A history of popular music as told by 100 one-hit wonders (part 8)

30. 5000 Volts –•– I’m on Fire — (Peaked: December 13, 1975 at # 26)

Two guitarists in matching satin bell-bottoms and a singer named Tina Charles who pushes everyone out of the way and belts "I'm On Fire" as if she were. A one-hit wonder twofer, as the song plays off the riff of “Black is Black” by Los Bravos (#4, October 1966). Somehow this song wasn’t a bigger hit. 

29. Buffalo Springfield –•– For What It’s Worth — (Peaked: March 25, 1967 at # 7)        

A strong case can be made for Buffalo Springfield as the American Beatles. Two brilliant, if mercurial, singer/songwriter/instrumentalist triple threats. A third partner who led a pioneering country-rock band. A catalogue that covered an eclectic range of styles and a reputation as a dynamic live band. Unlike the Beatles, who understood the nature of band dynamics, the Springfield splintered pretty quickly: a little more than a year after "For What It's Worth" they were done.  

28. Anita Ward –•– Ring My Bell — (Peaked: June 30, 1979 at # 1)          

Not a song about the Avon Lady. 

27. The Monotones –•– Book of Love — (Peaked: April 21, 1958 at # 5)

The Monotones were six kids from a Newark housing project, one of whom couldn’t get the Pepsodent jingle out of his head (You’ll wonder where the yellow went/when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent), so he wrote and structured "Book of Love" around it. 

26. Carl Perkins –•– Blue Suede Shoes — (Peaked: May 19, 1956 at # 2)

Having once owned a pair of gray suede Hush Puppies, I can tell you that they get scuffed easily. And forget about wearing them in the rain or snow. "Blue Suede Shoes," which Carl Perkins wrote, was the first million-selling country song to cross over to both the R&B and pop charts. When Elvis Presley covered the song, first cut on his first album, it became what passes for a rock & roll classic. 

25. Hurricane Smith –•– Oh, Babe, What Would You Say? — (Peaked: February 17, 1973 at # 3)  

Our kitchen radio was locked on 1130 WNEW AM and it was always on, so even as a kid I knew my way around the “Great American Song Book” – although back then it was only a bunch of old records that nobody but WNEW played. Its deejays were dismissive of Top 40 radio, but occasionally the station would allow an exception like "Oh Babe" into the palace. As someone who knew the lyrics to Barbra Streisand’s “Secondhand Rose” when he was eight years old, I was probably predisposed to liking the jaunty “Oh Babe” right from the start. Hurricane Smith’s real name was Norman Smith, an Abbey Road engineer who worked on all the Beatles’ sessions up to Rubber Soul, then produced three very trippy early Pink Floyd albums. 

24. Debby Boone –•– You Light Up My Life — (Peaked: October 15, 1977 at # 1)  

Debby Boone was two years younger than me (and born at Hackensack Hospital!) but projected 15 years older. "You Light Up My Life", sat flat and lifeless at #1 for ten weeks at the end of 1977. Its presence threw a wet blanket over the radio, the same way Debby’s father Pat did in the 50s with his Wonder Bread covers of black R&B like “Blueberry Hill” and “Tutti Fruitti.”  

23. Brian Wilson –•– Caroline, No — (Peaked: April 30, 1966 at # 32)

The story goes that when Capitol Records executives first heard “Pet Sounds” – an album ostensibly by the Beach Boys but more of a solo Brian Wilson record if anything – they had no idea how to market it. Where were the songs about girls and summer fun? Why were these songs all so downhearted? Convinced they had a teenage version of Frank Sinatra’s bittersweet bummer “September of My Years” on their hands, they considered releasing “Pet Sounds” as a Brian Wilson record (hence this single listing Wilson as the artist) before doing an about-face and crediting the band instead – then sank any chance it had to succeed by putting out a Beach Boys greatest hits record a month later to compete against it. By Beach Boys sales standards, “Pet Sounds” and "Caroline No" tanked. Today, “Pet Sounds” is generally accepted as one of the great rock albums; the elegiac “Caroline No,” ending with the midnight sound of dogs barking at a passing train, is one of Wilson’s best. 

22. Mike Oldfield –•– Tubular Bells — (Peaked: May 11, 1974 at # 7)                    

This single, edited down from its original, album-side length of 48 minutes, was written and recorded by 19-year-old Mike Oldfield (who played all the instruments). When Richard Branson heard a demo, he signed Oldfield to his new Virgin Records label. Thanks to its use in The Exorcist, the record took off and provided Branson with capital that helped launch an empire that today includes a space tourism outfit. 

21. Nena –•– 99 Luftballons — (Peaked: March 3, 1984 at # 2)

20. World Party –•– Ship of Fools (Save Me from Tomorrow) — (Peaked: April 25, 1987 at # 27) 

The conservative policies of Reagan and Thatcher, and a growing gap between the wealthy and everybody else, triggered a brief blast of political protest music (“Rockin’ In the Free World” by Neil Young, “Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen, “Land of Confusion” by Genesis) that included "99 Luftballoons" and "Ship of Fools." The former was an anti-nuclear song recorded in English and German in the face of rising international tensions. The latter was more of a temperature check of humankind. Thirty-three years later, the patient hasn’t flatlined, but it’s close.