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The 25 Greatest One-Hit Wonders Of All Time

Beach Baby by First Class way better than a lot listed here.
Norman Greenbaum should have been higher than 7.
I would have given a nod to Hot Child in the City Nick Gilder

just my .02.
 
re #14: When I was in high school we used to debate if they were singing "Reach out in the darkness" or "Freak out in the garden."

************

I think two huge omissions are The Surfaris "Wipeout". Steam "Sha Na Na Na " Still popular today. Wipeout is ppearing right now on TUG in the surfing sea lions thread.

Other notable omissions.

Surfin' Bird by the Trashmen.

Tequila - The Champs

Double Shot (of My Baby's Love) - Swingin' Medallions.

96 Tears - ? and the Mysterions

*******************

Another one-hit wonder, IMHO not worth of being considered among the greats, but still a one-hit wonder nonetheless, was "Liar Liar" by the Castaways. Though it did get used in "Good Morning Viet Nam". They were a local suburban Minneapolis band playing high school dances. They were all underage, and couldn't do any club work. The drummer, Denny Craswell, was still in high school when "Liar, Liar" was recordede. He was in a couple of my sister's classes at the time.



Denny's high school yearbook picture - Richfield High School Class of 1966 (my sister was class of 1967). Same chipped tooth as you can see in the wink at the end of the video above.

1610676465913.png
 
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They missed one of my 1-hit wonder favorites: The Georgia Satellites - Keep Your Hands to Yourself. Still hear every once in a while.
 
Green Door.
 
Tighter Tighter, Alive 'N Kickin'
867-5309/Jenny, Tommy Tutone
I Melt With You, Modern English
Turning Japanese, The Vapors
Puttin' On The Ritz, Taco
Electric Avenue, Eddy Grant
 
Lydlady said:
“Brandy” by Looking Glass, “How Long?” by Ace, “Layla” by Derek and the Dominoes, “In the Summertime“ by Mungo Jerry. You can tell I really like 70’s music.
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Brandy is a worthy mention, and I would put "Green-Eyed Lady" by Sugarloaf right alongside "Brandy".

I discount "Layla" because that was Eric Clapton, and you can't exactly call him a one-hot wonder.

****************
There are countless examples of one-hot wonders. So for me, to count among the "greatest", it can't be just a one-and-done, But rather it's something that still engages and resonates with people to this day, especially if they were not around when it was original.

Is the song just a memory? Or has it endured and continued to circulate?

Which raises the question about "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen? Although they had some lesser followup hits, does any one remember the Kingsmen for anything other than "Louie Louie"?
 
rboesl said:
They missed one of my 1-hit wonder favorites: The Georgia Satellites - Keep Your Hands to Yourself. Still hear every once in a while.
Click to expand...


What about "Hippy Hippy Shake"?

I also liked "I Love You, Period", although I don't know if it was classified as a hit.
 
Transfusion.
 
T_R_Oglodyte said:
I discount "Layla" because that was Eric Clapton, and you can't exactly call him a one-hot wonder.
Click to expand...

I agree with the point about "Layla". I guess it's like saying "Sea of Love" by the Honeydrippers was a one-hit wonder even though Robert Plant had many hits solo and with Led Zeppelin.

Some one-hit wonders from about 1985 that I liked were the theme from "St. Elmo's Fire" by John Parr, "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" by Boys Don't Cry, and "Let's Go All the Way", by Sly Fox. Then there was Jennifer Rush with her cover version of "The Power of Love".
 
I don't know how they missed Brady. It has been popular since it came out. You guys remember that Korean dude with the Gangman style song. I think he had the one hit wonder with the most plays on you tube.

Bill
 
As mentioned
How did Brandy not make the list?
It’s still played all the time

I thought I heard a story about this guy. He was a house painter and when it was on the radio he called in and said. That’s my song. DJ said yeah we all like it. He went on to tell him that he was the band
Pretty sure it was about this group

 
How about Dancing In The Moonlight by King Harvest? It seemed like I didn't hear this song for decades and it turned up in my life 2-3 years ago. On one trip my wife and I heard it on XM in the car, while walking through an airport and sitting at breakfast in the hotel! The band was formed in Ithaca, NY and I'm pretty sure they were students at Cornell.

 
There is still hope for all of us to be a one hit wonder. Get writing!
 
T_R_Oglodyte said:
Brandy is a worthy mention, and I would put "Green-Eyed Lady" by Sugarloaf right alongside "Brandy".

I discount "Layla" because that was Eric Clapton, and you can't exactly call him a one-hot wonder.

****************
There are countless examples of one-hot wonders. So for me, to count among the "greatest", it can't be just a one-and-done, But rather it's something that still engages and resonates with people to this day, especially if they were not around when it was original.

Is the song just a memory? Or has it endured and continued to circulate?

Which raises the question about "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen? Although they had some lesser followup hits, does any one remember the Kingsmen for anything other than "Louie Louie"?
Click to expand...

Sugarloaf doesn't count as they had a second hit 6 years later - Don't Call Us, We'll Call you.
 
easyrider said:
I don't know how they missed Brady. It has been popular since it came out. You guys remember that Korean dude with the Gangman style song. I think he had the one hit wonder with the most plays on you tube.

Bill
Click to expand...

You mean PSY Gangnam Style? Another relatively recent one hit wonder.

My boys had perfected this dance when this song was popular. I tried to do the dance with less success than my boys.

 
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joestein said:
This list is horrible. I have only heard of 10 of the 25 songs listed.

I would think an all time one hit wonder is a song that is timeless and still gets played today (such as Mungo Jerry's Summertime).

My daughters who are 17 love that song.
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I agree, many I have never heard of. And why is Joan Baez on the list? Just for the cover of that song?

Mungo Jerry’s Summertime is a great example of a one hit wonder, for me at least. I read your post and I wondered who the heck was Mungo Jerry? I searched and played it and was immediately familiar with the song. Had no idea it was by a group called Mungo Jerry.
 
Van Lingle Mungo.
 
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RX8 said:
I agree, many I have never heard of. And why is Joan Baez on the list? Just for the cover of that song?

Mungo Jerry’s Summertime is a great example of a one hit wonder, for me at least. I read your post and I wondered who the heck was Mungo Jerry? I searched and played it and was immediately familiar with the song. Had no idea it was by a group called Mungo Jerry.
Click to expand...

How much pot do you think they were smoking and/or acid they were dropping to have come up with that name?

Check our boy out: How about them sideburns?
mungo Jerry.jpg
 
I can’t believe this one hasn’t been listed yet: Zager & Evans - In the Year 2525
 
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