# All Time Worst One Hit Wonders **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971 "2007-01-14T20:01:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/141 "2007-01-17T12:46:10Z")
[QUOTE=Icerigger] Why such hatred for **2525**? How many science fiction Dystopia songs are there? 😉 [/QUOTE] Okay _fine!_ new thread: **All Time Worst Science-Fiction Dystopia One Hit Wonders** Happy now? ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/142 "2007-01-17T12:56:40Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] **rackensack** You’re darned right that we shouldn’t be dissing Archie Bell & the Drells. Actually, Archie was not in Germany for his military “hitch”, he was in Vietnam. > **[AllMusic | Record Reviews, Streaming Songs, Genres & Bands](https://www.allmusic.com/?p=amg&sql=11e6ompm39f2o~T1)** > > AllMusic provides comprehensive music info including reviews and biographies. Get recommendations for new music to listen to, stream or own. [/QUOTE] Hmm. Sounds like AllMusic needs to shore up their copyediting staff. From the AllMusic entry on [Archie Bell and the Drells](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:5n6gtr7wkl7x~T1), as opposed to the Archie Bell bio page you quoted: > [@](#): > > “Tighten Up,” written by Bell and Billy Butler sold more than three million copies, holding both the #1 R&B and the #1 Pop spot for two weeks on Billboard’s charts in spring 1968. The Tighten Up LP hit #15 R&B and #142 Pop in summer 1968. Unfortunately, Bell was stationed in Germany while all of this was happening. With the concert offerings rolling in, James Wise sang lead in the group’s concerts with Charles Gibbs brought in to add background vocals. It does mention before that that he’d been sent to Vietnam. Anyway, the point’s the same – he was unable to tour with the group except during leaves for the period of their greatest success, which may have prevented them from enjoying that success longer. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/143 "2007-01-17T13:54:50Z")
Hey-anybody remember; -the “LEMON PIPERS” (“green tamboureen”?? -“LOVE BEAT”-by the “DeFranco Family” -“Indian Lake”-by the “Cowsills”? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/144 "2007-01-17T14:30:23Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Hey-anybody remember; -the “LEMON PIPERS” (“green tamboureen”?? -“LOVE BEAT”-by the “DeFranco Family” -“Indian Lake”-by the “Cowsills”? [/QUOTE] The Cowsills had multiple hits including “The Rain, The Park And Other Things” and, I believe, a version of “Hair”. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Three pages to remember “Judy in Disguise.” Now I wish I hadn’t. Hey, “Cantaloupe eyes, come to me tonight” is one of the classic lines in rock n’ roll. I guess we’ll just take your glasses. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/145 "2007-01-17T14:56:43Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Hey-anybody remember; -the “LEMON PIPERS” (“green tamboureen”?? -“LOVE BEAT”-by the “DeFranco Family” -“Indian Lake”-by the “Cowsills”? [/QUOTE] There was a rumor, when bubblegum music was big, that Lemon Pipers, Ohio Express, 1910 Fruitgum Company and others were, in fact, the same session players recording under different group names for Buddah Records. If you look up their biographies, they all sound like something an written by a committee of PR hacks. The genre even has its own [web site](http://home.att.net/~bubblegumusic/) but I’d be awfully skeptical of any “information” the site offers about the groups it profiles. And I apologize, you guys – but I’m a pop music geek, I work in radio – I just can’t help myself! ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/146 "2007-01-17T15:01:46Z")
[QUOTE=Jonathan Chance] I have almost all of these on my iPod back at the house and enjoy them all. Especially the 70s ones. [/QUOTE] I too, looked specifically for many of the songs listed here when I got iTunes. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/147 "2007-01-17T16:16:19Z")
[QUOTE=Icerigger] Why such hatred for **2525**? How many science fiction Dystopia songs are there? 😉 [/QUOTE] One too many. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/148 "2007-01-17T16:17:40Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] “LOVE BEAT”-by the “DeFranco Family” [/QUOTE] Or “Heartbeat, it’s a Lovebeat,” by the DeFrancos. Doesn’t really matter; just seeing it there means my day is shot. Thank you so much. For those who were fortunate enough never to hear of the DeFranco Family, I’ll share the misery. They were part of the early 70s wave of family groups who all seemed to be headed by 12-year-old boys whose voices hadn’t yet changed (the Osmonds, the Jackson Five, and a few years later, the Sylvers). But at least Donny Osmond and Michael Jackson could sing. The De Franco’s lead boy singer basially shouted “Heartbeat” in comparison. In a high-pitched child’s voice. I can recall the ear-grating effects of too much AM radio play to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/149 "2007-01-17T16:46:38Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] There was a rumor, when bubblegum music was big, that Lemon Pipers, Ohio Express, 1910 Fruitgum Company and others were, in fact, the same session players recording under different group names for Buddah Records. [/QUOTE] There could be a grain of truth to that with regard to the Ohio Express and the 1910 Fruitgum Co., who were both part of the Kasenetz-Katz stable of bubblegum acts. But the Lemon Pipers were a serious psychedelic rock band who had a garage-punk type single out under the same name before signing with Buddah, and who later played a Fillmore gig on a bill with Traffic. They hated “Green Tambourine,” and only recorded it under the threat of being dropped from the label. Their two albums include, among the bubblegum-vaudeville tracks, a couple of extended psychedelic jams and some growly, Steppenwolf-sounding numbers, which are apparently more representative of the band’s live sound. And “Green Tambourine” is a _great_ slice of psychedelic pop whimsy, and anyone who sez different is ugly and their mother dresses them funny. ---
**Author:** ![GLWasteful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f05b48/32.png) [@GLWasteful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GLWasteful)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/150 "2007-01-17T17:12:12Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] Or “Heartbeat, it’s a Lovebeat,” by the DeFrancos. Doesn’t really matter; just seeing it there means my day is shot. Thank you so much. [/quote] And since your day is already shot, I present “Abracadabra” by the selfsame group. As you said, annoying in the extreme, only with an even dumber chorus than “Heartbeat, it’s a Lovebeat”. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/151 "2007-01-17T17:13:20Z")
This brings back memories; when i was an undergrad, i knew a guy who worked for a record company. his job was to push up-and-coming rock group’s records on the college AM radio station. He had records from groups i NEVER heard of! As for the COWSILLs: how on earth did they come up with a name like that? They should have called themselves the "Psychadelic hangover’-or something like that-bu the “COWSILLS”? It sounds like a farm equipment supplier. anyway, i heard that this group made a LOT of money-but then (as they matured and their voices broke), they fell out of favor-and began the inevitable lawsuits against eachother-last i heard, they had lost most of the money sueing eachother! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/152 "2007-01-17T19:37:45Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] As for the COWSILLs: how on earth did they come up with a name like that? They should have called themselves the "Psychadelic hangover’-or something like that-bu the “COWSILLS”? It sounds like a farm equipment supplier. [/QUOTE] They were a family with the last name of Cowsill and chose to call themselves the Cowsills. I doubt they would have sounded any better or worse under a made-up name. The Cowsills have a website where you can read all about their fascinating history. I would link to it except that God might punish me. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/153 "2007-01-17T20:12:30Z")
Four pages in and no one has yet mentioned “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?” that loathesome, treacly, cynical cash-in on the WTC disaster? But I suppose the wound is too raw yet. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/154 "2007-01-17T21:34:53Z")
> [@Biffy](#): > > They hated “Green Tambourine,” and only recorded it under the threat of being dropped from the label. > [@Biffy](#): > > And “Green Tambourine” is a great slice of psychedelic pop whimsy, and anyone who sez different is ugly and their mother dresses them funny. Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/155 "2007-01-17T21:40:34Z")
Hey he’s another good nominee- “ **The Curly Shuffle** ” by the “ **Jump In The Saddle Band** ” Hey Moe, Hey Moe, Hey nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk ---
**Author:** ![Stillwell\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Stillwell\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillwell_Angel)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/156 "2007-01-17T22:11:04Z")
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow] I’m not having a go at you, **SA** , but that kind of attitude really grates. [/QUOTE] 😕 Hey now! I put the little winking smilie guy in my post so you wouldn’t take my comments as harsh. 🙂 And there is another smiley to show you I’m not being a bitch in this post. Truce? This thread makes me see that the term One Hit Wonder is pretty vague. I have read other posts since mine regarding the same issue. People post the song and others come along to point out there were indeed more hits from that band. Honestly, in MY world, I have never heard another song by those bands I listed, nor anything about the bands themselves once those hits faded away. I was a teenager in the 80’s, so I spent plenty of hours with MTV and the radio when those songs were popular, but that’s all I heard from those two groups. One hit or not, I still hate those songs I listed 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/157 "2007-01-17T22:18:14Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] Interesting note: Captain & Tennille recorded \*\*I Write The Songs \*\* for their first album with A&M Records in 1974, but it didn’t chart. David Cassidy recorded the song a few months later and his version went to #11. Barry Manilow’s version opened at #48 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in November 1975, and hit #1 in February 1976. Captain & Tennille included the song again in their “Greatest Hits” album in 1977, and while they never charted the single, that album charted in the top 10 (my encyclopedia doesn’t mention a specific spot). [/QUOTE] Hmmm…each charted for a song they _didn’t_ write called “I Write the Songs”. It’s nice to see the universe prefers irony to justice (then again, I always hated that pompous little song, so maybe there is justice after all)… ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/158 "2007-01-17T22:22:26Z")
[QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] Four pages in and no one has yet mentioned “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?” that loathesome, treacly, cynical cash-in on the WTC disaster? But I suppose the wound is too raw yet. [/QUOTE] I agree that crap song was written to make a buck off the tragedy, but it was recorded by [Alan Jackson](http://www.google.com/musica?aid=Ml5xZj1wzRJ&sa=X&oi=music&ct=image) who has had way more than one hit. (At least in the US) Sgt Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/159 "2007-01-17T22:25:40Z")
[QUOTE=CJJ\*] Hmmm…each charted for a song they _didn’t_ write called “I Write the Songs”. It’s nice to see the universe prefers irony to justice (then again, I always hated that pompous little song, so maybe there is justice after all)… [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > “I Write the Songs” is a song written by Bruce Johnston in 1975, and David Cassidy, Captain & Tennille and Barry Manilow recorded that year. But Manilow released as single EP in 1975, and it reached Billboard number-one in 1976. This hit song became one of Manilow’s signature tunes. > > **The title has been misunderstood** to mean that the singer (or songwriter) “writes the songs,” but the actual songwriter, The Beach Boys’ Bruce Johnston, has stated that the “I” in the song is “music.” **He went on to say that songs come from the spirit of music in all of us.** “I am music, and I write the songs.” He also stated in several interviews that this song had been written as an homage to Brian Wilson, the “genius” who has written the best music of The Beach Boys. Source: [I Write the Songs - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Write_the_Songs) ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971/160 "2007-01-17T22:29:35Z")
“Informer” by Snow. A-licky-boom-boom-down. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-time-worst-one-hit-wonders/387971.md?page=9)