The 50 Biggest All-Time Alt-Rock One-Hit Wonders 6 (Bonus)

Ongoing History of New Music

Curiouscast

Music History, History, Music, Music Interviews, Music Commentary

4.8 • 604 Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is chapter six of a five-part series on the greatest alt-rock one-hit wonders of the last 50 years…yes, chapter six of five…after going through a ton of data—radio charts, Spotify plays, and YouTube views, mostly—I thought I’d compiled a really solid list…and it was—except for a few things that need some attention: the errata… This means songs that should have been on the original top 50 list but were for whatever reason left out…those omissions need to be addressed—and we will…I’ve identified five such songs, so if you’ve been following along and were wondering why a certain favourite one-hit wonder was left out, maybe you’ll find some satisfaction… We’ll get to those later…first, though, I want to talk about some songs that did not fit the criteria of making international radio charts and fell under the minimum threshold of Spotify plays and YouTube views…at the same time, though, it feels like the stories of these songs should be told…you know what I mean?...they are great but not the biggest… This is a bonus episode on the 50 biggest all-time alt-rock one-hit wonders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Alan, and I just wanted to let you know that you can now listen to the ongoing history of new music early and ad-free on Amazon music, included with Prime.
0:09.9	Hey, it's your big McDonald's hunger calling, and it's not just any kind of hunger.
0:14.2	It's the kind that calls for Big Arch.
0:16.3	Start with juicy beef, cheddar cheese, and Big Arch sauce.
0:19.6	Oh, and don't forget those crispy onions.
0:21.8	Hungry? You are now.
0:26.0	Saved from 11am, subject to availability.
0:27.9	Price and participation may vary.
0:29.5	If a newspaper makes a mistake or leaves something out in a story,
0:32.9	they print a correction or a retraction as soon as they can.
0:36.5	If something erroneous is posted on a website,
0:39.2	etiquette requires an update or correction to be added to the original post. In science, if new
0:44.3	data comes to light and a previously announced theory or conclusion has to change, that's fantastic.
0:49.3	That's what science is. It's a constant pursuit of the truth, and if the facts don't support the theory,
0:54.9	well then the theory must be changed. And when you're making a list involving complicated
0:59.9	data, especially on a project which few, if any people have attended before, it is incumbent
1:06.7	upon the researcher to go back and fix any errors and omissions. This is known as an erratum,
1:13.0	an error in printing or writing. Protocol requires that a list of corrected errors be appended to a book,
1:18.6	a journal, or any published material. Again, we must go where the facts lead us. This is such an
1:25.6	occasion. This is a bonus episode on the 50 biggest all-time alt-rock one-hit wonders.
1:32.1	And let's just call this one the oopsie show.
1:36.6	This is the ongoing history of new music podcast with Alan Cross.
	...

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