The 20 Greatest 80s One-Hit Wonders (And Where They Went)

The 1980s is the golden age of the one-hit wonder. MTV, format radio and the global singles chart all conspired to push unknown acts straight to the top — and, just as quickly, back into obscurity. This is a guide to the decade's greatest one-shot classics: artists who scored a single major US or UK chart success in the 1980s, and what (if anything) they did afterwards.

1. a-ha — 'Take On Me' (1985). Technically not a true one-hit wonder in the UK or their native Norway, but in the US a-ha never matched the rotoscoped magic of 'Take On Me' (US #1, October 1985). The band are still recording today and remain Scandinavia's most successful pop export.

2. Nena — '99 Luftballons' (1983). The German anti-war anthem hit US #2 and UK #1 (as '99 Red Balloons'). Nena is still a star in Germany; in the English-speaking world, the song is the only one most listeners can name.

3. Dexys Midnight Runners — 'Come On Eileen' (1982). A UK #1 and US #1, the band's celtic-soul stomp was the best-selling UK single of 1982. Kevin Rowland's group kept recording, but never had another global hit.

4. Toni Basil — 'Mickey' (1981). A US #1 and UK #2 in 1982, 'Mickey' was Basil's only real chart entry — but her career as a choreographer (Talking Heads, David Bowie, David Byrne) was already legendary.

5. Soft Cell — 'Tainted Love' (1981). Marc Almond and David Ball had bigger UK hits, but in the US, the Gloria Jones cover (US #8) is their only Top 40 entry. The song spent a record 43 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.

6. Men Without Hats — 'The Safety Dance' (1982). A US #3 and UK #6, the Canadian synth-pop band scored a smaller follow-up with 'Pop Goes the World' (1987), but 'Safety Dance' is the song they're known for.

7. Falco — 'Rock Me Amadeus' (1985). The Austrian rapper became the first German-language artist to top the US Billboard Hot 100. He died in a car accident in 1998; his Amadeus remains the only German-language US #1.

8. Bobby McFerrin — 'Don't Worry Be Happy' (1988). The a cappella US #1 won Record of the Year at the 1989 Grammys. McFerrin returned to jazz and classical work; the song became one of the decade's most-licensed.

9. Tommy Tutone — '867-5309/Jenny' (1981). A US #4 power-pop classic that flooded American phone exchanges for years. The band kept touring but never had another hit.

10. Modern English — 'I Melt With You' (1982). Only a minor chart hit at release, the song became a college-radio and film-soundtrack standard. The band is still active.

11. Quiet Riot — 'Cum On Feel the Noize' (1983). The Slade cover took their album Metal Health to US #1 — the first heavy metal album ever to top the Billboard 200. Personnel changes and a 2007 frontman death stalled them, but the song still soundtracks any 80s rock film.

12. Cutting Crew — '(I Just) Died in Your Arms' (1986). A US #1 and UK #4 power ballad that defined late-80s radio rock. The band kept recording but never charted as high again.

13. Murray Head — 'One Night in Bangkok' (1984). From the Tim Rice/Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus musical Chess, the song hit US #3 and UK #12. Head is an accomplished actor and stage performer; the song is the one pop hit on his CV.

14. Taco — 'Puttin' On the Ritz' (1982). The Indonesian-Dutch singer's synth-pop cover of the Irving Berlin standard reached US #4. He still records and tours in Europe but never returned to the US charts.

15. Aneka — 'Japanese Boy' (1981). A Scottish folk singer (real name Mary Sandeman) in a Japanese-inspired costume scored a UK #1 — and was never seen on the charts again.

16. Animotion — 'Obsession' (1984). A US #6 synth-pop classic originally written for the soundtrack of the film A Night in Heaven. The band reformed in the 2000s for nostalgia tours.

17. Re-Flex — 'The Politics of Dancing' (1983). A UK #28 and US #24 that endures on every 80s compilation. The British band split in 1985.

18. Wang Chung — 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight' (1986). The UK duo also charted with 'Dance Hall Days', but the karaoke-friendly 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight' (US #2) is their signature.

19. Trio — 'Da Da Da' (1982). The minimalist German new-wave trio reached UK #2 with their Casio-keyboard novelty hit. The song returned in 1997 via a Volkswagen Golf advert and a Wayne's World 2 cameo.

20. Buster Poindexter — 'Hot Hot Hot' (1987). The lounge-singer alter ego of New York Dolls frontman David Johansen scored an unlikely global hit with the Arrow cover. Johansen returned to rock and country after the joke ran its course.

What unites these songs isn't lack of talent — it's the cultural moment. The 1980s singles market rewarded the perfect three-minute hook, and almost every artist on this list delivered one. That so few followed it up says more about the volatility of pop than about the artists themselves.

For more 80s deep dives, browse our full artist catalogue, our genre guides or our year-by-year chart guides.