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. Join us, as we salute the briefly magnificent Nena and her flash-in-the-pan compadres.

It's not that these songs are bad — far from it — but they never became the launch pad to glory that their creators hoped. Who can argue with the Ralph McTell's weepy folk classic "Streets of London," Danny & the Juniors' perfect slice of '50s diner pie "At the Hop," or Andrea True's office party crowd-pleaser "More, More, More"?

You're probably expecting the Deep Cuts section within our One-Hit Wonders playlist to be a magnet for derision, but hold your scoffing: here you'll also find the irresistibly skanky sentiment of "I Touch Myself" by the Divinyls, and Los Bravos' brassy, soulful "Black is Black." Just because they had only one doesn't mean that that one wasn't magnificent.

Each era has its one-hit wonders — artists who come out of nowhere with one indelible classic before promptly skulking off to some dark corner of obscurity. For our One-Hit Wonders playlist we've coaxed a motley bunch of one-hitters — all of whom burned brightly, albeit briefly — out of nostalgia's shadows. From the Big Bopper to Johnny Bristol, Arthur Brown to Althea & Donna, we're celebrating those who had the goblet of pop fame snatched from their lips after the first heady swig.