Great One Hit Wonder Artists of the '90s By Lons [150 more lists]

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Ranked in order of preference for their one big hit song. Clearly, there are going to be a lot of artists who had big singles in the '90s and didn't make my list. Feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments, but I'm not putting "How Bizarre" on the list...so don't bother asking...

NOTE: I'm considering an artist a "one-hit wonder" if they had a big breakout single, and then basically faded from mainstream public view. Many of the artists listed below went on to release other singles (even if only from the album that also featured their big breakthrough hit) and other albums, particularly if you include their respective native countries. Some of them have even built up a devoted or cult following over the years. Many of them are still together. But for the purposes of this list, these are all artists who popped up on pop culture's radar between 1990 and 2000 and haven't really been heard from since.

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The Verve

The Verve formed in 1990 in England and built a considerable fanbase in the UK on the strength of their first few releases. (Lead singer Richard Ashcroft was even friends with Noel Gallagher!) Though they toured America with Lollapalooza in 1994, it wasn't until 3 years later that they found fame in the States with the release of "Bittersweet Symphony." It ended up basically being the worst thing that ever happened to The Verve, and they broke up soon after.

Though Ashcroft had long swore The Verve would never get back together, they did reunite in 2007 for some shows and a new album, "Forth." Then they broke up again, for good this time. Maybe.
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Harvey Danger

A great song that completely stands the test of time intact, "Flagpole Sitta" has become ubiquitous since its initial release on Harvey Danger's 1997 debut, "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?" The band had formed in 1992 and kept right on touring and releasing albums until 2009, when they played their final show at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle.
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Blind Melon

Everything about Blind Melon's 1993 single "No Rain" has remained infamous to this day, from the opening guitar riff to Shannon Hoon's distinctive whine to, of course, the video's tap-dancing bee girl. The song came off the band's self-titled debut album, and turned that album into a quadruple-platinum hit. Nevertheless, the band wouldn't release another memorable single. While touring in support of their second release, "Soup," in 1995, Hoon was found dead of a cocaine overdose. The group disbanded in 1999 after failing to find a suitable replacement singer.
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Toadies

Toadies' 1994 song ""Possum Kingdom"" is seriously messed up. What the hell is this song even about? It's just a bunch of cryptic, creepy lines about taking someone behind the boat house and showing them your ""dark secret,"" then it ends with lead singer Todd Lewis yelling ""Do you want to die!"" It's like a musical Thomas Harris novel.

Nevertheless, the song made it to #4 on Billboard's ""Modern Rock"" list and brought no small amount of attention to the band's ""Rubberneck"" album. (It later made it into the video game ""Guitar Hero II,"" where you're probably concentrating on the buttons and not the lyrics anyway.)
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4 Non Blondes

Few musical moments are more "90s" than the chorus of "What's Up?," from 4 Non Blondes 1992 debut album "Bigger, Better, Faster, More!" Impressive considering it's essentially just singer Linda Perry singing the word "Hey." 2 years later, Perry left the band to pursue a solo career. That didn't exactly play out, but she wound up becoming a massively successful songwriter for other artists, writing "Beautiful" for Christina Aguilera, "What You Waiting For" for Gwen Stefani among others.
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Edwyn Collins

Edywn Collins is a talented guy. In addition to penning the 1994 smash hit "A Girl Like You," which arrived in the US as part of the "Empire Records" soundtrack, he's been an illustrator and a TV actor. Apparently, Edwyn is considerably beloved in his native UK (he's from Scotland), so he's clearly not eligible for any "One-Hit Wonder" lists made by people from across the pond, but this is AMERICA! Woooo!

Collins made the news in 2009 after getting into a protracted battle with Warner Music Group and Myspace over his right to allow fans to listen to "A Girl Like You" on his Myspace page for free. His wife wrote about the ordeal in a post on Myspace.
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Mazzy Star

Mazzy Star's woozy ""Fade Into You"" feels like it was playing on the soundtrack during every '90s make-out scene. Turns out, it didn't really feature prominently in any movies in its own era, but it should have. The group remained semi-popular for a few years in the mid-'90s, and released some other singles (including a not-bad-song called ""Blue Flower""), but ""Fade Into You"" was the only one to break into the Billboard Top 100. Interestingly, a deep cut from the same album as ""Fade Into You,"" called ""Into Dust,"" became a hit in England after Virgin Media used it in a commercial.
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Semisonic

There really doesn't need to be a song around the words "Closing Time" here. That's all any of us actually remember. But we all REALLY remember it. There's just something about the way the guy from Semisonic says "Closing Time" over and over and over that gets in your brain and literally never leaves again. For the rest...of your...life...

"Closing Time" hit in 1998, 3 years after Semisonic first formed in Minneapolis. They released their first full-length in 1996 to not a terrific amount of fanfare, and then "Feeling Strangely Fine" (the "Closing Time" album) arrived in 1998. Another song from the album, "Secret Smile," became a hit in Europe, launching their career over there, but Americans didn't seem to much care for it. Maybe they didn't repeat the phrase "secret smile" enough times...that's my guess.

The band released one more album in 2001, which again did well overseas but not in the US. They've debated releasing more music under the Semisonic name but nothing much has come of it. So basically, they don't have to go home, but they can't stay here.
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The Breeders

OK, see, right here off the bat...I'm putting up a band that I personally LOVE, and have all their albums, but I concede happily that they really only had one song hit the big time. So that should put to bed any "my favorite band can't possibly be a one-hit wonder" qualms right there.

Despite being tremendously kickass, and featuring 1/2 of the epic songwriting duo that is The Pixies (arguably the BETTER half?), The Breeders' only hit song is "Cannonball," from their second album, "Last Splash." (You should give their debut, "Pod," a listen anyway. It's the superior record.) Shortly after the "Cannonball" juggernaut, founding band member Kelley Deal kinda sorta got busted for heroin and the band broke up for a while. But now they're back and just released the "Fate to Fatal" EP in 2009!
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Temple of the Dog

Early '90s supergroup Temple of the Dog started out as a few songs written in tribute by Chris Cornell (of Soundgarden) to his recently-dead roommate Andrew Wood. He ended up bringing on board a band to help him record the material, a band that would soon thereafter name themselves...PEARL JAM! See what I did there?

Anyway, that means this group was basically a one-off sort of thing to keep Cornell sane (somewhat) and give Pearl Jam a chance to warm up and rehearse before dropping "Ten" on an unexpecting universe. Temple of the Dog's posthumous hit single, "Hunger Strike," thus features Chris Cornell in a duet with a young Eddie Vedder, essentially worth the price of admission alone.
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Spacehog

A whole new generation is getting to hear Spacehog's gob-smackingly catchy 1996 debut single "In the Meantime" in the games "Guitar Hero 5" and "Rock Band 3." Also, because co-founder Antony Langdom appears in the mockumentary "I'm Still Here" pooping on Joaquin Phoenix. As one does...

The song is a perfect blend of the glam rock style of Spacehog's hero, David Bowie, and '90s power pop. Spacehog never really recaptured the success of "In the Meantime," though they went on to have some hits in their native UK. They regrouped briefly in 2008 and 2009 to play some gigs at some clubs in Los Angeles.
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Marcy Playground

Marcy Playground's "Sex and Candy" spent 15 weeks at the top of Billboard's Modern Rock chart. At the time, this was a record for any single song, walloping previous record-holder Oasis' 10-week run with "Wonderwall." (Really? "Wonderwall" is a much better song.) Thanks, people of 1997!

Though the vast majority of the world have not thought about Marcy Playground since "Sex and Candy," founding member and songwriter John Wozniak is actually still recording and touring, sometimes with his Marcy Playground bandmates. And they're not even wallowing in obscurity. Their 2010 release, the oddly-titled "Indaba remixes from Wonderland," was released by Capitol Records!
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Better Than Ezra

Uh, whoah-huh. New Orleans' Better Than Ezra have released SEVEN albums! Which is a lot, especially when you consider their high-water mark in terms of popular came with album #2 in 1993. The album was ""Deluxe."" The song, of course, ""Good."" If that alone doesn't jog your memory, it's the one that goes ""It was gooooood living with you, whoah-huh."

I always remember a Norm MacDonald ""Weekend Update"" joke from the era. ""The biggest single of the summer was 'Good' by Better Than Ezra. And coming in at #2...Ezra."" Maybe you had to be there. Wikipedia tells me that BTE has had other popular songs since ""Good,"" but damned if I can recognize or recall any of them. They've definitely managed to remain active and vital right up to the present day, however, so I'll give them that.
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Skee-Lo

Hello. One theme that's going to come up on this list a few times is the thin line between regular songs and novelty songs that existed in the '90s. Every rare once in a while, you'll still get a breakthrough hit song that's really goofy or stupid, but more often than not, we get our musical laughs from YouTubers (like the great Rebecca Black) rather than the radio nowadays. The fact remains that Skee-Lo's "I Wish" is not only a ridiculous song, but also a really GOOD song. He won TWO GRAMMIES in 1996 for this. Skee-Lo went on to find work as an MTV host and a C-level TV actor. My my my.
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Montell Jordan

""This is How We Do It"" was R&B singer Montell Jordan's debut single back in 1995. The song went all the way to #1 despite being egregiously ridiculous and including the phrase ""to all my neighbors/you got much flava."" Jordan wrote his own songs (I'm not 100% positive that's a mark in his favor), and though he never personally realized the success of ""This is How We Do It"" again, he ended up writing and producing popular songs for other artists, including Christina Milian and (sigh) Sisqo. He also played himself in the Eddie Murphy comedy ""The Nutty Professor."

Jordan has since been born again and works as a minister at the Victory World Church.
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James

Nah, I'm just messing with you. "Laid" is arguably the worst song ever recorded.
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Silverchair

As an overweight guy, I'm always a little thrown off by the part of Silverchair's hit "Tomorrow" where the lead singer starts addressing the lyrics to "fat boy." Like, "You're gonna wait till, fat boy, fat boy, wait till tomorrow." Is he yelling at me? I kind of don't want to listen to a song where the guy's calling me fat. But I can't deny that it's catchy.

Silverchair are HUGE in their native Australia and have sold over six million records in total. In the US, they're remembered for "Tomorrow"
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Primitive Radio Gods

Primitive Radio Gods' bizarrely-titled ""Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand"" was first released on their major-label debut, ""Rocket."" But it didn't become popular until it was featured on the soundtrack of the massively-underappreciated Jim Carrey dark comedy ""The Cable Guy"" (The movie's good. People just expected more ""Ace Venture""-style shenanigans. Now that we're more accustomed to seeing Carrey take on challenging material, this one's worth revisiting.)

The title is actually borrowed from ANOTHER SONG, Bruce cockburn's ""Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand."" Seriously? Two people thought this was a good title?

The song itself consists largely of a single sample, of B.B. King's 1964 song ""How Blue Can You Get?"" (He's the one singing ""I've been downhearted babe..."") Let's see...borrowed title, borrowed sample, and it was their only hit. Maybe I've ranked these guys too high...Nah, I love this track.
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US3

Us3 (really just a name for Geoff Wilkinson and a rotating series of collaborators) started off independently releasing rap songs featuring jazz samples from Blue Note Records artists. Rather than getting sued by the company, Wilkinson was brought on board, and released the debut Us3 album, ""Hand on the Torch,"" on Blue Note's label. On the strength of single ""Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia),"" it became the first Blue Note record to go Platinum. Blue Note changed hands a few times and Us3 released a few more albums, but it never came together again as it did on this 1992 hit, which samples Herbie hancock's ""Cantaloupe Island.""
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Crash Test Dummies

The Crash Test Dummies' ""Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm"" is to the '90s what Men Without Hats' ""Safety Dance"" is to the '80s. That song that reminds you of just how ludicrous this era in popular culture really was. ""Safety Dance"" is the better song, and far more fun and infectious, but ""Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm"" has to rank among any list of the oddest songs to ever gain mass popularity in America. A series of cryptic short stories about childhood trauma related by a man with a baritone so deep, Thurl Ravenscroft must have started polishing on his resume the moment he first heard it. (Oh, just Google him...) Why was this ever popular? What in the hell could possibly be the point? Why am I still listening to it? Gah!
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Eels

Another artist of which I, personally, am a huge fan, but nevertheless has only broken through to mainstream public acceptance on one occasion in the decade between the '80s and '00s. So Mr. E makes the list!

"Novocaine for the Soul" was the first single released by Eels (Mark Oliver Everett and a rotating group of collaborators) and remains the biggest (okay, only) radio hit to date, though later songs have appeared in a number of films and TV shows. "Novocaine" is from 1996's "Beautiful Freak," which is a good album, but Eels have only gotten better as the years drag on. Those wanting to hear from from the band should check out the astounding "Electro-Shock Blues" or the double-album "Blinking Lights and other Revelations."
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White Town

I didn't even realize this until writing this list, but "White Town" is actually a pseudonym for one guy - Jyoti Prakash Mishra. His 1997 song "Your Woman" reached #1 in Great Britain and #23 in the US. The song sounds a lot like the Imperial March from "Empire Strikes Back," and it's sort of hard not to hear that once it has been pointed out to you (apologies!), but what can I say? It's still catchy.

Plus, that's just a coincidence anyway. "Your Woman" includes samples from a 1932 performance of the song "My Woman" by Al Bowlly that was featured on the soundtrack for the film "Pennies from Heaven." (The original song "My Woman" was also famously performed by Bing Crosby.) Mishra kept right on releasing albums through the mid-aughts, but never had another hit.
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Squirrel Nut Zippers

Remember how swing music became a big thing for a few months back in the mid-late-'90s? That was weird, right? Pretty much the only time I even think about that strange point in our collective pop culture history is when "Swingers" comes on late night on HBO and, sure enough, there's Heather Graham twirling about to the stirring sounds of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

Squirrel Nut Zippers actually weren't in line with most of those '90s swing acts. Rather than recalling the '40s big-band era, as did BBVD as well as Royal Crown Revue, The Cherry Poppin' (ugh) Daddies and others. Instead, their sound was borrowed from a slightly earlier era (mostly the '30s), and included a lot of blues, calypso, klezmer and other sounds of that period. It all came together for them with the single "Hell," from their second album, "Hot," which became a big single in 1996.
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The Rentals

The Rentals may have initially gained prominence due to the presence of vocalist Matt Sharp, former bassist for Weezer, but it was their debut single, ""Friends of P,"" from their 1995 album ""Return of the Rentals"" that earned them a spot here. The band actually did have another moderately successful song after ""Friends of P,"" called ""Waiting,"" which appeared on the soundtrack for the reprehensible film ""Joe's Apartment,"" about a schlub (Jerry O'Connell) cohabitating with a bunch of anthropomorphic cockroaches. I defy anyone reading this to hum it.

TRIVIA: F*ture ""Saturday Night Live"" cast member Maya Rudolph played keyboards and provided back-up vocals on the group's first album. Is that true? I have no idea. I read it on Wikipedia.
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King Missile

Remember when I said that we'd come back to the issue of novelty songs being played as legitimate radio hits in the '90s? Yeah, here we go again.

King Missile is an avant-garde art project and sometimes-band from poet and singer John S. Hall. On the group's 1992 debut, "Happy Hour," they released a little ditty called "Detachable Penis," really just Hall reciting a monologue about a man suffering through life with the titular appendage. Of course there's a music video, silly...

Shockingly, King Missile never returned with another monster jam. Who could've seen that coming?
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Local H

Rock duo Local H is another one of those "one hit wonders" that remains an active and well respected band in their own area (in this case, Illinois). Nevertheless, they're here because of 1996's "Bound for the Floor," the song that I bet you thought was called "Copacetic." Cause that's the SAT word the lead singer shouts throughout the song. Why WOULDN'T you call the song that? Anyway, it was off Local H's second album "As Good as Dead," which also featured a song called "Eddie Vedder" that's quite good. (But not good enough to keep them off a one hit wonder list, alas.)
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Smoking Popes

Kind of really proud of myself for remembering this one. Smoking Popes (comprised of three brothers) had been around Chicago since 1991 playing pop-punk with weirdly crooner-style vocals. They'd garnered some attention locally, and were even invited to open for Green Day on the strength of their debut album, but it was the inclusion of their song "Need You Around" on the soundtrack to the film "Clueless" that catapulted them into the spotlight...

And then they disappeared never to be heard from again. Well, not really, but they never produced another big hit, and proceeded to break up and get back together for a while. They're currently said to be working on a new album.
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Geggy Tah

Weird '90s pop duet Geggy Tah released 3 albums, but only came up with one hit. "Whoever You Are," from 1996's "Sacred Cow," is another semi-novelty single, this one about the trials and tribulations of a motorist navigating heavy traffic. The band had intended to release a follow-up in 1999, but it was delayed for years by the record company. When it finally dropped in 2001 (5 years after "Whoever You Are"), surely any minor goodwill spawned by the single had waned.

Founding Geggy Tah-er Greg Kurstin was nominated for a Grammy in 2010 for producing Lily Allen's "It's Not Me, It's You." So there's that.
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Cornershop

Cornershop are basically a Britpop band, but they work in elements of Indian music, which gives their songs an exotic, idiosyncratic feel without getting in the way of the extremely accessible melodies. It's particularly evident on ""Brimful of Asha"" from the band's 1997 album ""When I Was Born for the 7th Time."" (See what they did there?) The song, as I'm just now learning from Wikipedia, is a tribute to Asha Bhosle, a ""playback singer."" (This means he sings songs and then actors lip-sync to his version in movies.) Several playback singers get shoutouts during the song, along with other musical influences on Cornershop, like Trojan Records. Cornershop is still together and somewhat popular in the UK.
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Face to Face

'90s me would definitely want to kick my ass for calling SoCal punk legends Face to Face a one-hit wonder. But we're just talking cold, hard facts here, folks. No matter how much ass they kicked at the Warped Tour that one year...they only ever had one big radio hit. That song was ""Disconnected"" from their second album, 1994's ""Big Choice."" The band remained popular, particularly in the California punk scene, throughout the '90s and into the next decade, eventually breaking up in 2004. They've since gotten back together and started touring again, and are releasing their next album, ""Laugh Now, Laugh Later"" in May 2011.
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Craig Mack

Craig Mack's 1994 smash hit ""Flava In Ya Ear"" was the very first major release from Sean ""Puffy"" Combs Bad Boy Entertainment. A remix of the song provided an early showcase for both Notorious BIG AND Busta Rhymes. So what happened? Not really sure, exactly, but it's clear that Mack's success was overshadowed by the release of Biggie's debut ""Ready to Die"" later that same year. By the time Mack released a follow-up (on the Street Life label, not Bad Boy), his popularity had waned, and he didn't manage to produce a hit single.
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