One-hit wonders usually make it big by doing something both different and delightful. For the following four songs from the history of one-hit wonders, their makers managed to find the perfect balance of genres and genre elements to produce something amazing. Let’s take a look, shall we?
“Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice
Love it or hate it, “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice was a huge deal back in the 90s. It was a rap-rock mashup of Ice’s own hip-hop stylings with Queen and David Bowie’s famed bassline from the rock tune “Under Pressure”. Not only does the song combine genre elements beautifully, but it manages to be both catchy and a bit of a novelty.
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“In A Big Country” by Big Country
This 1983 one-hit wonder is technically a two-hit wonder in my book. The Scottish rock band Big Country isn’t a one or two-hit wonder in their native UK, but in the US, they only made it big with two Top 5 songs: “Look Away”, which peaked at no. 5 in 1986, and “In A Big Country”, which peaked at no. 3 in the US. The latter song is a gorgeous amalgamation of Celtic rock, synth-pop, and new wave. The lyricism is astounding, too.
“No Rain” by Blind Melon
Blind Melon’s solitary 1993 hit “No Rain” is still an alt-rock delight today. When many of their contemporaries were jumping on the growing grunge bandwagon, Blind Melon opted to make music that was somewhere between psychedelic alternative rock and folk music. That’s an impressive feat, honestly. This song peaked at no. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it topped the US Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts for a hot minute.
“Cars” by Gary Numan
This example of one-hit wonders who meshed together different genres comes from the incomparable Gary Numan. It’s still wild to think that he’s technically considered a one-hit wonder in America. “Cars” peaked at no. 9 on the Hot 100 chart, and none of his subsequent songs came even close to that placement in the US. Still, “Cars” is a gorgeous combination of elements from synth-pop, new wave, and post-punk, and few have done it like Numan did.
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