100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the ’80s

by Rahsheeda Ali 5/2/2013

VH1 counted down the 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the ’80s – everything from new wave to hip-hop, novelty hits by Yello and Bruce Willis, and pop classics by Rockwell and Toni Basil.

Did your favorites make the cut? Also check out The Greatest page to see all of our Greatest lists.

“You’re A Friend Of Mine” – Clarence Clemons (and Jackson Browne)

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Album: Hero

Year: 1985
“Rock On” – Michael Damian

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Album: Where Do We Go From Here
Year: 1989
“Pac-Man Fever” – Buckner & Garcia

Album: Pac-Man Fever
Year: 1981
“Baby I Love Your Way / Freebird” – Will To Power

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Album: Will to Power

Year: 1988
“Tuff Enuff” – The Fabulous Thunderbirds

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Album: Tuff Enuff

Year: 1986
“Beds are Burning” – Midnight Oil

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Album: Diesel and Dust

Year: 1987
“Lean On Me” – Club Nouveau

Album: Life, Love & Pain

Year: 1987
[Photo Credit: Sussex]
“The Ballad of Jayne” – L.A. Guns

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Album: Cocked & Loaded

Year: 1989
“Far From Over” – Frank Stallone

Album: Staying Alive: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Year: 1983
“Friends And Lovers” – Gloria Loring & Carl Anderson

Album: Carl Anderson and Gloria Loring

Year: 1986
[Photo Credit: Getty Images]
“Love Plus One” – Haircut 100

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Album: Pelican West

Year: 1982
“Rappin’ Rodney” – Rodney Dangerfield

Album: Rappin’ Rodney

Year: 1982
[Photo Credit: RCA Victor]
“Wouldn’t it Be Good” – Nik Kershaw

Album: Human Racing

Year: 1984
[Photo Credit: MCA]
“Edge Of A Broken Heart” – Vixen

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Album: Vixen

Year: 1988
“Forget Me Nots” – Patrice Rushen

Album: Straight From the Heart

Year: 1982
[Photo Credit: Elektra Records]
“Tomorrow People” – Ziggy Marley And The Melody Makers

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Album: Conscious People

Year: 1988
“Under The Milky Way” – The Church

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Album: Starfish

Year: 1988
“Boom Boom Boom Let’s Go Back to My Room” – Paul Lekakis

Album: Tattoo It

Year: 1987
[Photo Credit: Getty Images]
“Lunatic Fringe” – Red Rider

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Album: As Far As Siam

Year: 1981
“Johnny Are You Queer?” – Josie Cotton

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Album: Convertible Music
Year: 1982
“Party All The Time” – Eddie Murphy

Album: How Could It Be

Year: 1985
[Photo Credit: Columbia]
“Black Velvet” – Alannah Myles

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Album: Alannah Myles
Year: 1989
“Fantasy” – Aldo Nova

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Album: Aldo Nova

Year: 1981
“Tenderness” – General Public

Album: All the Rage
Year: 1984
“Supersonic” – J.J. Fad

Album: Supersonic

Year: 1988
[Photo Credit: Ruthless]
“Key Largo” – Bertie Higgins

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Album: Just Another Day in Paradise
Year: 1982
“What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)” – Information Society

Album: Information Society

Year: 1988
[Photo Credit: Tommy Boy]
“19?” – Paul Hardcastle

Album: Paul Hardcastle

Year: 1985
[Photo Credit: Chrysalis]
“Breakout” – Swing Out Sister

Album: It’s Better to Travel

Year: 1986
[Photo Credit: Mercury]
“All I Need” – Jack Wagner

Album: All I Need

Year: 1984
[Photo Credit: Getty Images]
“Axel F” – Harold Faltermeyer

Album: Beverly Hills Cop: Music From the Motion Picture Soundtrack

Year: 1985
[Getty Images: MCA]
“Heart And Soul” – T’Pau

Album: Bridge of Spies

Year: 1987
[Photo Credit: Siren]
“Major Tom” – Peter Schilling

Album: Error In the System

Year: 1983
[Photo Credit: Elektra]
“Toy Soldiers” – Martika

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Album: Martika

Year: 1989
“Angel Eyes” – The Jeff Healey Band

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Album: See the Light

Year: 1989
“I Don’t Like Mondays” – The Boomtown Rats

Album: The Fine Art of Surfacing

Year: 1979
[Photo Credit: Columbia]
“Steal Away” – Robbie Dupree

Album: Robbie Dupree

Year: 1980
[Photo Credit: Getty Images]
“The Rain” – Oran “Juice” Jones

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Album: Juice

Year: 1986
“Dear God” – XTC

Album: Skylarking

Year: 1987
[Photo Credit: Virgin]
“Da Butt” – E.U.

Album: School Daze: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Year: 1988
[Photo Credit: EMI America]
“I Can’t Wait” – Nu Shooz

Album: Poolside

Year: 1986
[Photo Credit: Atlantic]
“Your Love” – The Outfield

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Album: Play Deep

Year: 1985
“Heartbeat” – Don Johnson

Album: Heartbeat
Year: 1986
“We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off” – Jermaine Stewart

Album: Frantic Romance

Year: 1986
[Photo Credit: Arista]
“Voices Carry” – Til Tuesday

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Album: Voices Carry

Year: 1985
“Just Got Paid” – Johnny Kemp

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Album: Secrets of Flying

Year: 1988
“Lady in Red” – Chris DeBurgh

Album: Into the Light
Year: 1986
“Puttin’ On the Ritz” – Taco

Album: After Eight

Year: 1983
[Photo Credit: RCA]
“In My House” – Mary Jane Girls

Album: Only Four You

Year: 1985
[Photo Credit: Motown]
“Der Kommissar” – After the Fire

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Album: ATF

Year: 1982
“Buffalo Stance” – Neneh Cherry

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Album: Raw Like Sushi

Year: 1988
“Easy Lover” – Philip Bailey (w/ Phil Collins)

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Album: Chinese Wall

Year: 1984
“Oh Yeah” – Yello

Album: Stella

Year: 1985
[Photo Credit: Mercury]
“Catch Me I’m Falling” – Pretty Poison

Album: Catch Me I’m Falling

Year: 1987
[Photo Credit: Virgin]
“Keep Your Hands To Yourself” – The Georgia Satellites

Album: Georgia Satellites

Year: 1986
[Photo Credit: Elektra]
“C’est La Vie” – Robbie Nevil

Album: Robbie Nevil

Year: 1986
[Photo Credit: Manhattan]
“Mexican Radio” – Wall of Voodoo

Album: Call of the West

Year: 1983
[Photo Credit: I.R.S.]
“Let the Music Play” – Shannon

Album: Let the Music Play

Year: 1983
[Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox]
“The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” – Timbuk 3

Album: Greetings from Timbuk3

Year: 1986
[Photo Credit: I.R.S.]
“At This Moment” – Billy Vera

Album: Billy and the Beaters

Year: 1981
[Photo Credit: Alfa]
“Video Killed the Radio Star” – The Buggles

Album: The Age of Plastic
Year: 1979
“Break My Stride” – Matthew Wilder

Album: I Don’t Speak the Language

Year: 1983
[Photo Credit: Getty Images]
“Respect Yourself” – Bruce Willis

Album: The Return of Bruno

Year: 1987
[Photo Credit: Motown]
“Funkytown” – Lipps, Inc.

Album: Mouth to Mouth

Year: 1980
[Photo Credit: China]
“It’s Raining Men” – Weather Girls

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Album: Success

Year: 1982
“Genius of Love” – Tom Tom Club

Album: Tom Tom Club
Year: 1981
[Photo Credit: Sire/Warner Bros.]
“I Know What Boys Like” – The Waitresses

Album: Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?

Year: 1982
[Photo Credit: Polydor]
“Missing You” – John Waite

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Album: No Brakes
Year: 1984
[Photo Credit: EMI America]
“Harden My Heart” – Quarterflash

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Album: Quarterflash
Year: 1981
“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” – Bobby McFerrin

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Album: Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Year: 1988
“Turning Japanese” – The Vapors

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Album: New Clear Days
Year: 1980
[Photo Credit: Getty Images]
“Our House” – Madness

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Album: The Rise & Fall

Year: 1982
“St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion)” – John Parr

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Album: St. Elmo’s Fire: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Year: 1985
[Photo Credit: Atlantic]
“Two of Hearts” – Stacey Q

Album: Better Than Heaven
Year: 1986
[Photo Credit: Atlantic]
“I Just Died In Your Arms” – Cutting Crew

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Album: Broadcast
Year: 1986
[Photo Credit: Getty Images]
“Pass the Dutchie” – Musical Youth

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Album: The Youth of Today
Year: 1982
[Photo Credit: MCA]
“What I Am” – Edie Brickell & New Bohemians

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Album: Shooting Rubberbands At the Stars

Year: 1988
“Electric Avenue” – Eddy Grant

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Album: Killer On the Rampage
Year: 1982
[Photo Credit: Portrait]
“Maniac” – Michael Sembello

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Album: Bossa Nova Hotel
Year: 1983
[Photo Credit: Warner Bros.]
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” – Twisted Sister

Album: Stay Hungry
Year: 1984
“Somebody’s Watching Me” – Rockwell

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Album: Somebody’s Watching Me

Year: 1984
“You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” – Dead or Alive

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Album: Youthquake

Year: 1985
“It Takes Two” – Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock

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Album: It Takes Two
Year: 1988
[Photo Credit: Profile]
“The Safety Dance” – Men Without Hats

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Album: Rhythm of Youth

Year: 1983
“99 Luftballons” – Nena

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Album: Nena
Year: 1983
[Photo Credit: Columbia]
“Whip It” – Devo

Album: Freedom of Choice
Year: 1980
“In A Big Country” – Big Country

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Album: The Crossing
Year: 1983
“She Blinded Me With Science” – Thomas Dolby

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Album: The Golden Age of Wireless
Year: 1982
[Photo Credit: Getty Images]
“Obsesssion” – Animotion

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Album: Animotion

Year: 1984
“Relax” – Frankie Goes to Hollywood

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Album: Welcome to the Pleasuredome
Year: 1983
[Photo Credit: Salvo]
“Too Shy” – Kajagoogoo

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Album: White Feathers
Year: 1983
[Photo Credit: EMI]
“I Want Candy” – Bow Wow Wow

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Album: Last of the Mohicans
Year: 1982
[Photo Credit: Morgan Creek]
“I Melt With You” – Modern English

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Album: After the Snow
Year: 1982
[Photo Credit: 4AD]
“Mickey” – Toni Basil

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Album: Word of Mouth
Year: 1982
[Photo Credit: Island]
“Tainted Love” – Soft Cell

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Album: Non-stop Erotic Cabaret
Year: 1982
[Photo Credit: Mercury]
“867-5309 / Jenny” – Tommy Tutone

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Album: Tommy Tutone 2
Year: 1981
[Photo Credit: Columbia/CBS]
“Take On Me” – A-Ha

Album: Hunting High and Low
Year: 1985
“I Ran (So Far Away)” – A Flock of Seagulls

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Album: A Flock of Seagulls
Year: 1982
[Photo Credit: ZKP RTVL]
“Come on Eileen” – Dexys Midnight Runners

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Album: Too-Rye Ay
Year: 1982
[Photo Credit: Mercury]