These songs turned two different musical artists into one-hit wonders

You know what I hate? That Burger King commercial with the guy who can’t sing and the totally inane, bad-nursery-rhyme lyrics. You know what else? The way empathy and kindness have been replaced by cruelty masquerading as righteousness in political and social discourse. Oh, yeah – one more thing. I hate it when people refer to Bowling for Soup as a one-hit wonder.

I know what you’re thinking. I’m hitting on all three third-rails of modern culture. Fast food, politics, and what is and isn’t a one-hit wonder. Well, I didn’t come here to lob softballs.

So – one-hit wonders (hereafter referred to as OHWs). What are they? Who gets to decide? Do you need to be have a single in the top ten? A single-single, as it were. Top Forty? Hot 100? Does this only apply in the US?

I mean, you can find plenty of lists that include Thin Lizzy as an OHW. Thin Lizzy! True enough – “The Boys are Back in Town” was their only single to crack the US top 40, but Phil Lynott and the boys had SEVEN top tens songs in Ireland, and four others in the top 20. Four of their songs were Top Ten in the UK. That is not an OHW in my book.

One song turning two different musical artists into one-hit wonders? That's special

But, my book is kind of sketchy. So I am willing to bend the criteria as it suits me. Today, it suits me.

Knowing my fondness for all manner of cultural trivia, my friend Jonathan recently sent me a song from almost 40 years ago from a band that would qualify as a OHW. What made it special, he pointed out, was that the song was a cover of an original from another band that is a OHW. He wondered if there were other such duos. Same song, which was the one hit for two separate OHWs. Sort of a OHW-once removed kind of deal.

Turns out, there are others. I don’t pretend to know them all, but here are five pretty good examples. They go in chronological order based on the original hit.