3 One-Hit Wonders That Have Extremely Unique Music Videos

Music videos became important in the 1980s, especially after the advent of MTV. They’re still quite important for artists today as a way to promote their music, even though the era of MTV’s 24/7 music video coverage has long since died out. The following one-hit wonders produced some pretty wild and unique music videos for their songs, two of which were big on YouTube; the other of which was the very first video to hit MTV back in the 80s. Let’s take a look!

Videos by American Songwriter

“Frankie Sinatra” by The Avalanches

How about a bit of a deep cut? But if you’re a plunderphonics or calypso fan, this song isn’t really a deep cut at all. “Frankie Sinatra” is a song by the Australian electronic outfit The Avalanches, and it’s an addictive tune very reminiscent of the mid-2010s. And the music video features carnival-goers going wild after ingesting a strange, glowing, hallucinogenic ice cream. The whole thing is like a trippy, bizarre circus. The Avalanches have other trippy MVs, too, like “Frontier Psychiatrist”.

“Frankie Sinatra” is the group’s only song to make it to the US charts, where it peaked at No. 33. Though, they’ve enjoyed some better success in their native Australia.

“Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles

Ah, a classic. “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles is an excellent new wave synth-pop tune from 1979. And on August 1, 1981, the music video for this very song was the first to be shown on MTV in the United States.

This British art pop group released some stellar tunes but struggled on the charts. The Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star” was a No. 40 hit in the US, and they’d never hit the US charts again. Fortunately, they did have a handful of songs that did decently in the UK.

“Here It Goes Again” by OK Go

Millennials probably remember this one-hit wonder’s music videos quite well, especially the viral video for “Here It Goes Again” from 2006. It was the golden age of YouTube, and musicians were jumping on the bandwagon to host their music videos on the then-young streaming website. The music video for “Here It Goes Again” was recorded in one single take as the band members performed a dance routine with a set of treadmills. It’s still delightful (and impressive) to watch years later, honestly.

OK Go hit No. 38 on the Hot 100 with this song, but sadly never made it to the Top 40 on the Hot 100 again.

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns