A Few More of Our Favorite One-Hit Wonders

Bands that hit the charts with a great song – then go back to their day jobs are called artists referred to as ‘One Hit Wonders.’ Here are a few of our favorite one-hit wonders…

“Black Betty” is an old blues tune from the early 1920s credited to Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter, but ‘Ram Jam,’ a county rock band from New York, rode their whaling version to number one in 1977. Howie Blauvelt and Pete Charles, two of the original band members, have passed on since the song hit the charts.

“867-5309” turned out to be more than a phone number, it was the title of the Tommy Tutone one-hit wonder in 1981. Not only was the song a chart topping song, it was a real phone number in various parts of the country. In 1982 for example, a Chicago woman received over 22,000 calls the first week the song was played on Chicago radio. In 2004, an auction hoping to sell that number was shut down by eBay after the bidding reached $80,000.

“Lunatic Fringe” is the only hit song from a group called Red Rider from Toronto Canada, and one of the most interesting fun facts about this band is that it’s leader Tom Cochrane is the dude that gave us the smash hit “Life is a Highway” a few years ago. The band was together long enough to record six below average albums, but “Lunatic Fringe” got them in a Miami Vice episode, and an appearance on CBC Television’s Hockey Night in Canada.


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