Gonna say that Frankie Goes to Hollywood is a "1.5 hit wonder".

Of course, "Relax":


and "Two Tribes" was a hit, but not radio-play mainstream:

Two Tribes was a Club Hit - big player at the Stark Club back in the day .... so I've been told

Its funny these threads. I remember all of these songs except the ones from the 60s someone posted. Never heard of those. I admit I didnt listen either, I may remember hearing them much later than the 60s. But these threads bring back memories.

Everybody loved this song by these one hit wonders. Why not? It was a topic everyone liked.

The one and only hit for NapoleonXIV
Thank God

Don't forget John Parr's "St Elmo's Fire". Theme song to the movie of the same name. Big hit in the summer of 85.

Buck Whiskey said:

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In the CSB category we (Katrina Leskanich and I) went to the same HS though many years apart. The guy who taught band actually has their first performance of the song on tape.

Also, someone on page two said you can bet set for life from one song...this one is the one. That song has generated over a million dollars a year in royalties for many, many years. At one time it was the most requested song in the EMI catalog. Just 3 years ago they finally sold the rights to all of their songs for 10 million British pounds.

Also, we think of Katrina and the Waves as total one hit wonders but if you look at the list for Kimberly Rew (the guy who wrote the song) and Katrina Leskanich you would be SHOCKED how many songs they were involved in. I mean Katrina and the Waves put out TWELVE albums lol. The follow up to Walking on Sunshine was a top 40 hit as well (Do You Want Crying). Thats the Way was a top 20 hit. Love Shine a Light was a top 5 British hit even better than Walking on Sunshine did.

PartyBear said:

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Don't forget John Parr's "St Elmo's Fire". Theme song to the movie of the same name. Big hit in the summer of 85.

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John Parr's second hit. His first is below:

I saw this group at Fireman's Hall in Eastland, Texas while this song was a hit. They played this song first. They played some other stuff then said before they took a break they wanted to play their favorite song . Then they played it again. After the break they said everybody wanted to hear their favorite song. Then they played it one more time. In the second set it made the list again and, as you have figured out, they closed the show with it. Must've been the only song they knew.

At least we were able to dance to it.

Follow me, you rats!

Stranger said:

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Follow me, you rats!

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And you'll show us where it's at.

This was a group from Austin. Supposedly it was a true story about an elderly couple from Salado who was driving to Wal-Mart in Belton and dementia kicked in and they ended up in Oklahoma on the side of the road dead of malnutrition or some such.

A great song by a good band that never had another hit. Somewhere I have their album.

Don't forget that one hit wonder in the mid 70s from those guys from Cisco that still gets some air play today "Summer Breeze". It was even used for an air freshener commercial only a few years ago.

Edit here. Just googled the song. Seals and Crofts was the name of the band and the song was released in summer of 72 not mid 70s. It must have been so popular it still got air play in 74 or 75 or so. I recall hearing it from that time period on radio etc. as a little kid.

PartyBear said:

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Don't forget that one hit wonder in the mid 70s from those guys from Cisco that still gets some air play today "Summer Breeze". It was even used for an air freshener commercial only a few years ago.

Edit here. Just googled the song. Seals and Crofts was the name of the band and the song was released in summer of 72 not mid 70s. It must have been so popular it still got air play in 74 or 75 or so. I recall hearing it from that time period on radio etc. as a little kid.

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Summer Breeze
Hummingbird
Diamond Girl
We may never pass this way again
Get Closer
I'll play for you
King of Nothing

And their most famous hit (as members of the Champs):

whitetrash said:

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PartyBear said:

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Don't forget that one hit wonder in the mid 70s from those guys from Cisco that still gets some air play today "Summer Breeze". It was even used for an air freshener commercial only a few years ago.

Edit here. Just googled the song. Seals and Crofts was the name of the band and the song was released in summer of 72 not mid 70s. It must have been so popular it still got air play in 74 or 75 or so. I recall hearing it from that time period on radio etc. as a little kid.

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Summer Breeze
Hummingbird
Diamond Girl
We may never pass this way again
Get Closer
I'll play for you
King of Nothing

And their most famous hit (as members of the Champs):

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Agreed. And to be technical, Dash Crofts was from Cisco and Jimmy Seals (and brother "England Dan") were from down the road at Sidney.

Stranger said:

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whitetrash said:

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PartyBear said:

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Don't forget that one hit wonder in the mid 70s from those guys from Cisco that still gets some air play today "Summer Breeze". It was even used for an air freshener commercial only a few years ago.

Edit here. Just googled the song. Seals and Crofts was the name of the band and the song was released in summer of 72 not mid 70s. It must have been so popular it still got air play in 74 or 75 or so. I recall hearing it from that time period on radio etc. as a little kid.

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Summer Breeze
Hummingbird
Diamond Girl
We may never pass this way again
Get Closer
I'll play for you
King of Nothing

And their most famous hit (as members of the Champs):

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Agreed. And to be technical, Dash Crofts was from Cisco and Jimmy Seals (and brother "England Dan") were from down the road at Sidney.

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And Dan went on to be a country artist performing under his own last name.

I dont think they were in the champs when that song was done were they? Someone by the name of Flores actually wrote "Tequila".

As to the other songs listed were they actually hits? Granted I have heard Diamond Girl I admit to not knowing who did the song however.

You are correct about Tequila. Tequila was a hit in 1958. Jimmy Seals and Dash Crofts were in a later version of the band around 1965.

As for Seals and Crofts being one hit wonders, they did have a string of hits mentioned above, eight in fact.

PartyBear said:

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I dont think they were in the champs when that song was done were they? Someone by the name of Flores actually wrote "Tequila".

As to the other songs listed were they actually hits? Granted I have heard Diamond Girl I admit to not knowing who did the song however.

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Stranger is right. Seals and Crofts were pretty big. All of the songs he mentioned were hits. Summer Breeze, Diamond Girl, We May Never Pass This Way Again... all big, big hits and on Top 40 radio all the time back in the day. I remember them all.

I looked them up just to quantify how big of a hit these songs were. According to Wikipedia:

Summer Breeze went to #6 on the Billboard charts and #4 on Adult Contemporary charts.
Hummingbird went to 20 and 12 on those charts respectively
Diamond Girl was 6 and 4
We May Never Pass This Way Again was 21 and 2
I'll Play for You was 18 and 4
Get Closer was 6 and 2.

Not sure if this can be called a hit, but this is a wonderful song by DM

It is a masterpiece.

McLean has at least 3 hits: american pie, Vincent, castles in the sky and he's in the songwriters hall of fame. One hit wonder??

nein51 said:

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McLean has at least 3 hits: american pie, Vincent, castles in the sky and he's in the songwriters hall of fame. One hit wonder??

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Maybe a one album wonder. I own albums 2 and 3 and he definitely lost it somewhere in there.

Who could forget Skip & Flip and one of the nastiest songs I ever danced to. The bands made up verses to this song that you couldn't even believe!

Cherry Pie . . . gimme gimme some of your hairy cherry pie

Stranger said:

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nein51 said:

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McLean has at least 3 hits: american pie, Vincent, castles in the sky and he's in the songwriters hall of fame. One hit wonder??

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Maybe a one album wonder. I own albums 2 and 3 and he definitely lost it somewhere in there.

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Probably a true assessment. I still own his self-titled followup album to American Pie. There's nothing on it as good as American Pie or Vincent, but that's a pretty high bar for any album. I do like the album, though.

Thinking about it led me to go to YouTube to find one of the songs from "Don McLean" I always liked -- about a cowboy-turned-actor in era of the old Westerns. It's a beautifully crafted song, and it still has a lot to say about the power that movie studios and record labels have over artists.

Tighter Tighter - Alive & Kicking

Walk Away Renee was written and recorded by the Left Banke. They had one other "top 20" song but I am not familiar with it. Walk Away Renee has been covered by many, including The Four Toos... but the two best would be a duet of Linda Ronstadt / Ann Savoy and one by the late Jimmy Lafave.

"Keep On Dancing" - the Gentry's

If TACO had any other noteworthy songs, I'm unfamiliar:

Not a one hit wonder, but a "reply" for Puttin' on the Ritz...... from a Young Frankenstein!

Gene Wilder said he really had to lobby to have that part in the movie, Mel Brooks thought it was stupid.

When Mel Brooks thinks something's stupid, you really gotta step back and evaluate!

Hang on Sloopy - - - The McCoy's