Talk:List of one-hit wonders on the UK singles chart

OHWs in different guises.

I have the Guiness Hit Singles book, edition 7. Yes I know this is a long time ago, however later versions do not seem to include the One Hit Wonders and other interesting bits of pop trivia. I did e-mail them and asked them to include bits and they said they would in the next edition. Sadly this was not the case.

In the edition I have, they list the One Hit Wonders, up to 1988, then they list the ones which appeared in different guises, such and Frank and Nancy Sinatra with Something Stupid, etc.

It is in this list that John Denver appears as on his own, he IS a OHW, however him and Placido Domingo are technically another artist. Therefore under the guide of (just) John Denver, he IS a ONW, not the sort that should be included in the main list. should be included in the Worthy Note section of the article for this very reason. As should all the other artist collabortations. They have just as much right to be there as the charity acts, who are just the same.--Cexycy (talk) 14:09, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

I forgot to add, the article itself says Guinness Book of Hit Singles' policy will be used, and they have included John Denver in their list of OHWs in other guises. I'm not saying you have to agree with me, but please bear this in mind. --Cexycy (talk) 14:26, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I agree, the Guinness Book of does list all the collaborations, so fair enough. It's probably worth listing given that he's never had another hit otherwise.

As for the Nancy and Frank Sinatra case - that's a tricky one really, the Guinness Book of does list all those instances as well, as an act in their own right, they are technically a OHW, but I feel that common sense needs to come into it a little bit with these artists - as well as the fact that the list will become very long. If you look - Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin are listed seperately although their No.1 was together, but are in the list because neither had another hit.
It's a bit of a grey issue, but it would seem a bit silly to have Frank Sinatra listed as a OHW, but I won't argue on a technicality and it's up to consensus really.
As for the Johnny Logan listing you put - definitely a no to that as he is not a OHW in any sense (he was for a while, but that's not the case now). It's not particularly noteworthy.
But yes, I agree with you now, John Denver would be worth mentioning at least. --Tuzapicabit (talk) 15:13, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

"Party Rock Anthem"

Info about GoonRock (see below) added under 'Collaborations classified as one-hit wonders' though you might want to move him to the main section. I only have the Virgin book to hand, not the Guinness ones so I cannot check how they listed collaborations between three artists listed equally...though it is likely to be separate in the early days of the Guinness books as something like 'DAVID GUETTA & CHRIS WILLIS' would have been listed as a separate recording act to David Guetta on his own as they've had 4 hits together (if it was just one David Guetta ft Chris Willis that would be added to Guetta's hit total) As the methodology stated in the intro is about two artists releasing a record together and getting to number one and not three artists credited equally by the OCC getting to number one, I wasn't sure where to add GoonRock, but obviously it needs to be on here...

According to the Official Charts Company (OCC), "Party Rock Anthem" is a number one record credited jointly to LMFAO/Lauren Bennett/GoonRock.

Of these three acts LMFAO are credited with having five Top 75 hits with their other number one "Gettin' Over You" only credited to David Guetta and Chris Willis at this moment (the OCC have decided not to credit LMFAO and Fergie, even though their names are shown on the website, appearing on the single's cover) Lauren Bennett has never had any other hits under her own name, but has had a few hits as part of the band G.R.L., while GoonRock is a producer who has also never had any credited hits of his own. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.154.169.1 (talk) 15:31, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

I've already removed the entry. The OCC doesn't give accurate credits probably due to space. The single was by LMFAO and featured the other two, so not eligible. Tuzapicabit (talk) 17:03, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

...but you can only go off what the OCC states not what Wikipedia is saying and if the OCC state they are credited jointly then so be it. By the way I have removed all the featured artists from the list because that is your reasoning for GoonRock not being in the main list (he should be, though note that I didn't add him directly to the main list). I have not removed Avery Storm at this point at this point as if you look at the wikipedia article for Nasty Girl (The Notorious B.I.G. song) you can see the cover of the record an it it by Notorious B.I.G. featuring Diddy, Nelly Jagged Edge, and Avery Storm. You can be overly pedantic if you want but all information has to be treated equally, and therefore I expect you to delete Avery Storm from the list if you believe all featured artists are not eligible. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.152.237.218 (talk) 18:21, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

Note the fate of Avery Storm was decided by DanTheMusicMan2, who decided that the credit had to go...

References

Clint Eastwood

No, not the Gorillaz song, the actor.

I had a look in the Guiness Hit Singles book, edition 7 book and it backs what I w put in the article. If you have a copy, or can get your hands on a copy, it may something similar if it is not version 7.

If it was a double A side (which the book says it is), then I can't see why we are not looking at a pair of OHWs. That's got to be worth a mention, hasn't it?

Oh and you're right, many one-off acts made it to number 1, but they should be listed in this article, as long as they only done it once. That's the whole point of the article. --Cexycy (talk) 22:06, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

OK, just checked up on this in both British Hit Singles by Tony Brown etc and it does list the song for 2 weeks (peaking at 18) - this was obviously the only two weeks it was listed as a double A-side. This is confirmed by Chartstats here:http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=2149 . You could maybe mention it within Lee Marvin, but it doesn't seem to be a genuine No.1 - officially it was the B-side apart from those 2 weeks. As for one-off artists reaching No.1 in a duet, these could be listed in a separate section perhaps, but this would need to include every pairing which would make the list very long. I'm not too concerned with this point though, but if you're going to add Queen and David Bowie, you'll need to put them all in.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 22:27, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

New entries

Right since someone has decided to add in random pairings, we'll take a look at them. Apart from the fact that now the opening paragraph doesn't match the information, there are a few errors as well as tons of examples missing. First of all - Elton John and Kiki Dee are not a OHW - they had two hits together. "Under Pressure" was 1981, not 1980. Other than that, the following are missing:
Chicane and Bryan Adams,
Mel B and Lisa Lopes,
Mariah Carey and Westlife,
Shaggy and Rikrok,
Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman,
Will Young and Gareth Gates,
Nelly and Kelly Rowland,
Christina Aguilera and Redman,
Blue and Elton John,
Room 5 and Oliver Cheatham,
Blu Cantrell and Sean Paul,
Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne,
LMC V U2,
JaRule, R Kelly and Ashanti,
Ciara and Petey Pablo,
Nelly and Tim McGraw,
2Pac and Elton John,
Notorious BIG, P Diddy and Nelly,
Meck and Leo Sayer,
Beyonce and Jay Z,
Sugababes and Girls Aloud,
Beyonce and Shakira,
Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua
- and that's just this decade alone!

I'm not even going to go there anymore, the page is back to being a mess. If you're going to work on an article - do the research first!--Tuzapicabit (talk) 13:58, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

This article is about OHW as you know and according to the Guiness Hit Singles Book the likes of these acts are listed. They are not random acts at all. It is from this book that I got the details from in the first place. How can you imply I did not do the research when I have been looking at the very book in question? This also told me that Queen and David Bowie was in 1980, although this could quite easily be a misprint.

I have changed the introductionary paragraph to make it clearer and removed the multiple issues tag as this is wrong. If the book is based on the Guiness Hit Singles book and they list such acts then they should be the article. However when you get a load of these things, the article can get very long. Do you think another article for these would be a better idea?

The list you gave was very interesting and I will have to look into them, however I can tell you the following ones you listed are wrong: -

Chicane and Bryan Adams Mel B and Lisa Lopes Mariah Carey and Westlife Shaggy and Rikrok Blue and Elton John Room 5 and Oliver Cheatham 2Pac and Elton John

These were created as featuring the second artist which means it is not classed as their song. This is a great shame as if they did feature they should get equal credit. Maybe these could feature in their own article? It would certainly cut the lists down a bit.

Shaggy and Rikrok had a few hits together anyway.

I never claimed the list was complete anyway, there was bound be to be some which were missing. --Cexycy (talk) 07:58, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes some of these are featuring or with, but then so was Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder and Westlife and Mariah Carey to name just two, (according to the singles as released they are as follows: Paul McCartney with guest vocals by Stevie Wonder and Mariah Carey featuring Westlife - you need to do more research than just one book and provide references if necessary) so where do you draw the line? Have some of them and not others? Anyway, yes, the article is based on the criteria used in the Guinness Book of, but for reasons of brevity any artist which has charted any other time is left out, otherwise the article will be too long. There are three possible solutions: A/ take all these collaborations out B/ Include them all as a list only (like the Aggregate groups section) or C/ as you say - a separate article with a link to the page. On another note you will need to look into which ones are genuine - Tubeway Army was an act in its own right (they have their own article) so shouldn't be in the section you moved them into, while Clint Eastwood only ever reached No.18 officially yet you still insist on putting it in there. As I see it the article has multiple issues, but I'm leaving until you've finished tinkering with it - which you have every right to do, but please be a bit more thorough rather than just adding what appears in just one source (yes it's the main source given the article, but not the only one to be used).--Tuzapicabit (talk) 13:25, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Hello again.

I have created a new article and included bits of what you have mentioned and I think it looks a whole lot better now. Please have a look and tell me what you think. --Cexycy (talk) 02:18, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes that looks fine.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 17:39, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Hello,

Thanks for your feedback. However can you please explain a few things for me?

How come you put back Tubeway Army, Steve Silk Hurley and Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds?

Tubeway Army, in my understanding was a band with Garry Numna in, therefore they are not OHW fully as they featured an artist who would have further chart hits. They are not like the Overlanders or the Floaters.

Steve Silk Hurley is as much of a OHW as John Denver. They are on their own, but they had hits with other artists, in Hurleys case, with another chap to form JM Silk.

Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds are quite clearly a collabration. The Lightning Seeds have had other hits by themselves and Baddiel and Skinner joined them for a one-off or should I say two one-offs? I'm not sure if this should be listed at all as they really had two songs, what do you think?

Cliff Richard and The Young Ones is quiter clearly a OHW in that guise. If readers need an example then surely the link will explain everything?

I haven't edited anything, I just wanted to ask you about these things to get a better understanding on your point of view, which is just as valid as mine. I thought this would be better than an edit war as I'm sure you will agree. --Cexycy (talk) 01:27, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, the opening paragraph explains why these are valid - they're all of equal billing and have never had another hit - the Young Ones are even used as an example. The fact that Gary Numan was a member of Tubeway Army doesn't make any difference. Tubeway Army had one hit only. Individual members of a band don't come into it - who knows, maybe a member of The Floaters for example had a hit with another group? (Probably not, but you see my point). All the additions are valid under the criteria given. Put simply: Tubeway Army had one hit, The Young Ones had one hit, Steve Silk Hurley had one hit and so on.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 12:20, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

What I am saying is this article is for artists who have only charted with one number one hit and nothing else at all. If they charted under another name (or as part of another act, which is also technically another name), they should go into the One-hit wonders of Alternative Guises in the UK list. If a member of The Floaters had a hit with another group or solo then the Floaters would have to be taken out of the main article list and moved to One-hit wonders of Alternative Guises in the UK, for the simple fact that the whole group is not entirely a One-Hit Wonder.

The opening paragraph needs to be changed a little because that was there before I made the One-hit wonders of Alternative Guises in the UK article. This was created especially for such acts so as not to cause confusion.

Steve Silk Hurley has charted under a different name with his bandmate as JM Silk, so he is not a total OHW so he should not be in the main OHW article. The same goes for Tubeway Army only this is the other way round. In my copy of Guiness Hit Singles, if you look up Tuneway Army, it says see Gary Numan and their one hit is listed with his stuff.

I'm sure you can see where I'm coming from here, what do you think? --Cexycy (talk) 21:44, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I would like to comment about the inclusion of "Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds" as a OHW. As a fellow wikipedian stated above; this group is not only a collaboration; but they also had 2 hits. The original song released in 1996, was the official anthem of the England football team for that year's European Championships, held in England. The music was written by The Lightning Seeds, with comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner providing the lyrics; and reached #1 making it a OHW at the time. However, it was subsequently re-recorded with different lyrics (under the title "Three Lions '98") as an unofficial anthem for England's World Cup campaign in 1998 and landed the number one spot in the singles chart for a second time. Thus now making it a 2-hit-wonder for the same group (Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds). Then in 2002 they re-released it again; and it reached #16; and in 2006 released for the 4th time and peaked at #9 in the UK charts. So this song is no longer a OHW. (Pr3st0n (talk) 13:55, 1 June 2009 (UTC))

Collaboration yes, but one of the acts (Baddiel and Skinner) are an otherwise uncharted act (note that the Lightning Seeds are not listed as a One Hit Wonder). However, given consideration that the later versions were completely re-recorded and with new lyrics, I would agree that yes, they are effectively different songs - so I've removed them. Thanks as well for bringing it to the talk page. My mistake.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 10:13, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Can someone tell me why my entries to the list this week were removed without comment? All 3 were definate one hit wonders, cornershop's song "brimful of asha" hit number one and was their only charting single. Psy's "gangnam style" was his only hit outside of Korea, his followup single "gentleman" was a commercial flop, and birdies cover of "skinny love" was her only charted release. They definately belong on the list and I find it quite rude they were just removed wihtout any kind of discussion. Thanks. 00:30 23 January 2015

Actually if you look at the revision history, they were commented on, but let's see... Cornershop had five hits in the UK, Birdy had four hits in the UK (apart from the fact that "Skinny Love" only reached No.17 anyway (in fact she's even had a bigger hit than that!)). Psy's follow-up single reached No.10. None of these are one hit wonders.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 09:53, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Alternative guises

In the AfD for the "alternative guises" article, I suggested the following:

The slight merger could consist of a heading stating something like "The following collaborations are classified as 'one-hit wonders' by Guinness Hit Singles because these particular combinations of artists had a single #1 hit with no other chart entries in this particular configuration. However, in each case, the participating artists had additional hits separately." Then just list the artists, song titles, and years (I'd recommend a chronological list). It wouldn't be necessary to state for each such collaboration, "They never had any further chart entries together as a duo, but each has had many other chart entries separately", "They had no further hits together but they have have hits by themselves", "Both singers have had other hits, but nothing else together", or other similar comments as this article does repeatedly.

I realize that not all of the alternative guises fit the criteria (of the individual artists having had hits separately), but many of them do, and cutting down the text relating to those collaborations would make the article easier to read. Does anyone object to that? --Metropolitan90 (talk) 01:34, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

Not me, certainly not before it becomes the rather predicitable 'dog's dinner'.

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 01:52, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

I've just had a long discussion with he author of this section and I also said it needs to be a list only, because don't forget - it's incomplete - there are loads more to be added (not that I really want the likes of "David Bowie and Mick Jagger" on the page - I think it confuses people who are reading it, but if it really must be there!). I will rework the section tomorrow if you haven't already done so, but I agree with what you're saying - 'alterante guises' is a bit of an inaccurate term. However there is also friction with some of the entries such as Tubeway Army - they need to be in the main list as they are a band who only ever had one hit (a No.1). That they contained Gary Numan is neither here nor there - they are a separate chart act. As it stands, the article is not looking good.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 02:29, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

• I have made some edits to cut down the amount of space devoted to the duets while not losing any significant information. However, there were some cases in which one of the collaborating artists had not had any hits separately (as far as I could tell), and so I have left those in the long list as they were. Examples include JXL and the Kumars. --

Metropolitan90 (talk) 03:59, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

• OK, that looks better. I've just added the remaining collaborative No.1 acts and restored the artists who've had no other hits to the main section. Hopefully that's it now and I can take a break from this thing!--Tuzapicabit (talk) 23:36, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

JXL has had another top 75 hit as Junkie XL. "Obsessions" reached #56 as DJ Tiesto vs Junkie XL. I will move this entry to the collaborations section.

London radio charts

I have removed a reference to an act whose one hit only reached #27 on the UK charts, but #1 on the so-called London Radio chart. This is clearly not an official chart and therefore the example is not appropriate for the article. Smurfmeister (talk) 10:23, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Ford Timelord

The KLF/JAMMs didn't release the single Doctorin' The Tardis, at the end of the History of the JAMMs album Ford Timelord admits he released the single. So even though The KLF and The JAMMs went off to make other songs and have other hits, the car itself didn't. Also this is probably the first and only time a car actually released a single. Ford Timelord was the American cop car on the front cover of the record, it had been used in the Superman film and was acquired afterwards by The KLF.

87.115.107.159 (talk) 10:55, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Simon Dupree and the Big Sound

Shouldn't Simon Dupree and the Big Sound be here for their song "Kites"?ACEOREVIVED (talk) 21:28, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

Orange Juice

Were not the Scots group Orange_Juice_(band) a one-hit wonder band with their song "Rip it Up"?ACEOREVIVED (talk) 21:12, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

The Wikipedia article on this group does say that this was their only Chart 40 hit in the United Kingdom. ~~

The criteria for the article is the Guinness Book of British Hit singles one: "a number one hit and no other entry whatsoever." Rip it up only reached number eight and they had nine other entries in the top 75. Same with Simon Dupree above, it didn't get to number one and they had another chart entry at number 43. There are literally over a thousand acts in the same boat (a solitary top 40 hit) so I would argue that including cases like those would make the list so large as to be worthless, as well as a minefield for WP:OR. Valenciano (talk) 05:01, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

Mistakes

You put in Yann Peifer, DJ Yanou, whose role in DJ Sammy's Heaven cover was his only one as a solo DJ, but he had a UK no 1 as part of Cascada, being a DJ for the act. Sam And the womp, meanwhile, have gone quiet since being UK no 1.109.145.47.82 (talk) 15:07, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Well done on the Sam and the Womp. They've now been added. However, Yanou has not appeared on the chart under his own name since his No.1 and so must stay.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 00:48, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

I have now grouped Yanou (Cascada) and Steve 'Silk' Hurley (JM Silk) together in a new section, please add any more artists whom may be missing. -- 27 May 2021 (UTC)

Aggregate ensemble groups

I'm not convinced by the argument that X Factor Finalists are one hit wonders because the line up changes - so did the Sugababes for example. The criteria above seemed to be based on the name of the act rather than its membership. If they followed the Band Aid model and added a year to the name then fine but they have the same name so they are the same act in the same way as Glee Cast are one act regardless of members. Btljs (talk) 22:17, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

Chart cut-off

@Tuzapicabit: I see you reverted an edit based on the fact that the follow-up only reached #92 (ie. not in the top 75). If this is the definition of the chart then that really needs stating explicitly in the lede - I'm guessing that the Guinness books can be cited as source for this. There's nothing 'official' about top 75 any more than there is top 40 or top 100. It will mean that in the OCC vault, they are going to record some of these as having more than one charting song. Btljs (talk) 20:46, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

I raised this point recently here, but I suppose unless there's an official announcement regarding this, we will have to stick with what was official at the time.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 21:53, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

The definition of a One Hit Wonder is when someone releases a record and scores a big hit record and not having another major hit afterwards it has nothing to do with charting it is to do with success,charting for one week outside the top 75 can no way be classed as a major hit.--DanTheMusicMan2 (talk) 13:17, 4 November 2019 (UTC)

Looking into this several years later, it seems that the OCC is now listing a top 100 going all the way back to 1983. They do not cut the chart off at a top 75. As the OCC is the authority on charts now, we must go with what they say. So the chart is officially a top 100 and according to them has been since 1983. The "Guinness Book of" is an old source for charts and one that must now be overlooked in favour of the OCC.

So it seems we have three primary sources: 1) Guinness Book Of for the methodology only (one number one and no other chart entry) 2) The OCC for the actual charts and 3) The single itself for the artist credit

Just wanted to clarify my view of it here as there seems to be some ongoing confusion. Tuzapicabit (talk) 19:40, 14 March 2021 (UTC)

Maybe four as there is also Music Week with James Masterton's chart commentary (found at https://www.musicweek.com/analysis) still generally based on a weekly Top 75. This is also true for BBC Radio 2's PopMaster and sections of the OCC's website which still are based around the Top 75, even though the Top 100 (Top 75 hits and the next 25) is shown in full just like Billboard's chart...with the OCC's chart info for Drake (for example) stating that Drake's had...

• 6 UK Number 1s
• 27 UK Top 10s
• 63 UK Top 40s
• 109 UK Top 75s
• 31 Weeks at Number 1
• 159 Weeks in Top 10
• 510 Weeks in Top 40
• 919 Weeks in Top 75

with "What's My Name" being as much as number one for Rihanna as it is for Drake and Wizkid being noted as an artist who had had 15 weeks at number one.

...and remember that the singles chart was actually a Top 200 for about 30 years (for industry insiders) and that Record Mirror had the full Top 100 charts for both the albums and singles chart before 1989. However both OCC and the old everyhit.com website think of one-hit wonders as being artists with one Top 40 hit and no others, with the former including any hit act in the top 40 and the latter having a long list of number ones. Also, it looks like this list was Top 40 based originally like a lot of the other one-hit wonders lists on this site.

Note: As it likely that Nathan Evans’ "Wellerman" will be number one this week then you should respect that this is will be a number one hit for 220 Kid & Billen Ted as well, with Evans and Billen Ted potential one-hit wonders (as 220 Kid has had one Top 10 already and another Top 75 hit) regardless of what it says on the single as the concept of a single with artwork and a label is a bit out of date especially when Olivia Rodrigo's "Drivers License" could be number one last week with only 1,255 sales but 4.6 million streams (and this week likely to end up on 'the big drops from number one' list by falling to number 17). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.154.168.159 (talk) 18:17, 15 March 2021 (UTC)

"Wellerman" is number one this week, and "Drivers License" has fallen to number 18, which - notwithstanding all the charity records and "3 Lions" with massive drops - is almost as bad as when McFly's double-A side single "Baby's Coming Back/ Transylvania" dropped from the top spot to number 20 in May 2007.

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Collaborations classified as one-hit wonders

Looking at the 2014 No.1s, about half of them are collaborations as is the style of hits this decade. Obviously, this list now has to go as it's going to become endless. It makes little sense anyway, and let's not forget that the last few editions of the Guinness Book of removed the list as well.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 10:24, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm with you mate. A lot of work went into the list as you know so I've reinstated it as it was but added that it was not an exhaustive list and that the list was omitted. Therefore people can see what was there but understand that the list will no longer be updated. Can't say fairer than that. Cexycy (talk) 01:00, 20 June 2015 (UTC)

It won't let me reinstate all of it! Hopefully I can at some point and you'll see what I'm getting at Cexycy (talk) 01:09, 20 June 2015 (UTC)

Nope. This list should go. Not even the original reference, the Guiness Book of Records, counts them as "one-hit wonders". Bowie, Queen, Aretha Franklin, George Michael, no way! Batternut (talk) 12:15, 23 May 2021 (UTC)

Football records

re: Collaborations classified as one-hit wonders.

ENGLANDneworder is probably not listed as a one-hit wonder in The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles either, but I do not want to be the one who states whether it is or is not. So to give it the benefit of the doubt (and because someone took time to put it in the list in the first place) I have moved the information to a new section called 'Special cases - Football records' with a couple of other number ones which could or could not be viewed as one-hit wonders similar to the status of ENGLANDneworder. Please read the section for additional information on each record before making amendments (i.e. just deleting the section) as its taken me time to type it all up...and the information should provide background info for people to make their own minds up.81.154.172.220 (talk) 14:57, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

Three Lions

Why are Baddiel, Skinner & the Lightning Seeds even mentioned in this article? They had two different #1 singles -- granted, with the same melody, but with different lyrics. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 03:32, 21 October 2021 (UTC)

read the info provided re: streaming era

We Don't Talk About Bruno

As its a number one song by Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and cast of Encanto...will you be listing all the individual performers as artists in their own rights (with only Beatriz having another hit so far) or not bothering as they all star in Encanto (therefore being the 'cast of Encanto' in a way similar to when you see the credit 'Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart' on their YouTube videos)?

The 12 month rule

I've put Wellerman back in as to take it out for the sake of two weeks is a being a bit too pedantic, especially this rule is probably something not set in stone by Guinness/GRRR and something more to stop people wasting their time by adding something, writing up the bio, finding all the links....only to find out that the artist has got another hit.

However by taking out Wellerman 50 weeks after it hit number one (with Evans unlikely to score a new hit in the next two weeks) is a bit dumb...as to add it back in and then for me to write this message up, that editor has not only wasted my time but the time of the people who have updated the section previously. As Guinness themselves gave up on the idea of a British Hit Singles' book years ago it this list probably doesn't matter that much when it comes to everything going on in the world, so no need to be that pedantic.

Just wondering where to put this

Military wives is a choir which had a number one named where ever you are featuring Gareth Malone. I'm wondering where to put this because the choir made other hits but I'm not sure if they should go in regular one hit wonder or a collaboration one hit wonder. TheWikiLlama123 (talk) 03:03, 21 November 2023 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:UK Singles Chart which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 19:18, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Synthesised material

I think some of this page may contain synthesised material, as for later entries in the table of one-hit-wonders, they are mostly cited to the UK charts website (many earlier ones are listed in the British Hit Singles & Albums).

To solve this, I think this page could be made more similar to the corresponding page for American one-hit wonders, which lists songs which at least two valid sources consider 'one-hit wonders' instead of listing songs which are both number ones and the sole top 75 song for an artist (no songs later than 2019 are listed on the US page, where enough time has passed to be considered a one-hit wonder). Xeroctic (talk) 15:20, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

The narrative on each one is too chatty and needs trimming down. I mean, we know they never had any other hits, so it doesn’t have to be stated every time! A more strict structure might help: eg. One follow up single (without saying it didn’t chart) and other significant collaborations. Maybe peak position too. Btljs (talk) 16:59, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

Is this "one number-one hit on the UK Singles Chart and no other entry on the chart" rule from The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles really the most commonly held definition of a one hit wonder in the UK? That is, would a British writer making a feature on one-hit wonders only include these artists and songs that went #1 and then didn't have another Top 75 hit ever? I think that's a bit strict of a definition for such a nebulously used but very commonly used term. Doc Strange^MailboxLogbook 21:05, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

I just went and looked at, specifically, the Official Charts Company website for answers, since much like Billboard, they would be the authority on such minutiae and term definitions for the chart they publish. Here is an article on The Top 40 one-hit wonders of the decade and the definition it uses is "only one Top 40 hit". There are several artists on this list, including the song at the top spot, that didn't even peak at #1. If the Official Charts Company itself isn't using that Guinness definition, then I think this article needs to be rethought entirely. Doc Strange^MailboxLogbook 21:15, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

The “only one top 40 hit” indicates the problem with defining this. There are top 20s, top 40s, top 75s and top 100s, and not all are available for all periods. Maybe as User:Xeroctic says, we should be going by sources calling them one hit wonders. I think that will lead to inconsistencies though as sources may use the term loosely. Btljs (talk) 07:39, 29 August 2024 (UTC)

Another thing related to the list, but the United Kingdom section for the page 'One-hit wonder' contains lists of one-hit-wonders which has sources define them as such rather than this page's definition as well. Xeroctic (talk) 08:14, 29 August 2024 (UTC)

That page is worse that this one. There is no way that the 2016 list should be included as it is demonstrably false by any reasonable definition. Just because someone published a list once, doesn’t make it worthy of inclusion in an encyclopaedia. I’m minded to take it out under WP:BOLD. Btljs (talk) 10:44, 29 August 2024 (UTC)