MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #9:
Artist/band: The Barracudas
Track: Summer Fun
Date: August 16, 1980
Chart position: 37
The lowdown: Halcyon remembrance of surf and ’60s pop defined The Barracudas’ Summer Fun. The band came together in 1977 around guitarist Robin Wills and Canadian music journalist-cum-lead singer Jeremy Gluck. The single’s intro, lifted from a 1965 ad for Plymouth Barracuda Fastback, was certainly memorable. But it was as naïve Flamin’ Groovies/Jan And Dean surf-punk that the song excelled.
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #8:
Artist/band: Brian Protheroe
Track: Pinball
Date: September 7, 1974
Chart position: 22 (UK)
The lowdown: Pinball is all about an English, Play For Today, kitchen-sink melancholy. Here’s Brian Protheroe: “Pinball was a collage, a diary entry for one particular weekend in 1973. I’d just split up with a girlfriend. I was living in a friend’s flat in London, in a room on my own. There was a cat that used to jump out at you. There were fleas. Out of work, just pottering around, backwards and forwards to the pub, playing the pinball. Drinking the pale ale. I’m very proud of Pinball, it perfectly encapsulates how I was feeling at the time. I’m delighted to have had a hit at all.”
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #7:
Artist/band: The Knack
Track: My Sharona
Date: July 14, 1979
Chart position: 6 (UK)
The lowdown: My Sharona was irresistible. Inspired by a girl that bandleader and vocalist Doug Fieger was sweet on, this jerking, groin-centric piece of red-faced powerpop was written as a showstopping end to The Knack’s live set. After entering Billboard’s Hot 100 on June 23, 1979, it reached Number 1 nine weeks later, holding onto the US top spot for six weeks. In America, all those weeks at Number 1 spawned a three-album career that continued until they split in 1982, but in the UK the Anglophile L.A. quartet were pretty much over and done with in the same timeframe.
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #6:
Artist/band: The Flower Pot Men
Track: Let’s Go To San Francisco
Date: August 23, 1967
Chart position: 4
The lowdown: Next to Scott McKenzie’s San Francisco, The Flower Pot Men’s harmony-drenched Let’s Go To San Francisco was the UK’s biggest West Coast-inspired hit of 1967. Their prime movers, John Carter and Ken Lewis, had been the core of The Ivy League, who scored with 1965’s Funny How Love Can Be. As in-demand harmony vocalists, they also sang in sessions – it’s them on The Who’s I Can’t Explain.
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #5:
Artist/band: Violinski
Track: Clog Dance
Date: March 3, 1979
Chart position: 17
The lowdown: Despite what TOTP2 says in the clip above, this was an instrumental one hit wonder that was everywhere in the spring of 1979. But as a side-band for the Electric Light Orchestra’s violinist Mik Kaminski, Violinski had a built-in shelf life. Originally written by Mik’s friend John Marcangelo for a brass band, Clog Dance became a string-driven novelty hit that couldn’t be followed up.
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #4:
Artist/band: Noel Harrison
Track: The Windmills Of Your Mind
Date: February 26, 1969
Chart position: 8
The lowdown: First heard on the soundtrack of 1968’s The Thomas Crown Affair, The Windmills Of Your Mind took on a life of its own in the UK in 1969. Michel Legrand’s beautifully circular melody was complemented by Marilyn and Alan Bergman’s elegiac lyrics. The reflective mood was sealed by Noel ‘Son Of Rex’ Harrison’s wistful vocals. Windmills… spent 14 weeks in the UK Top 40, but there was no follow up-hit.
To read the full story of The Windmills Of My Mind, check out MOJO ’60s Volume 2 - on sale now.
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #3:
Artist/band: The Saints
Track: This Perfect Day
Date: July 23, 1977
Chart position: 34 (UK)
The lowdown: These Aussie punks arrived in London in June 1977 and seven weeks later their third single, the UK-recorded This Perfect Day, hit the charts. A revved-up Paint It Black for the new generation, Perfect Day remains magnificent, and after magisterially slouching through this Top Of The Pops appeareance, The Saints dropped from 34 to 36; their relationship with the UK charts was soon history.”
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #2:
Artist/band: The Jaynetts
Track: Sally Go Round The Roses
Date: August 31, 1963
Chart position: 2 (US)
The lowdown: These three Bronx girls came together to sing on this great, mystical-sounding, Spector-influenced single in 1963. Orignally a simple waltz tune, arranger Artie Butler (Shirelles, Dionne Warwick, Bob Dylan) added piano, drums, upright bass and B3 organ. The sound went down a generation and became even spookier.
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #1:
Artist/band: Frankie Ford
Track: Sea Cruise
Date: September 3, 1959
Chart position: 14 (US)
The lowdown: Written by legendary New Orleans R&B man Huey ‘Piano’ Smith, this swinging boogie was recorded by the 19-year-old Ford in 1958 and has been covered by the likes of Glenn Frey, Status Quo, Johnny Rivers and Rico Rodriguez.
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
