The Record Press author is a big fan of BBC4’s Friday night “Music Night” output. In recent years, there have been some wonderfully innovative and idiosyncratic programmes in the 9pm slot.

However recently BBC4 aired an hour long programme of footage of solo artists and bands, with the ignominious title of “One Hit Wonders”……….The trouble with BBC4’s One Hit Wonders, is that some of the artists featured weren’t One Hit Wonders at all!! Peter Sarstedt followed up his 1969 UK No1 Where Where Do you Go To My Lovely with a Frozen Orange Juice, which reached No10 later that year.

Similarly Carl Douglas had two minor hits in the martial arts footsteps of his 1974 No1 Kung Fu Fighting – Dance The Kung Fu & Run Back, which achieved No35 & No25 respectively. Ralph McTell also followed up his massive No2 hit Streets Of London with a minor hit, Dreams Of You reaching No36 in 1975 and M weren’t anything like one-hit wonders – the follow ups Moonlight and Muzak got to No33, whilst That’s The Way The Money Goes and Official Secrets peaked at No45 & No64 respectively.

Putting these anomalies aside, there were some excellent songs on the programme culminating with the Record Press author’s favourite song of the 1990s, You Get What You Give by the New Radicals. It was always a bitter disappointment to me when frontman Gregg Alexander disbanded the New Radicals after this one glorious hit, preferring to write for artists like Sophie Ellis Bextor ( Murder On The Dancefloor ) and Ronan Keating ( Life Is A Rollercoaster ).

However that was Gregg Alexander’s choice, but others seemingly were not so lucky in that apparently they did not have that choice!! I was left wondering why artists like Phyllis Nelson ( Move Closer  ) and Charles & Eddie ( Would I Lie To You? ), with such rich talent, could not back up such strong songs? This was made all the more poignant by the fact that Phyllis and Charles died a few years after their singular hit; of course they may have had other hit songs had they survived.

And of course that is the eternal mystery with the One Hit Wonder………..What happened to the artists after their Warholian “15 minutes of fame”? And where are they now?……..

Let’s celebrate the One Hit Wonder with this Top 10 Best One Hit Wonders –

Top 10 Best One Hit Wonders

1)  New Radicals – You Get What You Give ( No5 1999 )

2) Brian & Michael – Matchstalk Men & Matchstalk Cats & Dogs  ( No1 1978 )

3)  Harry Chapin – W.O.L.D. ( N034 1974 )

4) Tubeway Army – Are Friends Electric? ( No1 1979 )

5)  Matthew Southern Comfort – Woodstock         ( No1 1970 )

6)  Norman Greenbaum – Spirit In The Sky        ( No1 1970 )

7)  Brian Protheroe – Pinball ( No22 1974 )

8)  Ricky Valance – Tell Laura I Love Her  ( No1 1960 )

9)  Mash – Suicide Is Painless  ( No1 1980 )

10) Clive Dunn – Grandad ( No1 1970 )

What is your favourite One Hit Wonder. Let us know in the Reply Box below.

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