One Hit Wonders of Yesteryear Part Four

Another little series this one about one-hit wonders. It is surprising to note that all of these songs are memorable but just had their one shining moment for the artists and no other great hits followed. This is the fourth post in this series. I will add the links below as I go along.

Magnet and Steel

“Magnet and Steel” was a one-time hit single. It was written and performed by American rock musician Walter Eagan in 1978. This became his first and biggest hit. It is on his second album Not Shy. The song charted on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. On this recording members of Fleetwood Mac Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham sang background vocals. Nicks had been the inspiration for this song. Later the song was featured in the movies “Boogie Nights”, “Overnight Delivery”, and “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo”. You can also hear the song on the TV series “Divorce” in Season 2 Episode “Ohio”.

Montego Bay

“Montego Bay” is a song that was co-written and performed by American singer and songwriter Bobby Bloom, The song is about a city by this name located in Jamaica, the Caribbean Island. The song made it on the UK Singles and the Billboard Hot 100 charts. This song includes a whistler and Jamaican instruments in calypso style. It is a very lively and enjoyable song and was used in the 1997 film “The Ice Storm.”

More Today Than Yesterday

“More Today Than Yesterday” is a song that was written by Pat Upton. It was performed by the American pop band Spiral Staircase. This was the one song they were best known for. The inspiration for the song came from a poem by Rosemonde Gerard. She was the wife of poet and playwright Edmond Rostand, who wrote Cyrano de Bergerac. The song was quite popular on the radio and later on oldies radio stations. It is ranked at number 50 on Billboard magazine's list of Top Hot 100 Songs of 1969. You might remember this song because if you haven’t heard the original there were many different cover versions.

Ninety-Six Tears

This song was a long-time favorite of mine. I loved the music and found the lyrics great. “96 Tears” is a song that was recorded by the American garage rock band ? and the Mysterians in 1966. It rose to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is at number 213 on the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The RIAA certified it Gold.

The name behind the ? mark was Rudy Martinez who wrote the song. It was on the group’s album of the same name. The band had no more US Top 40 singles.

Oh Babe What Would You Say

His name was odd – Hurricane Smith. His voice left a lot to be desired but once you heard this song on the radio a few times it still kind of grew on you or at least gave you a chuckle or two each time.

“Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?” is a song that was recorded by record producer Hurricane Smith. It was written by his wife Eileen Sylvia Smith. The song came out in 1972. It grew on people quickly and charted on the Cash Box, Billboard Pop, and UK Singles charts.

For those of you who are not familiar with this song, and take a listen and think What the hey? I can tell you the song does grow on you no matter what it sounds like. And if that is not unusual in itself guess who had versions of this song? – Mama Cass, Liza Minnelli, Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton as Archie and Edith Bunker.

For Hurricane Smith, it was his one-hit-wonder and he died in 2008 at the age of 85.

Oh Child

“O-o-h Child” is a memorable single from 1970. The song was written by Stan Vincent and recorded by the Chicago soul family group The Five Stairsteps. The song quickly became popular and charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts. For a while, it was a standard on oldies radio stations. Billboard ranked it at number 21 of the Best Songs of 1970 and it is at number 402 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Party Doll

Also, a one-hit wonder came in 1957 “Party Doll” by Buddy Knox and written by Knox and Jimmy Bowen. They must have known I was going to become a “party doll” since that was the year I was born. Knox was a teenager when he wrote the original verses of this song. Once he got the song playing in Texas it became a regional hit. However, once “Party Doll” was put out by Roulette Records in NYC it became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The version by Knox was included in the film “American Grafitti” in 1973. Meanwhile, when I became a teenager in the early 1970s this was a standard party song and we all loved to dance to the upbeat music.

Precious and Few

This was once a very popular song back in the 1970s. It was a romantic ballad. “Precious and Few” is a song recorded by American band Climax. I became very popular in early 1972 and was written by the band’s guitarist Walter D. Nims. The song charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and went to number one on the Cash Box Top 100 chart. Climax was best known for this song and it became their best and one-hit-wonder.

https://vocal.media/beat/one-hit-wonders-of-yesteryear-part-one?utm

https://vocal.media/beat/one-hit-wonders-of-yesteryear-part-two?utm

https://vocal.media/beat/one-hit-wonders-of-yesteryear-part-three?utm