Five for Friday

One-hit wonder lists are often wrong and reductive. So when Eric of Track Ten suggested we interrogate the concept a little, it felt like one to grow on...

Bienvenue, one and all! I’m your femme, Emm, and we are gathered here again for another Five for Friday, which has evolved into a weekly drop-in sesh for me and a musicstacker to bounce around an idea or comment on an event of significance through somewhat carefully selected songs. (Hint, hint, hit me up to collab…)

Now, you may wonder why I put the squeeze on Rubber Duckie for this week’s 54F Sesame Street reference.

The reason is that we are talking about one of my main musical bugbears this week: the one-hit wonder listicles (yes, Ernie is a one-hit wonder, with Rubber Duckie making the top 20 in ‘70).

I have said on many occasions that music lists are reductive and subjective.

One-hit wonder lists in particular fall into these and other traps, often citing artists who had a clutch of Billboard Top 40 hits (Aha, A Flock of Seagulls) or who had several top 40 hits internationally (Dexy’s Midnight Runners).

In other words, artists who aren’t one-hit wonders.

A few weeks ago, Eric of Track Ten asked me if I would contribute a favorite song to his weekly Track Ten Roundup (I chose “Wonder” by Chenayder, which I will keep bumping) I said I would, if he would do me the honor of collabing on a 54F.

Eric asked if I would be interested in forgotten hits or one-hit wonders and I said I’d like to explode some one-hit wonder myths.

Here’s how our conversation unfolded from there…

Eric: What do you mean one hit wonder myths? Like artists that are thought of as one-hit wonders but have a deeper catalogue?

Emm: Basically. You’ll see folks say Men Without Hats, but they had two Billboard top 20 hits. Or Looking Glass, who had two top 40 hits. You could be technical and say anything in the hot 100 means that an artist was more than a one-hit wonder, but it’s easier to make the case when the song hits the top 40. Sometimes, a song that missed the Billboard top 40 made Cashbox’s top 40, so there’s also that to consider.

Eric: So ideally looking for artists with one well-known huge hit (likely top 10 if not #1) but that actually have additional top 40s (give or take) that may be lesser known and/or forgotten.

I’ll kick us off with one of my all time favorite artists:

Carly Rae Jepsen

Most people only know her for her mega-smash from 2012, “Call Me Maybe.” The track spent nine weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 and was officially crowned Billboard’s song of the summer that year. If you’ve heard much about her since, it’s probably more in the context of the indie darling reputation she began establishing with the Pitchfork-types starting with her 2015 album “Emotion” (which doesn’t exactly help the case that she’s a one-hit wonder myth).

However, Carly actually has two other top 40 hits to her name. The first is another track from 2012’s “Kiss:” “Good Time,” her collaboration with other quasi-one-hit wonder Owl City (of “Fireflies” fame) peaked at #8. While the follow up album Emotion was generally seen as a commercial flop, the lead “I Really Like You” snuck into the top 40 at #39 in 2015. Sadly, Carly has been absent from the Hot 100 since then, but has continued to put out plenty of beloved indie pop gems.

Emm: I was reading P’fork on the regular at the time “Emotion” came out, so it was an automatic buy.

I never understood why “I Really Like You” wasn’t a Billboard Top 40 smash (in Canada, CanCon regulations helped somewhat but it peaked at #14). If anything, I always felt it was the better song versus “Call Me Maybe.” The one that should have cemented her as a superstar even as it proved she was a truly phenomenal songwriter. but for some reason, “Emotion” (or “E*mo*tion” if you will) didn’t take her to that level and I feel like we would be in a better place as a society if that had happened. I know that is hyperbole, but when I listen to her albums, I am struck at the dichotomy between her talent and her popularity. Then again, I have a whole playlist of 2026 singles that haven’t set the world on fire, so what do I know?

(BTW, for a great take on Pitchfork famous versus Target famous, please see Max Freedman’s essay on the Lizzo pass, which Eric contributed data to…)

Okay, my turn and, I am going with…

Katrina and the Waves

Emm: There is likely only one song that comes to mind when people think of this band, and that may be due in part to its pop culture ubiquity. “Walking on Sunshine” has been licensed for film, TV, and commercials to the extent that it is hard to remember what made the song so appealing. That it endures is a testament to its ebullient hook. But that wasn’t the band’s only trip to the top 40.

In fact, they made another with a song they should be remembered for, “Do You Want Crying,” a precision-tooled pop rock classic that stalled out at #37. In 1989, they had another absolutely charming radio confection, “That’s the Way,” which made its way to #16. And then, thanks to Eurovision, they had a top 10 hit in several countries with 1997’s “Love Shine a Light.”

I can’t say I am familiar with that era of the band, but I have most of their 80s albums and they are packed with power pop and pop classics like (“Going Down to Liverpool” (famously covered by Bangles, with a video that features a “fascinating” cameo…) thanks mostly to Kimberley Rew, who had previously been a member of The Soft Boys with Robyn Hitchcock. I can only imagine that every time he goes to the mailbox, there are royalty checks waiting for him from Sunshine. But if that song is your only reference point, you really should go deeper. Regardless, not a one-hit wonder.

Eric, what’s your next choice?

Shaboozey

Eric: Now, at first it may seem odd to categorize someone whose breakout hit was only two years ago as a mistaken one-hit wonder, but “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is the sort of mega smash that would define nearly any artist’s career, even if they were to generate another decade’s worth of hits. It doesn’t hurt that it samples a well-known song, too, making it seem familiar from the first time you hear it.

Shaboozey is now tied for the record of longest running non-holiday song of all time (alongside “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X, another artist some might mistake as a one hit wonder). The reason I write about him specifically, though, is because he is representative of a trend on the charts where artists who break through with debut hits almost struggle under the weight of them. In this category I’d also place Benson Boone and Teddy Swims. Shaboozey, though, had a sneaky-big follow up single in “Good News.” While you may not have realized you’ve heard this track, you probably have in a waiting room or grocery store. Its #12 peak is also much lower than its impressive 46 weeks on the Hot 100.

Emm: I’ve heard Good News! It sounded to me like a natural follow-up to “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which I kind of forgot was built on a pre-existing song. I was really heartened by Shaboozey’s success with that big hit. It was a highlight of the summer of ‘24, but I may have been intoxicated a bit by the fact I was getting married so a lot of songs on the radio sounded amazing at the time.

Eric: I also got married in 2024!!

Emm: There must have been something in the air that year. It will be interesting to see what happens for him next, but I think the fact that “Good News,” which is a good and timely song, even if it hews a bit too closely to the “Bar” formula, has demonstrated such staying power bodes well for him.

Here’s my next pick for one-hit wonder who isn’t…

Del Amitri

Del Amitri are one of those groups that, depending on where you live, will provoke howls of derision at the thought they are one-hit wonders (see also Jann Arden). In the UK, they notched 15 top 40 entries, the biggest being the wonderful “Nothing Ever Happens.” The most unlikely being the peerless “Move Away Jimmy Blue,” which, given its devastatingly bleak subject matter, reached an impressive #36. But over here, they are mainly known for the short and charming “Roll to Me,” one of those songs you can toss in when you need something to carry you to the news, sports, and weather at the top of the hour.

By the point “Roll to Me” reached the top 10, the band had been a going concern for the better part of 15 years and had earned two modest Billboard Top 40 hits: “Kiss This Thing Goodbye” (#35) and “Always the Last to Know” (#30). I think those are better songs, As is Jimmy Blue, which packs an indie movie narrative into a short and unforgettable song. But it’s good enough I’m happy to roll with it when I hear it.

Eric: Well, since I’ve stayed more contemporary, I’m going to head back to 80s/90s myself with…

Tracey Chapman

Eric: Perhaps for someone who grew up in the era, Tracy Chapman may not feel like a one-hit wonder, but there’s something so iconic and timeless about “Fast Car” that it has become almost bigger than she is. And I mean this as a compliment! The song is an all time classic. It peaked at #6 on the Hot 100 back in 1988, then hit a new high of #2 when Luke Combs covered it, also bringing it to #1 on Country. What I didn’t realize was that I was actually familiar with another Tracy Chapman song, “Give Me One Reason,” and it was the bigger hit: it reached #3 in 1996. It just goes to show the way that you can never quite predict how history will remember your music and career.

Emm: All true, Eric. I think part of why “Reason” gets overlooked is that it came nearly a decade after the breakthrough and it doesn’t have that emotional pull or durability of “Fast Car.” I don’t mean to suggest it isn’t a good song. It is. But it’s not the one that most folks are going to cite to make a case for her talents. And it speaks volumes about “Fast Car” that when Combs covered it, he essentially carbon copied it. I kind of wish he’d had a take on it beyond reverence. But if it prompted people to seek out the original, then I like that for Chapman. Not to mention the royalties.

Okay, I’m going to be a bit of a devil and take us to six and I pick…

Jim Steinman

Emm: This might be a controversial or weird choice for an article about one-hit wonders who weren’t. After all, Steinman composed songs that were enormous hits for Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Air Supply, and Celine Dion. So how does he count?

Well, when Meat Loaf experienced vocal issues due to the touring schedule for “Bat Out of Hell” and all the extra curricular rock and roll activities that go with the territory, Steinman proceeded to record the songs intended for the follow-up album as a solo project, “Bad for Good.”

The result was a minor top 40 hit called “Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through.” Except Steinman isn’t the lead singer on that single. It’s Rory Dodd, a Canadian singer who contributed backing vocals to many Jim Steinman projects, most notably Bonnie Tyler’s (RIP, legend and queen) “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (that’s him singing ‘Turn around, bright eyes!’). Steinman may not be on the song at all. Which means that, even if we acknowledge that there is a modest hit with his name on it, it’s technically Dodd’s hit, despite the fact it might not have have been a hit without Steinman’s signature songwriting behind it.

I know it stretches our chosen topic to the breaking point, but I couldn’t resist! So, to recap: a song Steinman wrote. A top 40 hit. But not Steinman singing it. Two out of three ain’t bad, right Eric?

Eric: I think that’s a perfect bonus/capstone! The point is interesting stories more than rules, right?

Emm: It proves I will do anything for love, including bending the rules.

And now, the usual recommendations and valorizations…

Watching: Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, Sugar, I Am a Cliche, Only Connect, and Ride Or Die (I don’t watch much and am a very picky femme…)

Listening: Apropos for this little 54F, Carly Rae Jepsen has a noo song out! I love it!

I must also recommend the noo single from Tinashe!

There are also new albums today from Syd and Lido Pimienta, along with new tracks from Leon Bridges, so that’s great news!

Substackers: I am here for the women and the femmes of substack, like Abby Schleifer, Joi, Shanté, Theresa Kereakes, Ellen from Endwell, Alexandra, Thea Wood, The Punk Granny, Samantha Matusoff, and Kristin DeMarr. I also appreciate Howard Salmon reminding me how much I loved a couple of tracks of the post-Rog Floyd album. Like this, which I think may be one of the best things released under that name post-Syd… And shout outs to Dan Pal and Kevin Alexander for their own efforts to highlight noo muzik.

And that is it, another 54F in the bag, kids. My how the time doth fly. Next week is going to be a special week because we have several guests popping in for what I think will be a fun and unique little 54F. I have a few guests lined up for the weeks after that, but there are many weeks in the year, and I have committed to making this a shared space, so if you want to come on over and do the do, do let me know. Until then, I remain, as always, your femme Emm reminding you to avoid the AI, stay human, and be good to one another. Be seeing you and have a great weekend!