two-hit wonders

the trick with Golden Earring/Janis/Dobie is that their two hits are SEVERAL YEARS APART, not to mention all six songs went TOP 15, AT LEAST. Which is necessity for REAL two-hit wonders. (i.e.: "Radar Love" #10 1974, "Twilight Zone #15 1983).

Those are the only three I can think of that fit those requirements

The Tymes come pretty close to pulling this off: Two top-15 hits (plus a #19) in 1963, then nothing above #39 til "You Little Trustmaker" in 1974, which went #12. (I was thinking "So Much In Love," #1 in 1963, was their only early hit, but I was wrong.)

The Moments came even closer. At least if you count when they changed their name to Ray Goodman and Brown. "Love On A Two Way Street" went #3 in 1970, then "Special Lady" went #5 in 1980. (They did have a #17 hit, "Sexy Mama," in 1974, but I've never heard it. Besides that, no hits higher than #39.)

Ian/Gray/Earring (and maybe a couple other artists mentioned earlier on the thread) all did it better, though. (NO Top 40 hits besides the two real ones, except Dobie had that one that went #37 in 1978, then maybe the Uncle Kracker revive if that counts.)

Icehouse - "Crazy" and "Electric Blue"
Crowded House - "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong"

Alfred: See "Eight Years of Separation Between Two Hits" rule as defined upthread, five years ago.

In case of dutch charts, Iggy Pop applies: "Lust for Life" was #3 in 1977, "Candy" #4 in 1990. "Real Wild Child" only just reached the top 30 in '87.

I was also thinking that Robyn might potentially be able to pull this off, now that her new album has finally come out in the States, but apparently both "Do You Know (What It Takes)" (which I don't think I've ever heard) and "Show Me Love" went #7 in 1997. None of her new songs have hit the Hot 100 yet, though "With Every Heartbeat" went #5 on the dance chart, and "Be Mine" was a big hit in Europe.

Breathe - "Hands To Heaven" and "How Can I Fall?"

Has Kylie had any US hits aside from Locomotion and Can't Get You Out of My Head?

Maybe no huge ones. "I Should Be So Lucky" went #28 and "It's No Secret" #37 in 1988; nothing else through at least 1999. Not sure about since then, but yeah, she's a pretty good candidate for this.

Breathe (who I've never heard of) had another Top 10, "Don't Tell Me Lies," and two more Top 40s, all between 1988 and 1990. So nah, they don't qualify.

Pop rap 3 for 1: Tone Loc, Young MC, Kris Kross

"Wild Thing"/"Funky Cold Medina;" "Bust a Move"/"Principal's Office;" & "Jump"/"Warm it Up" respectively

Kris Kross: Actually had four Top 20 hits, 1992-1995 (also "Alright" and "Tonite's The Night"), fwiw

"The Humpty Dance" and "Doowatchalike"?

"Doowatchalike" didn't even hit the Top 100; two other DU songs ("Same Song" and "Kiss You Back") went #61 and 40, respectively.

time travelling and pedantic xpost for mr. osborne:

i always heard the line as "No the only thing a gambler needs is a suitcase OR a trunk"...

...which would make it one thing. why would a gambler need both things? especially when they're basically the same thing...

Brother Beyond: "The Harder I Try" and "He Ain't No Competition"
A-ha also qualify as a two-hit wonder in the case of the Billboard list, but had lots of other hits elsewhere.

Kris Kross: Actually had four Top 20 hits

Was "I Missed The Bus" a single in the US?

Nada Surf had "Popular" in 1996 and "Inside of Love" in 2002

Was "I Missed The Bus" a single in the US?

Maybe, but if so, it wasn't a Top 100 hit.

Nada Surf had..."Inside of Love" in 2002

In what country (or planet)?

Also, who are Brother Beyond? (Not being sarcastic; I'm actually curious.)

Oops...actually, "I Missed The Bus" was both a single and Hot 100 U.S. hit...It went to #63.

"Inside of Love" got a ton of rock radio play in my city, dunno about yours, xhuxk.

Also, who are Brother Beyond?

English late 80s band. Apparently won a recording deal after winning some kind of talent competition and were produced by Stock/Aitken/Waterman.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Beyond

Mr. Mister: Kyrie, Broken Wings
Blue Oyster Cult: Don't Fear the Reaper, Burnin' For You

Rick Astley, "Never Gonna Give You Up", "Together Forever", at least in the USA.

re: Crowded House; Weather With You was probably the biggest chart success in the UK.
they had a pretty consistent chart life over here actually; generally a couple of well charting singles on each album.

what the hell, after actually checking on wiki; it seems that Weather was indeed their highest charter in UK, but only got to number 7?!?!?!

i thought it was number one for weeks?

Hrmmm, what about Roxy Music? Most people tend to just think "oh, they did that schmaltzy Jealous guy cover, right?"
Surely they must've had a big hit from Avalon that I can't think of right now.
Hm. I would tend to think most people would recognize Roxy Music from the song "More Than This", off of Avalon. There's also the title track from the same album, which I would feel people would bring up more than the "Jealous Guy" cover, and going back to their Seventies Glam-Rock era I think more people would also name "Virginia Plain" or "Street Life". Hm.

This exchange still strikes me as bizarre, since I've spent my life assuming "Love Is The Drug" was their biggest hit, then "Dance Away." (And Whitburn's Billboard book confirms that, at least in the U.S., I was right -- "Love Is The Drug" #30, "Dance Away" #44; third biggest "Over You," at #80. Still surprised "More Than This" didn't even make Top 100.)

People keep assuming that "two-hit wonders" means "in America."

Falco - "Rock Me, Amadeus" and "Vienna Calling."

xp No, only Americans assume it means "in America". (Britishers assume in means "in Britain." Europeans assume it means "in Europe." etc.)

Der Kommissar and Jeanny were also big hits (outside of Austria too).

Golden Earring's When The Lady Smiles was also a big hit although due to the banned video not in the US apparently.

To me, at least:
Slade - Cum Feel the Noize/Mama Weer All Crazee Now

I'm sure they had more 'hits' but doubt a=most twentysomethings could name sing of them aside from the above.

a= = that

Damn this shabby keyboard to Hell.

romantics -- "what i like about you" and "talking in your sleep." maybe more of their songs charted but those two are the only ones i've ever heard

Slade's biggest hit in the States by far (charted # 20) was "Run Runaway." "Gudbuy T'Jane" and the truly forgotten "My Oh My" also bigger hits than the two named above (which are mainly remembered in the States, if at all, because of Quiet Riot probably.)

Romantics' "One In A Million" actually a bigger hit chartwise than "What I Like About You" (which only went to #49), though obviously not as time went on.

Herbie Hancock, "Chameleon" (#42, 1974); "Rockit" (#71, 1983)

(Pop chart only - lotsa minor action on the black charts during that same stretch.)

A Flock of Seagulls - "I Ran (So Far Away)" and "Wishing"

Ugly Kid Joe - "Everything About You" & "Cat's in the Cradle"

So, turns out Wilbert Harrison actually had exactly two Top 40 singles, ten years apart -- "Kansas City" (#1 in 1959) and "Let's Work Together (Part 1)" (#32 in 1969.) Good for him!

Mr. Mister: Kyrie, Broken Wings

...and "Is It Love"

Two that I thought of immediately (from a North American perspective) are Chumbawamba and Right Said Fred. I'm technically wrong on one, accidentally right on the other. "Amnesia," the follow-up to "Tubthumping," only made it to #101 according to some site called "Lost in the '90s" (though to #19 on Billboard's Top 40 Mainstream Chart). Right Said Fred did have exactly two hits, but the second was "Don't Talk, Just Kiss," not "Deeply Dippy" as I had in mind. The reason I thought of them in the first place was that in both cases, I liked the famous hit but liked "Amnesia" and "Deeply Dippy" even more.

I haven't heard "Wishing" but I kinda love "Space age love song" which I assumed was their 2nd most popular song ...

Also BOC "Godzilla" still gets radio spins in 2010

Wallflowers - One Headlight, Heroes
Eagle Eye Cherry - Save Tonight, Falling In Love Again
Semisonic - Secret Smile, Closing Tome

fischer-z - so long, the perfect day

altho they were hits in australia only

dj unk

Pretty o_0 at anyone suggesting Kylie is a fucking 2 hit wonder.

2 many hit wonder more like it amirite.