*According to Billboard.
I had never heard of Daniel Powter, but unfortunately, I am familiar with his song "Bad Day." Made popular by the fifth season of American Idol -- the song was used behind photo montages when contestants were voted off the show -- "Bad Day" was the biggest-selling single of 2006. (Oh, 2006, how terrible you must feel!)
Looking over the rest of Billboard's one-hot-wonder list of the '00s, I'm a bit surprised that James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" didn't earn the top spot. (Also from 2006, by the way. Ugh.) Blunt's song, about a guy who exchanges smiles with a gorgeous woman on the subway while he is "f---ing high" and then laments the fact that she'll never be his (gee, why not?), has inexplicably become a popular song at weddings. And, as we know, any tune that enters the wedding canon has a pretty good shot at longevity.
But another surefire way a song never dies is if it ends up at high-school graduations at proms, so perhaps that's why Powter took the top spot.
Billboard's list got me thinking about the idea of one-hit artists, so I headed over to -- where else? -- One-Hit-Wonder Central. According to their Web site, the current top OHW of all-time is Benny Mardones' "Into the Night." From 1980. Hmm, I'll have to look this one up. Ah, yes, I remember it now:
Wow, this is why I love YouTube. I also found a trailer for the documentary Into the Night: The Benny Mardones Story. One thing you'll find out in this trailer is that Benny is considered the Bruce Springsteen of Syracuse, N.Y.!
Enjoy a few other one-hit wonders below:
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