This is an opinion column by Mike Oliver who writes about his diagnosis of Lewy body dementia and other issues at AL.com and on his blog myvinylcountdown.com
Isn’t that it? We like to read and listen to one-hit wonders because it makes us wonder. We wonder, well, what happened to him or her or them?
We ask: “They were so good. Why didn’t they have another hit?”
“Did something tragic happen?
Oooh and it makes you wonder. Am I a one-hit wonder — in my life?”
How must the one-hit wonders feel? Working for years without another hit. Having to play that one hit as the last song at every concert gig It’s like George Reeves who played Superman in the TV show not being able toget another good job because he had been typecast.
One wonders and worries, perhaps, but they are fascinating. I’m not going to go into any deep analysis here about the psychology or analyze why some hit big only once.
But I’m going to list the top 10 one-hit wonders from My Vinyl Countdown blog. This comes from a list of my 678 albums, of which about 225 are on this blog
I’ve vowed to finish them all before I die.
I’m pulling my list from the 225 or so that I have already reviewed. We’ll do another list down the road. Remember, this is my collection, mainly bought in the 1970s and 1980s.
It’s worth pointing out that some very fine artists never make it the Billboard 100. This is not meant to be a complete list, it’s a list of songs that I like and that make me wonder why the artist never broke through again. I have a low bar, these aren’t No. 1 Billboard songs. Could be any on the top 100.
- Song: Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me.) Artist:. Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel. This charted (barely) at 96 in the U.S. in 1976 but was No. 1 in England. I had this on a live album called ‘Face to Face’ but never paid much attention — it was the last song on a 2-disc live album I picked up in Athens, Ga., I then found out the song was on one of my compilations records as well, but I’ve only recently come to appreciate its cool-ness and catchiness.
- Song: Sweet Mary. Artist: Wadsworth Mansion. This catchy tune sounds like it came out of the Beach Boy’s treasure chest or Jan and Deans garage. The song went to No. 7 on the Billboard 100. Despite releasing other songs, the band never had another track crack the 100. And you wonder how a band with a name like that could go wrong. (I love the speeded up outro: Chickie-chickie-chick is your heart a-break. Chickie-chickie-chick is your heart a-break
- Song: A Good Heart. Artist: Feargal Sharkey. This song was also catchy as heck and went No. 1 in the UK charts but only saw No. 76 in the U.S in 1985. Despite some great songs, nothing else went Top 100 US for him. Before his solo career, Sharkey was known for fronting the Irish band ‘The Undertones,’ a significant contributor to the power-pop New Wave movement. Its hard to listen to this song and not sing-surf along to Sharkey’s powerful voice on the chorus. My personal favorite, from the same album, is a song called ‘You Little Thief’ which did well overseas but didn’t chart in the U.S.
- Song: Money Changes Everything. Artist: The Brains. This song, one of the all time great rock songs, was covered by Cindi Lauper and became a worldwide hit charting at No. 27 on the U.S. Billboard 100 in 1985. It was an underground hit for The Atlanta, Ga.-based Brains, were fronted by Tom Gray who wrote and recorded the song. Athough the bands work was crtically acclaimed, they never matched the Money success. They have several albums which I review here.
- Song: Resurrection Shuffle. Artist: Ashton Gardner & Dyke. This song is one of two songs I know of that have your backbone slipping in the lyrics. The other is Land of a 1,000 Dances, which is as danceable as this one, which is pretty high praise because they are high on the danceability scale. The group had several albums and released several singles but nothing that made the charts. Resurrection Shuffle however hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the States in 1971. Tom Jones and Clarence Clemons are among those who have covered this song.
- Song: A Million Miles Away. Artist: The Plimsouls. I’m stretching my own rules here by picking something off of an album I haven’t reviewed yet. I am in the ‘H’s’ as I count these down. However, I have a good explanation. The band has Peter Case in it, whom I have already reviewed. This is a great song, and I’m sure they would have had more had they stayed together. One might remember this song (and the Plimsouls playing it), from the 80’s movie ‘Valley Girl.’
- Song: Slow Dancing. Artist: The Funky Kings. Most have never heard of the Funky Kings. I reviewed them recently on this blog here. They were a pleasant laid back southern California band that left little lasting impression. Slow Dancing however became a hit on the Easy Listening charts and a Johnny Rivers cover did even better. It’s nice. It’s a high school slow dance song. It’s the kind of song that becomes a memory touchstone if you happened to be exposed to it at the right age.
- Song: Sunshine. Artist: Jonathan Edwards. When you hear this song it sounds like you’ve heard it all your life, even if it’s the first time. That’s the sign of a timeless song and this is a good one. The question is (and I wonder) what happened to Edwards. He did other records, two other songs nearly cracked the top 100. He did some acting. But he never came close to matching the power and popularity of ‘Sunshine.’
- Song: Telstar. Artist: The Tornadoes. This instrumental sounds like a classic, like you heard it somewhere before. The band was comprised of successful backing musicians and had numerous hits in the UK. Telstar, however, was their only US hit as far as I can tell. But it did well: No. 1. Not bad for a pop song with no words.
- Song: Driver’s Seat. Artist: Sniff ‘n’ the Tears. Okay I’m cheating. I haven’t reviewed this one yet but I wanted to close strong. This is just a great piece of driving, rocking pop fluff. A little bit like ‘Radar Love’ in that it is a good driving song. But this band was truly a one-hit wonder. One and done.