00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the unforgettable
00:07classics by artists who didn't catch on.
00:31This disco novelty song was a huge hit for its original artist.
00:34In fact, it's one of the best-selling singles of all time.
00:38But Carl Douglas, the songwriter and singer behind Kung Fu Fighting, has been all but forgotten.
00:51Except when it comes to lists of one-hit wonders.
00:54Inspired by the martial arts movie craze popularized by Bruce Lee,
00:57Douglas' song is a celebration of the art of Kung Fu.
01:00Though it took some time to catch on, it soon became a mainstay of the burgeoning disco club fad.
01:12While he never had another hit,
01:13Douglas' vocal track has been used several times on covers of the song.
01:24Number 9. Unbelievable.
01:26Even if you don't know the rest of the song,
01:36its title and distinctive guitar riff were everywhere in the 90s and 2000s.
01:40If you experienced any media from that era,
01:43you probably heard Unbelievable.
01:48A reliable needle drop for exciting moments,
01:51The song has been included on movie and TV soundtracks,
01:54trailers,
01:55multiple commercials,
01:56They're crumbelievable.
01:58New craft crumbles.
02:00And on the loudspeakers at sporting events.
02:02The things you say,
02:04You're unbelievable.
02:07However,
02:08EMF,
02:08the band behind it,
02:09didn't achieve the same cultural significance.
02:12Unbelievable was their biggest hit.
02:13The band didn't release an album of new material between 1995 and 2022.
02:26Number 8.
02:27Funky Town.
02:28Lip Sync.
02:29This is one of those quintessential songs of the disco era.
02:36When you think of a song to define that time in music,
02:38Funky Town is top of the list.
02:40Gotta make a move to a town that's right to me.
02:44An international smash hit,
02:46the refrain,
02:47Won't you take me to Funky Town,
02:49is disco at its cheesiest and grooviest.
02:51Talk about,
02:53talk about,
02:54talk about moving.
02:59The single was the most popular offering from the forgotten disco funk group Lip Sync,
03:04a cheeky homophone of Lip Sync.
03:06The band had the misfortune of emerging right before the disco era came crashing down at the start of the 1980s.
03:12Their sound was out before they even had a real chance at continued success.
03:16Won't you take me to Funky Town?
03:20Won't you take me to Funky Town?
03:21Won't you take me to Funky Town?
03:24Number 7.
03:25Don't You Want Me?
03:26The Human League.
03:34Like other songs on this list,
03:36this one has become more emblematic of a time and place than an individual artist's work.
03:41You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
03:45When I met you
03:47Say the name The Human League
03:50and even a voracious music lover might not know who you mean.
03:53Say the words Don't You Want Me Baby
03:55and suddenly they are transported to the neon-soaked 1980s.
03:59This synthesizer-infused dark and edgy track is still a go-to karaoke duet even four decades on.
04:12The Human League still records and performs new music,
04:15although the lineup has changed significantly over the years.
04:19While they've maintained success in the UK,
04:21their crossover success didn't last very long.
04:23You'd better change it back
04:25or we will both be sorry
04:28Don't You Want Me Baby
04:30Number 6.
04:32Rock Me Amadeus, Falco
04:34Produced by famed Dutch producers, recorded by an Austrian artist and written in German,
04:45Rock Me Amadeus is an international affair.
04:47It tells the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a danceable 80s synth composition.
05:00As this synth-heavy pop song was never translated from its original language,
05:04the artist Falco made history.
05:06No other artist had ever scored a number one hit in the U.S. with a German song.
05:13While he had more hits in Austria and other parts of Europe,
05:16his career in primarily English-speaking markets didn't continue to grow.
05:20Some songs become so ubiquitous that they become an entity unto themselves,
05:39often eclipsing the musician who made them in the process.
05:42The phrase, this is why I'm hot, alone conjures up a very specific pop culture era.
05:53Released in 2006, it was the debut single of New York City rapper Mims.
05:58The track exploded in popularity on the radio, the Billboard charts, and on the ringtone charts.
06:03Remember when people actually followed ringtone charts?
06:05Mims' subsequent releases were not nearly as successful, and he left music a few years later.
06:17He's since made a successful jump to the tech industry.
06:19It's kind of ironic that the artist of this anthem of self-centeredness, superficiality, and narcissism
06:41is anonymous to so many people.
06:43British pop band Right Said Fred scored major chart success with I'm Too Sexy.
06:53Poking fun at self-absorbed male models,
06:55the lyrics are a half-mumbled series of straightforward, self-directed compliments.
07:06The song charted in several countries,
07:09and Taylor Swift even worked portions of the song into Look What You Made Me Do.
07:13It's use in movies and TV has further expanded its profile.
07:21However, the band itself remains an oddity of culture.
07:24I'm too sexy for my shirt.
07:27Too sexy for my shirt.
07:29So sexy it hurts.
07:31Right Said Fred still performs,
07:33although most people who know them only recognize their single culture-shifting hit.
07:37I'm a model, you know what I mean,
07:41and I do my little turn on the catwalk.
07:45Number 3.
07:46My Sharona, The Knack.
07:54A karaoke song, if ever there was one.
07:56This power pop hit was given a new lease
07:58when it was featured in a prominent scene in the Gen X cult film Reality Bites.
08:02But it was about 15 years old by that point.
08:12Still, My Sharona was a huge hit when first released.
08:15It's a genre-straddling single by The Knack.
08:17Oh, my little pretty one, my pretty one.
08:21When you gonna give me some time, Sharona?
08:24An oft-forgotten band whose sporadic output didn't help them step out from the shadow of their biggest hit.
08:29Allegedly written in 15 minutes,
08:32the song became a success almost immediately.
08:41Despite this, The Knack's flirt with fame was almost as brief.
08:45My, my, my, my, yeah.
08:48Woo!
08:49My, my, my, my, Sharona.
08:52Number 2.
08:53Seven Years, Lucas Graham.
08:55It was a big, big world,
08:57but we thought we were bigger.
08:59Pushing each other to the limits.
09:01We were learning quicker.
09:03With its shameless sentimentality and earwormy chorus,
09:06Seven Years didn't win over critics,
09:08but it certainly made an impression on listeners all across the globe.
09:11The 2015 single went platinum in more than a dozen countries.
09:15However, the artist behind it has remained relatively low-key.
09:18I always had that dream like my daddy before me.
09:23So I started writing songs.
09:25I started writing stories.
09:26Some listeners might be shocked to learn that Lucas Graham is not one man, but several.
09:32Lucas Graham is actually a Danish band anchored by Lucas Forkhamer and Mark Felgrim.
09:36However, they don't seem all that eager to chase fame,
09:39with lead singer Forkhamer insisting he felt no pressure to maintain that kind of exposure.
09:44Once I was 20 years old,
09:47my story got told,
09:49I was writing about everything I saw before me.
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10:06In 2012,
10:19this reggae track failed to gain any traction outside of Jamaica where its artist is from.
10:23Cheerleader is a sweet song about the joy in finding a supportive partner.
10:27While the original track is great,
10:34it didn't achieve massive success.
10:37Then in 2014,
10:38German DJ and producer Felix Yen added a dance-friendly beat and a trumpet hook
10:43and sped up Omi's vocal track, among other things.
10:54Suddenly,
10:55Cheerleader was a viral hit.
10:57The music video has reached over a billion views on YouTube.
11:00Omi's subsequent tracks haven't gained the traction of his first hit,
11:03but most artists never have the distinction of getting a platinum record.
11:07With Cheerleader,
11:08Omi went platinum in more than a dozen countries.
11:15Do you love other songs by these underexposed artists?
11:18Leave a recommendation in the comments.
11:21Well,
11:22I talk about it,
11:23talk about it,
11:24talk about it,
11:25talk about it.
11:27Won't you take me to
11:30Bunky Town?
11:31Funky Town?
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