Need some underrated one-hit wonders to add to your favorite playlist? There are certainly a ton of excellent one-hit wonders out there, but these five musicians and bands deserved way more recognition, love, and commercial success than they were afforded. Let’s take a look! You might just find your new favorite artist in this list.
Videos by American Songwriter
1. Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five
It’s a bit hard to say that Grandmaster Flash is underrated. He’s more or less a household name, at least for fans of old-school hip-hop. That’s because Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five occupy a unique space in one-hit wonder history: They produced several groundbreaking, genre-changes records, but only one of them (“The Message” from 1982) made it high on the charts.
This is a great example of a successful musician gaining fame and historical relevance, even though they didn’t chart as well as one would think.
2. The Normal
There are easily hundreds of synth-pop hits out there from the early new wave era, but few are as memorable as “Warm Leatherette/T.V.O.D” by The Normal. These underrated one-hit wonders deserved way more lasting success than what they got. And it’s not exactly surprising that Grace Jones also hit the charts with a cover of this song less than a year later.
3. Plastic Bertrand
Ah, Plastic Bertrand. This Belgian multi-threat is known for being a producer and television presenter, but he also got famous for his 1997 hit punk track “Ça Plane Pour Moi”.
Fun fact: The French version of this song is based on the English-language tune “Jet Boy Jet Girl” by Elton Motello, which was considered a bit too taboo for radio. Bertrand’s version is still a punk rock classic today and hit no. 8 on the UK Singles chart.
4. Norman Greenbaum
“Spirit In The Sky” is the song of the 1970s. Released in 1969, this gorgeous boogie rock classic catapulted to no. 3 on the Hot 100 chart and ranked even higher internationally. Norman Greenbaum is a truly talented songwriter, and it’s wild that he couldn’t match the commercial success of “Spirit In The Sky”.
5. Bruce Channel
Remember the 1961 pop hit “Hey! Baby” by Bruce Channel? Channel has to be one of the most underrated one-hit wonders on this list, at least from the 1960s. Not only is this song hugely influential, but it also led (at least partially) to The Beatles’ debut single “Love Me Do”.
Delbert McClinton, who appears on “Hey! Baby”, toured with Channel around the UK following the success of their hit song. A young John Lennon approached him for harmonica lessons, and the result of those lessons can be heard in The Beatles’ debut single “Love Me Do”.
Photo by Araya Doheny/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
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