One-hit wonders from any era, including the 1980s, often get the \u201ccringe\u201d or \u201ccheesy\u201d treatment once they get old enough. However, even outside of nostalgia, I think many one-hit wonders from the 1980s era remain quite likable today. Plenty of listeners who turned these songs into hits by listening to them on repeat back in the day would agree, but some critics still didn\u2019t give these songs a lot of love. Let\u2019s look at a few examples, shall we?<\/p>\n
\u201cManiac\u201d by Michael Sembello<\/p>\n
This song has such a noteworthy 1980s sound that younger listeners today might think it\u2019s a bit cheesy. In fact, some critics<\/a> claimed this song was horrible in retrospect. I honestly love this high-energy synth-pop tune<\/a> from Flashdance, and audiences at the time loved it, too. \u201cManiac\u201d by Michael Sembello topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart back in 1983 and did similarly well across Europe. Sadly for Sembello, none of his subsequent singles made it to the Top 30 on the Hot 100 again.<\/p>\n \u201cTurning Japanese\u201d by The Vapors<\/p>\n Alright, admittedly, this song didn\u2019t age well, and it makes it to lists of the worst<\/a> one-hit wonders of the 1980s often.. However, there\u2019s some context I feel should be explored here. \u201cTurning Japanese\u201d by The Vapors isn\u2019t exactly a poorly-aged tune about being a culture vulture or wanting to be Japanese. Rather, songwriter David Fenton<\/a> noted that this song was symbolic and more about being a youngin\u2019 unsatisfied with the kind of person they grew up to be. It\u2019s catchy, at the very least. \u201cTurning Japanese\u201d by The Vapors was a hefty hit across the board in 1980, but none of the band\u2019s subsequent singles even charted on the Hot 100.<\/p>\n \u201cPuttin\u2019 On The Ritz\u201d by Taco<\/p>\n