One hit wonders?

Question

Why is it that some bands can make a ton of hits but others make one and then are labled one hit wonders. What's wrong with them that they can't make more.

Answer 1

The answer in one word: Politics....and in the music biz, it's worse today than it was 30 years ago!!

One hit wonders, like "The Knack" (My Sharonna), were pretty good bands who managed to get signed. However, you got issues between the band, management, record label staff and ultimately, the radio stations, their program directors and air staff. Issues dealing with the latter three usually got solved the ol fashioned way: with a discreet slip of payola.

Supply and demand; hype and payola. The bigger the hype and promotion, the more interested curious and the public are apt to come---and come with their $$$$ in hand to see the show. The Knack, in this case, got very little hype / promotion efforts from their record label......and aside personal band issues......there is the example of one of many one hit wonders.

Answer 2

There are several reasons. Some new artists and bands set their sights too high and have unrealistic expectations, find that life in the music world turns out to be not like what they expect it to be, or make the mistakes of thinking that just because they've scored a hit with their first song, people will like their next one, or of taking too much for granted.
Also, having managed to have one hit, band members sometimes struggle (and in many cases fail) to come to any agreement about deciding what format their next songs should take, or of how these songs should sound.
Lastly, sometimes band members don't get to know each other well enough before taking the big step of forming a band, and individual band members' "true colours" sometimes don't come to light until it comes time for them to try producing another song after having have had one hit.

Answer 3

Probably because all the one hit wonder artists/bands have their one good song and then the other singles from the same album fail. And then when they try to make another hit single and release another album a few years later, nobody even remembers who they were, so it's hard to get radio play. And if no one likes the songs, and the album doesn't sell, they don't bother wasting their time trying to make another one.

Answer 4

I think that sometimes it all comes down to the writers. Yeah, there's been some really awesome bands, that just have this awesome sound, and the writers give them a song to sing, ultimately hitting it big. Sometimes when a writer hits a slump, the band has to take the fall for it.

Answer 5

Normally its smaller bands that make the one hit wonders. They have that one hit...and they think they are THE bomb, and they begin to think very highly of theirselves. Then when they go and try to release another song, they try too hard trying to make it be like their one hit. And then pretty soon... they just give up.

Answer 6

the radio forces you to listen to what they say are the only good songs. many of the one hit wonders have other good songs on their albums, but they never get played.

Answer 7

Because they came up with something original, and creative. But some people don't have an endless supply.

Answer 8

it's sort of like a movie the sequel is never better than the original..

Answer 9

their hit is so wonderful and people get sick of them

Answer 10

just another one of life's great mysteries.