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Ongoing History of New Music
The 50 Biggest Alt-Rock One-Hit Wonders of All Time: Part 2 (40-31)
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- [00:00]
Alan Cross
Hey, it's Alan.
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And I just wanted to let you know that you can now listen to the ongoing history of new music, early and ad free on Amazon, music included with Prime.
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Narrator/Actor (The Testaments promo)
We gather here tonight to bring women back to their rightful place.
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The Testaments, a new Hulu original series from the executive producers of the Handmaid's Tale.
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It's easier to accept a story than believe that the people around you are monsters.
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The battle isn't over.
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There comes a time when you have to take action, when you have to choose your own destiny.
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Singer (Song clips)
Never quite as it seems.
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Narrator/Actor (The Testaments promo)
Watch the new Hulu original series, the Testaments, streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney for bundle subscribers. Terms apply.
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Alan Cross
There are certain things that will happen only once in a lifetime. Your first steps or those of your child. Your first kiss. Your first real heartbreak. You can never repeat those. There are astronomical events that we'll experience once. For many of us, that means only one experience with Halley's Comet, because it only comes around every 76 years or so, and the last time it visited 1 was 1986. The Earth won't see it again until 2061. Better yet, Atlas 3i, the interstellar object that blew through our solar system in 2025 that a bunch of people thought was an alien spacecraft. It originated somewhere in the constellation of Sagittarius and was probably billions of years old. We won't see it again. Unless of course, it is an alien spacecraft, in which case we'll experience another one time only thing, first contact. If we switch to music, you can only experience the thrill of having your first hit once. After that, you either repeat that feat or you don't. And if you can only manage that one time, you're branded as a one hit wonder. These songs and the acts behind them can be really fascinating. What are these tracks? How did they become so big and so long lasting? And whatever happened to the artists behind these songs? That's what this series is all about. It's part two of the biggest alt rock one hit wonders of all time.
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This is the ongoing history of New
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Music podcast with Alan Cross. Hi again, I'm Alan Cross and this is the second episode in a five part series on the biggest alt rock one hit wonders ever. Let me set the table again with some criteria. Our starting point is 1976, the year of the great punk rock explosion. The thing from which practically all of today's alternative music emanates. It was like the big bang for this music. Something that also only happened once. Well, maybe not. But let's not get too far into the cosmological weeds. Anyway, that makes 2026, which is when I put this series together. Alt Rock's 50th anniversary. Again, let's not get pedantic about things, just go with it. Now, the standard definition of a one hit wonder within the recorded music industry is an artist who manages to place just one song inside the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. But that's a little too narrow for our purposes. On the whole, alternative rock songs were rarely top 40 material. This is a separate universe in the history of rock music, and that means we have to come up with another way of choosing and ranking these songs. And in this case, that means the top 50 of these songs from the last 50 years. Now, complicating matters is that a one hit wonder doesn't necessarily mean that the artist has had just one popular song. For example, we can look at Soft Sell and Tainted Love. That is considered to be a one hit wonder under the standard top 40 definition. But if you're a fan, you can probably name a bunch of soft sales songs that made alt rock radio and make fans go crazy whenever they're played live. So here's what I've done for this particular top 50 list. I looked at artists that are known almost exclusively for just one song. Amongst the general audience of alt rock fans. This one song overshadowed anything that they did. Now, to rank them in terms of bigness, I first consulted alt rock radio charts over the decades and created a list with about 100 candidates. And I did my best not to leave out anything. Then I looked up the number of Spotify plays and YouTube views. Those two numbers were added together and from there it was easy to rank the top 50. I also enlisted Walter the Mathematician to create a scale from 1 to 10, which assigned each song a power ranking when it came to its one hit wonderness. On episode one, we covered positions 50 to 41, and now we're ready for number 40. And that goes to a band from Belgium called K's Choice. They continue to have a significant presence in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, but for the rest of the world, not so much. In 1995, they released their second album, paradise and Me, and it included a song called not an Addict. It was a local hit first, then it became a regional one and then it spread internationally through 1996 after it was picked up by the American label 550 Music, which was part of the Sony empire. That's when the promotion machine kicked into gear in North America and It caught fire at the very end of the grunge era. Although the album didn't rise above number 121 on the charts, there were six singles in North America, with five of them going nowhere. Again in North America, they struck paydirt with only one. Yes, it's about addiction, primarily cigarettes actually, but the writer of the lyrics, Sarah Bettens, who was better known back in the 90s as Sam, was also experimenting with acid and mushrooms.
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Singer (Song clips)
The song is not an addiction,
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Alan Cross
Not an addict. From K's choice, number 40 on this list of the top 50 all time alt rock one hit wonders. Since 1976, if we look at the raw numbers, it has had about 27 million Spotify plays and 7.5 million YouTube views. That's a total of 38.4 million, giving it a one hit wonder power ranking of 3.3. 6 out of 10 at number 39 is the shortest song on this list, running just 106 seconds. It comes from Liam Lynch, a really interesting dude from Virginia who has had jobs as a dishwasher, a clerk at Blockbuster, a telemarketer and a guide in a wax museum. And then there was the time he worked in AI for Sony trying to teach aibo, the company's robot dog, new tricks. He then studied music in Liverpool and then got a job writing, directing, scoring and producing an MTV puppet program called the Siffle and Ollie show. Then in 2003 he recorded an album called Fake Songs and it contained a song that was largely improvised. It became a hit at alt rock radio in Canada and the US and it was a genuine top 40 hit in Belgium, New Zealand and the UK, where it made it all the way to number 10. Australia went especially nuts over the song, pushing it all the way to number one. Liam has performed the song with the Foo Fighters and no Doubt. It's been used in video games and a couple of movies. It's been remixed at least once, which took the song from a minute 26 to 2 minutes and 6 seconds. And yeah, it was something of a novelty and is rightly categorized as a comedy rock song. But it really helped Liam's career. He went on to direct music videos for the Foos, Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, Royal Blood, no Doubt, Weird Al, they Might Be Giants and Tenacious D. And speaking of Tenacious D, Liam lynch directed their 2006 movie Plus a Tenacious D documentary. And here is that hit, Liam lynch and the United States of Whatever, which by the way was released on a label called Global Warming.
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Singer (Song clips)
So later I'm at the pool hall and this girl comes up and she's all like. And I'm like, yeah, whatever. Cause this is my United States of Whatever. And this is my United States of Whatever.
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Alan Cross
Liam lynch in the United States of Whatever. A couple of other things about this guy. In 2006, he successfully had his cat cloned. He and his wife record Paranormal Activity, which he uploads to a YouTube channel called the Spark Club, and according to several sources, he is unable to burp. Okay, the United States of Whatever is at number 39 on our list with 28 million Spotify plays and 10.4 million YouTube views. And Walter the mathematician gives it a one hit wonder power ranking of 3.56 out of 10. At number 38, it's a cover Frente was an adorable folk pop band from Melbourne, Australia who first got together in 1989. They released a couple of EPs which did very well in Australia but were ignored pretty much everywhere else except for maybe New Zealand. That is, until they released a special international version of their debut album, which they called Marvin the Album. When the original domestic version went platinum at home, the decision was made to make a play for the rest of the world. The album was reissued with the songs reordered and new ones subbed out for old ones. In fact, only two songs came from the Australian release and three songs only appear on the international version. One of those is their cover of New Order's Bizarre Love Triangle. It didn't do much in the UK or on the American singles charts, but it was a top 10 hit at Alternative radio and it was also a sizable alt rock hit in Canada. It was a quick bit of sweetness that arrived as grunge was exploding in late 1992. So talk about a counterpoint to everything else that was happening at the time.
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Singer (Song clips)
I feel fine and I feel good I feel like I never should Whenever I get this way I just don't know what to say why can't we be ourselves like we were yesterday?
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Alan Cross
Frente, with their version of New Order's bizarre love triangle at number 38 on our all time alt rock one hit wonders list. By the numbers as of February 2026, it had 37.5 million Spotify plays and 3.7 million YouTube views for a total of 41.3 million. That gives it a one hit wonder power rating on her scale of 3.69 out of 10. Frente broke up and reformed at least three times. Last I heard, they were still together. They've also placed a couple of songs in TV shows and movies in various places around the planet. When I was compiling this list, I ran across a bunch of songs that frankly, I'd forgotten about, and I was surprised to see how endearing they actually were. And here's an example of that. At number 37, the band is the Lightning Seeds. They were formed in Liverpool in 1989 by a local music vet named Ian Braude. It was originally just a studio project, and it was for the first two albums, but starting with the third, Browdy needed to take the whole thing on the road. Now, I know we're going to debate this one, but that's okay. Now to be clear, the Lightning Seeds are not one hit wonders. In the uk there were a series of hit singles, including one number one in 1998. But caveat that was an official World cup song for the English team. So that's, you know, a special case for North America. Though only two songs cut through, but only one really seems to have hung on over the decades. And it's the only song that made it into the Billboard top 40, so it fulfills the standard definition of a one hit wonder in North America. The track from the Lightning Seats is called Pure Just lying smiling in the
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Narrator/Actor (The Testaments promo)
dark Pure shooting stars around your heart Dreams come bouncing in your head Pure and simple every time now you're crying in your sleep I wish you'd never learn to weep.
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Alan Cross
The first ever single from Ian Broude and the Lightning Seeds. The album is called Cloud Cuckoo Land. Band is still together, still playing gigs and still making albums, but just the one song so far. In a moment, we'll get back to this countdown with a group that was once big enough to open for U2. And then
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Alan Cross
This is part two of our look at the biggest alt rock one hit wonder since the punk explosion of 1976. And at number 36, it's fun lovin Criminals. They are a trio formed in New York City fronted by Huey Morgan. All the guys worked at a club and whenever a booked act failed to show for whatever reason, they would get up and do their thing just to fill time. On one of these occasions they were noticed by a record guy who signed them to a deal with EMI. In the summer of 1996 they released their debut album, Come Find Yourself. The first single was an immediate hit, especially in the UK where it sold 200,000 copies. It was also very popular on alt rock radio in Canada and the us. In fact, fun loving Criminals continued to be a major, major thing in Britain with two platinum albums and one gold album along with two compilation albums that also went gold. They were also the source of numerous top 40 hits in the UK, which explains Hughie's transition to radio DJ for the BBC. The guy is a major star. The British fame also landed them an opening slot on U2's Pop Mart tour in 1997. But at home in North America, there was one and only one song that hit. It was their third single from Come Find Yourself, and it wasn't without its problems. First, the song's title is a reference to taking Valium. Bouncers at a New York club called the Tunnel were tired of breaking up fights every Sunday night, so they handed out Valium pills, which they called Scooby Snacks to everybody who came through the door. Kept things calm, you understand. More importantly though, was the song featured a number of samples from the Quentin Tarantino movies, Reservoir Dogs in Pulp Fiction, and when Tarantino heard the song, he called his lawyers and demanded 37% of all royalties and a songwriting credit, which he got. So, believe it or not, Quentin Tarantino is officially a co writer of this song, Scooby Snacks, a 1996 song from Fun Lovin Criminals. Since then it has had 49.2 million plays on Spotify and 5.8 million views on YouTube for a total of about 55 million. Walter the mathematician assigns this song a one hit wonder power rating of 4.20 out of 10. There is absolutely no arguing about this next song's status as a one hit wonder. It arrived in the spring of 1980 on an album entitled New Clear Days. It tells the story of songwriter David Fenton getting all gushy over a photo of his girlfriend. John Weller, the father of the Jam's Paul Weller and manager of that band, pushed to have the Vapors recorded, which after several rejections, finally happened. It was a hit. In fact, a clip for the song was one of the first 200 videos to be played on MTV. When it went live on August 1, 1981, it became a sizable hit around the planet. It made it as far as number 36 on the Billboard top 40 charts. That but it was a number one song in Australia, a number three song in the UK and a number six song in Canada. It has since been covered by Kirsten Dunst. Yep, that's true. And if you remember the old Second City TV series, Rick Moranis did a lounge style version as the character Tom Monroe. I'll leave you to look up the meaning of the phrase Turning Japanese.
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Singer (Song clips)
I'll be turning up and turning down. I'm turning in, I'm turning right, I'm turning Japanese. I think I'm turning Japanese I.
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Alan Cross
The Vapors and Turning Japanese are number 35 song on our all time alt rock one hit wonders since 1976.
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15.7 million Spotify plays, 8.5 million YouTube views, a total of 59.2 million. This gives it a one hit wonder power ranking of 4.33 out of 10.
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And where are the Vapors today? Well, they broke up in 1982 but reformed in 2016 and are still playing gigs. Have they ever had another hit of any significance?
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Nope. Zero. At number 34 we have camouflage. They came from West Germany in 1983 and were part of the whole technopop thing back then. I will concede that they remain a big deal in Germany with eight albums, most of which have reached the upper half of the German charts. But as for everywhere else, not really. Their first single from 1987 was their biggest. It didn't do much top 40 wise, but it was a major dance hit in North America, number one on those charts. And when it came to the alternative charts and alternative radio, it reached number three. There was one other single that almost sorta kinda broke through, but you have to be a real fan to remember that one. And again, remember we're talking about songs that overshadow all the other ones. I remember when this song arrived at the radio station and at first listen we thought it was a brand new Depeche Mode song. Nope. But you can see why we were confused. This is Camouflage and the Great Commandment. The Great Commandment.
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Singer (Song clips)
Realize the man who says that.
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Alan Cross
Number 34 on our alt rock one hit wonder countdown. That's camouflage with the great commandment from 1987. And if you're a fan of 80s retro and you're still racking your brains trying to remember the other single, it was stranger's thoughts. And if you remember that, good for you. Anyway 49.3 million Spotify plays 15.3 million YouTube views for a total of 65.6 million, giving it a one hit wonder power rating of 4.49 out of 10. Three more glorious alt rock one hit wonders to come. And up next, a song that has been heard everywhere over the last 40 years. But I'll bet you there are some things about it that are going to be completely brand new to you.
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Nancy Hickst
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Alan Cross
This is the second installment of a five part series on the biggest alt rock one hit wonder since 1976, and I honestly thought this song would be much higher on the list. But the numbers don't lie. Animotion was a synth pop band from Los angeles formed in 1983. They came from the ashes of a retro sci fi band called red zone. In 1984 they released a self titled debut album and it contained a cover that became a very large and enduring global hit for them. And yes, this song is a cover. It was co written by Michael Debar. You may know him as an actor and the husband of supergroupie Pamela Debar. Or you may know him as a member of Scum of the Earth, the punk band featured on an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati. Or you may know him from a band called Detective, or you may know him from his show on Little Steven's Underground Garage, which is running now on satellite Radio. The other writer is Holly Knight. She wrote Ragdoll for Aerosmith, the Best for Tina Turner, and Love Is a Battlefield for Pat Benatar. She and Michael performed it together for a 1983 movie called A Night in Heaven. Yes, it was about erotic obsession, but Debar was also just coming off a heroin addiction, so it kind of works on that level too. Animotion heard the song in the movie, recorded the song for their debut album, and then released it as a single in late 1984. And this was the hit 33. An Emotion and their cover of Obstacles Obsession. It started as a hit in the dance clubs and then the alternative world before crossing over into pop, where it was a top 10 hit around the world and from there it spread into the larger culture. It's been in soap operas, video games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty and wwe. It was the theme song for fashion Television in Canada and MTV's House of Style. It ended up in a Don Cherry hockey video. It can be heard in a couple of movies, including one called Fresh, in which we hear it during a scene involving cannibalism. Yes, and it's been covered a number of times, including by Karen o of the yay.
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36.7 million Spotify plays 28 million YouTube views, giving it a total of 64.7 million, which is less than 100,000 more than the Great Commandment in 34. So Obsession squeaks ahead, even though it had the same one hit wonder power rating of 4.49.
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Before grunge arrived in force in 1991 and ushered in an era of mainly guitar based music, all rock was known for an extremely wide range of sounds and textures and here's an example. At number 32 the band is Fairground Attraction, a four piece folk pop Scottish band based in London. They were in a sense the Mumford and Sons of their day and they did well too, but only in Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. And they were a monster in the UK, but only with their 1988 album the first of a Million Kisses. While this song hit number one in the UK and won a bunch of awards, North America had it as a out of left field thing for alt rock radio. The song is called Perfect. Fairground Attraction and Perfect from 1988, Big Alt Rock hit in North America and the only thing they managed to do around here 55.2 million Spotify plays and 10 million YouTube views as of February 26, 2026. Walter the mathematician's carefully constructed logarithmic scale gives it a power rating of 4.50. All right, one more for this show. 31 in the 90s, one popular way to break a new act would be to include one of their songs on the soundtrack of a movie that appealed to Gen Xers. For example, a lot of people discovered Stone Temple Pilots for the very first time when the song Plush appeared on the soundtrack of the first Crow movie. Coolio's Gangsta's paradise broke wide open when it first appeared in the movie Dangerous Minds. And how many people first heard the cross pollination of rock and hip hop from the Judgment Night soundtrack? I can rattle off a bunch of these movies singles Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting, and if We Want to go back a little further? Just think of all the John Hughes movies, this band and this song live in that space. The Flies were formed in Hollywood in 1994 by a couple of brothers from a famous surfing family. There was a debut album in 1995 that did pretty much nothing, but then in 1998 they put out an album entitled Holiday Man. At exactly the same time, they were able to place the first single from that album on the soundtrack of a film called Disturbing Behavior. Not really a box office smash, but it did find an audience with people who like conspiracy theories. It was, after all, directed by a guy who did some directing and producing for the X Files. Together, the single, the album and the soundtrack created just the right amount of synergy and buzz, turning it into a top 15 top 40 single in Canada and a number five record at alt rock. Thinking that they'd crack some kind of code, the Flies tried the soundtrack route again several times, but nothing happened. In fact, nothing at all happened. And while the band probably should have been bigger than they were, all they could manage was a single song to hold our attention. There's a Where are they now, Ben the Flies and Got you where I want you. They've broken up and reformed a couple of times. They re recorded that song in 2008 and they tried a comeback by covering hey Jude by the Beatles, which probably wasn't the wisest move. Still, got you Where I want you has endured.
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As of February 2026, 44.7 million Spotify plays, 37.6 million YouTube views for a total consumption number of 82,366,552. Walter the mathematician assigned it a one hit wonder power rating of 4.98 out of 10.
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To review, here are the songs we discussed this time with our list of the all time biggest alt rock one hit wonders since 1976. Kay's Choice and Not an Addict ranked number 40. Then we have Liam lynch in the United States of whatever at 39. Frente in their new order cover bizarre love triangle at 38. Number 37 was pure by the Lightning Seats. It was followed by Fun Lovin Criminals and scooby snacks at 36 and then the vapors with turning Japanese at 35. 34 was the great commandment from Camouflage Animotion's cover of Obsession. Yeah, that's a little surprise, isn't it? Then number 33 followed by fairground attraction and perfect at 32 and got you Where I Want yout by the flies at 31. Looking ahead to next time. Several songs that really surprised me with how high they placed. But like I said earlier, the numbers do not lie. If you missed part one, it's available as a podcast. You might want to get caught up, as are hundreds of other ongoing history of new music shows. They're all free, so grab as many as you want. And while you're doing that, sample my other podcast, Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry, which is the intersection of music and true crime. There were dozens of those too. Check out my website, ajournalofmusicalthings.com, sign up for the free daily newsletter. Look for me on all the social media platforms and drop me an email if you want. AllenCross CA see you next time for part three of the biggest alt rock one hit wonders of all time. Technical productions by Rob Johnston I'm Alan Cross.
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Alan Cross
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