Hit making feels like a miracle of sorts. If you aren't already a pop star with an established audience, it's an uphill battle. There's really no shame in being a one hit wonder when it's so difficult to break into the main Billboard charts in the first place.
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What's even harder is for that singular hit to be so inescapable that it reaches number one on the charts. It beats the odds, dethroning the teflon hitmakers with a song too addictive to deny. Most of the best one hit wonders don't end up clawing its way all the way to the top. However, Wide Open Country has collected four stellar records that are remembered for their brief spell on the charts as the cream of the crop.
Four of The Best One Hit Wonders to Hit No.1 On The Charts
Michael Sambello- "Maniac"
Michael Sambello had a fascinating career before becoming a one hit wonder in the pop zeitgeist. At 17 years old, he was already a studio musician for Stevie Wonder on Fulfillingness' First Finale. Then, he would work on one of the five best albums ever made, Songs in The Key of Life. Later on, he would write songs for Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. Clearly, Sambello's resume shows he was already a legend before he ever decided to spread his wings as a solo artist.
"Maniac" is a brilliant exhibition that demonstrates what makes Sambello such a marvelous mind. Initially a simple commission for the film Flashdance, he distills the anxiety and heart palpitations that comes from intense dance. The drums erratically clatter and the synths hover into sci-fi horror more than a Jennifer Beals flick about tearing up the dance floor. It's sweaty and addictive in all the right ways. So why did Michael Sambello remain a one hit wonder?
Similar to another artist who hit number one on Billboard's Hot 100 charts, it just didn't seem like he wanted or needed it that much. Sambello was already certified with guys like Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. What is another hit song really going to do for him if it means potentially compromising his musical vision? His followup single "Automatic Man" is so cool because it's such a hard left turn from your usual hit. Michael would rather opt for his weird robot music video concepts than try and capture lightning in a bottle again after "Maniac." He may be a one hit wonder to most but the niche music nerds knows what he's all about.
Billy Paul- "Me and Mrs. Jones"
Adultery has never sounded this romantic. Billy Paul's one hit "Me and Mrs. Jones" is a songwriting wonder. Initially, he teases the shock and thrill of being with a woman that doesn't belong to him. It's almost playful the way he sings it but he plays it completely straight. As the song progresses, it transforms into an epic tragedy. There's no steamy details about their sex lives or their escapades with one another. Rather, the pair goes out to a coffee shop to merely hold hands and cobble up plans to lead a new life together. By the end of the record, you feel like Mr. Jones should take his exit from these two lovebirds.
It's really a shame this only exists as a one hit wonder. I reckon Billy Paul falls out of grace because he wasn't this once in a lifetime performer. He didn't quite have this unmistakable look to match his sultry voice. This isn't Teddy Pendergrass or Al Green we're talking about here. Moreover, he just didn't have another "Me and Mrs. Jones" up his sleeve. I like the spiteful "Am I Black Enough For You?" and the tender "Let's Make a Baby" well enough. But setting the bar so high is prime material for one hit wonders. I'm just glad "Me and Mrs. Jones" proved to be too pitch perfect to keep from its spurt on the number one throne.
Hanson- "MMMBop"
Nothing quite defines bubble gum pop quite like Hanson's "MMMBop" does. Had people in the 90s not spent so much time relegating the kids to punchlines, people would remember them as more than one hit wonders. However, something about these children and their long blonde locks triggered the masses and kept "MMMBop" as merely inescapable for the moment and kept them from ever going much further. It's a shame because Hanson were legitimately great.
Perhaps it's the sourness and gray despondency that reeks from modern pop music. But something about this trio spewing scats and nonsense over DJ scratches and a pretty safe and suburban guitar is utterly infectious. Their joy is something that melts even my most cynical heart. In a world that isn't so poisoned by irony, Hanson's "MMMBop" is more than just a one hit wonder.
Gotye- "Somebody That I Used to Know (Feat. Kimbra)"
"Somebody That I Used to Know" was truly inescapable during its reign at number one. I remember vividly watching an endless array of American Idol contestants try their hand at it and fail spectacularly. In contests that favor power singing, they picked a strange, brooding one hit wonder that mostly operates in low notes. It was weird to hear on the radio at the time too. Dance songs would abruptly stop for a somber Gotye song. It didn't make sense next to any of the other songs on the charts at the time.
Gotye's one hit seemed completely accidental too. He didn't seem very interested in any kind of pop stardom. To this day, his music video upload still doesn't load any ads because he didn't want the monetization. In another reality, "Somebody That I Used to Know" probably exists as a cult classic for his niche audience. Now, it's one of the defining songs to help described early 2010s pop culture.
