Saturday, November 22, 2008

One Hit Wonders

i got to thinking about "one hit wonders" today, songs by artists who never had another hit, of course there is a website devoted to this topic:

http://www.onehitwondercentral.com/

anyways i checked it out, under songs from the 60's quite a few i wasn't familiar with, here are the ones that stood out for me, though:

"I Remember You"/Frank Ifield/ 1962
"Everyone's Gone to the Moon"/Jonathan King/1965
"A Walk in the Black Forest"/ Horst Jankowski/1965
"Walkin' My Cat Named Dog"/ Norma Tanega/1966
"Let it Out(Let it All Hang Out)"/ The Hombres/1967
"MacArthur Park"/ Richard Harris/1968
"Harper Valley PTA"/ Jeannie C. Riley/1968
"Something In the Air"/ Thunderclap Newman/1969
at

12 comments:

  1. Blue HeronNovember 22, 2008 at 7:25 PM

    I actually almost put thunderclap newman up on the blog last week but the video was a little too lame - actually they were a Pete Townshend brainchild. but as you so succinctly put it - whatever...

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  2. grumpyNovember 23, 2008 at 5:59 AM

    such a great song, i wasn't aware of the Townsend connection until i read about it on the onehitwonder website...Cat Named Dog is my favorite, however, there's an excellent video of that on YouTube...

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  3. grumpyNovember 23, 2008 at 6:31 AM

    my 70's OHW's:

    Ride Captain Ride/Blues Image/1970

    Spirit in the Sky/Norman Greenbaum/1970

    Put Your Hand in the Hand/Ocean/1971

    Sunshine/Jonathan Edwards/1972

    Bang a Gong/T. Rex/1972

    Soul Makossa/Manu Dibango/1973

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  4. grumpyNovember 23, 2008 at 6:53 AM

    i checked out the video for "something in the air" on YouTube, it's a little grainy but i liked it otherwise, the piano solo towards the end of the song is amazing, i'd forgotten about it...

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  5. grumpyNovember 23, 2008 at 12:46 PM

    ... on to the 80's:

    "Tainted Love"/Soft Cell/1982
    "Mexican Radio"/Wall of Voodoo/1982
    "In a Big Country"/Big Country/1983
    "Whisper to a Scream"/Icicle Works/1984
    "99 Luftballons"/Nena/1984
    "Miami Vice Theme"/Jan Hammer/1985
    "Welcome to the Boomtown"/David & David/1986
    "Beats So Lonely"/Charlie Sexton/1986
    "Under the Milky Way"/the Church/1988
    "What I Am"/Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians/1989

    ...and my vote for absolute worst song of the 80's: "Wiggle Wiggle" by Bob Dylan, which appeared on his worst album ever, "Under the Red Sky"

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  6. grumpyNovember 23, 2008 at 12:55 PM

    ..and finally the 90's, a dry decade musically for OHW's:

    "No Myth"/Michael Penn/1990

    "Walkin' in Memphis"/Mark Cohn/1991

    "I'm Gonna Be(500 Miles)"/Proclaimers/1993

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  7. grumpyNovember 23, 2008 at 1:11 PM

    ...for an unbiased list of the top 20 albums of all time, go to the following site, some of the findings surprized me at first:

    http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/yradish/15499/the-top-20-albums-of-all-time-for-real

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  8. AnonymousNovember 23, 2008 at 2:00 PM

    Robt. Isn't there something on your blog with a little more substance than Dopey's [I mean...Grumpy] one hit wonders list?

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  9. Blue HeronNovember 23, 2008 at 2:48 PM

    Come on now - there is room enough for everyone in the Blast's big tent...

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  10. Blue HeronNovember 23, 2008 at 2:49 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. grumpyNovember 23, 2008 at 7:19 PM

    ...sorry if i offended a-man, i'm just tryin' to bring some levity and a different slant to this blog, music is one of my passions in life, you're welcome to share yours, thanks for havin' my back Rob...

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  12. grumpyNovember 24, 2008 at 7:47 AM

    i will attempt to curtail and refrain from all dopey and insubstantial remarks in the future, in the name of the Father, the Son, and Mickey Most...

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