One-hit wonders are omnipresent in music. You hear them on the radio and the dance floor for weeks — maybe months — and they’re quite often serious belters. But then that’s it — almost never heard again until revived on a cheesy playlist at a disco or by possibly the most irritating female, Alexa. 

Of course, all these bands in this article had careers, albeit very short ones. But they perhaps just didn’t have another killer single in them. They’re remembered purely for these tracks with the rest of their catalogue fading from memory pretty quickly. Some of these might also be hits you’d recognise if you heard them, but you otherwise don’t connect the dots between the tune and who it’s actually by. But, every time they’re played, don’t forget they still reel in those royalties!

So, for a bit of fun and with the help of my dear dad, we’ve pulled together an unordered list of our through-the-decades, top 20 one-hit wonders, crossing the 1960s right into the 2000s…

• ‘Wild Thing’ — The Troggs
• ‘Black Betty’ — Ram Jam
• ‘My Sharona’ — The Knack 
• ‘Do Anything You Wanna Do’ — Eddie & The Hot Rods
• ‘Spanish Stroll’ — Mink DeVille
• ‘5.7.0.5.’ — City Boy
• ‘Play That Funky Music’ — Wild Cherry
• ‘Motor Biking’ — Chris Spedding
• ‘2-4-6-8 Motorway’ — Tom Robinson 
• ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’ — The Only Ones
• ‘Babylon’s Burning’ — The Ruts
• ‘I’m In Love With A German Film Star’ — The Passions
• ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ — Wheatus
• ‘Stacy’s Mom’ — Fountains of Wayne 
• ‘Return of the Mack’ — Mark Morrison
• ‘Jump’ — Kriss Kross
• ‘Closing Time’ — Semisonic
• ‘I’ll Be There For You’ — The Rembrandts
• ‘Crazy’ — Gnarls Barkley 
• ‘That’s Not My Name’ — The Ting Tings 

With big thanks to Peter Goulding