What 1 Hit Wonder Has Gotten the Most Mileage Off One Song?

madisonrunner wrote:

sir mix a lot-i like big butts

Hey, he also sang the songs "Put 'Em on the Glass" and "Cakeboy," although they may not have been "hits."

I also vote for Baby Got Back.

I'll nominate Sniff N' the Tears for "Driver's Seat" (circa 1979), if for no other reason than it was one of the major forces per the merciful extermination of the horrid '70's disco era. You younger kids won't remember, but we were that close to losing the ability to make good music forever ....

csdfdsfs wrote:

pwnd by reality wrote:

na na na na, hey hey goodbye!!!

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

If I recall, that was by The Nylons. They also had another song that got a lot of radio play, not sure if the correct title is "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".

I remember this because every time we were heading to a race and The Nylons came on the radio, I had a bad race. My teammates used to laugh about it.

The Nylons did latter day cover versions of those tunes.

Steam sang "na na hey hey kiss him goodbye". The Tokens sang "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".

Steam's tune was a one hit wonder. The Tokens' wasn't.

Devo- "Whip It"

Europe also had a big hit with the power ballad "Carrie".

Moe's Tavern wrote:

Devo- "Whip It"

Negative.

Their cover of "Satisfaction" was what broke them and they had a few other minor tunes which gained a fair amount of radio play back in the day when people listened to the radio to get their music fix.

My fav one hitter charted in '58 the elegants Little Star

some other oldies songs

Pipeline the chantay's and that was what they thought was the B side to boot, Move(ing) It On I think was the A

Alley-Oop the hollywoodargyles

and the one hit protest song Get a Job the silhouettes

Seasons in the Sun was number one for three weeks. It is also one of less than 30 single records ever to sell more than 10 million copies. Terry Jacks was a soloist for this annoying song. No family. No wife, Susan, to make the less horrifying.

Brian Wave wrote:

Seasons in the Sun wrote:

Terry Jacks' Seasons in the Sun. Possibly the worst #1 song and one hit wonder of all time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd_Fdly3rX8

Member of The Poppy Family of the equally annoying but slightly less invasive "Which Way You Going Billy?"

Eiffle 65- I'm Blue

Bloodhound Gang- The bad touch

Mystikal- Shake your ass

yeah, yeah, yeah, they all had "other songs" but no one knows what they are.

Has anyone actually named a one hit wonder yet??

I laughed when I saw survivor because they have 5 top 10 hits, but I could also understand why someone would only associate them with eye of the tiger.

Carl Douglas-Kung Fu Fighting

Still making money off of this one. One of the biggest hits of all time.

For overall profit for the artist- Jimmy Buffett has to be up there with Margaritaville. Guy's worth something like $200 million with only one song that strongly charted, and a cult following for concerts coupled with a most excellent licensing and branding plan.

For simply album sales, it sadly has to be Vanilla Ice. Who these days has a surprisingly interesting home improvement house-flipping show in the DIY Network.

Sir Mix-a-lot had a great song about an old car called My Hooptie that got lots of play on mtv before Baby Got Back

Here are some one hit wonders that you might not commonly associate with that name:

Grateful Dead--"Touch of Grey"

Jimi Hendrix--"All Along the Watchtower"

Janis Joplin--"Me and Bobby McGee"

Derek and the Dominoes--"Layla"

Lou Reed--"Talk a Walk on the Wild Side"

The White Stripes--"Icky Thump"

Blinc 182--"All Small Things"

Rush "New World Man"

All these acts only had one top 40 hit, although it is fair to say all achieved success through their body of work and thus could not qualify as getting the most mileage out of their one hit.

and

beachmouse wrote:

For overall profit for the artist- Jimmy Buffett has to be up there with Margaritaville. Guy's worth something like $200 million with only one song that strongly charted, and a cult following for concerts coupled with a most excellent licensing and branding plan.

Jimmy Buffett had 4 other top 40 hits. 4!!!!

Like the OP said, a hit. Although "Satisfaction" was before "Whip It", it wasn't a hit and didn't break into the Top 40 anywhere. I checked this to make certain before I posted.Neither did "Working in a Coal Mine".I stand validated.

Brian Wave wrote:

Moe's Tavern wrote:

Devo- "Whip It"

Negative.

Their cover of "Satisfaction" was what broke them and they had a few other minor tunes which gained a fair amount of radio play back in the day when people listened to the radio to get their music fix.

Come on Eileen - Dexies Midnight Runners

Maybe not the alltime mileage one hit wonder but they gotta be up there.

Other genuine one hit wonders:

Men Without Hats--"Safety Dance"

A Flock of Seagulls--"I Ran"