Top 10 Cheesiest One-Hit Wonders of the 1980s

If you’ve been to an ‘80s retro-night or tried Cool Mint Listerine, you’ve heard this song. With its message about living free and Tarzan’s familiar refrain as its chorus, it’s catchier than a cold – that’s why it was a smash for the Italian-Irish band. However, Baltimora couldn’t manage another hit, and so they disbanded – too bad, too: there are so many fictional characters to sing about.

We were all ready to mock the band name Taco; then we found out it’s actually one dude and that’s his name. “Puttin’ on the Ritz” is a Fred Astaire cover, and Taco put his stamp on it – if by “stamp” you mean utterly-‘80s synth-pop vibe. Is it us, or is this song creepy? Regardless, it was a hit, and Taco followed it up with… Another, less successful, cover.

It’s about a mad scientist who falls in love with his lab assistant; plus, it’s got a stuffy British guy, tons of catchy hooks, and lots of synthesizer – well, it was the ‘80s. Dolby’s fellow Brits might recognize a few of his other songs; but across the pond this was his only track to crack the top 40. You can’t argue that this song’s cheesy. Why? Because science.

Only an ‘80s synthpop power-ballad has this much passion. Speaking of passion, apparently the French use the phrase “a little death” as a metaphor for *ahem* climaxing, and that’s what this song’s about – go figure. But oddly, this number-one didn’t cause nearly as much controversy as other tunes on our list. However, unfortunately for Cutting Crew, after this song they suffered a little death of their own – and not in the good way.

Any song with a whip-crack sound is – by definition – cheesy. Even so, Devo’s New Wave smash caused a stir due to its ambiguous lyrics: while the band claims it’s about overcoming adversity, some people think it’s about, well, whipping it. Or S&M. Or sucking on a whipped-cream can. Either way, with their one smash, Devo proved songs don’t need to make sense to crack charts.

Finally, a song where women objectify men – too bad it was written by two dudes, one of whom was Paul Schaffer. Anyway… Settling any questions about the Weather Girls’ rep as a novelty act, the weather-related puns and sound-effects are brought to life in a gloriously low-budget video. Cheesy or not, these ladies churned out a number-one that became an anthem in strip clubs, gay bars and everywhere in between.

This disco holdover is considered one of the genre’s last hits, and we can’t think of a song with a more blatant ‘70s-slash-‘80s vibe. Written about New York, “Funkytown” spent four-weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1980. Six-years later, it hit charts again when remade by Pseudo Echo to sound even more ‘80s. Question: Are “Funkytown” and “Electric Avenue” near each other?

Nothing sells records faster than scandal. When Frankie strutted onto the scene, the BBC was happy to oblige by banning the song – almost for the duration of its chart-stay – because of homoerotic and sadomasochistic imagery in the video, and blatantly sexual lyrics in the song. However, all that did was sell tons of “Frankie Says Relax” t-shirts, and secure the band’s place as a one-hit wonder.

If you remember the late-‘80s, you know this song prompted a catchphrase, became an inescapable phenomenon and won tons o’ Grammys. That’s ‘cause people were blown away by its upbeat message, and the fact that the song uses no instruments: that’s right, that’s only McFerrin’s voice – and whistling – on the track. In fact, this was the first a cappella song to hit number one, so McFerrin’s optimistic philosophy must work.

Instead of being sung by a pep squad, this novelty smash was brought to us by Toni Basil, who seemingly came outta nowhere to play the cheerleading motif for all it’s worth. But Basil was already a dancer-slash-choreographer-slash-actor with an impressive resume that included a part in “Easy Rider.” So don’t feel too bad: she also created one of the most ear-wormy songs ever, and became the quintessential one-hit wonder.

Do you agree with our list? What song is your favorite one-hit wonder of the 1980s? Be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com for more entertaining top 10s.