Have you ever wondered what happens to the artists after their single claim to fame.  Most musicians would prefer to have a long career, but those one-hit wonders tend to stay with us for much longer, with continued sales and royalties from a variety of sources. 

But let’s focus on the artists and the career path that their single claim to fame has led them on.

Although James Blunt might be right up there with other one-hit wonders with his song, "Beautiful", time has not given us the opportunity to see his future success or demise.  Going back to the 80’s is perfect for analysis.  Not only do we have 20-30 years of time to explore, but also one-hit wonders were popping out everywhere during that particular decade.

The Vapors- Turning Japanese
Who can forget about "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors?  Just as Hollywood is often incorrect with stereotyping Japanese, so was their music when they interlaced traditional Chinese riffs into their pop setting. But perhaps this was an attempt to prove the power of cliches.  While it was often rumored that the song title was a euphemism to the face distortions a male makes at the moment of climax, the band reported that the song was about the cliches of youth.  Whatever the case may be, the song is popular in the minds of many today.  Ironically, it was not released until their second album.  The band new they had a great hit on their hands.  They worried that if it were released on their first album, they would never be able to match fearing that it would become a one-hit wonder.  Guess what?  They never matched it.  Although they did have two songs that reached the Top 100, I’m not sure anyone today might remember what they were.

So what are they doing now? David Fenton (lead vocalist) was reportedly last seen as a landlord of a public house in Woking, Surrey (UK).  It’s also been reported that Fenton is now a computer programmer.  But doesn’t everyone believe that, after they have created their own MySpace page?  Sadly, even the band’s MySpace page was designed with horrible red and green text over a bright and blue color scheme that is shocking enough to induce a seizure.

Lead guitarist, Edward Bazalgette, ended up producing historical documentaries for BBC. Maybe we’ll see a historical documentary about their music one day.  Or maybe not.

Devo – Whip It
With an album title that resembles an oxymoron, "Whip It – and other hits", Devo launched to Billboard’s #14 with "Whip It" in 1980.  In case you’ve ever wondered, Devo was named after the idea of "de-evolution", which may be a testimony to the future musical career that they endured.

In 2007, they released the song, "Watch Us Work It" which was used in a Dell commercial.  Video game fans may have been excited by the EA Sports release of "Skate" which played "Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy" as a background track.  But their real hit in the video game industry came with Rock Band and Rock Band 2, which feature the songs "Girl U Want", "Through Being Cool, and most recently, "Uncontrollable Urge".  Again, not songs that made the charts, but apparently good enough to be released as downloadable content on one of today’s most popular video games.

If you don’t play games, you may have been picked up a Happy Meal toy of  "New Age Nigel". Nigel wore the red terraced headgear, first worn by Devo. Probably not enough to deserve royalties of any kind.  But it proved once again, that the song and band had not been forgotten.

If you are still hungry for more Devo, you can sleep comfortably tonight, knowing that the Fall of 2009 is a set release date for a new album.  These guys deserve an applause for their persistence and continued success.

Buckner and Garcia – PacMan Fever
Starting off as a novelty band, Columbia took the group very seriously and gave them a record deal after Pac-Man Fever peaked at #9 in 1982. Although the band had hoped to move forward with their career moving away from novelty tunes, and into mainstream pop music,Columbiaa insisted that their album was entirely made of video game novelties.  Apparently Columbia did not take them as seriously as they had hoped. Meanwhile, Donkey Kong, Frogger, and 5 others were never popular enough to give the songs a helpful boost. 

Midnight Oil – Beds are Burning
Finally a group with some real potential.  "Beds are Burning" rocked the charts in the US at #17 in 1987, and ranked even higher around the world. The song was declared as the best Australian song of all time by the Australian Performing Rights Association over a decade later.  In fact, many of there songs charted well in the UK, but their International success was based on a one-hit wonder. So what happened?

The band enjoyed several years of successs. Remember the guy with the shaved head? He has followed his political ambitions to becoming Australia’s Prime Minister of the Environment.  Like many successful artists, fame and fortune does provide a strong outlete for expressing political and religous views.  Too bad Sinead O’Connor did not consider that when tearing apart a picture of the Pope on SNL’s live broadcast.

Drummer, Rob Hirst, wrote a book recounting the experience he undertook during the band’s North American tour after the September 11t erroristt attacks and continues to compose and perform.

All other members, have also continued their musical career, but we’re yet to see a chart-busterr.  But hey, they’re doing what they love doing.

Samantha Fox – Touch Me
With her 36D size, posed on soft porn British magazines between 1984-1986.  Hmm, did that help launch her career?  In 1986, at age 19, she debuted her single "Touch Me".  Although a follow-up song, "I Wanna Have Some Fun" managed to peak at  #8 on US charts, Samantha Fox had nothing else of musical significance to follow, which begs the question why she released a "Greatest Hits" album. 

After the brief success, Fox tried to work her way into television where she appeared on "Charles in Charge", and various interviews and advertisements.  Most recently she appeared on "Celebrity Wife Swap". 

It’s unlikely that her cup-size could ignite her musical career once again, and so she did the honorablee thing, and donated her favoritee bra to a charity auction.

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