MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #12
Artist/Band: The First Class
Track: Beach Baby
Date: June 21, 1974
Chart Position: 13
The Lowdown: This joyous tribute to 60’s California and The Beach Boys was the only hit for The First Class. However, its creator, John Carter, racked up four chart successes in the mid-60’s with his harmony trio The Ivy League and in 1967 was responsible for previous One Hit Wonder guest stars The Flower Pot Men. In an era when glam rock and po-faced musical virtuosity ruled, Beach Baby was a refreshing blast of uncomplicated pop which depicted two reunited lovers reminiscing about the good days when they used to go surfing. Despite believing its follow-up to be a great record, John Carter concludes ‘You do just get these on-offs’.
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #11
Artist/Band: Greg Lake
Track: I Believe In Father Christmas
Date: December 6, 1975
Chart Position: 2
The Lowdown: Founding member of prog outfit Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Greg Lake’s reflection on Yuletide caught the imagination with visions of sleigh rides and childhood thrills. Quoting Prokofiev’s twinkly Lieutenant Kije did no harm either. Initially reluctant to release it as he thought it was too cynical, label Atlantic insisted it could be a Christmas single. And so Greg Lake’s dismay at what Christmas had become became his one and only hit as a solo artist.
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #10
Artist/Band: Trio
Track: Da Da Da
Date: July 3, 1982
Chart Position: 2
The Lowdown: Hailing from Grossenkneten, north Germany, Trio produced the sparsely metronomic and thoroughly Germanic Da Da Da. It climbed to the number two spot in the UK charts in 1982 after an item about the German music scene on Friday evening pop show The Tube introduced Trio to the UK. But after the success of Da Da Da, nothing ever materialised, singer Stephan Remmler reflects, ‘We had follow-up hits in Germany [but Da Da Da] was a novelty hit for the rest of the world.’
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
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.
