Whatever Happened To These One Hit Musical Wonders? '70s, '80s & '90s

A one hit wonder is a term in the music industry that basically refers to an artist who had one or two hit records and then dropped off the face of the Earth. Sometimes an artist with two hits is referred to as a two hit wonder but we'll keep things simple for the purposes of this article. It seems that the American public tends to be fickle at times and unfortunately these one hit wonders were beloved one minute and then forgotten about the next. Let's take a look at some of musical industry unfortunates who never really caught on permanantly with the American public :

If you click on the links you can hear the individual songs or you can hear them all at once in my song playlist. I've also created a video playlist if you'd like to check it out.

Chumbawamba

This group had better success in their native England than here across the pond. 1997's "Tubthumping" is about the only song that really caught on from the group here in the U.S.

Bobby McFerrin

McFerrin is actually a ten time Grammy Award winning jazz artist but as far as pop culture goes he is more closely identified by his1988 mega-hit "Don't Worry Be Happy."

The System

This group had a chart topping hit in 1997's "Don't Disturb this Groove." The System disbanded in 1989 and the members scattered to the four corners.

Jane Child

Child is a successful artist in her native Canada, but her biggest hit in this part of America was1990's"Don't Wanna Fall In Love." I loved this song and I wish she would have been more active here in the U.S.

Deee-Lite

1999's "Groove is in The Heart." was this colorful group's crowning glory. This was such a cool video and Lady Kier, the female lead, is still somewhat of a pop icon.

Dexy's Midnight Runners

This British pop group had one major success in 1982 with "Come On Eileen." I remember that I liked this song a lot and I expected more from them but it never materialized

The Sugarhill Gang

"Rapper's Delight" is considered to be the first successful rap/hip hop song. While this claim is sometimes disputed what cannot be disputed is that the group never topped the charts again after the success of this song in 1979. This was the very first record (actual vinyl) that I ever owned.

Benny Mardones

I think that everyone over the age of 35 instantly recognizes this artists biggest success as soon as it starts playing. "Into the Night" was released in 1980 and was Mardones' only hit.

Nena

Whatever happened to that girl from the 80's with her 99 red balloons? Well, she sort of died out here in the U.S. after 1984's chart topping cold war protest song "99 Luftballoons." The female lead of the group Gabrielle (Nena) Kerner enjoyed moderate rebirth in 2002 but then she fizzled out again. She maintains an active career in her native Germany.

Duncan Sheik

Duncan actually has a successful musical career, he's an ardent human rights activitst and he gets extra cool points from me for being a Buddhist. Duncan's biggest pop culture success was 1997's "Barely Breathing".