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100 Greatest One Hit Wonders Of The 80s: Read the List
Vixen, The Church, Midnight Oil, Aldo Nova – they all found a spot on our list. We counted down the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s, and these guys, plus acts such as Timbuk 3, The Georgia Satellites, and Paul Hardcastle, all made a dent. Check the list below to see where they ranked. Click the links to watch the videos. Head to The Greatest page for more playlists and show information.
Haven’t gotten your fill of 80s music yet? Here’s some more for you.
Watch an alphabetical list of the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s
Watch 30 videos that missed making the top 100 list
100 Greatest Songs of the 80s: The Ladies
THE COMPLETE LIST…
1 Dexys Midnight Runners: “Come on Eileen”
2 Flock of Seagulls: “I Ran (So Far Away)”
3 A-Ha: “Take On Me”
4 Tommy Tutone: “867-5309 / Jenny”
5 Soft Cell: “Tainted Love”
6 Toni Basil: “Mickey”
7 Modern English: “I Melt With You”
8 Bow Wow Wow: “I Want Candy”
9 Kajagoogoo: “Too Shy”
10 Frankie Goes to Hollywood: “Relax”
11 Gary Numan: “Cars”
12 Animotion: “Obsesssion”
13 Thomas Dolby: “She Blinded Me With Science”
14 Big Country: “In A Big Country”
15 Devo: “Whip It”
16 Nena: “99 Luft Balloons”
17 Men Without Hats: “The Safety Dance”
18 Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock: “It Takes Two”
19 Dead or Alive: “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”
20 Rockwell: “Somebody’s Watching Me”
21 Twisted Sister: “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
22 Michael Sembello: “Maniac”
23 Eddy Grant: “Electric Avenue”
24 Edie Brickell & New Bohemians: “What I Am”
25 Musical Youth: “Pass the Dutchie”
26 Cutting Crew: “I Just Died In Your Arms”
27 Stacey Q: “Two of Hearts”
28 John Parr: “St. Elmos Fire (Man In Motion)”
29 Madness: “Our House”
30 The Vapors: “Turning Japanese”
31 Bobby McFerrin: “Don’t Worry Be Happy”
32 Quarterflash: “Harden My Heart”
33 John Waite: “Missing You”
34 The Waitresses: “I Know What Boys Like”
35 Tom Tom Club: “Genius of Love”
36 Weather Girls: “It’s Raining Men”
37 Lipps, Inc.: “Funkytown”
38 Bruce Willis: “Respect Yourself”
39 Matthew Wilder: “Break My Stride”
40 The Buggles: “Video Killed the Radio Star”
41 Billy Vera “At This Moment”
42 Timbuk 3 “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades”
43 Shannon “Let the Music Play”
44 Wall of Voodoo “Mexican Radio”
45 Robbie Nevil “C’est La Vie”
46 Georgia Satellites “Keep Your Hands To Yourself”
47 Pretty Poison “Catch Me I’m Falling”
48 Yello “Oh Yeah”
49 Philip Bailey (w/ Phil Collins) “Easy Lover”
50 Neneh Cherry “Buffalo Stance”
51 After the Fire “Der Kommissar”
52 Mary Jane Girls “In My House”
53 Taco “Puttin’ On the Ritz”
54 Chris DeBurgh “Lady in Red”
55 Johnny Kemp “Just Got Paid”
56 Til Tuesday “Voices Carry”
57 Jermaine Stewart “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off”
58 Don Johnson “Heartbeat”
59 The Outfield “Your Love”
60 Nu Shooz “I Can’t Wait”
61 E.U.: “Da Butt”
62 XTC: “Dear God”
63 Oran “Juice” Jones: “The Rain”
64 Robbie Dupree: “Steal Away”
65 Boomtown Rats: “I Don’t Like Mondays”
66 The Jeff Healy Band: “Angel Eyes”
67 Martika: “Toy Soldiers”
68 Peter Schilling: “Major Tom”
69 T’Pau: “Heart And Soul”
70 Harold Faltermeyer: “Axel F”
71 Jack Wagner: “All I Need”
72 Swing Out Sister: “Breakout”
73 Paul Hardcastle: “19″
74 Information Society: “What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)”
75 Bertie Higgins: “Key Largo”
76 J.J. Fad: “Supersonic”
77 General Public: “Tenderness”
78 Aldo Nova: “Fantasy”
79 Alannah Myles: “Black Velvet”
80 Eddie Murphy: “Party All The Time”
81 Josie Cotton: “Johnny Are You Queer?”
82 Red Rider: “Lunatic Fringe”
83 Paul Lekakis: “Boom Boom Boom Let’s Go Back to My Room”
84 The Church: “Under The Milky Way”
85 Ziggy Marley And The Melody Makers: “Tomorrow People”
86 Patrice Rushen: “Forget Me Nots”
87 Vixen: “Edge Of A Broken Heart”
88 Nik Kershaw: “Wouldn’t it Be Good”
89 Rodney Dangerfield: “Rappin’ Rodney”
90 Haircut 100: “Love Plus One”
91 Gloria Loring & Carl Anderson: “Friends And Lovers”
92 Frank Stallone: “Far From Over”
93 L.A. Guns: “The Ballad of Jayne”
94 Club Nouveau: “Lean On Me”
95 Midnight Oil: “Beds are Burning”
96 The Fabulous Thunderbirds: “Tuff Enuff”
97 Will To Power: “Baby I Love Your Way / Freebird”
98 Buckner & Garcia: “Pac-Man Fever”
99 Michael Damian: “Rock On”
100 Clarence Clemons (and Jackson Browne): “You’re A Friend Of Mine”
December 11th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
um yea these are the hits the you will never forget and the one that live forever…lalalala..yea.
December 18th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Who the heck did the list! Don Johnson, he never had a hit, he sang a stupid song, Martika had two hits so she is not a one hit wonder, Tainted Love or Frankie goes to hollywood should be #1
December 21st, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Like most everyone else, ‘Tony Perez’ has issues with his ‘facts’.
Don Johnson had one ‘hit’ with ‘Heartbeat’, which peaked at #5. There are 13 entries on the list that had NO hits in the 80s, but Don Johnson isn’t one of them.
You only noticed Martika as having more than one hit? 37 entries on the list have more than one hit, some have as many as FIVE.
‘Tainted Love’ was #5 and you’re complaining? The order was voted on by viewers, so you get what you get when the order is based on random voting. Same with Frankie Goes to Hollywood, they were #10, close enough.
So yes, you should be complaining about the list, just not what you are complaining about…
December 23rd, 2009 at 2:47 am
I couldnt agree more with Tom. I am not sure who made this list. There are songs which form a part of the list. What about Spandau Ballet’s “True”… spent some good weeks in UK US chart I figure.
December 23rd, 2009 at 11:08 am
And for the record Tony, Martika had three hits in the 80s, not two.
1988:
‘More Than You Know’ #18
1989:
‘Toy Soldiers’ #1
‘I Feel the Earth Move’ #25
December 24th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Spandau Ballet had three hits in the 80s, so while not a one-hit wonder, I guess they do have fewer hits than a lot of artists that did make the list…
‘True’ #4
‘Gold’ #29
‘Only When You Leave’ #34
I wonder how many pages of comments there would be if people actually took 20 seconds to look up the artist they want to complain about to verify how many ‘hits’ they actually had in the 80s before posting.
December 27th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Hie… ahmm I juust wanna know abOut onee littlee videO i’ve seen on vh1… i think it’s a video-comercial because is really short I don’t know the name but the video is about a guy who’s walking and suddenly a couple that is getting married runs out of a church with peoplee behiind… if you could tell me please…
December 29th, 2009 at 1:17 am
Three of these songs aren’t even from the ’80’s:
It Takes Two was 1992
Black Velvet was 1990
Video Killed the Radio Star was 1979
Midnight Oil had four top-10 hits from 1986-1989
The Church had three top-10 hits in 1988 & 1989
This list is a farce.
December 29th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Most of these aren’t one-hitters at all. How the hell can you call Frankie Goes to Hollywood a one-hit wonder?!? They were an 80s phenomenon!!! Not to mention Madness, who single-handedly defined an entire genre… What’s next, Michael Jackson’s Thriller? Even flippin’ Bruce Willis had 2 or 3!
Who writes this ^*)~#++_&#+_&()*
December 29th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
i think number one shouldn’t be number one. but the rest are amazing
December 29th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
There was this black girl who was named “billy” who had one dance hit back in the 80s. I remembered that she was tall, and wore this long black gown/dress in her video. But I remembered that she spelled her name like a dude but I cannot find her, the song, or nothing. Bad thing was the song received a lot of rotation at the clubs and on video if i remember correctly. CAN ANYONE HELP ME PLEASE? BEFORE I DIE? LOL
December 29th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I’ll +`^%~)`(!%_~_%# ume ’80s Freak’ and ‘K’ both from outside the US, as well as being unable/too lazy to read the countless other posts that covered just about everything they had to say, but since I’m bored:
Midnight Oil had ONE hit: ‘Beds Are Burning’ #17 in 1987
The Church had ONE hit: ‘Under the Milky Way’ #24 in 1988
This list IS a farce, but you managed to complain about two artists that actually DO belong.
Frankie Goes to Hollywood had ONE hit: ‘Relax’ #10 in 1983
Madness did have two hits: ‘It Must Be Love’ #33 in 1981 and ‘Our House’ #7 in 1982, but if they ’single-handedly defined a whole genre’, they didn’t do it in the US.
Bruce Willis also only had ONE hit: ‘Respect Yourself’ #5 in 1987
Once again people, this is a US ONLY LIST, so it DOES NOT matter if some of these artists had 50 hits in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, South America, Africa, the old USSR, Antarctica, etc.
December 30th, 2009 at 6:49 am
I’ll !*~(!)`(&!+`#_` ume ’80s Freak’ and ‘K’ both from outside the US, as well as being unable/too lazy to read the countless other posts that covered just about everything they had to say, but since I’m bored:
Midnight Oil had ONE hit: ‘Beds Are Burning’ #17 in 1987
The Church had ONE hit: ‘Under the Milky Way’ #24 in 1988
This list IS a farce, but you managed to complain about two artists that actually DO belong.
Frankie Goes to Hollywood had ONE hit: ‘Relax’ #10 in 1983
Madness did have two hits: ‘It Must Be Love’ #33 in 1981 and ‘Our House’ #7 in 1982, but if they ’single-handedly defined a whole genre’, they didn’t do it in the US.
Bruce Willis also only had ONE hit: ‘Respect Yourself’ #5 in 1987
Once again people, this is a US ONLY LIST, so it DOES NOT matter if some of these artists had 50 hits in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, South America, Africa, the old USSR, Antarctica, etc.
December 30th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
why the @#%$&*@! isn’t the videos loading??????????????????
January 1st, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Wonder that such one exists ..such a hottie.
need some help one more and i get pics unlocked
January 2nd, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Midnight Oil…one hit wonders??? are you frikken serious! Maybe in this effed country where its all pop and sweet crap, but The Oils are huge where it matters….back home in Australia!!!!
January 2nd, 2010 at 10:56 pm
I need a Riddle ASAP! i know this sounds extreamly werid but i need a riddle. Dont ask why just give me something!! thanks!
the day the earth stood still
January 4th, 2010 at 6:29 am
This list is, at best, inaccurate in its definition of “hit”, or even worse, just plain stupid. Who have you got compiling this list? Twelve year olds?
January 4th, 2010 at 10:41 am
“Midnight Oil…one hit wonders??? are you frikken serious! Maybe in this effed country where its all pop and sweet crap, but The Oils are huge where it matters….back home in Australia!!!!”
Well, since the criteria for being a ‘hit’ seems to be whether is reached the top 40 of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, which is a ‘Pop’ chart, I guess they are competing with ‘pop and sweet crap’ in this ‘effed up coutry’.
As far as Australia goes, to whom exactly does Australia matter? I don’t think anyone in this ‘effed up country’ has given Australia much of a thought since ‘Crocodile Dundee’ or ‘Yahoo Serious’.
And whether you like it or not, Midnight Oil IS a one-hit wonder where it matters.
January 5th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
What about Katrina & the Waves? Walking on sunshine is for sure a one hit wonder, and what is A-ha doing here? nobody remembers “the sun always shines on tv” or “”you are the one”?, I think also twisted sister does not belong here or what does it mean a song like “I wanna rock”, we as 80’s listeners need something mire precise than this ranking.
January 6th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
hi, where can I buy the 100 videos listed above? you show on TV super….loved..thank you
January 6th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
hi, can you please tell me where where I buy the 100 greates one hitwonders of the 80’s videos (DVD). you show on TV super….love it..thank you
January 7th, 2010 at 2:03 am
what is the name of the song that is playing in the background when the host is talking -(after tommy tutone) or what were the last 3 or 4 songs playing in the background between the countdown to the top 5?
thanks for any help on this…
January 7th, 2010 at 10:29 am
I recently watched the VH1 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80’s, is there a CD I can buy that has all these songs on it? If so, can you reply back with the name and where to buy it? I grew up in the 80’s and having these songs in my CD collection would be alot of fun!
Thanks
Bob C.
January 8th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Great, ‘adolpho’ is clearly ANOTHER brain surgeon that can’t be bothered to read the countless other posts that already covered his list of grievances, so here we go AGAIN:
Katrina and the Waves had a 2nd minor ‘hit’ with “Do You Want Crying” #37
You are correct that NO ONE remembers “The Sun Always Shines On TV”, however it was a 2nd ‘hit’ at #20. “You Are the One” didn’t even crack the Top 100.
And has been covered AT LEAST 10 times now, Twisted Sister ONLY HAD ONE HIT:
“I Wanna Rock” only reached #68. Even “Leader of the Pack” charted higher for them at #53, but still not a ‘hit’.
January 10th, 2010 at 3:40 am
ixnay with you,re musical knowledge, scenes I,m lazy. where did the producers chart and what about Roger Glover’s single the Mask. where did it chart. or did it?
January 11th, 2010 at 1:15 am
This list is full of HOLES! The Church were NOT 1 hit wonders, they also had a hit with “Unguarded Moment”. Midnight Oil were definitely NOT OHW’s as they had multiple hits throughout their career. Alannah Myles was NOT a OHW, as “Love Is” was ALSO a hit for her! Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Dead Or Alive, Martika ALL had multiple hits. This is NOT a “Biggest Hits Of The 80s” list, it’s a “One Hit Wonders Of The 80s” list and as such, it’s full of holes and WRONG entries. 25 years in radio - that started in the 80s - so I KNOW my 80s music!
January 14th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Gonna go out on a limb and guess that ‘music programmer’ is from Australia since that is the only place ‘Unguarded Moment’ by The Church charted. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, they only had ONE ‘hit’.
And I’m not going into detail about the rest of the flaws in your post since they’ve been covered before. Many just a few posts above this one…
ONE MORE TIME, this is a US ONLY list, based on the US HOT 100 SINGLES CHART. If it wasn’t a top 40 ‘hit’ there, it doesn’t matter if it was a #1 hit in every other country in the world.
50 songs that don’t belong on the list and people like this still can’t get it right.
How hard is it to go to wikipedia before posting to verify your post?
As for ‘cole’, go to wikipedia and look up your artists to see where they did or did not chart.
January 15th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Great hit’s but they forgot ” Tracey Ulman ” she did have ONE hit
January 19th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
i love this stuff its the best you guys rock 20 years goes by so fast peace out
January 31st, 2010 at 7:04 pm
OMG I LUV THE 80’s!