Top Twenty One-Hit Wonders
(A debatable category, so here are my criteria: All of these songs were top ten hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart—which rules out a handful of slightly lower charting singles like Mickey & Sylvia’s “Love Is Strange” and When In Rome’s “The Promise,” both of which peaked at #11—and they were all recorded by artists who never again charted in the top forty—which rules out a few more, like a-ha’s “Take On Me,” since their follow-up single, “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.,” charted at #20, or The Knack’s “My Sharona,” since “Good Girls Don’t” charted at #11 and “Baby Talks Dirty” charted at #38. I’ve arranged them in order of preference.)
“Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinead O’Connor (#1)
“Come On Eileen” by Dexys Midnight Runners (#1)
“Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” by Kate Bush (#3) *
“Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley (#2)
“O-o-h Child” by The Five Stairsteps (#8)
“Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot (#1)
“Stay” by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs (#1)
“Tainted Love” by Soft Cell (#8)
“Let’s Go All the Way” by Sly Fox (#7)
“Bang a Gong (Get It On)” by T. Rex (#10)
“Sunshine” by Jonathan Edwards (#4)
“So Alive” by Love and Rockets (#3)
“Tipsy” by J-Kwon (#2)
“Earth Angel” by The Penguins (#8)
“Missing (Todd Terry Remix)” by Everything But the Girl (#2)
“Heart and Soul” by T’pau (#4)
“Groove Is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite (#4)
“Just When I Needed You Most” by Randy VanWarmer (#4)
“Cars” by Gary Numan (#9)
“I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers (#3)
* an odd case, this one, since the only other Kate Bush single that placed in the American top forty was the same song (at #30) when it was originally released 37 years earlier
— May 1, 2023