About this episode

The episode continues the countdown of the 50 biggest alt-rock one-hit wonders, exploring various unique songs and their backgrounds.

How does an artist become famous forever with just one song and never come close again? We continue the countdown of the "50 Biggest Alt‑Rock One‑Hit Wonders of All Time", using five decades of radio charts, Spotify streams, YouTube views, and a specially designed one‑hit‑wonder power ranking. In part 4, we come across... A one‑hit wonder that’s also a cover of another one‑hit wonder Gregorian chants that unexpectedly dominated global charts A "Major Tom" sequel A song built on a 1932 trumpet sample and an Atari computer An anarchist collective that somehow conquered the world Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics covered

• alt-rock
• one-hit wonders
• music history
• radio charts
• Spotify streams

Keywords

• alt-rock
• one-hit wonders
• music history
• radio charts
• Spotify

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Gregorian, Atari, anarchist collective

Books & works: The 50 Biggest Alt-Rock One-Hit Wonders of All Time, Major Tom

More episodes of Ongoing History of New Music

• The 50 Biggest Alt-Rock One-Hit Wonders of All Time: Part 3 (30-21) · April 15, 2026 · 31 min
• The 50 Biggest Alt-Rock One-Hit Wonders of All Time: Part 2 (40-31) · April 8, 2026 · 30 min
• The 50 Biggest All-Time Alt-Rock One-Hit Wonders: Part 1 (50-41) · April 1, 2026 · 31 min
• 9 Great Alt-Rock Cover Songs (From the Vault) · March 25, 2026 · 28 min
• Definition (from the vault) · March 18, 2026 · 22 min
• Catching Up with Blink 182 · March 11, 2026 · 29 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Ongoing History of New Music podcast page.