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.
Shakira is the only artist I have consistently listened to in a language other than English. In fact, I prefer the albums she has recorded in her native Spanish over her English-language projects.
I don’t know if that speaks to something unique in Shakira’s music that helps me get over that barrier, or if I just haven’t spent enough time listening to other artists in their native tongues. Maybe a bit of both.
Today’s random weekend selection is the title track of Neko Case’s 2009 album Middle Cyclone, her fifth solo release. This album was the follow-up to 2006’s Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, my favorite Case album.
Recorded partly in a barn in Vermont, Middle Cyclone has the same earthy richness that makes all of Case’s work so resonant. Her powerful but melancholy vocals are the perfect complement to the music.
I’m closing Week One of my “second hits by one-hit wonders” theme with the first American band on the list. Los Angeles pop band The Knack debuted in 1979 with Get the Knack, an album that went double platinum in the U.S. on the strength of lead single ‘My Sharona.’
That song spent six weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it’s the first and likely only song most people associate with The Knack. But they did place four other songs on the Hot 100 over the next two years.
The one-hit wonders I’ve featured so far this week all had their big songs appear on their debut albums. That has to sting, achieving massive success right out of the gate and seeing that promise fade over subsequent years and albums.
Chumbawamba is a different story. The English alt-rock band formed in 1982 and released eight albums before they dropped Tubthumper, the one that made them (temporary) household names. The hit was ‘Tubthumping,’ better known as the “I get knocked down, but I get up again” song.
Meet Me In Montauk 