This song at least did chart (#33 on the Billboard Hot 100), which means Looking Glass were not a one-hit wonder. I really liked the single that was released in between these two, "Rainbow Man." It was written and sung by their bass player rather than Elliot Lurie, the Looking Glass frontman. But it only "Bubbled Under" at #103.
What a great song! I discovered this, and a lot of other goodies, on Columbia's Rock Artifacts series from the early '90's. 1 –The Looking Glass Jimmy Loves Mary-Ann 3:24 2 –Grin White Lies 3:27 3 –Chase Get It On 2:59 4 –Pacific Gas & Electric Are You Ready? 5:46 5 –Sweathog Hallelujah 2:58 6 –Mashmakhan As The Years Go By 3:45 7 –Chi Coltrane Thunder And Lightning 3:01 8 –The Spiral Starecase More Today Than Yesterday 2:54 9 –Sly & The Family Stone Hot Fun In The Summertime 3:03 10 –Redbone Maggie 5:07 11 –Argent Hold Your Head Up 6:16 12 –The Spiral Starecase No One For Me To Turn To 2:31 13 –Keith Barbour Echo Park 3:43 14 –Christie Yellow River 2:45 15 –Redbone The Witch Queen Of New Orleans 2:55 16 –The Isley Brothers That Lady 5:35
I actually remember hearing this on the radio after 'Mambo No. 5' had been so huge and thinking that it was a blatant and pathetic attempt at getting another hit out of the exact same formula. Too many one hit wonders make this mistake--trying to copy the formula of the original hit, rather than pushing on to something new and fresh. Lou Bega, "I Got a Girl" This actually charted in a number of countries by the US and the UK both noped out on this one and Lou's subsequent career.
I don't even consider Vienna Calling to be Falco's second most important song, I'd say it's this: ...Although it's better known for After The Fire's cover version in some territories.
Here's a genuine entry to this thread. In 1981, Mobiles had a UK #9 hit with Drowning in Berlin. Their vocalist seemed a bit like a pastiche of Siouxsie Sioux, and it was a bit of a weird new wave song, even by early 1980s standards. The follow-up failed to chart:
Tommy's voice (more particularly his odd phrasing) is more naked here so it's no mystery why this didn't do as well. "867-5309" was so busy that it could hide. Here, it doesn't. Ed
This isn't terrible but we already got "Mambo #5" and as you said, this is really reductive of that tune. He even comes out and says it with the "6-7-8-9-10" thing. This is an implicit single. It's catchy for sure but it's just a bit too reminiscent of "Mambo #5" to have done much of anything. Ed
Natasha England had a top 10 hit with Iko Iko in the UK, Ireland, Israel and New Zealand, but the, very good, follow up only made number 44. She’s made many a great song since.
A slightly more modern one (although it's 15 years old this year). Annie, a Norwegian pop singer, had a modest and very bubblegum hit in 2004 with Chewing Gum. The video, in which she dueted with a clone of herself, might be as well remembered as the song. The follow-up, Heartbeat, is a more accomplished pop song, but failed to hit the UK chart, narrowly. It did at least chart in Norway, where she only had two hits, odd for an export that (briefly) cracked one of the bigger markets.
In 1991, Zoë had a mega hit in the UK with Sunshine on a Rainy Day, which has duly become an early 90s pop classic. It was her only major hit: The follow-up, Lightning, technically charted, but at UK #37 it only just crept in.
