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Rockerz One Hit Wonders

Seventy records by artists who had exactly one moment. The one-hit wonder is the most unfairly named category in music.

In defence of the single moment

The phrase carries a sneer it does not deserve. Most musicians never have a hit at all; having one is an achievement, and the records themselves are frequently more interesting than those by artists with longer runs — precisely because they were made without a formula to protect.

What this selection makes clear is how varied the category is. It contains dance records that shaped whole genres, soul singles beloved by collectors, and pop songs that were inescapable for a summer. Several of these artists had substantial careers elsewhere and are only "one-hit" by the narrow measure of a particular chart.

What to listen for

Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love" is the most consequential record here by a long way. Made by Talking Heads' rhythm section on a break from the band, it has been sampled endlessly — most famously by Mariah Carey on "Fantasy" and Grandmaster Flash on "It's Nasty" — and is one of the foundational records of hip-hop's relationship with post-punk.

Inner City's "Good Life" is Detroit techno's crossover moment — Kevin Saunderson is one of the Belleville Three who invented the genre.

Everything But The Girl's "Missing" in the Todd Terry remix took a quiet British duo and made them a global dance act, and it remains one of the great remixes.

Gwen Guthrie's "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent" is the funkiest thing here, produced by Sly & Robbie — and Guthrie was a serious session singer and songwriter long before it.

Kevin Lyttle's "Turn Me On" did more to bring soca to international radio than any record before it, and Laid Back's "White Horse" is a Danish oddity that influenced a startling amount of electro.

Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner" in the DNA remix has a genuinely strange afterlife: the a cappella original was used as the reference recording in developing the MP3 format.

Jean Carn's "Don't Let It Go to Your Head" is the soul collector's pick.

Go deeper

Follow the artists rather than the songs. Everything But The Girl made a decade of excellent records before and after; Jean Carn has a substantial Philadelphia International catalogue; Gwen Guthrie sang backing for Aretha and Stevie Wonder.

And Tom Tom Club's self-titled album is genuinely great start to finish.

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