3 One-Hit Wonders From the Year 1980 That Every 80s Teen Remembers

The year 1980 kicked off a wild decade for music, complete with the onset of new wave, new evolutions of rock music, and plenty of big hair and bigger sounds. The following one-hit wonders from the year 1980, too, were quite ahead of their time. And I bet if you were a teen in the 80s, you know these three hits all too well. Let’s get a bit nostalgic, shall we?

“Funkytown” by Lipps Inc.

This might be one of the most famous disco tracks of all time. And that makes the fact that Lipps Inc. are one-hit wonders all the more puzzling. This funky delight dropped in early 1980, and it was a fast hit on quite a few different charts. “Funkytown” peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, multiple sub-charts in the US, and plenty of international charts.

Surprisingly, “Funkytown” would be Lipps Inc.’s only big hit. The disco-funk outfit’s follow-up track, “Rock It”, would only make it to No. 64 on the Hot 100. None of their subsequent singles would make it to that chart again, and they would inevitably break up in 1985.

“Why Not Me” by Fred Knobloch

Puppy love almost always has a tragic end, and I bet quite a few 80s teens listened to this tearjerker on repeat after their first breakup. “Why Not Me” by Fred Knobloch is a soft rock ballad sung from the perspective of a man attending the wedding of his former love, wondering why he’s not the one at the altar with her.

Knobloch had a big hit on his hands with “Why Not Me”, as the song peaked at No. 18 on the Hot 100 and topped the Adult Contemporary chart. While he would continue to make it to the Canadian and US country charts, he never had another Top 20 hit on the Hot 100 again with a completely solo song. His collaboration with Susan Anton in 1981, “Killin’ Time”, did well at No. 5.

“How Do I Survive” by Amy Holland

This entry on our list of one-hit wonders from 1980 that every 80s teen loved is a pop rock delight from start to finish. “How Do I Survive” was originally written and sung by Paul Bliss. However, it was Amy Holland who turned the song into a hefty hit in 1980. It peaked at No. 22 on the Hot 100 and earned Holland a Grammy for Best New Artist. Sadly, following the song’s success, none of her follow-up singles made it to the Top 40.

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