One Hit Thunder

Synth pioneer Gary Numan was overwhelmingly bashed by critics upon his surge to the top of the UK charts in the early 80s. Music writers may not have been ready for Numan’s futuristic sound, but fans surely were. By the time he decided to take a hiatus from touring, he was doing multiple nights at Wembley Arena, not to mention opening doors for acts such as The Human League, Depeche Mode, and OMD....

In the Fall of 1998, Shawn Mullins took the radio waves by storm with “Lullaby” — an unforgettable song about the woes of a young girl in Hollywood. With its spoken word verses and falsetto-laden choruses, the song’s meteoric rise on the charts rivaled the likes of Britney and Celine, cementing itself into our collective subconscious for decades to come. This week, we take a look at Mullins’ caree...

For some people, Thomas Dolby might be considered only a blip on the 80s music radar — the wild-haired, bespectacled Englishman with the song where someone yells “SCIENCE!” The more knowledgable music connoisseurs, however, know very well how much influence this new wave icon had and continues to have on legions of electronic music artists. This week, we’re joined by Huffamoose drummer Erik Johnso...

Marcy Playground’s “Sex & Candy” was a bonafide hit in 1997, spending an impressive 15 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Songs chart. Unfortunately, they were unable to come anywhere near the success of the song again. If you ask guitarist and vocalist John Wozniak, however, it was never his intention to write hit songs in the first place. This week, we play a game of dodgeball out on the M...

Calling the Queen of Bubblegum Pop a one hit wonder just feels wrong. To Carly Rae’s cult following, it feels like she has released hit after hit over the years. A quick internet search of her Billboard chart success, however, reveals the shocking truth… “Call Me Maybe” is really her only mainstream hit. Regardless, here at One Hit Thunder, we know that an incredible and prolific career rarely has...

Would YOU walk ten miles on your hands and knees? Would YOU wrestle with a lion and a grizzly bear? No? Well, maybe you’re just not TUFF ENUFF for those types of activities. This week, we dive into the 1986 hit from The Fabulous Thunderbirds, a long-running blues band that scored a surprise hit, thanks in part to it being featured in a Michael Keaton film. The song has since been woven into the so...

At midnight on August 1st of 1981, MTV hit the airwaves. After an astronaut planted an MTV flag on the moon, viewers were immediately greeted by the opening notes of The Buggles’ prophetic anthem “Video Killed the Radio Star”. Today, we are joined by music critic and On A Related Note co-host Chris Dalla Riva to discuss this historic song, and if the pictures that came actually DID break his heart...

Filmmaker, director, and Valencia guitarist Brendan Walter was one of thirty-two students sued by the RIAA for downloading music while he was attending Drexel University, and we have to wonder if one of the songs he LimeWired was the 1996 Donna Lewis pop gem “I Love You Always Forever”. This Welsh artist took a nursery rhyme chorus and made Billboard history, which was clearly a magical time full...

Last week, we talked about kissing the rain. This week, The Weather Girls are letting us know that the rain is actually MEN! Our Patreon members voted that we should discuss this early 80s gay anthem, and we couldn’t wait to do so. Will we throw thunder on this duo that was formerly known as Two Tons O’ Fun? Stay tuned to find out how we feel about the powerful voices that brought us “It’s Raining...

If not for a problematic movie trailer, this week’s guest would have entirely forgotten the existence of a massive 1997 single from Billie Myers. This hit exploded onto the radio — perhaps from being utilized in the second season of Dawson’s Creek — before it quickly fell off the charts and disappeared. In this episode, filmmaker and Horror Movie Night co-host Kyle Kuchta asks us ALL to “Kiss the...

In 1991, Extreme released “More Than Words”, an acoustic love ballad unlike any of the band’s previous output. Although A&M Records didn’t want to release the song as a single, the band’s insistence paid off. The song shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and presumably resulted in a lot of babies named Nuno in years to come. This week, we’re joined by singer-songwriter Allie Goertz, and she’ll tel...

This week, Chris and Matt are joined by frequent One Hit Thunder guests Matthew Milligan and Tony Hartman for the first ever FANTASY AUCTION DRAFT on the show! The guys were each allotted 100 THUNDER BUCKS to try to outbid the other guys in an attempt to create the ULTIMATE 1993 album collection. In a year that includes landmark releases from artists such as Nirvana, Wu-Tang Clan, Björk, Snoop Dog...

Never have our minds been as blown on One Hit Thunder as when we dove into the life and career of Michael Penn. From his famous siblings to his work on landmark films, Michael’s story couldn’t be further from the norm. But don’t even THINK about throwing the “nepotism” accusation around here…Penn is the real deal. This week, we dive into his catalog and discover that it’s NO MYTH that Michael Penn...

Hello, fellow slobs! This week, we’re diving into Joan Osborne and her inescapable 1996 hit, “One of Us”. Written on a whim by Eric Bazilian of The Hooters, the song asks important questions about a supposed higher power, including “if God had a face, what would it look like?” Well, WE’D speculate that he or she MIGHT look like this week’s guest…Meeting Of Important People’s Josh Verbanets! Will w...

Local H carved out a niche for themselves in the mid 90s, landing somewhere in between grunge and indie rock. The hypnotic single “Bound For The Floor” was a Gen X anthem, cleverly using the word “copacetic” to exhibit a feeling of dissatisfaction with life. This two-piece band made a lasting impression on this week’s guest — Wells, Maine’s own Spose — even if this particular single wasn’t the rea...

We often forget that artists might tune in to One Hit Thunder to hear us offer our sometimes misinformed and ALWAYS overly opinionated thoughts on their music. One of these artists — John Hampson of Nine Days — was gracious enough to not only listen to our episode on “Absolutely (Story of a Girl)”, but also to kindly send us a series of tweets correcting some things we didn’t get quite right. A fe...

In 1996, two siblings from Belgium had an unexpected alternative hit that sounds unlike anything else from the era. The single “Not An Addict” caught fire and became an international hit, grabbing the attention of even Alanis Morissette, who handpicked the band to open for her on tour. Beyond diving into the track and the band, we force Matt Kelly to make some of his OWN K’s Choices in this fun an...

The story of T. Rex’s Marc Bolan is one of those rock n’ roll fables that seems so trite that it MUST have been written by some second-rate Hollywood screenwriter. The truth, however, is that Marc Bolan’s tale serves as the BASIS for these overused rock clichés, as he led a wild (and unfortunately short) life full of fame, excess, pageantry, and incredible music. This week, we’re joined by actor a...

In the mid 70s, Wild Cherry thrived in all the funk and disco hot spots, from the Northern West Virginia panhandle to the Ohio Valley region. People were getting down to the sweet sounds of “Play That Funky Music” in Steubenville, Ohio, all the way to the bright lights of the big city…of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The groundswell created by the band’s popularity in these areas took the song all the...

Do you hate it when you show up to a date’s house in your best ripped jeans and leather jacket, only to be offered disgusting food by their scumbag mother? Well this episode’s for you! This week, we’re joined by my good buddy and bandmate Paul Menotiades to discuss Gerardo’s 1990 hit “Rico Suave”, a song that becomes infinitely more shocking when you dive into the lyrics. Oh, don’t worry…we do tha...

Welcome to the most bass-heavy episode of One Hit Thunder ever! Thanks to Level 42’s 1985 hit single “Something About You”, we get into a LOT of talk about the best instrument in the world…the good old electric bass. Frontman Mark King’s bass proficiency is impressive, but his songwriting is…well…next LEVEL. Stay tuned for a fun conversation about a jazz fusion band that drew us into the stream of...

Midnight Oil shined a light on the plight of the Aboriginal communities in the Australian Outback with their 1987 hit “Beds Are Burning”. This anthemic song is widely considered one of the greatest pieces of music to ever come out of Australia, and any Australian listeners will likely be shocked that we’re discussing this band on a podcast about one hit wonders. The charts don’t lie, however, and...

In 1993, the world was introduced to a white Canadian reggae artist named Snow. His hit song “Informer” topped the US Billboard charts for nearly two months straight, while Snow himself sat in a prison cell for maybe or maybe not puncturing another human being with a knife (aka stabbing them). This semi-autobiographical tune echoed a warning to whoever snitched on him, in the form of being “licky...

Sometimes we have to bend the rules to qualify artists as appropriate subject matter for One Hit Thunder, but not this week. Deadeye Dick are an undeniable choice, as they are almost universally known ONLY for their catchy pop rock hit “New Age Girl”. This week, we’re joined by Johnny Yetsconish to decide if the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack was the EXACT place this song should be, or if there’s more...

The songwriting duo Boy Meets Girl wrote chart-topping songs for several iconic artists, but it wasn’t until their 1988 single “Waiting for a Star to Fall” that they made a name for themselves as performers. The song was an enduring adult contemporary juggernaut, even finding its way into the hit film Three Men and a Little Lady a few years later. Even after their marriage ended, their song collab...