3 One-Hit Wonders That Hit No. 1 in the Late 80s

When one decade transitions over to a new one, that’s when you get some of the most unique songs. When the times are changing, the imagination can run wild. It’s also the occasion when more music fans may be feeling more open-minded. They’ve gotten their fill of the mainstream tunes of the day, and they’re more ready to get weird. That’s just what we wanted to look into below. We wanted to dive into three odd but lovely one-hit wonders from the end of the 1980s that all hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s always great when uniqueness is celebrated! Indeed, these are three one-hit wonders that hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in the late 1980s.

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“Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles from ‘Alannah Myles’ (1989)

An acoustic-driven blues-rock song, this track proves that compelling singer Alannah Myles not only has soul, but she also has a way to convey that depth to audiences. You’re hanging on every note, watching every move on the microphone as Myles sings. And with each word in her lyric, she is building, building towards the chorus. When it finally erupts, you realize why and how this tune hit No. 1.

“Rock On” by Michael Damian from ‘Where Do We Go from Here’ (1989)

Could a song get any more 80s? The heightened drama, the electronic drums, the lead singer with enough passion and hair gel to power a NASA space mission. It’s interesting—Michael Damian could have been singing about his own career in this track. Once he got his big No. 1 hit… where does he go from here? It’s a hard question for anyone who has had success. But Damian puts it in such a bombastic way that everyone had to perk up and pay attention.

“When I’m With You” by Sheriff from ‘Sheriff’ (1988)

There’s nothing quite like an 80s power ballad. Never before or since has a decade combined such heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics with such buzzing, swelling melodies. The 80s weren’t exactly the most self-aware decade, and so some of the hits from the era sound a little heavy-handed today. But that also gives the time period its own charm. Example No. 1 of this is Sheriff’s No. 1 hit tune.

Photo by Ian Dickson/Redferns