'Turn on your love light' - Oscar Toney Jr. (Billboard #65); 1967 to 'For Your Precious Love' (BB #23; r&b 4) #37 on Billboard's r&b chart, but the Bobby Bland 1961 hit was surely not the best choice for him for a follow-up to his great version of Jerry Butler & the Impressions' 'For Your Precious Love' For Your Precious Love OSCAR TONEY Jr : Sir Shambling’s Deep Soul Heaven
'Ridin' the Wind' - the Tornadoes (Billboard #63); 1963 follow-up to 'Telstar' (BB #1) In the UK, where the group were billed as the Tornados, 'Globetrotter' was the successful follow-up to 'Telstar' (no.5), and they had further hits with 'Robot' (no.17) and 'The Ice Cream Man (no.18). 'Ridin' the Wind' was an EP track.
The Girl from Greenwich Village' (Billboard BB #129); 1965 follow-up to 'New York's a Lonely Town' (Billboard #32) "she drives a Mercedes, and scares the old ladies ...." Anders & Poncia (aka Pete Andreoli and Vini Poncia); their previous group the Videls had peaked at #73 on Billboard with 'Mister Lonely' in 1960. They had also been songwriters for Phil Spector including (The best part of) Breaking Up' by the Ronettes (BB #39; 1964) The Trade Winds - Wikipedia
'Mairzy Doats' - the Innocence (Billboard #75); 1967 follow-up to 'There's got to be a word!' (BB #34) originally by Al Trace & his Silly Symphonists in 1943 Cover versions of Mairzy Doats and Dozy Doats by Al Trace and His Silly Symphonists | SecondHandSongs Their hit was written by Don Ciccone of the Critters There's Got To Be A Word Don Ciccone - Wikipedia Anders & Poncia, OHWs once again. Next they recorded as Anders 'n' Poncia, but only appeared on the Record World chart at #129 ('So it Goes; 1968). Poncia would later co-write songs for Ringo Starr including 'Oh My My' (BB #5; 1974). Ten years earlier with Phil Spector, Anders & Poncia had written 'Ringo I Love You' by Bonnie Jo Mason (aka Cher). A & P reunited in 2010. Biographical Timeline
'Little Bitty Johnny' - Travis & Bob (Billboard #114); 1959 follow-up to 'Tell Him No' (BB #8) An Everly Brothers style duo, Travis Pritchett & Bob Weaver (Travis wrote the songs) YouTube 'Tell Him No' In 1960 they sued the owners of Sandy Records over non payment of royalties Travis and Bob - Wikipedia
'Sister Sookey' - the Turbans; 1956 follow-up to 'When You Dance' (Billboard #33; r&b #3) recorded at the same session as 'When You Dance'; seems to have been a regional hit which didn't make the national charts Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks - The Turbans
'Don't Shut Me Out' - Underground Sunshine (Billboard #102); 1969 follow-up to their cover of 'Birthday' from the "White Album" (BB #26) David Gates' song from the first Bread LP lip-syncing their "giant" hit for Dick Clark YouTube Underground Sunshine - Wikipedia
I appreciate all of these postings, even though I only rarely comment. I decloak here long enough to say that Underground Sunshine's "Birthday" has to be one of the lamest performances to ever make the Top 40. Amazing to hear that cheesy Farfisa-style organ in a song this late.
Not a one hit wonder band but BOC's Going Through The Motions was an interesting choice as a follow up to Don't Fear The Reaper. I don't believee that it ever charted.
'Babalu' - Caterina Valente; 1955 follow-up to 'The Breeze and I' (Andalucia) (Billboard #8; UK no.5) Obviously a lot more than a one hit wonder, selling a large number of records in many countries, but she only made one appearance on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK singles chart. Fared better on the Music Vendor chart with a total of 4 Top 40 records 'Malaguena' which had been the US single prior to 'The Breeze and I' was the UK follow-up; I assume this English version YouTube The hit - YouTube Caterina Valente - Wikipedia
'Walking Alone' - Mark Valentino; 1963 follow-up to 'The Push and Kick' (Billboard #27) YouTube the hit (which on its way up the Hot 100, passed 'Do You Love Me' by the Contours on its way down from #3) he did get to release an album Mark Valentino - Mark Valentino
'Flippin' In' b/w 'Shufflin' Along' - the Virtues; 1959 follow-up to 'Guitar Boogie Shuffle' (Billboard #5) YouTube 'Shufflin' Along' did appeared on the Music Vendor chart, but only at #107 Their hit (originally recorded by Arthur Smith in 1945) lost out in the UK to a cover by Bert Weedon (UK no.10) Possibly desperate for another hit by then, in 1962 the Virtues did make a slight return the Hot 100 in 1962 with 'Guitar Boogie Shuffle Twist' (#96) The Virtues - Wikipedia Guitar Boogie (song) - Wikipedia
Even as a kid of 11 in 1969, I (and all the other 11 year olds I hung out with) felt "Birthday" by Underground Sunshine was unbelievably amateurish. "Don't Shut Me Out" was definitely the better record. Just goes to show that the record-buying public was starved for ANY singles from "The White Album".
'Come back into my heart' - the Volumes (Billboard #118); 1962 follow-up to 'I Love You' (BB #22) The hit - YouTube Another OHW doo-wop group, although they did make the transition into the soul era and continued releasing records until 1970 *VOLUMES (3) - doo-wop
Maybe in the USA. In Europe they had 4 big hits. This thread should be renamed to in the USA because most of this one hit wonder stuff does not apply to these artists, unless your talking about the USA exclusively.
'Pony Tail' - the Voxpoppers; 1958 follow-up to 'Wishing for your love' (Billboard #18) yet another doo-wop group with just the one hit YouTube a cover of an original by the Clovers YouTube the follow-up was written by Jack Hammer aka Earl Burroughs Jack Hammer (songwriter) - Wikipedia *VOXPOPPERS (1) - doo-wop
'Baroque-a-Nova' - Mason Williams (Billboard #96; 1968) too-similar follow-up to 'Classical Gas' (BB #2; UK no.9) Mason Williams - Wikipedia
'Baby Blue' - Jesse Winchester; 1981 follow-up to 'Say What' (Billboard #32) a second single from his Willie Mitchell produced album "Talk Memphis"; the only non-original song on the LP, once a 1961 Billboard #12 hit for the Echoes (one hit wonders from Brooklyn). It would be Jesse's final release on Bearsville; he would not have another album issued until 1988. But at least he did have the one hit YouTube Baby Blue (The Echoes song) - Wikipedia
'Sad Eyes (Don't You Cry)' - the Echoes (Billboard #88); the 1961 follow-up to the original 'Baby Blue' (BB #12) YouTube One Hit Wonders » 60 ECHOES “BABY BLUE”
The New Radicals (1998-'99) "You Get What You Give" (#36 US, #1 CAN, #5 UK) was followed by "Someday We'll Know" (#48 UK) The latter single apparently got minimal promotion as the group disbanded just before its release. Too bad... it's a nice pop tune!
The problem with all of this is that there IS no standard definition of a "hit". First, a song's actual success may vary greatly, not only from country to country but also from one radio market to the next. Second, these are not baseball statistics, which are objectively provable. To the contrary, if one believes a song had (or has) a cultural presence larger or smaller than Billboard suggests, then they are probably right. For example, was "Pop Goes the World" by Men Without Hats really equal in "hit" significance to Jimi Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower"? Billboard says yes but reality says no. In the end it comes down to methodology and timescale. In 2020, we know that the Men Without Hats song was instantly forgotten while the Hendrix song reverberates through to this day. Perhaps, if Billboard's method considered fans who purchased Watchtower on LP instead of the 45 or the impact of emerging FM radio play,.. or other factors, then the results would be very different. However, because they didn't consider these things, its garbage in, garbage out. Moreover, Billboard's measurement didn't consider the long tail cultural impact of the song beyond its 9-week charting period. In the end, I consider Billboard to be merely one useful (if highly flawed) tool in measuring whether something is/was a hit, but not the arbiter of hit status. It's a map, not the territory.
And the problem with your statements above (and the rest of your post) is your misapprehension of the following reality: the concept of "hit" is properly applied to records or other media — not songs. That is what the Billboard charts measure — the success of a given release on one or more media (singles, albums, CDs, downloads, etc.). The popularity or renown of any given song is an entirely different matter, and is indeed more difficult to measure objectively. But those Billboard charts — as imperfect as they may be — are still the closest we'll ever come to objectively measuring a release's success. And they have traditionally been consulted to measure that success when it comes to discussions such as we're having here. (And yes, they apply only to the United States — other countries will have different charts that will reflect a release's success there, which may indeed differ from a given record's success in the U.S.) Admittedly this has changed over the years, as the media a given song is available on have expanded and mutated. So the concept of a "single" has little or no meaning today. But we're discussing the classic era in this thread, when songs were released on singles (45s). The most obvious illustration of this is "Stairway to Heaven." Needless to say, this is one of the most popular songs in the history of rock. But it was never released as a commercial single, so there's no way to measure that individual song's popularity in terms of how many units it sold. You can look at sales of the Led Zeppelin IV album, but it contains several additional songs besides just "Stairway to Heaven," so that's not accurate for this purpose. In other words, while you can talk about the enormous popularity of "Stairway to Heaven," you cannot speak in terms of it being a "hit." Contrary to your assertion, there IS a "standard definition of a 'hit'." It is a single release that attained a peak position of #40 or higher on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Of course, one can further refine this definition by speaking of singles that peaked at roughly #25 or higher (as well as a few on the other side of #40) as "minor hits." But for the purposes of the discussion in this thread, the standard was set by Wayne Jancik's groundbreaking publication The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders. If an artist placed only one single on the Billboard Hot 100 at #40 or higher, he/she/they is by definition a One-Hit Wonder — regardless of any other singles that may have charted at #41 or lower. Thus, the Jimi Hendrix Experience's inclusion in its pages. All of this is no different from any other hobby or pursuit — those who are more deeply into it will have definitions that the public at large may not care about. You wouldn't think of walking up to a car enthusiast who's at an auto show with his hood propped open and saying "Aw, it's just an engine — what's the difference?" Same thing here!
Again, you are confusing the map with the territory. If there's a lake in front of you, its still a lake even if its not on the map. Of course, Stairway to Heaven was a hit. It was a massive hit. That is obvious from millions of album sales, millions of radio plays, millions of streams and from the deep cultural significance the record has achieved. The song has been nearly inescapable for 48 years. That you and a few other chartmongers are hung up on whether it was released as a 45 rpm vinyl single in 1971 just shows how flawed your chosen method - referencing the Billboard top 40 - is in determining whether something was or wasn't a hit. If you prefer the term "records" to songs, it makes no difference. Just replace the word in my post above. The assertions remain accurate.
