Are They A One-Hit Wonder?

Jane Morgan
#7 "Fascination"
#21 "The Day The Rains Came"
#41 "Two Different Worlds"

She ALMOST avoided being a (technical) two hit wonder. Subjectively? I'd guess she is pretty much totally forgotten in mainstream culture? 0HW?
 
Echosmith formed in 2006 in Chino, California. They've released 14 singles. Only two charted.

Cool Kids, #13 in November 2014
Bright, #40 in June 2015

Does anyone remember Bright? Here is their second single, Come Together, released June 12, 2014. No, it's not the Beatles song.

 
Gloria by Them, a Belfast sextet led by Van Morrison (who also wrote the song), was on the Billboard Hot 100 for only one week. It was #93 on the May 22 1965 chart. After the 1966 remake by the Chicago quintet The Shadows Of Knight charted – it would eventually reach #10 – Them's single was re-released and would get to #71 in May 1966. It did much better – much better – in Los Angeles. In April 1965, it was number one for two weeks on the KFWB Fabulous Forty and number one for three weeks on the KRLA Tune-Dex. Both stations also played the B-side, Baby Please Don't Go. KHJ had switched from adult contemporary to top-40 on April 27, 1965. Their first Boss 30 was dated May 5. Wooly Bully by Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs was number one and Gloria/Baby Please Don't Go was #5. The surveys were for in-house use only. Beginning July 9, 1965, weekly Boss 30 surveys were printed and distributed to local record stores.



 
Some one hit wonders who were ALMOST two hit wonders. So close!

Dr John
#9 "Right Place Wrong Time"
#42 "Such A Night"

The Independents
#21 "Leaving Me"
#41 "Baby I've Been Missing You"

Stories
#1 "Brother Louie"
#42 "I'm Coming Home"
 
Yesterday was supposed to be international one-hit wonder day.
I forgot to mention it here. It's been a busy couple of weeks.
 
I remember both songs. Here in Los Angeles, Fancy's remake of the Troggs' 1966 number-one hit Wild Thing peaked at #5 on the August 20 1974 KHJ Thirty and was on the top thirty for 11 weeks. It was also played on KIQQ, KKDJ and KRLA. Touch Me was played on KIQQ and KKDJ but not on KHJ or KRLA. Drummer James Leslie "Les" Binks was a member of Judas Priest, 1977-79.

 
Fancy
#14 "Wild Thing"
#19 "Touch Me"

I don't know either song, never heard of them. Zero hit wonder these days?

BTW one of the members was Helen Caunt. Could you imagine growing up with that last name??
"Wild Thing" is a remake of this one:



So I am sure you have heard it.

(BTW: I have never heard the Fancy one before right now).
 
Rookie pitcher and ex-con Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn, played by Charlie Sheen in Major League, was inspired by Rinold "Ryne" Duren, who had poor vision and wore thick glasses and pitched for eight different teams in the 1950s-60s. After the movie came out, "Wild Thing" became the nickname of relief pitcher Mitch Williams, who played for six teams in his ten-year career. Here is the original Wild Thing by the Troggs. This was number one for two weeks in July-August 1966.

 
Here is a remake of Wild Thing by "Senator Bobby." The B-side was a remake of Wild Thing by "Senator Everett McKinley." The impersonations of Bobby Kennedy and Everett Dirksen were done by Bill Minkin of the improvisational comedy troupe The Hardly-Worthit Players. Minkin later appeared in Who's That Knocking At My Door, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and The King Of Comedy and from 1973 to 1993 hosted the syndicated rock concert radio series The King Biscuit Flower Hour. This reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #14 on the Cash Box Top 100 in February 1967.

 
Fancy
#14 "Wild Thing"
#19 "Touch Me"

I don't know either song, never heard of them. Zero hit wonder these days?

BTW one of the members was Helen Caunt. Could you imagine growing up with that last name??
I heard "Touch Me" on 70s o 7 American Top 40 countdown. I hadn't heard of them before.

Here's Helen in all our glory...
 
On Reddit in the Hot 100 area, this is how they're defining it. They make it clear that two top 40s is not a OHW. They're going for the technical definition, not subjective. Except for rule 3, which says one top 40 but a large body of work means NOT a OHW. Just find it interesting. I remember we debated similar things for this two-hit wonder thread.

reddit-onehitw.webp
 
Yeah, someone felt they needed to establish hard rules, but they don't work. There are a bunch of situations that would meet their criteria, but make no sense. Which is why we have this thread.

I'd tend to think their rules would make the list smaller (more restrictive), but they would allow an artist whose only hit reached 39 for a week. So half of the subjective OHWs are out, while a bunch of no hitters are in.
 
Back
Top Bottom