Talk:List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States

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Since I just removed Jimi Hendrix form this list again, I think I will explain my reasoning.

My definition of a "one hit wonder" is something like this:

A "one hit wonder" is an artist who had only one notable song, and was then forgotten, and who is only remembered for that one hit, and only remembered by people familiar with music from the one-hit-wonder's era. A one hit wonder is inevitably assosciated with their hit.

This is a somewhat fuzzy meaning, and a stricter meaning is needed to minimize edit wars. However, this proposed meaning does not convey the essence of the above meaing:

A "one hit wonder" is someone who only had one top 40 Billboard hit

This is not a reasonable translation of the above definition of "one hit wonder". For example, what comes to mind when you think of "Jimi Hendrix"? You proably start thinking about his masterful guitar playing, his contributions to rock and roll, his untimely death...you're probably not thinking about his one song that happened to become a Billboard hit, "All along the Watchtower". What comes to mind when you hear "That singer Tiffany" or "That band Men Without Hats"; in both cases, the one hit those two bands had ("I Think We're Alone Now" and "Safety Dance") comes to mind. It's a somewhat insulting term; it implies that the artist in question has made no contributions to music beyond their one hit. This is why I have remapped the term to something which more reflect's an average person's internal definition of "one hit wonder":

A "one hit wonder" is someone who only had one top 40 Billboard hit, and who has had less than three top 40 albums in their musical career.

This is a better heuristic (Plain English: "This works a lot better") for determining what is and is not a "one hit wonder", since it better reflects the reality that a lot of very notable artists, who are more album-oriented than single oriented, and hence have few (sometimes only one) hit singles, are not one hit wonders.

To support my argument, from the article One-hit wonder:

The term one-hit wonder does not, however, usually refer to performers who have had only limited chart success but whose importance spans beyond sales charts. Jimi Hendrix, Lou Reed, The Grateful Dead, Iggy Pop and Radiohead have each had only one song in the top 40 positions of Billboard Magazine’s list of most-played pop songs, yet none is considered a one-hit wonder because each has created other work that, while not as initially commercially successful, has had significance to popular music.

Samboy 06:44, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Based on that criteria, do Buck Owens, Mel Torme and Ella Fitzgerald really belong on this list?

I would say that this list has rather broad criteria for being a one-hit wonder. Or, perhaps more accurately, its definition for not being a one-hit wonder is very narrow. I'm leaving David Houston on the list because he technically meets the definition. It is true that he only cracked the Top 40 of the Pop chart once. He actually charted on the Pop chart three times, but only once broke the Top 40. He also had several #1 hits on the Country chart, but that doesn't meet the conditions of this list. So, technically, that makes him a one-hit wonder. However, I see a world of difference between David Houston and, say, Rod Lauren. --GentlemanGhost 15:41, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

One Hit Wonders should only have one hit.

While it's fun to make lists of one-hit wonders, many people do not have the musical depth to accurately list them. For instance, on this list of the 60's, Love is listed with "One and One Is", completely forgetting "My Little Red Book," their biggest hit, which would also disqualify them as a "one hit wonder." Likewise, Spirit also had the hit "Nature's Way." Big Brother had "Down on Me", and the Sufaris had "Surfer Joe."

Also, the Pixies Three were not one hit wonders, besides the listed "Birthday Party", they had an even larger hit with "442 Glenwood Avenue." Also, the Seeds struck again with "Can't Get Enough of You Baby."

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Decided to go to Amazon and factcheck on these assertions using Joel Whitburn's book. If you [http://www.amazon.com/Billboard-Book-Top-Hits-Forty/dp/0823074994/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244135133&sr=1-1#reader click this link] and then do searches for "love arthur lee", "spirit i got a line on you","surfaris wipeout","big brother piece of my heart","pixies three birthday party","seeds pushin' too hard" it should take you the entries for MOST of the artists. (Not all the pages of the text are searchable..)

Surfaris appear to have had a charter with "Never Gonna Let you Down" which reached #28 airplay, #47 sales...not sure which one is the "definitive" number. (If you do search for "surfaris" and hover on the link, it expands enough to give me a little info on the song but not the full SURFARIS entry.) Couldn't find "Surfer Joe" listed in the song index, though, which would indicate it's not a hit for them.

Spirit: Only 1 hit on the top 40. This list doesn't count anything #41-100.

Big Brother: Only 1 hit. "Down on Me" didn't chart top 40.

Pixies Three: Only 1 hit. Others didn't chart top 40.

Seeds: Can't see full entry..but it doesn't look they charted twice either. GBrady (talk) 17:24, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Another Error

The Electric Prunes don't belong on this list, either. They had a second hit: "Get Me to the World On Time," which went to #27 on the Billboard charts in May of 1967.

I agree with the previous comments that a true "one-hit wonder" is an artist or group that only had one Top 40 hit on the Billboard charts. At least, this would be the definition for America. For Europe and other parts of the world, they'd have to define it according to local conventions.

BTW, to the above commentator, who insisted that The Seeds were not a one-hit wonder because of "Can't Get Enough of You Baby": they may have performed the latter song, but the only group to have a hit with it in America was ? & The Mysterians (aka "Question Mark & The Mysterians"), whose Cameo single went to #56 on the charts. The Seeds almost had a second Top 40 hit: "Can’t Seem to Make You Mine," which went to #41 in 1967. Close, but no cigar.

You forgot to put "96 Tears" by "? and the Mysterians" on your 1966 list —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.70.137.205 (talk) 05:45, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

The Electric Prunes commentor is correct. Verified in Whitburn. At any rate, I couldn't find it in the 1967 list so it appears someone's already taken care of that. GBrady (talk) 17:28, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

On 12/10/66 ? and the Mysterians peaked at #22 with "I Need Somebody" (Cameo 441) so they aren't a one-hit wonder. GBrady (talk) 17:29, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Changes I made and a question

I tried to source some of the red-links. Yeah I was lazy and used All-Music, but I think for saying what charted it should be okay. The other thing is that calling Roy Clark, The Statler Brothers, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, and Jimmy Smith "one-hit wonders" seems a bit misleading to me. It's technically correct, using Billboard, but these musicians are in some cases major stars in their genre. In addition to that some are more known for songs that aren't "the hit" listed. A different example on that is Vince Guaraldi who is mostly known today for Linus and Lucy.--T. Anthony 04:45, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

I would say in Guaraldi's case it's a generational thing. "Music of your Life" stations still play "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" so if you're of a certain age, that would be the tune you think of first. I think the method used in the list of italicizing artists that aren't "technically" one-hit wonders and using a citation reference at the bottom, i.e. Roy Clark was well-known country musician and star of "Hee Haw", is a good way to address these concerns you mention. GBrady (talk) 17:32, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Disambiguations

It appears that there may be need of some disambiguation. The link for The Ramrods points to the 1970's punk group. Dan ad nauseam (talk) 04:39, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Similarly, the link for Johnny Thunder points to the comic book character, with a disambiguation notice to Johnny Thunders, the New York Dolls guitarist. Dan ad nauseam (talk) 04:33, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

Another disambiguation: The link for Jimmy Hughes points to an English soccer player. Dan ad nauseam (talk) 06:30, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Band member search

Looking for the Band that had a member by the name of Tom or Thomas Pena. They had (a one hit wonder ) can you help he is about 63 years old at this time. thanks. papasmurfthe1@sbcglobal.net

What about Witchi Tai To?

At least in Portland, Oregon, Witchi Tai To (written by Jim Pepper and performed by Everything is Everything, probably recorded in Apostolic Studios in 1969) got tons of airplay. What counts as a one-hit wonder, anyway? Is there an objective index anywhere? Dexter Nextnumber (talk) 22:40, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

No. Everything Is Everything is not an one-hit wonder. Their single "Witchi Tai To" peaked at #69 in 1969. TheSkinsAdded (talk) 05:13, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Small Faces

I've noticed that the Small Faces are not included here despite the fact that "Itchycoo Park" is there only Top 40 hit on the charts. Bob3458 (talk) 17:36, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

One-hit wonder inclusion criteria

If you're interested in the topic, your comments would be appreciated at Talk:List of 2010s one-hit wonders in the United States#Inclusion criteria where there is a discussion with sweeping ramifications about whether the "one-hit wonder" articles will be based on charting songs or on artists described in sources. Binksternet (talk) 15:26, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

Robin Ward

On the Hot 100, "Wonderful Summer" peaked at #14 on 14-21 December 1963, not 16 November 1963.107.185.97.165 (talk) 15:47, 28 October 2017 (UTC)