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Some artists only get one shot at the spotlight—and it's even worse when their own label pulls the rug out from under them. Join us as we count down the one-hit wonders who were allegedly done dirty by their record labels!
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're looking at artists and bands that scored a hit but
00:06struggled to find more success, allegedly due to their labels.
00:10You don't really want any more from me.
00:16OMC.
00:17How Bizarre made them successful in the 1990s Australian music scene.
00:22Unfortunately, that impact wasn't able to override the issues going on behind the scenes.
00:35It all started before the single was even released.
00:39Polly Graham was hesitant to release it.
00:42The disputes didn't end after it became a hit, either.
00:50Some representatives tried to convince OMC frontman Polly Foimana to stop working with
00:56their longtime producer.
00:57Things reportedly became so intense that Foimana allegedly attacked someone working for their
01:02American label.
01:03Oh, do you remember?
01:08Before the turn of the century, the company put OMC on an indefinite hiatus, bringing their
01:13output to a screeching halt.
01:15By the time they reunited in the mid-2000s, their window had closed, and their comeback
01:21single failed the chart.
01:23Too much to say, too much to do for me.
01:26Harvey Danger
01:28With Flagpole SIDA, they achieved worldwide fame.
01:31I had visions, I was in them, I was looking into the mirror.
01:36However, Harvey Danger's label seemingly went out of their way to sabotage them.
01:41I'm not sick, but I'm not well.
01:45The first strike came when Slash Records refused to release Carlotta Valdez as a single, and instead
01:51pushed the lackluster Private Helicopter.
01:54I reserve the right to hold my grudges.
01:57The following year, they were working on their sophomore album when a crucial merge happened.
02:03Afterwards, the division Harvey Danger had been signed with was sold, effectively leaving
02:07them in musical limbo.
02:09Their album was delayed, and they were barred from performing and recording.
02:13By the time King James Version was finally released in 2000, it was met with low sales.
02:19The band went on hiatus the following year, and though they later reconnected, they weren't
02:24able to recreate that initial magic.
02:32In 2000, Weedus released Teenage Dirtbag, an epic, genre-blending pop-punk anthem that
02:39proved that they had the songwriting promise to be much more than a flash in the pan.
02:51However, corporate friction quickly derailed their trajectory.
02:54"'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby!"
03:00After frontman Brendan B. Brown refused to lip-sync on the BBC music program Top of the
03:05Pops, their record label, Sony, played a major part in derailing the band's career.
03:10Sony refused to promote their second album, entirely shelving its U.S. release.
03:15An American in Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Amsterdam.
03:20Left in limbo and eventually losing the master recordings of their debut, Weedus was forced
03:25into an independent rebuild, cementing their status as a classic one-hit wonder whose true
03:31potential was impeded by industry politics.
03:34Now I know where I stand and I'm tired of life on the ground
03:39Regina
03:40Label intervention doesn't just happen after the hit has been made.
03:44It comes at all stages of the creative process, as Regina learned with Baby Love.
03:55She and co-writer Stephen Bray had originally penned the single for another artist and intended
04:00to sell it to Madonna.
04:02Atlantic Records instead had Regina record the song herself.
04:12And to their credit, it did extremely well, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
04:17Yet, although Atlantic had shoved her into the spotlight, it seemed they had no intention
04:22of fostering her success.
04:30They parted ways in 1990.
04:32Shortly after, Regina released her final recorded song.
04:36The album she'd planned was indefinitely put on hold.
04:39And it hasn't seen the light of day since.
04:48Not a surf
04:49Sometimes, artists have to take matters into their own hands.
04:54Three important rules for breaking up.
04:57Don't put off breaking up when you know you want to.
04:59Not a surf is the perfect example.
05:02In 1996, their track, Popular, became the ultimate summer jam.
05:07I got my own car, I'm popular.
05:11By 1998, their follow-up album The Proximity Effect was completed.
05:16But their label, Elektra, wasn't too pleased.
05:19Why are you supposed to?
05:23They wanted a sure-fire hit, and so they asked the band to record covers that they could push
05:28as singles.
05:29Not a surf wasn't having it.
05:31They liked the track list and refuted Elektra's request.
05:34In response, Elektra dropped the group and refused to publish the album in the United States.
05:39It would take two years before Not a Surf could release it themselves.
05:43Afterwards, the members worked day jobs for years until they were signed again.
05:48Oh my, I could fight, little execution.
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06:04It always feels like I'm looking for something.
06:08The Vapors.
06:10When record labels merge, artists can sometimes find themselves in the fallout.
06:15I got your picture of me and you.
06:19That was the case for The Vapors, who initially signed with United Artists in the late 1970s.
06:25It was through them that they released their biggest song, Turning Japanese.
06:34Before their second album, Magnets, was completed in 1981, United Artists had been bought by EMI.
06:41Several artists slipped through the cracks, including The Vapors.
06:44The sudden lack of label support meant their project got little to no promotion.
06:56The band was left dejected by its failure, and they broke up in 1982.
07:01Former lead singer David Fenton was so burnt by the experience that he pivoted to law,
07:06where he could help musicians in similar positions to what he was once in.
07:18In a perfect world, an artist who wrote a song that was praised by a Beatle would go on to
07:23have a long, illustrious career.
07:33Instead, Norman Greenbaum found himself back on his dairy farm by 1972,
07:38just three years after his hit Spirit in the Sky ruled the world.
07:46The label wanted a follow-up of the same caliber, and when he revealed it to be
07:51canned ham, they weren't happy.
07:53Greenbaum even recalled one executive directly calling him out for following up the rock and roll smash hit
07:59with a novelty song.
08:00When you gonna buy me canned ham?
08:03I've been waiting so long.
08:06Canned ham was released to little fanfare, and Greenbaum was dropped by Reprise Records in 1971.
08:13Now, his main connection to the music industry is through royalty checks for Spirit in the Sky.
08:23The Monroes
08:24For a split second, it seemed like they had made it big.
08:29You know I told you once tonight that you could always speak your mind.
08:36The Monroes' What Do All The People Know became a beloved new wave hit in 1982, opening doors for them
08:43to
08:43tour with legends like Rick Springfield.
08:45But just as they were taking off, their label, Alpha, was seeing a downturn in profits.
08:51You work so hard to say what's right, I watch you do it all the time.
08:58Alpha pulled out of the U.S. market, but not before selling the Monroes' contract to CBS Records.
09:03That move proved to be the Monroes' undoing.
09:07Their new label essentially stalled their careers from 1982 to 1984.
09:16They tried to switch to a new label, and in the process lost their manager.
09:20By this point, various members had left the band, and in 1988, the band ultimately called it quits.
09:30Deep Blue Something
09:32Their problems began and ended in the same way — a lawsuit.
09:37You'll say we've got nothing in common
09:43Deep Blue Something's Breakfast at Tiffany's was a massive hit.
09:47I said, what about Breakfast at Tiffany's?
09:52In 1995, they were signed to Interscope Records.
09:55By 1996, they were planning to release their third album, Byzantium.
10:00She is everything that I could ever be
10:06But then, the band found themselves embroiled in a lawsuit against Louis Bickel, who had provided
10:11funding and later claimed rights to their recordings and royalties.
10:15By the time the legal dust settled, Interscope had paused the release of their next album.
10:19They eventually dropped Byzantium in 1998, but only in Japan initially.
10:24The band took Interscope to court, and its contract was dissolved.
10:28Although they found new representation and released another album,
10:31Deep Blue Something members shifted their focus to solo work.
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11:09Soft sell.
11:11When a musician can tell their window of opportunity is closing, they may do anything to keep it open.
11:16Sometimes I feel I've got truth and run away.
11:23Soft sell experienced this in 1981.
11:26After their first single flopped, Phonogram Records indicated they had one more chance to get a hit.
11:32To play it safe, the band opted to cover Tainted Love.
11:41It was a massive success, but since the B-side was a cover as well,
11:46soft sell missed out on songwriting royalties from that material.
11:50Where did our love go?
11:53Those went to the original songwriters instead.
11:56Lead singer Mark Almond has since claimed that decision was made by the label.
12:01The group's follow-up singles failed to gain the same popularity, and by 1984, they split up.
12:07Won't you come back?
12:09Oh baby, won't you come back?
12:12Has one of your favorite artists or bands ever had a dispute with their label?
12:16Let us know in the comments below.