Continuing my look at the second biggest hits of one-hit wonders…

In 1969, the Jewish singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum had a smash hit name-dropping Jesus in a rocking gospel song called ‘Spirit in the Sky.’ The song reached the top five in 11 countries, and spent 15 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #3.

‘Spirit in the Sky’ makes Greenbaum the definition of a one-hit wonder, but he did a have a follow-up single that made a tiny splash on the charts.

‘Canned Ham’ is a goofy little novelty number that has none of the elegance or resonance of ‘Spirit in the Sky,’ but I guess it found enough of an audience in the wake of that smash hit to keep Greenbaum’s name on the radio a little bit longer.

Greenbaum released two more albums in the early 70s and never recorded again. He maintains a website at spiritinthesky.com that, among other things, lists films and commercials that have featured his hit track. On Twitter, his bio reads “One Hit Wonder.”