The greatest one-hit wonders of the 1960s

From The Beatles to The Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix to The Rolling Stones, and The Mamas & Papas to The Supremes, the 1960s was a truly seismic decade for music and an era that changed popular culture forever.

Alongside the epoch-defining artists, there were numerous acts who were more flash-in-the-pan and disappeared into the ether once they scored a solitary hit song.

To celebrate Absolute Radio’s The Best Decade, for a bit of fun we’ve rounded up some of the UK's greatest one-hit wonders of the 1960s! Have a listen to them below!

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The greatest one-hit wonders of the 1960s:

The Archies – ‘Sugar, Sugar’ (1969):

Animated fictional band The Archies took up residency for eight weeks at Number 1 in 1969 with their bona fide bubblegum pop classic ‘Sugar, Sugar’. It sold over 1 million copies in the UK and 3 million units in the United States and topped the charts in over a dozen countries. The Archies went on to dent the Top 10 in America with follow-up track ‘Jingle Jangle’, but ‘Sugar, Sugar’ remains a one-hit wonder over here.

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown – ‘Fire’ (1968):

When it was released in June 1968, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown’s ‘Fire’ became a mammoth transatlantic hit reaching Number 1 in the UK and Canada, and No.2 in the United States. The psychedelic rock anthem still receives airplay today and it’s rightfully regarded as an enduring classic. Testament to its revered status, the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, The Who and Emerson, Lake & Palmer have covered ‘Fire’, while The Prodigy sampled it on their song of the same name ‘Fire’ in 1992.

Norman Greenbaum - ‘Spirit in the Sky’ (1969):

Still universally adored more than 50 years after its release, Norman Greenbaum’s timeless fuzz-rock tune ‘Spirit in the Sky’ first charted in the UK in late 1969 and slowly climbed to Number 1 the following year. Widely regarded as one of the finest one-hit wonders ever, ‘Spirit in the Sky’ was recently voted as among the greatest 500 songs of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. Proof of its popularity, ‘Spirit in the Sky’ reached Number 1 in the UK again in 1986 and 2003 thanks to covers by Doctor and the Medics and Pop Idol star Gareth Gates.

Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin – ‘Je t'aime... moi non plus’ (1969):

‘Je t'aime... moi non plus’ by French musician Serge Gainsbourg and English singer Jane Birkin became the first foreign language song to reach Number 1 in the UK in 1969. Translated as ‘I love you… me neither’, the real-life couple’s song was overtly sexual in nature with its suggestive groans and breathing sounds, and despite sounding somewhat comedic today, it was banned by the BBC. This, of course, boosted its success. It proved to be a one-hit wonder but both Gainsbourg and Birkin enjoyed significant success in other fields.

Ricky Valance – ‘Tell Laura I Love Her’ (1960):

Welsh pop singer Ricky Valance (real name David Spencer) scored a huge Number 1 in 1960 with his version of the tragic love song ‘Tell Laura I Love Her.’ The first ever Welsh male singer to have a chart-topping hit in the UK, Valance went on to have a string of hits internationally – including the Australian Number 1 ‘Movin' Away’ – but he failed to replicate the success of ‘Tell Laura I Love Her’ on home turf.

B. Bumble and the Stingers – ‘Nut Rocker’ (1962):

American instrumental ensemble B. Bumble and the Stingers reached the dizzy heights of Number 1 in 1962 with their two-minute reinterpretation of the march from Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker. Buoyed by their brush with the upper echelons of the charts in the UK, the collective went on to release 'Apple Knocker' (based on Rossini's William Tell Overture) and ‘Dawn Cracker’ (based on Morning Mood from Peer Gynt by Grieg) but neither were a success.

The Overlanders – ‘Michelle’ (1966):

British music group The Overlanders stayed at Number 1 for three weeks in early 1966 with their cover of The Beatles’ ‘Michelle’ from one year earlier. They didn’t score another hit throughout the rest of their career and The Overlanders were slapped with the dubious honour of becoming the first British group to be classed as a one-hit wonder.

Zager and Evans – ‘In The Year 2025 (Exordium & Terminus)’ (1969):

Despite the song’s bleak subject matter about a dystopian future, US duo Zager and Evans (Denny Zager and Rick Evans) scored a blockbuster hit with ‘In The Year 2025 (Exordium & Terminus)’. The western tinged folk-pop song stayed at Number 1 for six weeks Stateside in the summer of 1969 before reaching the chart summit in the UK a few months later. Follow-up single ‘Mr. Turnkey’ flopped, and to this day the duo remain the only act to have a Number 1 song on both sides of the Atlantic and never have another chart single on the Billboard or UK charts. Ouch.

Twinkle – ‘Terry’ (1964):

Surrey singer Lynn Ripley – aka Twinkle – stayed on the UK charts for 15 weeks in 1964 with her self-penned song ‘Terry’. Lyrically about the death of a young man called Terry in a motorcycle accident, the song was banned by the BBC on grounds of poor taste, and, because of this, it climbed to Number 4. Twinkle failed to score another Top 20 hit in her career.

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