What is a one-hit wonder, really?

Back in the days when “streaming” meant water and not royalties, chart success could be a "cut-throat" business. If you wanted a shot at the Billboard Hot 100 or the UK Top 40, you needed two things: radio airplay and a loyal fanbase—preferably both. People schlepped to actual record shops (or, if you were unlucky, the supermarket) to hand over hard cash for a seven-inch single. Cracking the charts was no casual feat; it was like the fighting that breaks out in the lines outside stores for Black Friday.

Which is why, in January 1987, Steve “Silk” Hurley’s sudden arrival at No. 1 in the UK charts felt like a minor revolution. Jack Your Body—a house track shifting most of its units on 12-inch vinyl—stormed straight to the top. For a genre still infiltrating the mainstream, it was a warning shot. And yet Hurley never returned to the UK charts under his own name. One blazing moment, then silence. A purist might call that a one-hit wonder.

But the term itself is older than pop trivia. “One-hit wonder” began in baseball, describing San Francisco Giants pitcher Ramón Monzant, who delivered a single dazzling one-hit game in 1956 and never quite reached those heights again. The music world later borrowed the phrase and, depending who you ask, never quite used it kindly.Because here’s the truth: the label can be a bit cruel.

Plenty of artists saddled with it have careers that run far deeper than their lone chart moment. No one’s shedding tears for Joe Dolce (“Shaddap You Face”) or Renée and Renato (“Save Your Love”), but others deserve more respect. Take Bobby McFerrin—Don’t Worry Be Happy may have been a global juggernaut and the first a cappella No. 1, but McFerrin is a heavyweight: composer, conductor, producer, and performer. A single pop hit barely scratches his résumé.

Or consider Jeff Beck. Only one major chart entry—Hi Ho Silver Lining in 1967—but his influence as a guitarist is colossal. Beck himself cringed at the song’s bubblegum bounce, yet no sane critic would slap the “one-hit wonder” label on him. Purist? Maybe. Accurate? Not even close.

Then there are the quirks—those one-hit wonders boosted by novelty dances, precocious kids, or lyrics in a language most listeners don’t speak. And cultural gaps make the whole concept even messier. Growing up in London, it’s always amusing to see Dexys Midnight Runners, Soft Cell or A-ha lumped into American one-hit-wonder lists. Meanwhile, Britain has its own homegrown curios—The Laughing Policeman (Charles Penrose), Donald Where’s Your Troosers? (Andy Stewart), Grandad (Clive Dunn). None of them travels well, unless you count the odd Australian.

These days, the charts don’t feel as central. TikTok and YouTube occasionally fling up a novelty smash (Baby Shark, heaven help us), but the industry’s appetite for risk has evaporated. Homogeneity rules; AI-moulded hooks and cloned tempos dominate the upper reaches. Don’t get me started on sampling—we’ll save that can of worms for another day.
And yet, the great one-hit wonders endure. They still make people grin, dance, and sing along with embarrassing enthusiasm. Maybe that’s the real measure of a one-hit wonder: not the size of the hit, but the longevity of the smile.

So go on—embrace them. And, in the spirit of one of the most immortal novelty hits of all time, always look on the bright side of life.

Check out my Spotify playlist: 1 Hit Wonders.