The run down of our chart of One Hit Wonders now enters the twenties.
“MMMBop” (30) is a song written and performed by the American band Hanson. It was released on April 15, 1997, as the lead single from their debut full-length studio album, Middle of Nowhere (1997). The song was nominated for two Grammys at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards and is the band’s most successful single to date. “MMMBop” was a major success worldwide, reaching number one in at least 12 countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The song was voted the best single of the year in The Village Voice critics poll, while also topping critics’ polls from such media as Rolling Stone and VH1, and was ranked number 20 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Songs of the 90s”, as well as number 98 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years”.
“Turning Japanese” (29) is a song by English band the Vapors, from their 1980 album New Clear Days. It was an international hit, becoming the band’s most well-known song. The song prominently features an oriental riff played on guitar. Songwriter David Fenton explained, “Turning Japanese is all the clichés about angst and youth and turning into something you didn’t expect to.” The band suspected they would score a hit with “Turning Japanese”, even delaying its release in order to make it their second single, hoping to avoid becoming “one-hit wonders”. Nonetheless, they never matched the single’s success. In Australia, it spent two weeks at No. 1 during June 1980, and, coincidentally, the song was also a minor hit in Japan.
“We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off” (28) (released in the United Kingdom as “We Don’t Have To…“) is American R&B vocalist Jermaine Stewart’s first of three singles from 1986. The song was included on his second album Frantic Romantic, released that same year. “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off” remains Stewart’s biggest commercial success, peaking at number five on the Billboard. Outside of the United States, “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off” peaked within the top ten of the charts in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
“My Sharona” (27) is the debut single by the Knack. The song was written by Bertoon Averre and Dooug Fieger, and released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached number one on the Billbooard singles chart where it remained for six weeks, and was number one on the Billboard. It was certified gold by the RIAA, representing 500.000 copies sold, and was Capitol Records’ fastest gold status debut single since the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in 1964. The music video features the band performing the song in a white room.
“Jump Around” (26) is a song by the American hip hop group Hoouse oof Pain, produced by DJ Muggs, who has also covered the song. It became a hit in 1992, reaching number 3 in the United States. A 1993 re-release of the song in the UK, where the initial release had been a minor hit, peaked at number 8. “Jump Around” was featured at position 580 on Q Magazine’s 1001 Best Songs Ever, number 24 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s, number 66 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop, number 325 on Blender’s 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born. The song is popular among dancehallDJ’s and is widely regarded in the United Kingdom as a club classic.
