chowderhead

I am compiling a list of songs from one-hit wonder artists that were covers of other people's songs. It is harder than I thought. I have

Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor
Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm
Blue Monday - Orgy
Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Nicki French
Time after Time - INOJ
Forever Young - DJ Company
I Want Candy - Aaron Carter
--------------------------------------
Bittersweet Symphony (sample) - The Verve
Ice Ice Baby (sample) Vanilla Ice

Please add your one hit wonder covers.

Rockmjd23

Der Kommisar: After the Fire
You Keep Me Hangin' On: Kim Wilde

I doubt DHT will have another hit, so I'd put "Listen to Your Heart"
Same with DJ Sammy and "Heaven"

Lone Wolf

I searched amazon and couldn't find their name but some band remade boyz in the hood a few years back.

(boys in the hood boyz n da hood boyz n the hood)

Edit It's spelled Boyz n tha Hood according to Amazon.

JANK

Birthday - Underground Sunshine ca. SEpt 1969 - barely broke top 20

Eddie W

Mannfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded by the Light

DonnachaOne

This is a tricky topic; a few of the people you've listed have had incredible careers, and your "one-hit" is simply the biggest hit in many cases.These I can understand. I'll also add Dr. & The Medics' "Spirit In The Sky", Big Mountain's "Baby I Love Your Way", Shinehead's "Jamaican In New York" (A redo of Sting's "Englishman..."), Rednex's "Cotton-Eye Joe" (though they remained huge in Germany)

Sinead's had a career for nearly two decades - she's had way more hits than that. Maybe "Nothing's" the only one that hit in the states (though I remember "No Man's Woman" getting a good bit of play on radio and VH1). The same year their biggest hits were released, Orgy's "Stitches" and ALien Ant Farm's "Movies" were all over the radio and TV. I'd say "Aaron's Party (Come And Get It)" was a much bigger hit than "I Want Candy". The Verve have also had an incredible career - it's just that "Symphony" was a big hit in the US. As for Vanilla Ice, "Play That Funky Music" was a big hit, too. This is why I wouldn't suggest Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5", either.

Shouldn't a one-hit wonder be known for just that one hit, and never have another hit again? What else falls into the criteria? Would Janis Joplin be a one-hit wonder for her version of Kris Kristofferson's "Bobby McGee", her only top 40 hit? Same for Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower"?

K Tm S

edit

DRG

You could go a step further and say
I Want Candy - Bow Wow Wow
since their version was a cover in first place

Also:
Baby I Love Your Way/Freebird - Will to Power (two covers at once!)
Tainted Love - Soft Cell (you could argue "Where Would Our Love Go" as well, but this was only ever a hit when attached to "Tainted Love" as a medley, again two covers at once)
Puttin' on the Ritz - Taco
Funkytown - Pseudo Echo
Lean On Me - Club Nouveau

DonnachaOne

Doesn't that negate a one-hit wonder?

rw2516

Manfred had HUGE hits with Do Wah Diddy Diddy and Dylan's The Mighty Quinn. Also had a hit with Springsteen's Spirit in the Night. I Came For You was on the radio alot, don't know if it was a hit.

bigjim25

Rock On - Michael Damian (from The Young & The Restless)

I thought I'd go and list the singing actors with one hit and only the 1st 2 were covers:
Respect Yourself - Bruce Willis
Wild Thing - Sam Kinison

All I Need - Jack Wagner (The Bold and The Beautiful)
Heartbeat - Don Johnson (Miami Vice, Nash Bridges)
She's Like The Wind - Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing)
Don't Give Up On Us - David Soul (Starsky and Hutch)
Party All The Time - Eddie Murphy
Do The Bartman - Bart Simpson
Good Vibrations - Marky Mark (aka Mark Wahlberg) and the Funky Bunch
Bottle of Whiskey - John Corbett (actually his new country song, might not be more)

Green Smurf

Eddie Murphy had that song with Michael Jackson too. It was in the 90's

I can't think of the name, but he had two hits.

Mondo Kane

The Braids - Bohemian Rhapsody

Michael Corvin

I've always considered this the kiss of death for a band. Releasing a cover song as their first release. Gives no feel for the artists talent and any appreciation for it is usually nostalgia from the original.

zebop

The song was called "Whatzupwitu."

Andalusia

Though to be fair, the Kinks' very first single was a (mediocre) cover of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally", and they did all right for themselves.

rw2516

Then there was Quiet Riot's cover of Slade's Cum On Feel the Noize. I need to get a keyboard with a backward Z.

Atreus

Save Ferris covering Come on Eileen (which itself was made Dexys Midnight Runners a one hit wonder first)

Flynn

Tesla: Signs

U6C84

Pussycat Dolls - Don't Cha
Kelly Osbourne - Papa don't Preach
Natalie Imbruglia - Torn

Drexl

That was thankfully not a cover of the Beach Boys song. He also had another hit, "Wildside." It wasn't really of a cover of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wildside," but it was similar.

How about Frente!: "Bizarre Love Triangle"?

Mondo Kane

Tesla had a hit in "Love Song" prior to this.

Alien Redrum

Wasn't "Up All Night" a hit for them, too?

Drexl

That was Slaughter, unless Tesla had a song by the same name.

Alien Redrum

Duh.