3 One-Hit Wonders That Are All About Hot, Steamy Lust

There’s an old phrase in advertising: sex sells. And when it comes to pop music, that idea may as well be one of the founding principles. Everywhere you turn in Top-40 music there is someone shaking their behinds, winking at the camera, and blowing a kiss. It’s not a bad thing, of course, but it is seemingly ever-present in the stuff.

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And that idea has permeated not just modern music but songs from the past. Even your favorite one-hit wonder can’t escape! Here below, we wanted to explore three such cases. A trio of songs that are all about lust. That carnal passion. Indeed, these are three one-hit wonders that are all about hot steamy lust.

[RELATED: 3 One-Hit Wonders from the 1970s Fans Can’t Stop Singing to]

“I Touch Myself” by Divinyls from Divinyls (1990)

Just read the title. Need we say more? OK we will! This song, which hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, is all about lust and pleasure and want. OK, actually, maybe we shouldn’t say more. Let’s just share the lyrics,

I love myself, I want you to love me
When I feel down I want you above me
I search myself, I want you to find me
I forget myself, I want you to remind me

I don’t want anybody else
When I think about you I touch myself
Ah-ah-oh, I don’t want anybody else
Oh-no, oh-no, oh-no

You’re the one who makes me come runnin’
You’re the sun who makes me shine
When you’re around I’m always laughin’
I wanna make you mine

“Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-a-Lot from Mack Daddy (1992)

This rap tune from the Seattle-based songwriter Sir Mix-a-Lot, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, did several things at once. It gave the world a fantastic song about butts. It normalized curvaceous figures at a time, Mix says, when that wasn’t popular. And it became one of the world’s most favorite karaoke songs almost immediately. On the Grammy Award-winning track, Mix raps,

I like big butts and I can not lie
You other brothers can’t deny
That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist
And a round thing in your face
You get sprung, wanna pull up tough
‘Cause you notice that butt was stuffed
Deep in the jeans she’s wearing
I’m hooked and I can’t stop staring
Oh baby, I wanna get with you
And take your picture

“Afternoon Delight” by Starland Vocal Band from Starland Vocal Band (1976)

If you were to just read the lyrics of this song, you might think it was the most horny, aggressive track ever written. But then when you put it on, it’s all bright and falsetto with picked acoustic guitars and melodious harmonies. Truly, it’s a contrast in styles. The single, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, is all about sex in the daytime. But it sounds like the song is about dancing around the maypole after Sunday church. Either way, fans of the movie Anchor Man likely remember this song from a humorous scene. And on it, the group sings,

Gonna find my baby, gonna hold her tight
Gonna grab some afternoon delight
My motto’s always been ‘when it’s right, it’s right’
Why wait until the middle of a cold dark night?
When everything’s a little clearer in the light of day
And we know the night is always gonna be there any way

Thinkin’ of you’s workin’ up my appetite
Looking forward to a little afternoon delight
Rubbin’ sticks and stones together makes the sparks ingite
And the thought of lovin’ you is getting so exciting
Sky rockets in flight
Afternoon delight
Afternoon delight
Afternoon delight

Photo of Starland Vocal Band Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images