# What artist made the biggest career out of one song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2007, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079 "2007-07-17T02:17:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/61 "2007-07-17T16:29:06Z")
Francis Scott Key (I mean, who even _knows_ any of his _other_ songs?) ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/62 "2007-07-17T16:51:00Z")
Directly answering “biggest career out of one song” (and not just “biggest one hit wonder”), would have to be Buffet (as a previous poster said). > **[Margaritaville](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaritaville#Merchandising)** > > "Margaritaville" is a 1977 song by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett from the album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes. In the United States, "Margaritaville" reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and went to number one on the Easy Listening chart, also peaking at No. 13 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Billboard ranked it number 14 on its 1977 Pop Singles year-end chart. It was Buffett's highest charting solo single. After Buffett’s death on S Named ... It’s got a chain of restaurants, margarita mix, tequila, food brand. His company is Margaritaville Holdings LLC Sure, he had a couple other hits, but “Margaritaville” is an industry. Come to think of it, he did license “Cheeseburger In Paradise” to a restaurant company, too. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/63 "2007-07-17T16:55:46Z")
[QUOTE=Full Metal Lotus] Baltimoria.. Tarzan Boy… FML [/QUOTE] I _love_ this song. For the longest time, it wasn’t available on iTunes, so I dug up an obscure 80s One Hit Wonders compilation just so I could have it on my iPod. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/64 "2007-07-17T17:32:38Z")
[QUOTE=Quint] While not a one hit wonder exactly (due to their no hit status), I’ve always felt that the best example of this is **The Violent Femmes**. The only album anyone listens to was released in 1982, yet they are _still_ touring based on that album. Of course it is a near perfect “high school angst” album, but 25 years is too long for the angry teen schtick. [/QUOTE] Proof enough of this - I saw them on Late Night with Conan O’Brian sometime in the early 00’s, and they performed BLISTER IN THE SUN!!! BTW, I saw them perform as part of a multiple lineup show in 2001, and they sucked terribly. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/65 "2007-07-17T17:38:32Z")
[QUOTE=Hypno-Toad] I have to second Bobby “Boris” Pickett with “Monster Mash.” That thing is dragged out every year for Halloween and force it upon us for commercials and on the radio. It’s not just a one hit wonder, it’s a _mandatory_ one hit wonder. [/QUOTE] True Story - I went to this Halloween Haunt somewhere in Massachusetts when I was in college, which was being advertised as having Boris Pickett as a performer. He did ONE song - Monster Mash! I mean, the guy’s entire career is Halloween songs (It’s Alive is 10x the song that Monster Mash is) so he easily could have done a whole set. I felt ripped off. The song also gets dragged out for Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day on KBBL 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/66 "2007-07-17T19:22:24Z")
Henry the VIII wrote Greensleeves. That was pretty much his only hit, and he definitely lived the rock-star lifestyle – scandals, affairs, messy divorces… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/67 "2007-07-17T20:11:17Z")
[QUOTE=Full Metal Lotus] Baltimoria.. Tarzan Boy… [/QUOTE] I don’t know if he’s made a career out of it. I remember reading that by the end of the same year this song was released, he went back to work at a gas station. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/68 "2007-07-17T21:09:30Z")
[QUOTE=denquixote] Uh, I read the (Norman Greenbaum) wiki link but it does not tell me, what is the second hit? [/QUOTE] By clicking on his name on that page, I discovered that Greenbaum (performing as Dr. West’s Medicine Show and Junk Band) also charted with _The Eggplant That Ate Chicago_ in 1968. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/69 "2007-07-17T21:20:04Z")
[QUOTE=Finagle] Henry the VIII wrote Greensleeves. That was pretty much his only hit, and he definitely lived the rock-star lifestyle – scandals, affairs, messy divorces… [/QUOTE] BZZZT–[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensleeves) says that is a legend and probably not true. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/70 "2007-07-17T21:40:09Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] By clicking on his name on that page, I discovered that Greenbaum (performing as Dr. West’s Medicine Show and Junk Band) also charted with _The Eggplant That Ate Chicago_ in 1968. [/QUOTE] Different name on the 45 counts as a separate act 🙂 . And that song (Spirit in the Sky), which I love, has to be on at least a dozen movie soundtracks in the last ten years. The lead singer on “Tarzan Boy” (GREAT song) died of [AIDS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimora) in 1995. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/71 "2007-07-17T21:47:13Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Francis Scott Key (I mean, who even _knows_ any of his _other_ songs?) [/QUOTE] Especially since he only wrote the lyrics. They happened to fit an earlier [tune](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Anacreon_in_Heaven) composed by one John Stafford Smith. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/72 "2007-07-17T21:48:26Z")
Iron Butterfly=In the Gadda da vida One hit wonder that has legs. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/73 "2007-07-17T22:26:45Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] By clicking on his name on that page, I discovered that Greenbaum (performing as Dr. West’s Medicine Show and Junk Band) also charted with _The Eggplant That Ate Chicago_ in 1968. [/QUOTE] The follow-up to “Spirit in the Sky,” “Canned Ham,” didn’t quite crack the Top 40. Yes, the Jewish Greenbaum followed his song about Jesus with a song about ham. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/74 "2007-07-17T22:39:58Z")
I still don’t think anyone has topped [Wayne Newton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Newton). He started life as the son of an auto mechanic in Roanoke, Virginia, got a few performing gigs, managed to get one big hit record under his belt (“Danke Schoen”), used that signature song to propel a long-running career in Vegas, managed to parlay _that_ into part ownership of a casino, continues to have a full slate of shows, and now has a major Boulevard in Vegas named for him. Hard to top. “Danke Shoen” _indeed_! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/75 "2007-07-17T22:45:04Z")
Carl Perkins, “Blue Suede Shoes.” The rest are all pikers. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/76 "2007-07-17T22:45:56Z")
[QUOTE=crowmanyclouds] Actually there are tons of horror stories about unfavorable contract terms and being basically forced to sell the rights to songs. Very few groups were working during the 70’s and 80’s. Doo-wop concerts are really a “work your elderly ass off” retirement plan, sad really… [/QUOTE] Hence the Paul Simon lyric “Don’t wanna end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard.” All my suggestions have already been mentioned ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/77 "2007-07-18T00:13:11Z")
[QUOTE=MGibson] If we can include musical groups how about the Greatful Dead? How many top 40 hits have they had because I can only think of “Touch of Grey.” Marc [/QUOTE] Six on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. And six albums went Platinum or better. ---
**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/78 "2007-07-18T00:35:31Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Lendervedder] Don McLean? I know he’s released other stuff, but shit on a Pringle, he has truly drained the teat with “American Pie.” And I’m sure someone will come along and name two dozen other songs he’s done, but to most people born in the 70s or later, the only reason they even know this guy’s name is because of “American Pie.” A phenominal song, indeed, but I wager he wouldn’t have one tenth of the career he’s had, nor would he be asked to perform anywhere today, had he not written it. [/QUOTE] Another vote for Don McLean and American Pie. It’s exactly what I was thinking when I opened this thread. I know he has lots of fans but imagine that your only big hit is only one of the best song ever written. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/79 "2007-07-18T00:56:01Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] In a similar vein, **Wayne Newton** has built an entire Las Vegas empire on the foundation of **“Danke Schön”** [/QUOTE] That’s his signature song, but his biggest hit on the singles chart, by far, was “Daddy, Don’t You Walk So Fast.” ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079/80 "2007-07-18T01:13:03Z")
[QUOTE=I’m Ron Burgundy?] Springsteen [/QUOTE] Did you mean Springfield (Rick)? Rick claims they are often confused- my guess is, he gets it waaay more often than Bruce does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-made-the-biggest-career-out-of-one-song/412079.md?page=5)