Regardless of how bad some one-hit wonders may be, and we're looking at you, "Mambo No.
5"...
"A little bit of Monica in my life…"
...the uniqueness of the songs and the artists who created them cannot be denied.
Sadly, some of those artists got sent to the jukebox in the sky before they made it to
the charts for a second time.
Here's a few one-hit wonders you may not know are dead.
Pete Burns - Dead or Alive
("You Spin Me Round" by Dead or Alive playing)
As the gender-bending face of Dead or Alive, Pete Burns transitioned from '80s music icon
to reality TV star.
By the time he appeared on the UK version of Big Brother, he was barely recognizable
as the person in the video for "You Spin Me Round."
If you're not a child of the '80s, you may recognize samples from the song in Flo Rida's
"You Spin My Head Right Round," and of course, from Adam Sandler's last good movie, The Wedding
Singer.
After selling 17 million albums and 36 million singles, Burns went bankrupt after spending
most his money on plastic surgeries.
He died at the age of 57, in October of 2016.
Rob Pilatus - Milli Vanilli
("Girl You Know It's True" by Milli Vanilli playing)
Most people are familiar with the lip-synching scandal that brought down the luxuriously
dreadlocked duo Milli Vanilli.
"Maybe they wouldn't have been so disgraced if they hadn't been so successful.
They lived a lie.
And when the truth was out, they lived in shame."
What you may not know, is that Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan took very different paths.
Though they tried to maintain their partnership with their brief and disastrous stint as Rob
& Fab, they eventually parted ways.
Morvan struggled to piece together a solo career, which led him to the European electronic
music scene as well as an unlikely gig as a spokesperson for KFC.
"Chicken one two, chicken one two, okay."
Pilatus did not fare so well, speaking out bitterly against the backlash Milli Vanilli
received and laid the blame at producer Frank Farian's feet.
In the years after the scandal, Pilatus reportedly got involved in criminal activity, attempted
suicide multiple times, and fell into drug use before landing in rehab.
Pilatus died on April 2, 1998 of an alleged accidental overdose of alcohol and pills at
the age of 33, right on the verge of Milli Vanilli's comeback tour… this time, using
their real voices.
Their final album was never released.
Pauly Fuemana - OMC
("How Bizarre" by OMC playing)
The driving force behind OMC, or Otara Millionaires Club if you're fancy, Pauly Fuemana reportedly
started the band as "a South Auckland hip-hop outfit."
We can only guess as to why Fuemana emerged as the singular talent, especially with lyrics,
like, well,
That sort of creative genius is something you don't question.
Well, that, and the fact that he was apparently a pretty intimidating former gang member.
Unfortunately, Fuemana suffered from a disease called chronic inflammatory demyelinating
polyneuropathy, which caused Fuemana to lose his sight and the ability to work.
He succumbed to pneumonia on January 31, 2010 at the age of 40, leaving behind a wife and
six children.
And at least one very weird song.
Izora Armstead - Weather Girls
("It's Raining Men" by Weather Girls playing)
After performing as backup singers for disco star Sylvester, Izora Armstead and Martha
Wash moved on to form the Weather Girls and release "It's Raining Men" in 1982.
In no time at all, the tune became the anthem for wine-drunk moms out on the town and pride
parades worldwide.
Wash left the group in 1990 and Armstead's daughter, Dynelle Rhodes, took up her mantle,
so the group could live on just as the gods of bachelorette parties and wedding receptions
would have wanted.
Armstead died of heart failure on September 16, 2004, at age 62, but Rhodes has kept the
Weather Girls alive by forming its third incarnation with Ingrid Arthur.
Together, Rhodes and Arthur are continuing to rain men all over the world, and we just
know Armstead is smiling down on them.
Amen.
Chrissy Amphlett - Divinyls
they were writing a song that would forever leave a mark on both the music and film world
when they came up with "I Touch Myself."
Pop culture serves us powerful reminders of the punch this one-hit wonder packed.
Though the song came out in 1991, it's still a solid jam even today.
The Divinyls released five full-length albums between 1982 and 1996, but they never created
anything to rival the smash hit that somehow became the potentially uncomfortable, highly
suggestive hit.
Chrissy Amphlett died at home at the age of 53 on April 21, 2013 after fighting breast
cancer and multiple sclerosis.
Falco
("Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco playing)
According to some pretty insanely weird conspiracy theories, Falco, born Johann Holzel, was murdered
by the Illuminati for exposing Freemasonry in his songs.
In reality, the 40-year-old Falco died in 1998 when his SUV hit a bus in the Dominican
Republic.
So, it's not exactly the "masonic demonic blood sacrifices" outlined by some weirder
fringes of YouTube.
And really, Falco actually had two amazing hits, if we're getting technical:
("Der Kommissar" by Falco playing)
So why did we include him on this list?
Clearly we've been brainwashed by the powerful mind control of the lizard people who secretly
control the media.
The evidence is all right here.
Kevin MacMichael - Cutting Crew
("I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight" by Cutting Crew playing)
Together with long-time collaborator Nick Van Eede, Kevin MacMichael formed Cutting
Crew in 1985, and within a year, their debut single, "I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight,"
was at the top of the charts.
After selling 3 million copies of their debut album, the guys weren't able to repeat that
success with their next two albums, and the band broke up in 1993.
MacMichael went on to land an impressive spot as a guitarist for Robert Plant, until MacMichael
moved back to Canada for more modest pursuits when Jimmy Page returned.
According to The Independent, MacMichael didn't mind his time away from the spotlight, saying,
"Now I'm divorced from all that.
I'm not looking at the charts in Billboard every week."
MacMichael organized a benefit show on behalf of cancer research, which he performed in
just months before his death from cancer on December 31, 2002, at age 51.
Jimmy McShane - Baltimora
("Tarzan Boy" by Baltimora playing)
You may recognize "Tarzan Boy" from the background of a Listerine commercial…
...or maybe even Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, or the classic Beverly Hills Ninja.
It's appeared in some very strange places, but the backstory of Baltimora is just as
strange.
According to the Belfast Telegraph, Jimmy McShane was cast by a producer as Baltimora's
frontman solely because of his looks and dancing abilities.
In an echo of the Milli Vanilli scandal, McShane was criticized for lip-synching during live
performances, and — reportedly frustrated by the ruse, as well as the group's failure
to land another hit — McShane left the business.
After being diagnosed with AIDS in 1994, McShane chose to spend the last year of his life in
Northern Ireland, where he died at the age of 37 in 1995.
Doug Fieger - The Knack
("My Sharona" by The Knack playing)
"My Sharona" is the perfect example of one of those songs that everyone knows exactly
two parts of — the first line and the chorus.
It also became a pop culture touchstone in about a million ways.
According to Doug Fieger, lead singer and guitarist for The Knack, the song was written
in 15 minutes about an irresistible ex-girlfriend.
Fieger, 57, died of lung cancer on February 14, 2010.
You were an interesting dude, Fieger, and wrote one hell of a jam that one time.
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