Decent tracks from two-hit wonders?

[Kermit power]

It's pretty easy to come up with a track you like from a one-hit wonder, but how many people can come up with something from a two-hit wonder?

Any old bunch of arse can fluke a single hit - just look at St Winifred's School Choir, for example - but it seems quite a bit rarer to have someone get two hits before then fading away into obscurity, so I reckon this is a harder challenge.

I'll demonstrate how hard I think it is by declaring that the best track I can think of that fits the category is Alphaville's Forever Young

Can anyone come up with anything better?

[Meeja]

Difficult really, as sometimes these bands can release more than two songs, and the third and fourth are SO minor that they are not remembered at all.

But if we are talking hits with chart success....

I nominate The Rah Band as a two-hit wonder group....

Reached number 6 in 1977

Reached number 6 in 1985

Although there were more than these two releases, to the best of my knowledge, these were the only two that are remembered for any success.

[zahal]

Hmmm. Only one I can think of off the top of my head is Joe Boxers: Boxerbeat, and Just Got Lucky.

[Mr Heathen]

Well I'm pretty sure the word 'decent' doesn't apply to any of these, but if I'm not mistaken there are a few bands who had one big hit followed by a second less successful single - do these count?

Babylon Zoo - 'Spaceman' & 'The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes'
Republica - 'Ready To Go' & 'Drop Dead Gorgeous'
& (saints preserve us) Sigue Sigue Sputnik - 'Love Missile F1-11' & '21st Century Boy'

Now if you want good music, the whole deal becomes a LOT harder...

ETA; Bit cheesy but how about Gerry Rafferty, who I believe had two hits in the 70's - 'Baker Street' & 'Night Owl'.

[Mr Heathen]

zahal said:

Hmmm. Only one I can think of off the top of my head is Joe Boxers: Boxerbeat, and Just Got Lucky.

That just reminded me of the J. Giles Band who had two hits with 'Centerfold' & 'Freeze Frame'...

[Gompo]

Mr Heathen said:

ETA; Bit cheesy but how about Gerry Rafferty, who I believe had two hits in the 70's - 'Baker Street' & 'Night Owl'.

What about that 'Right Next Time' one? I've heard that a bit recently, was it not much of a hit when it was released?

[Meeja]

Gompo said:

Mr Heathen said:

ETA; Bit cheesy but how about Gerry Rafferty, who I believe had two hits in the 70's - 'Baker Street' & 'Night Owl'.

What about that 'Right Next Time' one? I've heard that a bit recently, was it not much of a hit when it was released?

I wouldn't say Gerry Rafferty was a two hit wonder..... a quick Wiki on the releases from one album alone indicates a couple in the top 20 of the Billboard Chart

I suspect the UK chart would make not dissimilar reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_to_City


ETA:

Actually, Gerry Rafferty's entry on Wikipedia makes interesting reading....

Wikipedia said:

The newspaper Scotland on Sunday' reported that Rafferty was asked to leave the Westbury Hotel in London during July 2008. This report stated that the hotel manager had claimed that other residents were distressed by his habit of relieving himself in various corners of the hotel and that his suite was also in a disgraceful and unusable condition.[5] He then checked himself into St Thomas' Hospital suffering from a chronic liver condition. The same report claimed that on 1 August 2008, Rafferty had disappeared, leaving his belongings behind, and that the hospital had filed a missing persons report.[5] However, this was rebutted by the Metropolitan Police who stated that no such missing persons report existed.

I have a friend who works at St Thomas'..... might be worth a glass of wine or two to see if I can loosen lips!!

Edited by Meeja on Wednesday 30th September 20:35

[Mr Heathen]

Meeja said:

Gompo said:

Mr Heathen said:

ETA; Bit cheesy but how about Gerry Rafferty, who I believe had two hits in the 70's - 'Baker Street' & 'Night Owl'.

What about that 'Right Next Time' one? I've heard that a bit recently, was it not much of a hit when it was released?

I wouldn't say Gerry Rafferty was a two hit wonder..... a quick Wiki on the releases from one album alone indicates a couple in the top 20 of the Billboard Chart

I suspect the UK chart would make not dissimilar reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_to_City

Damn! Forgot about 'Right Next Time'. Rafferty had a lot of singles in the 70's but I can only find 3 top 20, please correct me if I'm wrong... I also suppose it depends on your definition of 'hit'. I was assuming top 20, if we're talking top 40 that changes things dramatically again.

ETA: I am wrong, "Right Down the Line" also reached number 12 in 1978... Although 'Right Next Time' only reached 21 in the charts, that's definitely Rafferty out then.

Edited by Mr Heathen on Thursday 1st October 10:26

[Kermit power]

Mr Heathen said:

I also suppose it depends on your definition of 'hit'. I was assuming top 20, if we're talking top 40 that changes things dramatically again.

I was defining it as "things you actually remember now!"

[spitfire4v8]

I always had a soft spot (ahem) for Sleeper's What do I do now and Inbetweener.

[J5]

Cotton eye Joe.. and the amazing sequal, Old Pop in an Oak!
By Rednex - classic school disco material!

[Cambio]

Haysi Fantayzee - "Shiny Shiny" and "John Wayne is Big Leggy".

[Pothole]

Mr Heathen said:

Well I'm pretty sure the word 'decent' doesn't apply to any of these, but if I'm not mistaken there are a few bands who had one big hit followed by a second less successful single - do these count?

Babylon Zoo - 'Spaceman' & 'The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes'
Republica - 'Ready To Go' & 'Drop Dead Gorgeous'
& (saints preserve us) Sigue Sigue Sputnik - 'Love Missile F1-11' & '21st Century Boy'

Now if you want good music, the whole deal becomes a LOT harder...

ETA; Bit cheesy but how about Gerry Rafferty, who I believe had two hits in the 70's - 'Baker Street' & 'Night Owl'.

also had Stuck in the Middle With You with Stealer's Wheel tho

[mp3manager]

Off the top of my head....

Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry & You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62eTq8ErUOQ (note Kirsty MacColl on backing vocals)

A trawl through my mp3 collection should bring up some more.

ETA

Julian Lennon - Saltwater & Much Too Late For Goodbyes
Both peaked at no.6 but all other singles were 40's, 50's or 60's in the charts.

The Pirhanas - Tom Hark & Zambesi
Again both peaked at no.6 and then nothing...

Tongue in cheek here...
Nena - 99 Red Balloons & 99 LuftBallons
Of course, the latter track being far, far superior for some strange reason.

Edited by mp3manager on Thursday 1st October 23:55