one-hit wonder

With their clean-cut look and frothy pop melodies, Haircut 100 became major sensations in the UK when their debut album Pelican West was released in late 1981. The album wouldn't hit the States until the following summer and although they wouldn't create quite the stir they had in England, their lone US Top 40 hit would become one of the more unusual and memorable hits of the early '80s.

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Producer and composer Jim Steinman first crossed paths with singer Marvin Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf, when the latter was in the cast of an off-Broadway musical penned by the former. Several years later, the two formed a creative team as Steinman wrote and produced Meat Loaf's phenomenally successful Bat Out Of Hell debut/ Released in 1978, that album spawned a trio of US Top 40 singles and was one of the best-selling albums of the '70s.

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More than a few acts from the '80s had their sound overshadowed by their video image and the New York band Scandal is one example. The quintet had one of the best-selling EPs of all time in 1983 when their self-titled debut spun off two hits, "Goodbye To You" and "Love's Got A Line On You" (although both failed to reach the US Top 40).

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Jersey-born singer/songwriter Benny Mardones holds the rare distinction of being a one-hit wonder who twice had a US Top 40 hit with the same song. Mardones managed to place his song "Into The Night" into the Top 40 nearly a decade apart. Although it would be his only hit song, there are few listeners to radio during the '80s to whom the song is unfamiliar.

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One of the more curious hitmakers of the '80s was undoubtedly Indonesian-born Taco Ockerse. Recording under the name of Taco, the singer recorded an album recreating hits from the '30s, as well as originals in the vein of that period, all given a bit of synth-pop twists. It was unusual musical course to take, but it proved to be a successful one (albeit short-term success).

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Scottish singer/songwriter Ali Thomson came from a family familiar with music stardom as older brother Doug was the bassist for the band Supertramp. At the height of that band's popularity, following their smash album Breakfast In America, Thomson secured a record deal with A&M Records, Supertramp's label.

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UK bassist Martin Briley spent the first half of the '70s in several band, none of them having more than fringe followings among music fans. By the latter half of the decade, he had established himself as a session player including work with noted rocker Ian Hunter as well as pursuing a solo career with his debut album in 1981.

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The band Spider wouldn't exactly set the music world on fire during their brief time together in the early '80s. However, two members would go on to far greater success following the band's demise. Drummer Anton Fig would perform as a session player on albums by numerous acts including Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Kiss, and Madonna. Keyboardist and backup singer Holly Knight would become an in-demand songwriter, penning songs like Heart's "Never," Tina Turner's "The Best," Aerosmith's "Rag Doll," and Pat Benatar's "Invincible." She would also front the rock trio Device in the later '80s, singing lead on their Top 40 hit "Hanging On A Heart Attack."

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With their heavily electronic sound and lyrical bent shaped by their art school education, the synth-pop duo of Soft Cell, consisting of Marc Almond and David Ball, were one of the more interesting and unlikely acts to score a major pop hit during the early '80s. Although it wouldn't be released in the States until 1982, Soft Cell's debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, had been issued the prior year in their native UK, producing several hit singles and creating a buzz in the US through imported copies.

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Theme songs had long been a way for an unknown (or relative unknown) to make their way onto radio and the pop charts. The exposure from an appearance in a movie or a television show allowed for a catchy song to piggyback on the success, often providing singers and bands with their one moment of fame. Such a case was singer Joey Scarbury when he recorded "Believe It Or Not," the theme from '80s television show The Greatest American Hero starring William Katt (perhaps better known as Sissy Spacek's prom date in the movie Carrie).

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Icicle Works was one of a number of bands to emerge from Liverpool during the early '80s and find success. Led by singer/guitarist Ian McNabb, they would continue releasing albums into the '90s, there one and only hit in the States would come with the song "Whisper To A Scream (Birds Fly)" in 1984.

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British singer Alison Moyet began her career in the duo Yazoo, which was eventually shortened to Yaz, with Vince Clarke. Clarke would have ties to two prominent '80s acts as he was previously a member of Depeche Mode and, after Yaz disbanded, he went on to Erasure. Although Yaz was highly successful in the UK, they remained a cult act in the US but one more fondly remembered than many of their contemporaries.

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Formed in the late '70s, Cleveland's Dazz Band was the union of two popular funk bands in that city and took their name from their self-styled danceable jazz. The group had some minor success through two albums on the R&B and dance charts, but had failed to have a mainstream pop hit when they signed with Motown Records.

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Originally born Aldo Caporuscio, Canadian musician Aldo Nova was self-taught, becoming proficient enough on guitar and keyboards to become a popular draw in the clubs in his hometown of Montreal. Following a stint performing as George Harrison in the cast of "Beatlemania," Nova parlayed an after-hours job as a studio engineer into demos that led to a record deal in 1982.

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In his native Canada, singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn is an institution with a career that began in the late '60s and seen him sell millions of records, score a number of hits, and win several Juno Awards (the Canadian equivilant of the Grammy). Known for his literate songwriting as well as his political and social activism, Cockburn hasn't had quite the same success in the US, but he has earned a devoted cult following and even managed a couple of hit songs.

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