Benny Mardones - "Into the Night"

Benny Mardones
"Into the Night"
#11 (September 6, 1980)

Benny Mardones is an interesting case of a one-hit wonder. He actually hit the top 40 twice - with the same song. So in this case, he's still a one-hit wonder, because he still only has one song.

You probably may be wondering: why it did reach the Top 40 twice anyway? Well, this is how it happened.

In 1989, KZZP, a radio station in Arizona, ran a segment titled "Where Are They Now?" (a question most people are asking about even 90s one hit wonders right now) The most popular question was "Whatever happened to the guy who sang 'Into the Night'?" Scott Shannon, then program director for Pirate Radio in Los Angeles, added "Into the Night" to its playlist. Radio stations across the country followed suit and "Into the Night" was once again a hit.

So now let's go to what I think of the song.

"Into the Night" is definitely in my top 5 of the best one-hit wonder of the 80s. Mardones's bluesy vocals match the mood of the song, and the chorus lifts me up. It's always a pleasure to scan through stations and find "Into the Night".

Apparently Usher did a version of the song. I won't say he butchered it, but I definitely prefer the Benny Mardones version.

Steve Forbert - "Romeo's Tune"

Steve Forbert
"Romeo's Tune"
#11 (February 23, 1980)

Forbert reached #11 in 1980 with "Romeo's Tune", a 70ish love song aided by the piano. Compared as the "new Bob Dylan", he released 14 studio albums and still performs to this day.

(Sorry for the short post, words can't say what I feel about this song...for all of you who like Steve, enjoy the embed below.)

Tom Johnston - "Savannah Nights"

Tom Johnston
"Savannah Nights"
#34 (January 12, 1980)

In 1977, Tom Johnston left the Doobie Brothers to pursue a solo career of his own. He went on to release his first solo album, 1979's Everything You've Heard Is True. It was this album that spawned a trumpet-filled, upbeat 80s number, "Savannah Nights", that would go on to reach #34 on the Hot 100 in 1980.

Later, in 1982, Doobie Brothers member Patrick Simmons would score his own solo Top 40 hit "So Wrong". In both cases, it would be their only one.

After one more solo album, Still Feels Good (1981), Johnston eventually returned to the Doobies in 1987. And "Savannah Nights" remains his only solo Top 40 hit.

Sugarhill Gang - "Rapper's Delight"

                  

The Sugarhill Gang
"Rapper's Delight"
#36 (January 12, 1980)

Composed of Wonder Mike, Master Gee, and Big Bank Hank, the Sugarhill Gang scored their only Top 40 hit with the hip hop classic "Rapper's Delight". Using a sample of Chic's "Good Times" as the basis for the track, it hit #36 in 1980 and eventually marked them up as one of the first one hit wonders of the year.

However, the track, groundbreaking as it is, never faded into obscurity like a lot of other one hit wonders and has been sampled countless times by many artist ranging from 50 Cent to future one hit wonder Big Audio Dynamite (I'll tackle them later...). It was later marked #248 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".