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8 one-hit wonders from 1984 that we all had on our mix tapes
Put on your leg warmers, slip on your jelly shoes, and put these songs in your Walkman!
The phrase "one-hit wonder" always raises some debate. And we want to be clear: just because something is a one-hit wonder doesn't mean they're bad musicians! There's a reason these tracks have stuck around for forty years.
For this list, we're using the US Hot 100 charts. Some of them, as we will note, had significant success in other countries or on more specific charts.
Now pop the cassette in your favorite boombox and enjoy the blast from the past. How many of these songs did you rock out to?
Missing You - John Waite
Remember how we said that not having another hit at the same level doesn't mean a musician isn't successful? While John Waite as a solo artist never had another hit that rivaled "Missing You", which hit #1 and earned him the #11 spot on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 chart, he had plenty else to brag about. Before "Missing You", he was the vocalist for the British group The Babys, which had two singles reach #13, and afterwards he became a founding member of Bad English, which went #1 with their 1989 hit "When I See You Smile". Later he would go on to tour with Ringo Starr.
Break My Stride - Matthew Wilder
Technically this song came out in 1983, but it didn't peak on the charts until 1984, where it landed at #27 in the Year-End Hot 100. Wilder's follow-up single, "The Kid's American", peaked at #33 in the Top 40, and didn't have the same sticking power.
Wilder pivoted to working behind the mic, and wrote and produced for the likes of No Doubt, Kelly Clarkson, and Christina Aguilera. He co-wrote the songs for the 1998 Disney film Mulan (and provided the singing voice of Ling), which earned him an Annie Award and an Oscar nomination.
99 Luftballons - Nena
Move over K-Pop fans - people have been jamming out to songs in other languages for decades. Case in point, "99 Luftballoons" from the German group Nena. The guitarist had been at a concert in West Berlin when balloons were released and had observed that in a group, they looked like a spacecraft. He speculated what would happen if they drifted over the Berlin Wall, and the song was born from those musings.
An English-language version was released, but the band disapproved, partially because the new lyrics changed the meaning. The English version was not successful, unlike the original, which finished at #28 on the Year-End Hot 100.
The Warrior - Scandal
If there was ever a song made to be scream-sang in a car with the windows down, it might be this one. This music video got played heavily in the early days of MTV, but after "The Warrior", Scandal disbanded (though they reunited in 2004 and released a handful of new songs.)
The lead singer, Patty Smyth, had another hit when she released "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" with Don Henley of The Eagles in 1992. Her song "Look What Love Has Done" from the 1994 movie Junior snagged her Grammy and Academy Award nominations.
Almost Paradise - Mike Reno & Ann Wilson
To be fair to both of these talented musicians, Reno (Loverboy) and Wilson (Heart) never intended to release another song, making this a one-hit wonder by design.
1984 was all about Footloose. The movie was the seventh-highest grossing film of the year and launched Kevin Bacon into stardom. This love ballad reached #59 on the Year-End Hot 100, while two other songs from the soundtrack also appeared in higher positions ("Footloose" by Kenny Loggins at #4 and "Let's Hear It for the Boy" by Deniece Williams at #13.)
They Don't Know - Tracey Ullman
When you think of Tracey Ullman, you probably think of her comedy first. That makes sense; she's considered one of the comedy greats of Britain. She has seven Emmys, two BAFTAs, a SAG award, and it was her own show that launched The Simpsons. She even starred alongside Carol Burnett in Once Upon a Mattress and worked with Mel Brooks.
However, in the 80s she also dabbled in pop music. Her cover of Kirsty MacColl's "They Don't Know" landed at #71 in the Year-End charts. After her second album, Ullman left music to focus on her acting career.
Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us - Ollie & Jerry
Now here's a real time capsule of a song. "Breakin'" was the hit single off the soundtrack of the movie, Breakin', about a breakdancing troupe in California. The song peaked at #9 and turned up on the Year-End charts at #80.
Ollie & Jerry released another song, "Electric Boogaloo", for the film's sequel Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, but the single didn't chart. In 1985, the duo called it quits.
Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell
Rockwell, the son of the Motown record label founder and CEO, secured his record deal without his father's knowledge to avoid the appearance of nepotism. "Somebody's Watching Me", the spooky yet funky track, was off his debut album and featured Michael Jackson as a guest vocalist in the chorus.
The song was a hit and ended at #26 on the Year-End charts. Subsequent records didn't have the same success, and his final album was released in 1986.
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74 Comments
"You Spin Me Around" was first popular in the spring of 1985 and "Brand New Lover" was released exactly two years later.
I also remember in the spring of 1984 we were living in New Jersey and my Dad (may he rest in peace) bought a brand new 1984 Cadillac Coupe deVille. I t didn't have a tape player, but whenever I had "Z-100" or WPLJ, "Power 95" on the car's stereo radio, those songs sounded like they were playing on a jukebox with deep bass (which was so cool)!
