I was walking down Baker St. in London with a native English friend one day. I mentioned the song by Gerry Rafferty. He said he didn't even chart in England. Crazy huh? Question please;almarg stated; Many thanks to Elizabeth for posting the link to the comprehensive list of one-hit wonders. Brings back a lot of memories. I don't see a posting from Elizabeth on this thread. What am I missing? Joe
Rich, no, neither of those groups were one-hit wonders. The Duprees also did "My Own True Love" and "Have You Heard," among others.
And The Crests, with Johnny Maestro, did "Step By Step," "The Angels Listened In," "Trouble In Paradise," and others. For example, here’s Johnny performing "Step By Step" as a member of The Crests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E284QNyoJug
I like a lot of the songs listed above. In many cases a particular song is heavily identified with a group or individual and is clearly their biggest hit. But, does that make that song a one-hit wonder if the group or individual had other songs that were moderately popular? I really like the suggestion of "Devil with a Blue Dress On," and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels are not that famous, but, if I mention that they did "Sock it to Me, Baby," how many of you would also recognize that song?
Baby It's You - Smith Nothing But A Heartache - The Flirtations Thunder and Lightning - Chi Coltrane I'm On Fire - Dwight Twilley Band Hold On - Ian Gomm No Time To Lose - Tarney - Spencer Band
I actually took a couple of guitar lessons from Dennis Zager in Lincoln Nebraska back in the 80s. Zager & Evan's, in the year 2525. Not sure I got the title right, but they had one hit
Many thanks to Elizabeth for posting the link to the comprehensive list of one-hit wonders. Brings back a lot of memories.
Although I'm mostly a classical music listener, I enjoy listening to a lot of those listed from the late 1950s and the 1960s in my cars on the Fifties on Five and Sixties on Six channels on SiriusXM.
I was surprised to see Bo Diddley listed as a one-hit wonder, and for "Say Man" rather than for "Bo Diddley." But sure enough I see in the Wikipedia writeup on him that "Say Man" reached no. 20 on the pop charts, while "Bo Diddley" didn't hit the pop charts at all, although it reached no. 1 on the R&B chart.
Anyway, while I like many of the vocal recordings on the list I'll single out for mention three oldies that are instrumentals:
"Midnight in Moscow" -- Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen. (In addition to liking the music this sounds remarkably good on my main system, played from a commercial CD compilation of various instrumentals of the time).
Technically, Gerry Rafferty with Baker Street is not a one hit wonder. He also had Right Down the Line, which reached #12. I only know this because I play music trivia and the host said Baker Street was a one hit wonder as well and that didn't sound right to me, so I looked it up and found his second hit.
My choice: Edison Lighthouse –•– Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)
Oh gawd yes, "Friday On My Mind" is insanely great! Another is the double-sided hit 45 by The Left Banke, "Walk Away Renee"/"Pretty Ballerina". "Money (That's What I want)" by Barrett Strong (which makes The Beatles version sound tame) is wicked. "Juke" by Little Walter. "Lies" by The Knickerbockers (better than The Beatles ;-). And lastly, "Caroline, No", the only song recorded by The Beach Boys but released as a Brian Wilson 45 (I had Brian sign my copy at his debut solo album release appearance at Tower Records on Sunset Blvd.). It's on the Pet Sounds album.
"Unbelievable" - EMF "Cars" - Gary Numan "I’ll Be" - Edwin McCain "With a Girl Like You" - The Troggs "Music Eyes" - Hartsfield "My Music" - Bill Quateman
"Talk Talk" by The Music Machine. "The Witch" by The Sonics. "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen (they had a smaller follow-up in "The Jolly Green Giant", but it is for "LL" that they are known). "Hey Little Girl" by The Syndicate Of Sound. "I Love You" by People (a cover of The Zombies song). "The End Of The World" by Skeeter Davis.
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