3 One-Hit Wonders From the 1980s by Comedians

The 1980s, man. What a wild time. It was back in the age when people only had three television channels, and the most popular shows of the era got tens of millions of views. Now, in the age of choice and streaming services, that seems almost unheard of. But back in the 80s? It was possible. And with stardom like that, you could do anything with your career.

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We wanted to showcase three songs that prove that point. Let’s look at a trio of tracks not from songwriters you’d first think of. Rather, they are three songs that rocketed up the charts that were performed by comedians. But they were so popular that they became one-hit wonders. Indeed, these are three one-hit wonders from comedians moonlighting as singers.

“They Don’t Know” by Tracey Ullman from ‘You Broke My Heart In 17 Places’ (1983)

Originally a track by Kirsty MacColl released in 1979, comedian Tracey Ullman covered it in 1983 and turned it into a hit. Ullman released it on her debut LP that year, You Broke My Heart In 17 Places.

Ullman was an actress and comedian whose titular show would introduce the world to The Simpsons in the 1980s. She also earned success with “They Don’t Know”. The lively, harmony-driven song hit no. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. And it proved that she really could do it all.

“You Look Marvelous” by Billy Crystal from ‘Mahvelous!’ (1985)

Comedian Billy Crystal is perhaps the greatest host of the Academy Awards ever. Known for his stand-up work and his time on Saturday Night Live, Crystal had a sketch that was quoted by nearly everyone in the mid-1980s that included the tagline, “You look mahvelous!”

Smartly, with the help of musician Paul Shaffer, Crystal turned that tagline into a song that hit the Billboard Hot 100 and was released on his 1985 LP, Mahvelous! The music video for the song even played on MTV. Now, that’s marvelous!

“Party All The Time” by Eddie Murphy from ‘How Could It Be’ (1985)

Speaking of people who could do it all, there was a time in the 1980s when Eddie Murphy seemed as big and as bright and as hot as the sun. The star of Saturday Night Live in his early 20s, Murphy released comedy specials that became the biggest things in the world.

With all that fame and power, he was propelled into the recording studio, where he recorded his 1985 debut musical album How Could It Be. The lead single from that LP, “Party All The Time”, which was written and produced by Rick James, hit no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Photo by Mary Kouw/CBS