Sometimes one song says it all.
Though sometimes dismissed as failures, one-hit-wonders demand respect. Finding the right combination of lyrics, melody and timing to garner a hit can be like catching lightning in a bottle. And lightning doesn’t always strike twice. Whether they completed one great work and then retired from the spotlight (such as Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird) or continued to try to recapture their former glory, one-hit-wonders certainly deserve their place in history. This past Sunday was National One-Hit-Wonder Day, did you celebrate by listening to your favorite?
For many of these songs, their novelty keeps them restricted to a specific time and place. There is certainly no need to build an entire genre around Disco Duck, for example. And sometimes a song perfectly captures a special time in your life – but once it’s over you move on and the artist is only recalled to conjure up that time again. And sometimes it may be better to fade away. When a song gets so popular, it may be tempting for an artist to re-write that hit. And there’s no honor in being a two-hit-wonder.
We asked around the Curio & Co. office to find out which one-hit-wonders are tops. Margie’s favorite is Angel Baby, by Rosie and the Originals (and Margie’s rendition is certainly original). Shirley says Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl), by Looking Glass, always takes her back. And Louis’s favorite is Shrimp Shack by Cap’n Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters – but we honestly can’t picture him at the beach.
