The soundtrack to Twilight is currently the number one album in the U.S., and a band called Paramore is experiencing great success by association. They have two songs featured on the soundtrack, one of which, “Decode,” has been released as the album’s lead single. Though Paramore have been around for some time and were even nominated for a Grammy earlier this year, they have never charted quite as well on the Billboard Hot 100 as they currently are through this Twilight connection. And chances are they’ll never have quite as big a hit again.
Countless other artists have had their biggest break with a song prominently featured on or released through a movie soundtrack, and many of these artists disappeared into obscurity afterwards. Or, at best, they maintained a modest career, never achieving the kind of chart-topping high they once received courtesy of a hit film.
SpoutBlog has compiled a list of ten such “one-hit wonders,” though we made some rules and exceptions in order to both narrow things down (no themes or plot songs) and include a few significant tracks that aren’t technically the only hits from their respective performers. Basically, we’re presenting ten artists who would be a lot less famous had they not licensed a single to a soundtrack and who shall forever be best known for that one song from that one movie.
Song: “Lookin’ for Love”
Artist: Johnny Lee
Movie: Urban Cowboy (1980)
Soundtracks have a way of making crossover hits for artists who otherwise have decent careers in specific genres. Johnny Lee is hardly a one-hit wonder when it comes to the country music charts, but it was only thanks to the popular film Urban Cowboy that he reached #5 on the Billboard Top 100. And it was likely only thanks to that achievement that Eddie Murphy would later pay homage with
Song: “Iko Iko”
Artist: The Belle Stars
Movie: Rain Man (1988)
Fans of 2-Tone ska may have already been hip to this reformation of members from The Bodysnatchers, but most of the world paid them notice only once, when their 1982 version of an old New Orleans folk song called “Jock-a-Mo” accompanied Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman (who was a fan of the tune) on the big screen. Finally, in 1989, the band and the song reached #14 on the Top 100. Unfortunately, The Belle Stars had already been broken up for nearly four years when it happened.
Song: “King of Wishful Thinking”
Artist: Go West
Movie: Pretty Woman (1990)
Not only did this blockbuster romantic comedy make a revival hit out of the Roy Orbison classic that lent its name to the film’s title, it also made a huge success out of the English pop duo known as Go West. Technically they aren’t a one-hit wonder, though, because they’d already been in the Top 40 three years earlier and they’d chart fairly high again two years later. However, when you’re best remembered for a Top 10 single from a film as big as Pretty Woman, every other achievement (even a menial #14) looks like a failure in comparison.
Song: “Wicked Game”
Artist: Chris Isaak
Movie: Wild at Heart (1990)
Initially released in 1989 as a single off Isaak’s third album, Heart Shaped World, this song didn’t become a hit until it was featured on the soundtrack to Wild at Heart. Apparently, the success is all thanks to one David Lynch fan at a radio station in Atlanta, who started a trend that eventually got the song to reach #6 on the Hot 100. Isaak hasn’t exactly disappeared since, and he’s even found additional fame acting in movies, but he’s never hit as big musically as he did with this twangy, Orbison-esque number.
Song: “It’s Gonna Be a Lovely Day”
Artist: The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M.
Movie: The Bodyguard (1992)
It’s still one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time, primarily thanks to Whitney Houston and her cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” But this rap version of Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” was another hit single from the film, and it made a definite one-hit wonder out of the annoying-to-type group The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. In their defense, though, this was merely a side project of members of C&C Music Factory, who continued to be successful throughout the early ‘90s.
[Aside: did anyone else think this song was actually performed by P.M. Dawn?]
Song: “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”
Artist: The Proclaimers
Movie: Benny & Joon (1993)
This song was five years old when it was featured in the movie Benny & Joon, having been originally released on The Proclaimers’ 1988 album Sunshine on Leith. It had even previously been a big deal in the UK. Yet it took a movie starring Johnny Depp as a loony fan of Chaplin and Keaton to rocket the song through the roof in the U.S. Benny & Joon didn’t even do very well at the box office, and its soundtrack, which included only the one non-score track, didn’t have much appeal on its own, either. But somehow thanks to the movie, The Proclaimers will continually be most celebrated and mocked for this tune.
Song: “New Age Girl”
Artist: Deadeye Dick
Movie: Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Is it better to have charted and broken up than to never have charted at all? That might be a question for this Vonnegut-inspired band, which only broke out after this tune, originally off their debut album, was included on the Dumb & Dumber soundtrack. A year later, when their follow-up album produced no similar high, Deadye Dick disbanded. Yet the group’s singer and lead guitarist, Caleb Guillotte has found other film-related success working in the art department for such recent films as Déjà vu and Bug.
Song: “Stay (I Missed You)”
Artist: Lisa Loeb (& Nine Stories)
Movie: Reality Bites (1994)
The story of Loeb’s big break is possibly better remembered than the plot to the movie that made her a star. She lived across the street from Ethan Hawke, who became a fan. He slipped a tape of this song to Ben Stiller, who directed Reality Bites and was permitted to choose its music. When the film’s aggressively marketed soundtrack became a success, also making a one-hit wonder out of reggae group Big Mountain and a revival hit out of The Knack’s “My Sharona,” Loeb became the first artist to have a number one single before being signed to a major label. Since then, she’s had some significant chart placement, but she’ll always be best remembered as that girl with the cat-eye glasses who was the epitome of the cliché about showbiz success being all about who you know. And she’ll also be remembered for failing to ever prove herself deserving of that advantageous shot.
Song: “Steal My Sunshine”
Artist: Len
Movie: Go (1999)
Thanks to Len’s inclusion on the soundtrack to Go, this song was a surprise hit in the Spring of 1999, prompting the band’s label to push up the release of their third album, You Can’t Stop the Bum Rush, by a few weeks. In November of that year, the single peaked at #9 on the Top 100, and the band has never had similar success since.
Song: “Because I Got High”
Artist: Afroman
Movie: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
It’s not uncommon for a silly novelty song to be the sole success of an artist. So, it’s not surprising that Afroman hasn’t achieved much notice since 2001, when this goofy song reached #13 on the Hot 100. He’s been around since, sure, and he’s probably got some kind of cult fame within the stoner community, but it would take another music video shot by Kevin Smith to garner him the same level of mainstream attention he got seven years ago.
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