Originally Posted by Screen13

One of my all time favorite "Legend in The UK/One-Hit in The US" songwriters is Marc Bolan, who's only known Stateside for "Get It On" AKA on the US Top 40 as "Bang a Gong (Get It On)," but known in The UK and other places for his mountain of great music. Sadly, Powerstation's Loud as the 80's Can Get cover is better known where I'm at...

From my day, I can vote for a lot of similar musicians. Talk Talk are only known in The US by 80's music fans for "It's My Life," although the cover by No Doubt (which is not in my favorites) took over. Talk Talk's better work, especially the Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, have to be fully explained by me in order to show that they were beyond very good Synth Pop.

Many great "Garage Bands" of The 60's get my vote - The Standells, The Seeds, Count Five, and many more (You could consider The 13'th Floor Elevators' "You're Gonna Miss Me" a one-hit, even though it's best known Retro-wise. It almost made the Top 40 on original release, although it was a Top 10 in some Texas cities, Detroit, and I think even San Francisco). The Music Machine, one of the most adventurous bands of that time, had a big one-hit with "Talk Talk," certainly not to be confused with "Talk Talk" by Talk Talk (ha ha!).