3 One-Hit Wonders From 1985 That Changed Modern Music Forever

The mid-1980s were all about celebrity. Everywhere you looked, a famous face was out there selling a show, album, movie, book, or some other project. In many ways, the era set the stage for our modern marketing times.

And that’s just what we wanted to dive into here below. We wanted to highlight three songs from back in the day that altered human history. Indeed, these are three one-hit wonders from 1985 that changed modern music forever.

“Party All The Time” by Eddie Murphy from ‘How Could It Be’ (1985)

In the mid-1980s, Eddie Murphy was King of Culture. You might not consider him a traditional one-hit wonder, but in 1985, Murphy’s song “Party All The Time” rocketed up the Billboard Hot 100 charts. At the same time, he had a hit movie, Beverly Hills Cop, which boasted its own one-hit wonder success (“Axel F” by Harold Faltermeyer), and he was the blazing-hot star on the comedy show, Saturday Night Live. It was a good time to be Eddie Murphy. And his party track, which was produced by Rick James, cemented his royal status for certain.

“We Are The World” by USA For Africa from ‘We Are The World’ (1985)

Did somebody say celebrities? Well, there are about a billion of them packed into this song. Indeed, the folks behind this tune (and music video) knew what they were doing. Big names like Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, and more were all put together in a single studio to sing a tune for charity. And it worked. “We Are The World” generated millions of dollars for suffering people abroad, and it created a celebrity-driven cultural moment that people will be talking about for centuries to come.

“You Look Marvelous” by Billy Crystal from ‘Mahvelous!’ (1985)

We hope you’re sensing a theme here. In the mid-1980s, if you were a big name in one area of entertainment, chances were you could parlay that fame into success in another. Eddie Murphy wasn’t the only Saturday Night Live funnyman who was able to stumble into a top-charting track in 1985. Billy Crystal was also able to earn a hit with his humorous offering, “You Look Marvelous”. The recording proved that celebrities had more power in the market than really anyone could have previously imagined. And it’s been that way ever since.

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