Contents
- 10 Gotye feat. Kimbra – «Somebody That I Used To Know»
- 9. The Buggles – «Video Killed The Radio Star»
- 8. Kaoma – «Lambada»
- 7. Coolio feat. LV – «Gangsta’s Paradise»
- 6. Urge Overkill – «Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon»
- 5. Vanilla Ice – «Ice Ice Baby»
- 4. Chumbawamba – «Tubthumping»
- 3. Right Said Fred – «I’m Too Sexy»
- 2. Non Blondes – «What’s Up»
- 1. PSY – “Gangnam Style”
Artists and regular listeners have mixed opinions about the label “one-hit singer”. Someone thinks that the main thing is to leave your mark on musical history, even with a single song. Others argue that writing a big hit is a stigma that is very hard to get rid of. After all, listeners will unconsciously compare all new songs with their favorite composition.
Today we will remember the top ten performers who made the whole world fall in love with them with one single song. Some of these artists have long since ended their musical careers, but people still remember and love their big hits.
10 Gotye feat. Kimbra – «Somebody That I Used To Know»
Gauthier started making music back in 2001, and by the time Somebody That I Used To Know was released, the singer was fairly well known in Australia. A joint track with Kimbra was released in 2012 and blew up all the music charts.
The song brought the musicians worldwide fame and even won two Grammy awards. It was a resounding success, however, the artists did not record together anymore, deciding to further develop each in their own direction.
9. The Buggles – «Video Killed The Radio Star»
The group lasted only five years, and the video for the song “Video Killed The Radio Star” was broadcast first on the day the MTV channel launched.
Despite the short life of The Buggles, its members did not become artists of one hit, but continued their creative activity. For example, Geoffrey Downs became one of the founders of the famous band “Asia”. And Trevor Horn achieved heights in producing, he was even called the father of the 80s.
8. Kaoma – «Lambada»
The song “Lambada” was heard by the general public already in 1989, but until now the composition is requested at all discos and beach parties.
In the original version, the song had a lyrical and calm sound, the composition was completely unsuitable for incendiary dances. A bright and fast lambada was made by the Kaoma group from France, for which the original authors and performers of the song – the Los Kjarkas group – filed a lawsuit against the producer Kaoma, accusing him of plagiarism.
Los Kjarkas won the case, but this does not negate the fact that it was Kaoma who made the world-famous lambada.
7. Coolio feat. LV – «Gangsta’s Paradise»
Rapper Coolio made a hit on a sample of the song “Pastime Paradise” by Stevie Wonder. Coolio titled his version “Gangsta’s Paradise”, and in 1995 the song topped the charts in the US, UK and several other countries. In Australia, the hit stayed at number one for 13 weeks – it was a world record that no one could “beat” for 22 whole years!
Only in 2017 did a song appear that stayed at the top of the charts for more than 13 weeks – it was the composition “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran.
“Gangsta’s Paradise” is included in the list of the greatest songs of all time, it became one of the 100 best hip-hop songs, and Coolio himself was awarded the title of best rapper at the Grammy Awards. Now Coolio is 55 years old, and he continues his musical activity to this day.
6. Urge Overkill – «Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon»
The song was originally written by Neil Diamond, but Urge Overkill gave the song a different sound. It is their musical version that plays in the dance scene of Pulp Fiction, and it is this version that brought worldwide popularity to the group.
Of course, the copyright and all the income for the performance of the hit belonged to Neil Diamond, but for the Urge Overkill group, the composition became an entrance ticket to the big stage.
5. Vanilla Ice – «Ice Ice Baby»
Scandal song and the first rap composition on the top of the chart. The fact is that in the 90s hip-hop was an unpopular musical direction, and this genre had a rather narrow circle of listeners.
It remains debatable why the song received such laurels, because the sample is taken from the song “Under Pressure” by the legendary band Queen together with David Bowie. Vanilla Ice issued an official apology to Bowie and Queen, and paid monetary compensation for the use of the bass line.
But despite the ugly story of plagiarism, the song “Ice Ice Baby” became the most listened to hip-hop composition and can still be heard in discos and clubs as a notorious hit.
4. Chumbawamba – «Tubthumping»
The band members have repeatedly said in their interviews that the song “Tubthumping” is the best thing that happened to them.
At the beginning of their career, the band performed anarcho-pop, then they experimented with genres until they signed a collaboration with the EMI record company. The decision caused a backlash from fans and mixed opinions from fellow members of the scene. After all, an anarchist group with heavy music essentially sold out to a corporation. But the members of Chumbawamba themselves explained their decision by the desire to influence the system from the inside.
The song “Tubthumping” is the most popular song released by Chumbawamba. “Tubthumping” in the years of release was called the anthem of the common people, who should rejoice in the little things, despite all the hardships.
3. Right Said Fred – «I’m Too Sexy»
Despite the stupidity, ease of sound and plain text – the song “I’m Too Sexy” brought the group worldwide popularity and a number of prestigious awards. And the name of the composition became so viral that they began to print it on T-shirts and quote it in movies.
The song stayed at number one on the US charts, and held a silver position in the UK. And “I’m Too Sexy” received a second round of popularity in 2017, when Taylor Swift used the recognizable melody as a sample of the chorus in her song “Look What You Made Me Do”.
2. Non Blondes – «What’s Up»
The only all-female musical group on our list. The group became famous after the presentation of the song “What’s Up”.
Almost 30 years have passed since the release of the composition, but it can still be heard from radios and at local discos. Although vocalist Linda Perry had no idea that she was writing an immortal hit, sitting on the floor in the hotel lobby. The clip, shot by Morgan Lawley, was one of the most viewed and requested on MTV.
1. PSY – “Gangnam Style”
Outrageous South Korean singer PSY became famous throughout the world with the song “Gangnam Style”. The video for the song set a world record for the number of views on YouTube. Then – in 2012 – the figure of 1 views seemed unrealistic, but PSY destroyed this statement, earning the coveted number 000 months after the premiere of the video.
The critics’ attitude to the song and the video was ambiguous: someone thought that only people without a sense of taste could like such music. And some publications thanked the South Korean singer for the gift of a smile and a good mood from listening to the song.