3 One-Hit Wonders From the 1980s That Listeners Loved To Hate (but They Charted High for a Reason)

One-hit wonders from any era, including the 1980s, often get the “cringe” or “cheesy” treatment once they get old enough. However, even outside of nostalgia, I think many one-hit wonders from the 1980s era remain quite likable today. Plenty of listeners who turned these songs into hits by listening to them on repeat back in the day would agree, but some critics still didn’t give these songs a lot of love. Let’s look at a few examples, shall we?

Videos by American Songwriter

“Maniac” by Michael Sembello

This song has such a noteworthy 1980s sound that younger listeners today might think it’s a bit cheesy. In fact, some critics claimed this song was horrible in retrospect. I honestly love this high-energy synth-pop tune from Flashdance, and audiences at the time loved it, too. “Maniac” by Michael Sembello topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart back in 1983 and did similarly well across Europe. Sadly for Sembello, none of his subsequent singles made it to the Top 30 on the Hot 100 again.

“Turning Japanese” by The Vapors

Alright, admittedly, this song didn’t age well, and it makes it to lists of the worst one-hit wonders of the 1980s often.. However, there’s some context I feel should be explored here. “Turning Japanese” by The Vapors isn’t exactly a poorly-aged tune about being a culture vulture or wanting to be Japanese. Rather, songwriter David Fenton noted that this song was symbolic and more about being a youngin’ unsatisfied with the kind of person they grew up to be. It’s catchy, at the very least. “Turning Japanese” by The Vapors was a hefty hit across the board in 1980, but none of the band’s subsequent singles even charted on the Hot 100.

“Puttin’ On The Ritz” by Taco

In retrospect, a lot of people don’t love this song because of its admittedly creepy music video. However, songs don’t chart for no reason, and “Puttin’ On The Ritz” by Taco was a big synth-pop hit back in 1982. This song, which is a cover of an Irving Berlin classic from the 1920s, peaked at No. 4 on the Hot 100 and reached No. 1 in a number of other countries. Dutch icon Taco never scored as big a hit again on our side of the pond, but I personally think he’s one of the funnest one-hit wonders of the 1980s, unsettling music videos aside.

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