10 Greatest One-Hit Wonders Of The '80s

This melodramatic pop masterpiece must be a contender for the most ‘80s of all time. The tune itself is timeless, but every instrument is unmistakably a relic of the Me decade, from the shimmering keyboard to the hard pressed bass and guitar, and, most iconic of all, the wailing saxophone intro.

Boy Meets Girl’s Shannon Rubicam and George Merrill had no intention of recording this song, offering it first to Whitney Huston, who declined, and then Belinda Carlisle, who didn’t dig it. While either of those performers could have cut a decent version, there isn’t a part of this swooning, uplifting singalong that you’d want to change or improve.

“Waiting For A Star To Fall” knows exactly what it’s about, skipping through a reserved verse before hitting one of the all time great bridges, and then the soaring chorus. The pair wrote bigger, arguably bigger hits for others (including Houston’s “"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) - they knew their way around an anthem, alright), but this euphoric single holds up with anything else the duo penned.