• BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee
    2·
    7 months ago

    steve mcqueen by prefab sprout comes to my mind. it only hit in the uk after its 3rd reissue of the single

    also pocketful of kryptonite by spin doctors is solid but i think it had 2 charting singles

    • Got_Bent@lemmy.world
      2·
      7 months ago

      It’s the one hit criteria that makes it tough. I didn’t much listen to anything top forty after 1985, so I can name a bunch of great indie albums that didn’t chart. But if it was a good album that charted, it likely had several hits on it. You’ve really posed a great challenge. It may take me a week to come up with something.

      • BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee
        2·
        7 months ago

        i thought of another but it depends on how much you like frank zappa, but it fits to a tee for me

        Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch had Zappa’s ONLY top 40 hit ever, and is also a great album. But I’m a huge Zappa fan so YMMV

        • Got_Bent@lemmy.world
          2·
          7 months ago

          Found one that’s close.

          Oingo Boingo had Weird Science chart at 45 on Dead Man’s Party.

          They’re admittedly an acquired taste, but if you were in southern California in the eighties, they were… How do I state this? Foundational.

        • Got_Bent@lemmy.world
          2·
          7 months ago

          Zappa has always been tough for me. His stuff is so out there and so complex, you gotta actively listen to it like a hundred times before you can even scratch the surface of understanding it.

          The guy was definitely a generational musical genius.