1984 Hair Metal Anthem Was Just Ranked the 'Best Classic Rock One-Hit Wonder' From the '80s

While music lovers in the '80s were inundated with plenty of "one-hit wonders," some briefly popular songs released in the decade are considered better than others. For instance, in May 2026, the publication Collider released a list of the "10 best classic rock one-hit wonders of the 1980s."

The ranking included '80s rock hits like 1982's "I Melt With You" by Modern English, Dexys Midnight Runners' 1982 song "Come On Eileen," and "867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone, released in 1981. According to Collider, the hair metal band Twisted Sister's"We're Not Gonna Take It" from 1984 deserved the list's top spot.

The anthem climbed to the number 21 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1984.

Dee Snider Shared Some Insight Into Making the Hit Song in a 2015 Interview

The original singer of Twisted Sister, Dee Snider, discussed the long-lasting success of "We're Not Gonna Take It" in a 2015 interview with boom 97.3. He said the band was accused of writing the tune with the intention of it being a "pop anthem that was going to put us over the top." The retired musician, now 71, said, however, that wasn't the case.

"The fact of the matter is I had written the hook 'We're not gonna take it' in 1980, which is four years [before it] was released, before we had a record deal, but I couldn't finish the song," said Snider in the interview. "I had this great hook, and I would constantly go back to it, trying to come up with the verse and chorus for it, and I'd just come up empty."

He said that he "finally figured out the verse and chorus and completed the song" while working on the band's 1984 album, Stay Hungry.

In addition, he said that he's encountered people all over the world who know the hit song.

"It's to the point where they may not even know who wrote the song or who recorded the song originally. That's when it becomes a folk song," said Snider in the 2015 interview.

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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 5:33 PM.