WAH!
(UK, three Top 40 hits, two Top 40 albums)

CURIOUS ONE-MAN project of couldn't-be-bothered reputation and name-changing legend, starring Scouse warbler Pete Wylie, a man who had talent by the bucketload yet seemed unkeen to use it. Two singles of the three stick out - the outlandish "Story Of The Blues" in very late '82, which got to No.3, and the less successful but equivalently effervescent "Come Back" ("come back, I'm willing to try, come back, don't let time go by"), by which time Wylie had decided to become the Mighty Wah!, even though there wasn't anything greatly mighty about him, or them, or whatever. A fine solo single under his own name apart, little more was heard of Wylie as he dissolved into the management and promotion sides of the biz, which was a shame as he had the potential to be a poetic genius of our times.

Biggest Hit: "Story Of The Blues", No.3, 1982
Defining Moment: The above song.

JOHN WAITE
(UK, one Top 40 hit, no Top 40 albums)

NARROW-FACED AND croaky singer whose one semblance of poppability was a classy mid-tempo balled called "Missing You" ("and there's a storm that's raging through my frozen heart tonight"), a painful tale of denial delivered with great panache and real tear-duct opening potential. Nothing touched the charts from him again, but the medium wave never gets tired of announcing his song.

Biggest Hit:"Missing You", No.9, 1984
Defining Moment: "I ain't missing you at all..."

STEVE WALSH
(UK, one Top 40 hit, no Top 40 albums)

BIG-BONED, MOUSTACHIOED geezer whose one hit "I Found Lovin'" got to No.9 in the same week in '87 that the Fatback Band original was at No.7. Most bizarre, and certainly rare, if not unique. Don't know whether Walsh's release inspired a clamour for the original, though that band can be grateful to him as their version had been released twice previously and had flopped both times.

Biggest Hit: "I Found Lovin'", No.9, 1987
Defining Moment: Inspiring a repetitious playlist on Radio 1.

TREVOR WALTERS
(UK, two Top 40 hits, no Top 40 albums)

DARK-SPECTACLED soul type of very un-showbiz name who had already tasted chart success in '81 with "Love Me Tonight" before his famed (and very welcome) semi- pisstake of Lionel Richie's saccharin infestation of '84 gave us all a good laugh. Richie's inspid "Stuck On You" ("got a feeling down deep in my soul that I just can't lose") had peaked at No.12, then Walters did a jazzed-up, less mournful version just a month later and took it into the Top 10. Terrific stuff.

Biggest Hit: "Stuck On You", No.9, 1984
Defining Moment: Making Lionel Richie look a pillock.

WANG CHUNG
(UK, one Top 40 hit, one Top 40 album)

GLORIOUS triumvirate of one hit wonder God-like stature thanks to the splendid, intricate "Dance Hall Days" which should have got a lot higher than No.21, but is remembered to an extent which far outweighs the song's peak position, so hindsight declares its peak placing unimportant. Still getting airplay with it, too. The lead singer's son, named Jack Ryder, now receives several postvans full of soppy mail from hormonal girls each week owing to his portrayal of rookie mechanic and teen goldheart Jamie Mitchell in EastEnders.

Biggest Hit: "Dance Hall Days", No.21, 1984
Defining Moment: Not being forgotten.

(Thanks to THOMMO for further information)

WARD BROTHERS
(UK, one Top 40 hit,no Top 40 albums)

SIBLING THREESOME from Barnsley who came mightily close to total obscurity, saved only by the quite appealing "Cross That Bridge" ("if there's a problem we'll get over it") which despite only making No.32, was enjoyable and earthy. A placing on the Now 9 compilation helped them along further, though no more hits would follow.

Biggest Hit: "Cross That Bridge", No.32, 1987
Defining Moment: Giving Barnsley a better name.

WAS (NOT WAS)
(US, two Top 40 hits, no Top 40 albums)

THOROUGHLY ENTERTAINING Yank vocal pairing famous for one thing and one thing only, the effervescent "Walk The Dinosaur" ("open the door get on the floor, everybody walk the dinosaur") which had them characterised as modern men flashed back to prehistoric times, hence the reference to watching Miami Vice and enjoying a smoke forty million years ago. TOTP put a large fibreglass Tyrannosaurus Rex on stage for them, which we're sure was helpful, while the backing band wore grass skirts and those ivory-tooth necklace things. All rather daft, and all quite superb.

Biggest Hit: "Walk The Dinosaur", No.10, 1987
Defining Moment: "Boom boom, ak-a-lak-a-lak-a boom..."

GROVER WASHINGTON JR.
(US, one Top 40 hit, one Top 40 album)

YANK SAXOPHONIST who was sole creditee on something called "Just The Two Of Us" in '81, which only got to No.34. We didn't remember it, until we realised that Bill Withers sang a lead vocal without credit, and then we definitely didn't remember it.

Biggest Hit: "Just The Two Of Us", No.34, 1981
Defining Moment: Had to better than Kenny G