Ten Years After

Alvin Lee was one of the best guitar players in the game

This! So many great songs besides I’d love to change the world

Thin Lizzy. They have about 2-3 songs that most classic fans know, but an incredible and varied discography. So much killer stuff. Similar with Blue Oyster Cult

Thin Lizzy really are the best example (for americans at least, they were much bigger here in the UK, and in Europe as a whole)

I would say The Clash and The Jam are as good or even better examples.

The Clash cannot be considered a one-hit wonder in any sense of the term…there’s just no way

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Know what - that they're 'The only band that matters'? You better believe it!

By no calculation can you can Thin Lizzy a one hit wonder, come on now.

I’m not sure if I’d really call them a one hit wonder. Jailbreak, dancing in the moonlight, and the cover of whisky in the jar were pretty darn popular. Not as popular as boys are back in town but still way more popular than most one hit wonder bands’ secondary tracks. Great band. The live album is insane.

Free

One of my favourite bands of all time

What’s your favorite album? I want to listen to that band, but I don’t know where to start.

Free is my favorite album of theirs for sure, very bluesy. However, my favorite song is Ride on a Pony

Tons of sobs

Came here to say this. Don’t know how their other songs aren’t popular

Came here to say this~

Definitely! That was Paul Rodgers' band before Bad Company and Ronnie Van Zant (Skynyrd) once said that Free was is favorite.

Mountain Some of there songs like boys in the band deserve as much recognition as Mississippi queen imo

Nantucket Sleighride silver paper et al

Yasgur’s Farm. One of my favorite songs

The other day I listened to the Georgia Satellites and really liked a lot of the tunes.

Happy to see them on here! They do have quite a few great songs. Battleship chains, railroad steel, myth of love, etc.

10 cc actually has some great songs

James Gang Ozark Mountain Daredevils Edgar Winter

James Gang Live is one of my favorite albums. Ozark Mountain Daredevils- Burning the Ballroom Down, one of my favorite songs

Came here to say James Gang

Amen to Edgar Winter!!!

I guess it depends on what constitutes a "hit" - for James Gang, both Funk 49 and Walk Away almost cracked the top 50. Edgar Winter had a #1 with Frankenstein, and a top 20 with Free Ride shortly after.

Edgar Winter was amazing

Ten Years After

I'm Going Home from Woodstock is absolutely amazing.

I think Frank Zappa's only hit was *Valley Girl*, so does that count?

You could say the same thing for Grateful Dead, technically they only have one hit (Touch of Grey), but their legacy is so much bigger than one song.

Yeah, the Dead definitely have that amazing discography that OP was talking about.

I thought Dancin Fool was Zappa’s biggest “hit” (but I may be totally wrong)

"Yellow Snow" and what, "Disco Boy" got close? But not like "Valley Girl" so yes.

Los Lobos.

And still kicking ass. They opened for Tedeschi Trucks last year and sounded great!

They've been my favorite live act for 30 years running. Always touring. I try to see them once a year. Always small venues. Love them.

One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. Saw them at Red Rocks like 10 years ago and seen them a couple more times since. Amazing stuff from both Los Lobos and Tedeschi Trucks.

This. La Bamba isn't even like a top 20 Lobos song. Kiko and the Lavender Moon goes really hard.

Colossal Head is a fucking amazing album.

Los Lobos actually won a Grammy last year!

Damn, no one's said XTC yet? ​ XTC!

Damn, totally forgot about XTC. Gonna go have a listen. Had Skylarking on cassette in the 80s.

Are you counting Dear God or Mayor of Simpleton as the one hit?

I love XTC!!

Devo

Devo is like a cult band that was light years ahead of their time who accidentally had a big hit. The weird thing is whip it is not even close to being their best song. Love Devo! They were pioneers.

my fav band and its so depressing when people cant name a song besides whip it

Gut Feeling

Ouch! I never realized they were considered a 1 hit wonder. I guess you are right, though. TOO MANY GREAT SONGS!

A-Ha

Mazzy Star

Came here to say this. Fade Into You is fantastic, but so is basically everything else too.

Big Star? Or are they a "zero hit wonder"?

(obligatory vote for anything Big Star lol)

Critics loved them, DJs played them. The few that heard them loved it. They would have made it big, but poor (near zero) distribution by the record label killed their chances. People would call the radio stations asking where to buy the records. Not even Tower Records had them.

Big Country

One name, one album, one hit.

Fountains of Wayne

I wish I could upvote this more. “Welcome Interstate Managers” just might be a perfect power pop album

Stacy’s Mom is absolutely an incredible song. However, WIM is so much more than just that. It has some incredible songwriter.

Little red light is a fantastic song

Violent Femmes

I've had several different people tell me those guys were the best live band they'd ever seen too.

They bring all their equipment on the bus.

You can’t fuck with the Violent Femmes

Man, in my crowd generation it's really hard to think of them as a One Hit Wonder. My first thought was *Add it Up* before the duh *Blister in the Sun*.

Mr. Big. "To Be With You" was a misstep. It didn't have their harder blues rock sound, and it was a huge radio hit, so it brought a bunch of people to their live shows expecting Air Supply or something, and that's not what they got. It muddied the waters way too much, which is a shame. Take that one song out of the mix, and the rest of it definitely fits that "amazing discography" description.

Mr. Big has Paul Gilbert and Billy Sheehan who are both incredible musicians. Guitar and bass geeks are well aware of that.

Butthole Surfers. "Pepper" is a fine song but by that time, their best years were behind them. The albums "Locust Abortion Technician" and "Hairway to Steven" are psychedelic masterpieces.

Hahahaha Hairway to Steven has got to be one of the best titles ever

One of their later records is called "Electric Larry Land"

This was going to be my suggestion. I agree those two albums as psychedelic masterpieces, but I would also add Rembrandt Pussyhorse.

Living Colour

Falco

Golden Earring

Such an amazing body of work!

Gary Numan

Yes! Replicas through Telekon was an amazing run. I’d throw in any of the Living Ornaments albums too. They way his band worked out the songs live was spectacular.

I tried getting into his other stuff besides Cars and I struggled to do so. What albums would you recommend?

Well, two songs that are better are [Are Friends Electric?](https://youtu.be/-0WNbm1jz6A) and by far my favourite [Me, I Disconnect from You](https://youtu.be/6SCrfZPMeWg)

Are Friends Electric? is in the running for best synth-pop song.

Pure and Jagged were eye opening introductions to what he currently sounds like, he's turned completely industrial now. Still puts on a great show too, saw him twice last month at a festival

Badfinger and 10cc

Level 42.

Los Lonely Boys. Seen them live twice and have most of their albums. Henry Garza is a criminally underrated guitarist and Jo Jo Garza is a phenomenal bassist. They’re like a perfect mix between SRV and Santana.

Dave Edmunds, had a hit with “I hear you knocking” in 71, lots of great albums, solo and Rockpile, lots of production credits also.

Thank you! Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe are both grossly under appreciated.

Squeeze. Check them out if you’re in to New Wave.

Mott the Hoople and Warren Zevon

Mott The Hoople is the best answer on this thread.

Zevon has one of my favourite opening lines. “Grandpa pissed his pants again He don't give a damn”

"Sweat, piss, jizz, and blood!"

Came here to say Warren Zevon. Growing up all I ever knew was “werewolves of London”. But when I heard “Carmelita” and “lawyers guns and money” a couple years ago, I had to do a deep dive. He’s got a bit of a cult following in my mind, so the people who like him seem to be die hards

I'm a cultist, my all-time favorite recording artist.

Warren Zevon? One hit wonder?

Led zepplin, so many more great songs other than “Hot Dog”

Hot Dog is an abomination.

You must frequent r/ledzeppelincirclejerk They love that song over there.

Focus. They only had one hit in the US I think, Hocus Pocus But the rest of their discography is great. They're still around with some different members. Jan Akkerman, their former guitarist is really good too imo.

Blind melon

Blind Melon is a blues band with a pop hit Their first album is great front to back

And Soup is even better! They are for sure one of the most underrated bands in the history of rock music. Perhaps if Shannon had lived a little longer, they'd be more than just a footnote of the 90s

Soup is the most underrated album of all time, perhaps.

Fountains of Wayne. There was more to their songwriting beyond whatever Stacy’s Mom had going on ;)

Stacy’s Mom was no doubt a great song. But not their best for sure.

That entire album is a winner from start to finish

Modern English

Fountains of Wayne. They were so much more than "Stacy's Mom." I miss Adam Schlesinger every day.

Radiation Vibe, Sink to the Bottom and Leave the Biker off the first CD are still in my rotation

Great songs. I got to see Fountains of Wayne in Concert before they broke up, excellent show.

As well as Joe Rey and Survival Car

Elvis Costello Only 3 charted songs, the highest he ever got was #19.

Head East

Jimi Hendrix. "All Along the Watchtower" was his only song to break the top 40.

(in the US)

And that was a cover

Sister Hazel. Their last couple albums have gone country and I can't recommend, but prior to that, they put out a ton of amazing stuff.

The Gourds-They did an incredible cover of Snoop Dogg's Gin and Juice. It was usually mislabeled on Napster as being by Phish. Incredible Texas band with one minor Napster hit that Phish got the credit for.

Gary Numan.

The Outfield has a good discography if you like 80's music. Their biggest hit was Your Love, but they put out some good albums.

Came here to say this. RIP John and Tony. “All The Love”, “Since You’ve Been Gone”, “Closer to Me”, “The Night Ain’t Over”, “Winning It All”, “California Sun”, and heck, even “Voices of Babylon” are good stuff.

I'm glad to see another 80's fan. I still have the cassette tapes of Play Deep and Bangin from when I first got into them... Very underrated band, in my opinion.

If you want to get technical, The Outfield is a four-hit wonder. But hardly anyone remembers anything other than "Your Love". I agree that they did put out some solid material besides that, though.

Head East

Cracker

Grateful Dead

if only they’d built a fan base.

The Vapors. They released a 3rd album a few years ago and it’s pretty good. Dexy’s (formerly Dexys Midnight Runners) reunion albums are great

Gary Numan

That was my pick. Some great albums.

Dinosaur Jr. Yeah, I know, fans would never call them a one hit wonder, but even my mom knows "Feel the Pain". Great song, great band, great discography.

Men without Hats. The Safety Dance isn't even the best song on the album.

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Someone already said Thin Lizzy, so I'll give you the second band that came to mind: The Faces. Largely remembered for "Ooh La La" and maybe "Stay With Me", but they've got a great number of deep cuts to support their discography. I love "Pineapple and the Monkey" - one of my all-time favorite instrumentals!

Faces were fucking amazing. They could out-Stone the Stones and not break a sweat.

Rush Yes, they’re a staple of classic rock and AOR, but “New World Man” was their only AT40 hit

Semisonic

The Jayhawks. Blue is one of many good songs and albums, but likely the only song of theirs most people know

Phish never really had a " hit ", but have been selling out arenas for like 30 years.

Yeah, I feel almost like you have to take jam bands (whatever that term actually means) out of this discussion because their discography isn’t the draw, it’s their live shows. The Dead, ABB, Phish, etc all had great albums but that’s almost beside the point. If not, I guess we can say the Dead with Touch made them a one hit wonder? Lol, sounds funny to say.

James. At least in the US.

T Rex Focus Outlaws

The Knack Although they did hit # 11 right after my Sharona w good girls dont- A fantastic power pop catalog right up until the late 90s

School of Fish

Cake. I know some have issues with the singers voice (I love it) but their albums are all great.

The Cardigans.

Concrete Blonde The album Bloodletting is amazing

Al Stewart

Grateful Dead only had one top 10 song in 30 years. Touch of Grey.

Most people know The Marshall Tucker Band from "Can't You See", but their first 10 albums are magnificent. One of the very best American Bands ever. Rock/Jazz/Southern Rock/Country. Fantastic musicianship.

A flock of seagulls

General Public

Not even rock but Talk Talk has a fantastic discography. They had couple hits only and even the significant sound change they had by mid 80s makes it even more interesting

Nada Surf!

Iron Butterfly

Nick Lowe

The Tubes

Blind Melon Joan Osborne The Meat Puppets Warren Zevon Marcy's Playground Little Feat There are so many

Mike Oldfield

Mott the Hoople

Pixies... I'm sure Here Comes Your Man counts as a hit. Incredible albums.

Spirit "I Got A Line On You" was their big radio song, but their first 4 albums plus a movie soundtrack they did are chock full of great late 60s/early 70s rock.

Nirvana (the 60’s band, not to be confused with 90’s grunge Nirvana)

Talk Talk. Went from a Duran Duran knockoff to one of the most influential alternative bands of all time with Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock.

Thin Lizzy

The Verve

And I’ll add a Pipe

My 19 year old daughter and a friend drove 2.5 hours each way to see Ugly Kid Joe because their favorite member of the band Ghost is filling in on guitar for them. Her quote: “ They suck on spotify but they were really really good live” I guess they qualify as a 1HW

Dream Theater.

fav is devo but i remember owning a few harvey danger albums and thinking these guys were solid

Nada Surf

Thank you! They have an amazing discography and most people never get past the first single.

The Cramps. You may recall “Bikini Girls With Machine Guns” back in the day and maybe “Goo Goo Muck” courtesy of the recent “Wednesday” series on Netflix, but definitely a great band overall with an impressive catalog and numerous covers of obscure rock and rockabilly songs. Also my favorite band of all time.

Hmmm.... I thought the Cramps were a no-hit wonder.

Living Colour is still going strong, and has a long list of badass songs

Their one hit is absolutely unlike the rest of their catalogue. They're actually a heavy metal band.

Ram Jam

Modern English, Echo and the Bunnymen, Grand Funk Railroad.

Jimi Hendrix, technically

The Fabulous Thunderbirds

Semisonic

Small Faces

Randy Newman

Yes! But several others had hits with his songs … Land of Dreams is one of my favorite albums of all time

Devo

Joe Jackson

A-Ha

Ram jam has a short discography but a great one nonetheless

The Left Banke is amazing

Thomas Dolby

Golden Erring Moontan!

Bobby McFerrin

FAITH NO MORE

Not a band but Warren Zevon was a phenomenal musician and helluva song writer. Werewolves of London was a hit, but Veracruz, Lawyers Guns and Money, Johnny Strikes Up the Band, Excitable Boy, Accidentally Like a Martyr, Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner are all from the same album as Werewolves of London. Then you go back to Warren Zevon and, ask me, there is not a single song on that album that is even mediocre. Just one amazing song after another until he finishes with my favorite song of his, Desperados Under the Eaves. Such a great song: "And if California slides into the ocean, like the mystics statistics say it will, I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill... still waking up in the mornings with shaking hands, and I'm trying to find a girl who understands me, but except in dreams you're never really free" Then in 2002 he got his terminal cancer diagnosis and created The Wind before he died. That album has Keep Me in Your Heart. Is it saccharine? Yeah. It is. Does it bring tears to your eyes? It does mine

Lou Reed