Trivia: Artists only known for one song

[Big Tim]

Two more, which haven't been mentioned (that I can see from a brief skim back through the thread):

Goombay Dance Band - Seven Tears
Nizlopi - JCB Song (I think that may have been a UK Christmas Number One)

On reflection, they probably haven't been mentioned because people were trying to forget them!

 

[trebor79]

Bonzo Dog Doo Da Band - Urban Spaceman.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Goombay Dance Band - Seven Tears

With the singer that looks like Alan Brazil #HMHB

 

[SJL2020]

What about Neil Young - Only love can break your heart?

Whatever happened to the guy? You'd have thought he had enough talent to make it somehow?

I guess some people just fade away.

He recently released his (something like) 50th album ("World Record"), but unfortunately it wasn't as good as his previous effort ("Barn") which came out 12 months earlier, which I thought had had some strong tracks on it and was something of a return to form.

Next month he's involved in the release of an album by Molina-Talbot-Lofgren-Young, which is basically the surviving pair from Crazy Horse, plus occasional stand in Nils Lofgren + the Neilster himself.

 

[yorksrob]

Apart from the trivia that the line was a 10-minute walk from the house ( ), you are spot on with the date, as he and the Tornados were at their peak in 1962, the Kings' last year. Heinz Burt, and to an extent the entire Tornados setup, were the creation of producer Joe Meek, and appear on most of his material recorded in the infamous upper flat on Holloway Road in London, which I still look out for when passing and have pointed out to a couple of music aficionados. So not a one-hit-wonder at all. Regarding Eastleigh, I believe he was born in Germany in WW2, his father was killed, and his family took up with a British occupation soldier and moved to Britain when he was very young. If from Eastleigh his step-father might have even been railway staff, doing National Service.

Telstar LP is up in my attic! Alas, no turntable for many years.

There was a good film biopic of Joe Meek a few years back which features the back stories of associated artists including Heinz and The Tornados. Well worth a watch.

 

[Taunton]

Bonzo Dog Doo Da Band - Urban Spaceman.

Actually around for quite a while. Their LP "Gorilla" was a stalwart at university in the 1970s. Track "Keynsham" was a radio regular for a long time as well. We all knew them from teenage years watching an ITV children's comedy series "Do Not Adjust Your Set", which they appeared on with a music slot in each week's programmes, along with many of the future Monty Python, for which the programme formed something of a prototype. They also toured with The Beatles, and later Wings, as they were a Paul McCartney personal favourite. Beatles producer George Martin, whom previously had been EMI's lightweight comedy record producer, got them together. Member Neil Innes later did various collaborations with Monty Python members in their own productions.

 

[McRhu]

Neil Innes. Yes! Did ‘The Background to History’ (medieval agrarian system) with the Pythons. Excellent stuff.

 

[adrock1976]

Apologies for indulging in some necromancy, but something came on the transistor radio that I have not heard for a good number of years.

Survivor - Burning Heart (Eye of the Tiger is their well known hit)

Also, Kenny Loggins - Footloose and Danger Zone (Bryan Adams declined Danger Zone as he did not want to be seen glorifying war as it was used in Top Gun, starring a much younger Tom Cruise).

 

[AY1975]

A few more I've thought of that I don't think anyone has mentioned (again most if not all of these had multiple songs but they are probably better known for that particular song than for any others):

Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline

Irene Cara - Fame

Musical Youth - Pass the Dutchie

Maxine Nightingale - Right Back Where We Started From

Salt N Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex

And slightly off topic, a group that's only really well known for two songs (again they did have several others, though):

Dexys Midnight Runners - Geno and Come on Eileen

 

[yorksrob]

A few more I've thought of that I don't think anyone has mentioned (again most if not all of these had multiple songs but they are probably better known for that particular song than for any others):

Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline

Irene Cara - Fame

Musical Youth - Pass the Dutchie

Maxine Nightingale - Right Back Where We Started From

Salt N Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex

And slightly off topic, a group that's only really well known for two songs (again they did have several others, though):

Dexys Midnight Runners - Geno and Come on Eileen

I'd say that Salt'n'Pepa were probably better known for "Push It".

 

[AM9]

A few more I've thought of that I don't think anyone has mentioned (again most if not all of these had multiple songs but they are probably better known for that particular song than for any others):

Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline

Irene Cara - Fame

Musical Youth - Pass the Dutchie

Maxine Nightingale - Right Back Where We Started From

Salt N Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex

And slightly off topic, a group that's only really well known for two songs (again they did have several others, though):

Dexys Midnight Runners - Geno and Come on Eileen

I certainly wouldn't agree that Neil Diamond is necessarily best known for Sweet Caroline, - even allowing for thise recent fad of singing it at events. There's Cracklin' Rose, I am .. I Said, Song Sung Blue etc..

 

[Typhoon]

Actually around for quite a while. Their LP "Gorilla" was a stalwart at university in the 1970s. Track "Keynsham" was a radio regular for a long time as well. We all knew them from teenage years watching an ITV children's comedy series "Do Not Adjust Your Set", which they appeared on with a music slot in each week's programmes, along with many of the future Monty Python, for which the programme formed something of a prototype. They also toured with The Beatles, and later Wings, as they were a Paul McCartney personal favourite. Beatles producer George Martin, whom previously had been EMI's lightweight comedy record producer, got them together. Member Neil Innes later did various collaborations with Monty Python members in their own productions.

Whether you watched "Do Not Adjust Your Set" (or knew people who did) probably made a difference because of the ?memorable? phrases - 'Really wild General'; 'The sweet essence of giraffe'; 'This is boredom you can afford from Cyril Bored'; 'The dogs bow-wow ('Ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff'); 'Cool Britannia, you are cool, take a trip'; 'When Mr Slater's parrot says 'Hello', 'Hello'; 'Wrestle poodles and win'; 'We are normal and we want our freedom, we are normal and we dig Bert Weedon'. And they covered 'The Young Ones' a long time before ... The Young Ones. There were songs where you could join in on some of the lyrics

I suppose 'Urban Spaceman' is probably the track most acceptable for Hits radio.

I

 

[AY1975]

A few more:

Average White Band - Pick Up the Pieces

KC and the Sunshine Band - That's the Way I Like It

The Gap Band - Oops Upside Your Head

The Tweets - The Birdie Song

Captain Sensible - Happy Talk

 

[Jimini]

The Tweets - The Birdie Song

You can put that one straight back in whatever corner of your brain you found that one in!

 

[MotCO]

KC and the Sunshine Band - That's the Way I Like It

...and Please Don't Go, Give It Up, ....

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Conrad Weidt (better known as an actor) - "When the lighthouse shines across the bay" - much loved & played by the late Terry Wogan when Radio 2 was worth listening to

Conrad sings the song in the film F.P.1

 

[Jamiescott1]

Gloworm - Carry Me Home

I always think of "I lift my cup" as their one hit song

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Black Box - Ride On Time

Everybody
Positive vibration

Id add

Reel 2 reel - i like to move it (yes Eric morillo had hits under other aliases too)

Crystal waters - gypsy woman

Baby d - let me be your fantasy

 

[D821]

Toploader - Dancing In the moonlight

 

[317666]

Fiction Factory - Feels Like Heaven

The Assembly - Never Never

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Toploader - Dancing In the moonlight

That can go in Room 101 with The Birdie Song!

They had a lesser hit with the far superior "Achilles Heel".

 

[yorksrob]

That can go in Room 101 with The Birdie Song!

They had a lesser hit with the far superior "Achilles Heel".

Toploader did two albums that I quite liked.

 

[AY1975]

Village People - YMCA
Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8
Lindsay Dracass - No Dream Impossible (which I think deserves special honourable mention because it was the UK's 2001 Eurovision entry and because Dracass was only 16 at the time, maybe a record for the youngest ever Eurovision entrant, or at least the UK's youngest ever entrant?)

 

[Jimini]

Village People - YMCA
Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8
Lindsay Dracass - No Dream Impossible (which I think deserves special honourable mention because it was the UK's 2001 Eurovision entry and because Dracass was only 16 at the time, maybe a record for the youngest ever Eurovision entrant, or at least the UK's youngest ever entrant?)

Steps had 14 consecutive top five singles, so I’d respectfully disagree with that one!

 

[yorksrob]

Steps had 14 consecutive top five singles, so I’d respectfully disagree with that one!

Some from the latest album were really rather good !

 

[Typhoon]

Village People - YMCA
Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8
Lindsay Dracass - No Dream Impossible (which I think deserves special honourable mention because it was the UK's 2001 Eurovision entry and because Dracass was only 16 at the time, maybe a record for the youngest ever Eurovision entrant, or at least the UK's youngest ever entrant?)

Village People best known for YMCA but others (although mainly for the choruses) 'Go West'*, 'In The Navy' , 'Macho Man'. May be more.

* Covered much later by the Pet Shop Boys.

 

[nw1]

Not to forget Old Town Road which peaked in the UK at No.1 in 2019.

(Billy Ray Cyrus)

News to me! (But I haven't been closely following the charts for about 10-15 years now).

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The Human League Mk1 got to no.6 in 1982 with the re-issue of Being Boiled. Try getting that played on a request show!

In my local area there's a very good show on a Sunday evening on one of the ILR stations which focuses on big-at-the-time, but not-so-much-played-now, songs from the late 70s and 80s. I'm fairly sure that one has made an appearance at least once.

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Nizlopi - JCB Song (I think that may have been a UK Christmas Number One)

Forgotten about that. My initial thought was it was roughly no.3 in about 2002. I looked it up and in fact it reached no.1 just before Christmas in 2005, but wasn't the Christmas number one as that year's X-Factor single (Shayne Ward - That's My Goal) was released the week after, starting that period of about 10 years when X-Factor reached number one every Christmas - broken only by Rage Against The Machine in 2009.

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John Kongos-Tokoloshe Man

He did the original version of Happy Mondays' "Step On", didn't he? In which case that's perhaps his best known hit, though I heard it very much later (20 years?) than the Happy Mondays' version.

 

[Jamiescott1]

Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8

Its a tradegy that you metion that song

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8

Steps had 14 consecutive top five singles, so I’d respectfully disagree with that one!

Yep. Especially considering that 5, 6, 7, 8 was their only single from that general period (1997-2001) that didn't make the top 5 in the UK!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Landscape - Einstein a Gogo.
Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star.
The Buggles released many singles and two albums both of which contained excellent music.

 

[317 forever]

A few Eurovision acts such as

Coco :- The Bad Old Days
Milk & Honey :- Hallelujah
Bardo :- One Step Further
Nicole :- A Little Peace
Sweet Dreams :- I'm Never Giving Uo
Belle & the Devotions :- Love Games