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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
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Published in General
Thank you. I aim to spread laughter where I can.
Including a great cover of S&G’s Hazy Shade of Winter that’s still on my playlist.
This was right around the time (a little after) another instrumental, Stranger on the Shore by Mr. Acker Bilk, was a big hit. I’m not going to reproduce it here, but I didn’t forget the “Mister” part.
My Sharona by The Knack. I think of it as 80s, but it was released in 1979.
Hmmm, just realized the timing on this recording doesn’t work. My time at the Cabin was 1981-1984. If this was late 80s for you, that means there must be an earlier version out there somewhere.
867-5309 Jenny by Tommy Tutone. May already been mentioned.
You can use that for a loyalty number with a local area code at most supermarkets.
News you can use!
Even if you found the number on a wall?
Hah! Nice.
Where is James? This is surely Post of the Week worthy.
Apple Music shows it as recorded by Mason Proffit in 1974. Must have been a re-release in late 80s.
Edit: and Wikipedia shows it as recorded in 1969. Even 1974 was a re-issue.
Starting to lose track of the choices. Have we had “I Melt With You” by Modern English? Always liked that one.
BTW, can anyone advise on why some videos are embedding while others are not–when I’m doing the exact same thing by copying the url?
More hippity hops!
Does “Another Girl Another Planet” by The Only Ones qualify as a “hit”? Certainly a great song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilDD5SeHxXE
It came up earlier. Also about the embedding – site software has decided to identify as non-binary human and is now making its own decisions regarding what it will allow to be embedded depending on how much it likes the tune.
One of the things that made “The Diner” one of my favorite podcasts was the musical oddities he brought forth from the jukebox. By definition, these couldn’t really be “hits,” per se.
When you copy the link in the comment section, click on it and select the “remove link” symbol (to the right of the pencil symbol). Then click the comment button. Then you have to edit your comment and hit the Enter key after the new link. Then it displays with the image of the youtube video.
This is a fun post topic.
Yeah, including Eternal Flame, Manic Monday, and Hazy Shade of Winter. I’m afraid that I’ve just confessed to being a Bangles fan.
Walking in Memphis is a great song.
Yeah, I know, and the German language version was actually a better song. The lyrics turned out to be a bit silly, on translation.
Thank you. I will do that. Just for the record, I did not do that in other videos I successfully embedded in this thread.
Laura Branigan had other hits, including Ti Amo, How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, and Solitaire.
Uh oh, now I’ve confessed to being a Laura Branigan fan, too. I guess that I should say that I like Belinda Carlisle and the Go-Gos, Patty Smyth and Scandal, Wilson Phillips, and even some Bananarama.
The whole album is awesome. One of my top 2 or 3 favorite albums.
Have you seen the film Finding Graceland? It’s pretty good, and Walking in Memphis is essentially the theme song.
Pure pop for now people, to quote another fellow:
I believe he expounded on the ridiculousness of “Ride Captain Ride” at one point.
EDIT: Oh, wait. There he is right above this post. Bring it, James!
There should be a prize for naming that fellow.
Not that I know the answer.
Dead or Canadian?
The interesting thing about that band, and that album, was the producer: perfect case of someone remaking a band in his own image. Tony Mansfield was the main talent behind New Musik, an early-80s synthwave group that recorded a few dozen astonishingly melodic and catchy songs. He developed a distinctive synth drum sound that’s all over the Naked Eyes album. After that? Hardly anything.
No, I haven’t seen it. I’ll look for it.
I think the best song on the album is “Saving the Best for Last” or maybe “Strangers in a Car.” Walking in Memphis is also very good. But I don’t think it’s the best song on the album.
They were silly.
Just as well, considering one of his best-known 33RPM long-playing records was titled “Call Me Mister.”
Ah, Bernard Stanley Bilk. A favorite of my mothers, and another one who was incredibly popular in the UK, but who really had only one hit over here.
Like “Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen,” whose Midnight in Moscow was, for years (may still be for all I know) the signature tune for Radio Moscow because is was so well known. (It was from 1960 or so):
Lord. I am old. And not getting any younger.