The 1980s were a wonderful decade of music that ended poorly. Sappy pop and hair metal bands were like weeds in an otherwise healthy garden of wonderful post-punk and New Wave. But record companies had to make their money, so they turned out what mass audiences blindly bought.
That meant the four bands below got overshadowed too much. Two, in particular, are not truly 1980s bands, but their one big hit was during that decade.
The others were true '80s bands, but had some songs that should remain timeless. They didn't give the love they deserved in the decade, but we can still appreciate them now.
These 4 rock bands that had one big hit in the 1980s deserved so much better
A Flock of Seagulls
- One hit: "I Ran (So Far Away)" (1982)
How can a band be iconic and only have one hit? Hint: They can't. Calling A Flock of Seagulls a "one-hit wonder" is ridiculous, and yet if you Google one-hit wonders of the '80s, this band will show up quite a bit.
On the United States mainstream rock charts, Seagulls had three top-10 singles: "I Ran (So Far Away)," "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)," and "The More You Live, the More You Love." The best album, The Story of a Young Heart, is the epitome of the band's overall success. The record is brilliant, and too under-loved.
Big Country
- One hit: "In a Big Country" (1983)
This one is a bit misleading and is based only on the US charts. The same as it goes for A Flock of Seagulls. Both were grouped in with a glut of early 1980s bands we had not yet heard of, but many of which were worthy of being heard. Big Country made their guitars sound like bagpipes from their native Scotland, but the songs offered so much depth.
The first four albums all reached the top 10 in the UK, and they had three top-10 singles. They deserved more love from an American audience.
XTC
- One hit: "Dear God" (1987)
We lost out on this one, and by "we," I mean everyone ever. XTC is an influential band that began in the 1970s and helped form the generation to come. Their problem, if one can call it that, is that they tried to be too true to themselves.
The hinted at poppiness, but only to the extent of using it to help create their own tunes. "Dear God" is great, but gimmicky. Instead, this band that only had one top-10 hit in their native UK ("Sense Working Overtime") is worthy of you looking deep into their catalog.
Midnight Oil
- One hit: "Beds Are Burning" (1988)
Midnight Oil is like the Australian version of Canada's Tragically Hip. That is meant as zero disrespect. Both bands are utterly terrific and should have had more sustained global success than they had. The only reason that the Oils are listed here is because their "one hit" happened internationally,
In their native Australia, every album Midnight Oil has churned out since 1982's 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (10 albums in total) has reached at least the top eight on the Aussie charts. Maybe they were too political, or sang too much about the plight of aborigines for the international liking, but that is our loss. This post-punk band is brilliant.