Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
One-Hit Wonders of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s
I don’t think we’ve had enough arguing recently on Ricochet. So here are my picks for best one-hit wonders for three decades. I’m sure you will all agree. Or not.
1960s
Talk Talk by The Music Machine. One minute and fifty-six seconds of attitude. This was a very competitive decade (see, for instance, Gloria by The Shadows of Knight, Hey Little Girl by The Syndicate of Sound, Tighten Up by Archie Bell & The Drells, Rescue Me by Fontella Bass, Dirty Water by The Standells, 96 Tears by ? & The Mysterians and, of course, I Had Too Much To Dream by The Electric Prunes).
My social life’s a dud/My name is really mud
1970s
Patti Smith has a long and successful career but only one hit single, Because The Night, and it is magnificent. She took a song originally written by Bruce Springsteen and rewrote the verse lyrics while waiting for a call from her boyfriend. Admittedly, my choice raises serious metaphysical issues – can someone be a one-hit wonder if they’ve had a long and successful career? Some may dispute whether my choice is correct but since I believe we can all self-identify with our own truth and declare our pronouns, I’m saying it is.
1980s
Jenny/867-5309 by Tommy Tutone. Perhaps the greatest one-hit wonder of them all.
I tried to call you before, but I lost my nerve/I tried my imagination, but I was disturbed
.
Published in General
Does Naked Eyes count? Was Promises, Promises really a hit?
It was @miffedwhitemale‘s fault. He mentioned them, and I thought everyone should suffer.
Forgot Fiona.
She doesn’t sound as bad as she does on others, like on her supposedly great Horses album.
McArthur Park is one of those baby boomer mysteries. A #2 hit, and you will never hear anybody of your era admit to liking it. Doesn’t even get much radio play.
Both of those songs are in this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Hate-Myself-Want-Die-Depressing-ebook/dp/B01KPEREGI/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=depressing+songs&qid=1578292647&s=books&sr=1-1
Groove is in the Heart always brings back the memory of seeing that video on MTV at the age of 9, and thinking it was weird. And now I think its great.
I almost added this one. It is quite a song. I just hate that video/the whole “we’re young, so let us be in charge” element.
Even so, good choice!
The girl in the band was Stephanie on All in the Family.
In 1972 I was earning college money in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as a waitress in a nice restaurant. I got a table with some cute guys. When I asked where they were from and what got them to Wyoming, they told me that they were part of the band “Looking Glass” and they were taking their little brothers to Yellowstone Park.
I LOVED “Brandy”–their big song that was a huge hit on the radio. Yes, of course I tried to get a meet-up planned after work with them and my cute younger sister (also working there–we tagged teamed lots of fun guys.)
But they had their eyes drawn to this other girl working at the restaurant–the owner’s daughter. She was much shorter than me, and had gorgeous brown eyes, and black hair. My blue eyes/blonde hair tall-drink-of-water was not their type, evidently.
Now that I read that they were from New Jersey, maybe that was why they were attracted to her. The owners had moved out to Wyoming from New Jersey and bought the restaurant because their daughter wanted to try to be a competitive snow skier.
Bummer…I don’t even remember if she agreed to meet them later.
But…I still love their song. (Maybe tomorrow I’ll figure out how to get the music on here…) The guy in the lower right front is the one who turned me down. I don’t remember which other one of them was with him, plus the two little brothers. Pretty cool of them to spend their money on taking family on a big trip!
I like MacArthur Park, both the Donna Sumner and the Maynard Ferguson Versions.
Donna had other hits, and Maynard also had Birdland
Frontier Psychiatrist by the Avalanches
Hocus Pocus by Focus
Ghost Riders in the Sky by the Outlaws
Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson
Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn
Walk like an Egyption by the Bangles
One Night in Bangkok by Murrey Head
Funky Town by Lipps Inc.
Hot Hot Hot by Arrow
As an aside, I am going to go through this thread and add some of these to my playlist.
@jameslileks once went off with vehemence on Mungo Jerry’s magnum opus.
This is the regional hit I remember from my time in the St. Louis area in the late 80’s. I worked in an independent record store and sometimes people would offer a few bucks to tape it from our used album collection. Took a while for the original to pop up in iTunes, but I happily paid for it then.
Agreed. And don’t forget the other classic of that era…
Bangles don’t qualify for on-hit wonder status; they had four or five hits.
OMG.
Back in college in Eau Claire I used to work sound at “the Cabin” (Folk music venue on campus). We’d have monthly open mike nights, and there was a girl who was a music major who came in a couple times and did this song with her boyfriend on guitar. She played flute and did the lead vocal, and they tore the roof off the place with this song, both her singing and an extended rocking flute solo at the end. The version they did was spectacular! Standing ovation from the crowd. I always wished I’d been able to get a recording of their performance. I’ve never, ever heard this song anyplace else until now.
They were so good we finally booked them for a night. They did okay, but didn’t really have enough other material to fill a two hour set.
I will admit to liking the Waylon Jennings cover of MacArthur Park.
Destination Unknown – Missing Persons
Can it be a one-hit wonder if it was covered by so many people? And the original singer had seventeen singles and many albums. Sure, he was primarily known as an actor, but it was hardly his only hit.
The Tornadoes were a group that enjoyed some success in the UK in the early to mid 60s. However, they only had one hit across the pond when it became, in December of 1962, the first single by a British group (before the Lads from Liverpool) to reach #1 on the US Charts. Inspired by events at the time, and featuring out-of-this world sounds, here is
It’s hard to overestimate what a phenomenon this was in the UK and colonies at the time. Hearing it instantly takes me back to the age of eight.
Like? – LOVE!
He multitracked all the vocals, sang all the parts. Plus this song has what may be the first backwards guitar as an instrument. First one I heard anyway.
Another good song on the album: I Give it All to Music.
He became a born-again Christian and made some damn good Christian-Rock albums. I saw him play a couple of times – sweet guy.
Precious and few are the moments we two can share
Quiet and blue like the sky, I’m hung over you
And if we cant find our way back home
It just wouldn’t be fair
‘Cuz precious and few are the moments we two can share.
(From memory. Who says gin kills brain cells?)
The singer did have a really good voice.
His album Slides is one of my all-time favorites. Though it’s probably not for everyone, certainly not for the hard-bitten crew here at Ricochet – way too sappy.
I think @arahant wins in the category “Most Milage out of a Side Joke”.
(And a pretty good joke, too.)
Yes? Because I can still recall many of the lyrics. So it apparently got enough airplay to be jammed into my head.