Friday, February 21, 2025

La Fin de la Semaine Essay Question: Special "I Thought Career Day Was Usually in November" Edition

From 1970, please enjoy the extremely rich Norman Greenbaum and "Canned Ham" -- the song that DIDN'T add to the fabulous sums of money he's made over the years off of "Spirit in the Sky."

"Canned Ham," of course, was the follow-up; I thought it was brilliant myself (owned a copy of the single), but apparently it lacked that certain je ne sais quoi for the rest of the record-buying public.

That said, let us attend to the weekend's business. To wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite) post-Elvis pop/rock/folk/soul/country One-Hit Wonder solo artist or group is...???

No arbitrary rules whatsoever. In fact, if somebody (like Greenbaum) had more than one record on the radio but is still generally considered a OHW, and that's who you want to nominate -- that's cool.

I should add that no, to my surprise, I've never done this category before (something similar, yes, but not OHW's specifically). I should also add that, upon hearing "Canned Ham" again for the first time in ages, I am struck by the possibility that Erik Jacobsen (who also helmed most of the Lovin' Spoonful's stuff, and all of Chris Isaaks') may very well have been the greatest producer in the history of both rock and roll. And why isn't there a bio-pic about him yet?

Alrighty, then -- what would your choices be?

Discuss.

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I quit paying attention to "the hits" years ago, so I'm sure there are many I like that I didn't know were hits, or one hits. So for conversations sake I will throw in
Fire by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

Tinpot said...

Judy in Disguise: John Fred
Excerpt from A Teenage Opera (Grocer Jack): Keith West
I Kissed A Girl: Jill Sobule (NOT Whatzername)
In the Summertime: Mungo Jerry

Tinpot said...

and: We'll Sing in the Sunshine: Gale Garnett

Anonymous said...

The good:
Jean Knight - Mr. Big Stuff
The Bobbettes – Mr. Lee
The Big Bopper – Chantilly Lace
Arthur Alexander – You Better Move On
The Rivieras - California Sun
? and the Mysterians – 96 Tears

The bad:
Terry Jacks – Seasons in the Sun

The prophetic:
The Buggles – Video Killed the Radio Star

- Paul in DK

Cleveland Jeff said...

Where to begin?
Syndicate of Sound – "Little Girl"
J.J. Jackson – "But It's Alright"
The Music Machine – "Talk Talk"
The Music Explosion – "Little Bit O' Soul"
The Lemon Pipers – "Green Tambourine"
Human Beinz – "Nobody But Me"
Mountain – "Mississippi Queen"
and slightly more recently,
Del Amitri – "Roll to Me"

Rob B Mullen said...

Every Mother's Son - C'mon down to my boat...
New Vaudeville Band - Winchester Cathedral
Unit 4 + 2 - Concrete and Clay
? Mark & The Misterions - 96 Tears
rob

Rob said...

CJ - Lemon Pipers, say them in let's say a very small venue. Too funny.
Regarding Mountain, perhaps Theme for an Imaginary Western might be considered a 2nd hit

Gummo said...

In the Year 2525 - both a best AND a worst, c'mon, admit it!

steve simels said...

You are wise, grasshopper.

Sal Nunziato said...

Bram Tchaikovsky- Girl Of My Dreams
The A's- A Woman's Got The Power
Angie- Peppermint Lump
Any Trouble- Secomd Choice
Fischer Z- So Long

Gummo said...

Straight Lines - New Musik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFaA08PIUjM

Alzo said...

'Spirit in the Sky' is fantastic because of the synths, but this track sounds like Biff Rose. Pass.

As for OHWs (in the USA), I'll go with...
Mott the Hoople: All the Young Dudes
T. Rex: Bang a Gong (Get it On)
Lou Reed: Walk on the Wild Side
John Miles: Highfly
Dwight Twilley Band: I'm on Fire
The Modern Lovers: Roadrunner (did this even chart?)

Anonymous said...

Rob- my brother was in Lemon Pipers. They were a blues rock band a la Allmans, but got screwed in a terrible contract. They hated Green Tambourine. Lead guitarist Bill Bartlett went on to more one hit fame with RamJam and Black Betty. CJ

Roger said...

Stuck in the Middle with You - Stealers Wheel

Anonymous said...

"Go Back" by Crabby Appleton

steve simels said...

Peppermint Lump. Oh. my. God.

steve simels said...

To be fair, they had a couple of other wonderful hits in the UK, as I mentioned last week.

Neal t said...

the year 2525; only. 1/2 millennium away!

Anonymous said...

make me do ( anything you want) by A Foot in Cold Water
linda put the coffee on by Ray Materick
gimme that ding by The Pipkins
rs

Rob said...

Steve, I think we need to stretch the category a bit and give props to Ian Hunter - As you know he wrote Detroit Rocks and Once Bitten Twice Shy. I think you'll agree that All The Way To Memphis is pretty dang good ,,😎

mistah charley, sb, ma, phd, jsps said...

afternoon delight - starland vocal band

Rob said...

Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
Timbuk 3 - Futures So Bright
The Proclaimers - ...500 miles
The Sunrays - I live for the sun
The Ventures with a disclaimer -
Walk Don't Run
Fraternity of Man - Don't Bogart That Joint My Friend 🚬
rob

Rob said...

Also the Ballad of Mott - thanks for letting me stretch the topic a bit

cthulhu said...

I have a soft spot for the Blues Image, “Ride Captain Ride”. A cool song with some terrific guitar work.

Worst…gotta be the hideous “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks.

steve simels said...

"Walk Don't Run" -- Sorry. The Ventures had several hits....

M_Sharp said...

Free - "All Right Now"
Moon Zappa - "Valley Girl"
Nervous Norvus - "Transfusion"
Shocking Blue - "Venus"
Iron Butterfly - "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"
Carl Douglas - "Kung Fu Fighting"
Santo & Johnny - "Sleep Walk"

and yeah, that Terry Jacks is horrible