Collaboration. It’s one of the most beautiful traits human beings can display. Whether it’s an athlete teaching another how to make a particular move on the court or a songwriter penning a tune for another to sing at their shows, working together is a lovely thing. And here below, we have three examples of just that kind of musical collaboration via one-hit wonders.
Yes, we wanted to dive into the careers of three one-hit wonders from the 1980s—you know, those artists who wrote songs that rose up the Billboard Hot 100 charts and cracked the Top 40. But we wanted to look at how each of these artists also wrote songs for others during their careers. Indeed, these are three one-hit wonders from the 80s who also wrote songs for others.
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Rosanne Cash
Famous for her pining love song, “Seven Year Ache”, which hit No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, Rosanne Cash (daughter of famed country star Johnny Cash) also wrote songs for other artists during her career, including “My Least Favorite Life” by Lera Lynn. The song was one of several written by Cash, T-Bone Burnett, and Lynn for the second season of the HBO television series True Detective. The brittle, broken song is an example of the affecting emotion Cash knows how to summon so well.
Frank Zappa
The prolific Frank Zappa hit No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 thanks to his song “Valley Girl”. But another highlight in his career was working with Robin. That’s right, Zappa (for some reason) wrote and produced songs for the actor Burt Ward, who played Robin on the 60s Batman series, including this one, “Boy Wonder I Love You”. Zappa, known for quirky, bizarre music, is in his own genre. And that comes through well on this long-lost gem.
Dee Snyder
The frontman for the rock group Twisted Sister, whose song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” hit No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, Dee Snyder also wrote songs for other groups, including, strangely, “The Magic of Christmas Day (God Bless Us Everyone)” from Celine Dion’s 1998 LP, These Are Special Times. The acoustic-driven holiday number isn’t exactly the rebellious offering “We’re Not Gonna Take It” is. But hey, we all contain multitudes, right?
Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
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