there were any other
artists who were considered one hit wonder. I found some,
but I didn't recognize any of them. I did recognize
one Grant would the painter of American Gothic. Oh, yeah,
he painted that, and it was He won all sorts
of prizes, became like this, like caused celeb like all
over the art world, and the media started digging into
(16:12):
his life and realized that he was a middle aged
bachelor who lived at home with his mother and sister
and like wanted to know more about that, and all
of a sudden, he like just really couldn't handle the
the limelight. And it's it's a pretty sad story. I
think I read an article about it on Mental Flaws.
It was worth reading. So he never painted again, or
I don't think he ever kind of went for the
(16:33):
gusto if he didn't just stop painting altogether. I don't
remember the end of the article. Well, the art world
certainly has a lot of people famous, super famous for
a single painting, but they may have been, you know,
very revered in other areas like faith. No more to
the Faith, no more of the art world. I told
just all the scream this last trip to New York.
Oh yeah, and you're like, man, yeah, this was like
(16:56):
I can't see what you're talking. I mean, like you
bill something like that up in your head, see it everywhere,
and then just to see the real one. It's either
going to go one of two ways. You're gonna be
underwhelmed or amazed. You know, I completely agree. And that's
been my uh, that's been what's happened to me with art,
because you know how I feel about art. I know
how you feel about art. I love it. Uh. What
(17:18):
about books? Yeah? Um, To Kill a Mockingbird. Yeah, that's
the one most often cited as the one hit wonder
because Harperle wrote one book. That's some one of those
rare ones where I actually think the movie is better
than the book, and I love the book. It's one
of my favorite books of all time. And I hadn't
(17:38):
read it in a while, and I went back and
read it, and then I watched the movie shortly after.
I was like, holy cow, the movies better than the book. Yeah,
Gregory Peck, I mean yeah, talk about one of the
best casting. But every like, all of those actors were amazing,
every single one of them. Yeah, Yeah, that's good stuff.
She wrote, um the one book, and she worked on
a second for a while, called The Long Good Vibe,
(17:59):
but shelved it. Than in the nineteen eighties, she started
another book and never finished that one either, And I
guess she just procrastinated. I think she just I don't know.
I don't know if anyone has an answer why she
never wrote again. Same with the Sallenger, Yeah, Catching the Rye.
That was it, except he wrote short stories too, but
I mean he never published another novel. Yeah, And I
(18:21):
will never know. And John Kennedy tool sure, Confederacy of
Dunce is how often do you think about that book
just in your normal life? How, I don't know, almost never, maybe, yeah,
a couple of times a year. Maybe when it's like
a movie you'll be in the works. That never happens
I was thinking about that movie or that book yesterday
(18:44):
and I hadn't read this article yet. Have you read it? No? Yeah,
it's good. It's like I think a lot of people
have these expectations because it's known as this like genius
work after this guy committed suicide, and it is really good.
But um, I don't think it's like one of the
greatest books of all time or anything. Yeah, so what
happened to him? Do you know? No? I I just
I've never read the book. I don't know much about it.
(19:06):
I know it's kind of like a wacky Southern gothic Yeah, yeah,
um kind of novel I lived with his aunts, I think,
or something like yeah, this crazy character in Louisiana that
It's always grabbed my attention because it's just like a
perfect title. And then the guy's name is perfect as well,
John Kennedy Tool or the character his the author got you. Well,
(19:26):
he killed himself. He was clearly now suffered some sort
of mental illness and um could not get published, and
that drove him to eventually commit suicide in nineteen nine,
and his mother made it her life's work to get
it published and did so. And then his second book
was published in the on Bible I think in six
(19:48):
and that was made into a movie. So he's not
a one hit wonder then, well Neon Bible wasn't a
huge hit. But but yeah, I would say he's a
one hit wonder. Um. And you also bring up movies too, man, Yeah,
and on books again, Sylvia Plath is on here for
the bell Jar. I kind of wish I hadn't put
that in here because she was a well known poet.
(20:09):
That's why I hadn't mentioned it, you know. But she
did write the one book and then would she do
stick her head in the oven or something. I don't
know how she killed herself. I think Virginia Wolf drowned herself, right,
Sylvia Plath herself on herself? I think did she That
sounds right. I can't remember that scene in Wonder Boys
where Toby McGuire rattles off the famous celebrity suicides. It
(20:31):
was really great. That was a great movie. Joseph Heller
with Catch twenty two. Yeah, that's certainly a one hit wonder. Um.
So yeah, movies, um, I mean there more directors and
actors that you could even mention that had one hit.
But legit, super super hits people like Michael. Is it
Chimino or Semino? Semino? I think, although if it's if
(20:54):
you're speaking in the Italian, it would be Chimino. Uh.
He did The Deer Hunter, of course, one Best Picture
and four other Academy Awards. Did he huh? Did he maw?
That's what they tell him when they were like making
him play Russian Roulette? Did he Yeah, except they probably
scream it. Yeah. Yeah, that scene was so intense. I
(21:14):
saw that very young, really young to be seeing that
movie in retrospect, like it made an impression on you. Yeah, huge? Um.
But yeah. He famously made Heaven's Gate um as his
follow up, which was one of the notorious disasters, along
with Ishtar. Wasn't like water World? Was skate War in
Baby Movie too? Or is that Heaven Can Wait? He
(21:38):
was in Heaven Can Wait and Ishtar? So what about Heavens?
What was that about? Yeah? I think it was a
Western if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, and it was just
a notorious failure and a very expensive one. And then
Tomino never He made a few other movies, but you
haven't heard of many of them. He did Year of
the Dragon was like with Mickey Rourke, which the only
(21:59):
other like notable movie that was supposed to be a
good one. Yeah, but it was far from a hit,
you know what I'm saying. And then my favorite, uh,
Steve Gordon, one of my favorite movies of all time.
I have not seen it. You didn't see Arthur. Not
only have I not seen the original Arthur, I haven't
seen the remake that includes our friend Hodgeman as a
(22:19):
candy store manager believer. That was terrible, by the way,
not Hodgman's bit, not Hodgment was great, but the remake
was really bad. And it was so sad because Arthur
is one of the movies that I hold very very
dear to me. And Steve Gordon wrote and directed it
and then died afterwards. It was the only movie he
ever made by his own hand. No. I think he
(22:40):
had a heart attack or something and died young but
young ish. Uh. And it was just so like it
was a gut wrenching experience watching the remake for me.
Why did you watch it? Like? For example, I think
Red Dawn is one of my favorite movies of all time.
There's not a chance that I will ever see the
remaker of Red Dawn. Well, I'm not either, and I
(23:00):
learned after Arthur. So that's the one that taught you
the lesson. Yeah, I'm not gonna watch anything that was
really precious to me if they rebooted or remake it again,
never again. It sounds like Hodgeman tell you a valuable lesson. Yeah,
And I like Russell Brand, you know, And I thought,
you know, they made Helen Mire and John Gilgod's character
and was just enough of a spin when I was like, well,
(23:21):
that's could be interesting. But then everything about the movie
was just some new little spin to make it different.
And it was like, hey, let's make the man a woman.
Let's make the the white guy Puerto Rican, you know,
and it was like Louis Guzman. It was just it
was bad, so bad. Yeah, well that's it for Arthur. Yeah. Um,
(23:47):
if you want to learn more about Arthur, you can
type that word in this service part. Isn't that what
this podcast is about? I forgot Arthur. One hit wonders more,
that's what it was. You should read this article by Chuck.
It's a good one. Um. You can tell one hit
wonders in the search bar how stuff works dot Com
and it will bring up this article. Again. Uh, commendable article,
(24:08):
thanks sir, uh and I said commendable. So it's time
for word from our sponsors. Just start sky so much start.
(24:34):
Oh now it's time for listener mail. Josh, I'm gonna
call this. Uh, we're gonna give this guy's wife a
tongue my shoe. Oh jeez, what you do? Let's see, dudes.
Have been an avid listener since shortly after its inception.
I'm a huge fan, especially enjoy listening to it while
I'm stressed out. That always a soues my nerves stack
(24:54):
here of your bander. Over the years, I've tried to
convince my now wife Elizabeth to listen. Oh I know this. Unfortunately,
she's always insists that you two are stoners and that
you're retty repartee is contrived, this is so far off.
She makes me change over to this American Life or
Radio Lab great shows. What's your podcast? I download to
fill the time between stuff you should know releases. I've
(25:17):
repeatedly informed her that you guys are not stoners. You've
done frequent podcasts on the l effects of drugs, and
this is not convinced her. Still listen within the when
you read letters during listener mail about couples who enjoy
listening together. That's so sad. I know, if I'm not mistaken,
one pair even became engaged during a listener mail segment. Yeah,
(25:38):
we don't know about that yet. I'm not vouching for that. Um.
It recently struck me that perhaps if you were to
give Elizabeth a shout out at the end of the show,
she might be impressed enough to become a fan as well.
You could say hi to Elizabeth at the end of
the show, you'd be contributing to my marital blitz. So
wait a second, way second, you realize what's going on here.
(25:59):
We're being manipulated, Yeah, to to say hey to somebody
who doesn't even like us. I know. I feel like
there should be some money exchanged for this. Well, no,
I feel instead of saying hi to Elizabeth, she needs
to get a tongue lashing for these baseless accusations of
us sitting around like in a garage, smoking marijuana, marijuana
(26:21):
and just like talking. Yeah, it's bs. That's someone who's
never listened to the show. We have banter. We might
go off on tangents and we might say, like five
million times in a sentence. But we're not sitting around
smoking weed just rambling. Yeah, we're just relaxed. A lot
of work goes into the show. So Elizabeth mellow out. Dude, Yeah, seriously,
(26:43):
maybe you need to go in the garage. Not so anyway,
this guy is a neurologist and he said to alien
hand syndrome part struck close to his heart. Awesome, And Devin,
if this doesn't do it, then Elizabeth can just listen
to this American Life and Radio Life. Let her hang
out with our glass. And I'm sorry for your marriage
(27:05):
because it is clearly, clearly headed in the wrong direction.
I think we had her until just that last sence
right there. No, she's great on Churchill Pill. Tune in. UM,
we'll find out. Let us know, Devin, will you if
you want us to say something specific to somebody you know? Um,
we very well might do it if you ask it.
Might we have before? Um. You can tweet to us
(27:28):
at s Y s K podcast. You can join us
on Facebook dot com, so list Stuff you Should Know.
You can send us an email to Stuff Podcasts at
Discovery dot com, and you can always find us at
our home on the internet. Stuff you Should Know dot
Com For more on this and thousands of other topics.
(27:49):
Does it, How stuff works? Dot com
Stuff You Should Know News
Hosts And Creators
Chuck Bryant
Josh Clark
Show Links
AboutOrder Our BookStoreSYSK ArmyRSSPopular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com