4 Underrated One-Hit Wonders That I Bet You Forgot About

One-hit wonders are often far too underrated. And some of the best of the bunch were popular for a short amount of time before slipping through the cracks of music history, forgotten. Let’s re-remember a few underrated one-hit wonders from back in that day that are still great songs today!

Videos by American Songwriter

“Givin’ It Up For Your Love” by Delbert McClinton

Delbert McClinton is quite the blues-rock singer/songwriter, and he is best known for the 1980 hit “Giving It Up For Your Love”. That Americana tune made it to No. 8 on the Billboard US Hot 100 chart, and did similarly well in Canada. For some reason, McClinton’s follow-up tracks only barely scraped the bottom of that particular chart, and by the 1990s, his singles failed to chart at all for the most part. He deserved better, and “Givin’ It Up For Your Love” is a song worth remembering.

“Under The Milky Way” by The Church

Remember “Under The Milky Way”? This neo-psychedelia tune from 1988 was quite a big hit for Australian outfit The Church. However, if you called this a band a “one-hit wonder” in Australia, you’d probably get some weird looks. The Church had tons of hits outside of “Under The Milky Way” in their native country. However, that particular song was the only one to make it to the Top 10 of the US Mainstream Rock chart and their only song to make it to the Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 24.

“How Do You Talk To An Angel” by The Heights

Once you hear this classic, you’ll be transported straight back to 1991. “How Do You Talk To An Angel” by The Heights is an iconic pop tune that was written and recorded as the theme song for the American television series The Heights. Nobody anticipated how much people would love this song. It peaked at No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart. Sadly, the show it was made for was cancelled just one week after its theme song dropped from that No. 1 position.

“Here Comes The Hotstepper” by Ini Kamoze

You might remember this song from its inclusion in the Robert Altman film Pret-a-Porter. This entry on our list of underrated one-hit wonders comes from the Jamaican dancehall icon Ini Kamoze. “Here Comes The Hotstepper” is a really addictive little reggae treat that peaked at No. 1 on the Hot 100. It did similarly well across the globe. Kamoze’s follow-up single barely made it to the Hot 100, and sadly, he hasn’t released any additional music since 2016.

Photo via the album cover of Delbert McClinton’s ‘Outdated Emotion’

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