'80s One-Hit Wonders

Decades change, music evolves, but as long as there are pop songs there will be a group of artists who will forever be remembered for their one moment on the mountaintop, confident that their first big hit wouldn't be their last. Sadly, it would be. When the '80s ended and the mousse dissolved, these songs stuck with us the most. The Buggles even sowed the seeds of their own demise by insisting "Video Killed the Radio Star." Be blinded by more flashes-in-the-pan, over in Next Steps.

Not the biggest hits of the decade, but not quite in the realm of trivia, these one-hit wonders have managed to outlast leg warmers, Rubik's Cubes, and GoBots. A special mention must go to Alannah Myles, who gave us one of the all-time sexiest slow rockers with "Black Velvet," and to Gary Numan & Tubeway Army, who pioneered the pop-electronic movement and bequeathed a fantastic sample to future mixers with "Cars." Prolong your feeling of one-hit wonderment in Deep Cuts.

Does the sight of a Defender machine still make you wish for a pocket full of coins? Still quoting lines from Alf? This is the list for you — a mighty batch of one-hit wonders for those truly wanting to live in the past. Bob & Doug McKenzie keep the laughs coming on "Take Off," Tom Cochrane fronts Red Rider on "Lunatic Fringe" before going solo, and Alphaville deliver perhaps the finest '80s nostalgia tune of them all in "Forever Young."

For those of you who were around in the '80s, possibly sporting a mullet, or believing that a pastel suit (rolled up at the sleeves) was the height of sartorial elegance, these one-hit wonder Essentials may at first act as reminders of a flimsy decade that overloaded on superficiality and lacked the punked-up energy of the '70s, or the wild possibilities of the '60s. But listen closely and you'll discover that, given everything you know now, these tracks hold up really well. Sure, some of them seemed as light as butterflies' wings at the time, but history has proven them substantial . . . and immortal.