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Your favourite one hit wonders


PSYCHOcatholic

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Thunderclap Newman - Something in the Air (followed by more info that you ever needed or wanted)

Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air", a 1969 UK no 1, has become one of the most durable of one-hit wonders, in constant demand for television commercials, film soundtracks and compilations.

The band was originally created by The Who's guitarist, Pete Townsend as a vehicle to record songs by former Who roadie, drummer/singer John 'Speedy' Keen (miscredited as 'Keene' on the single's label). Townsend, who produced "Something in the Air", arranged its strings and played bass under the pseudonym Bijou Drains, brought in eccentric GPO engineer and jazz pianist Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman and 15 year old Glaswegian guitarist Jimmy McCulloch.

The single (catalogue no. Track 604031) (which was originally titled "Revolution", but was renamed due to the Beatles releasing their single "Revolution"), perfectly captured the spirit of post flower power rebellion, marrying McColloch's sweeping acoustic and glowing electric guitars with the powerful drumming and yearning falsetto of Keen, whilst Newman contributed a piano solo that somehow managed to fit the song perfectly whilst simultaneously sounding as if it had wandered in from a different studio!

Released in June 1969, "Something in the Air" was no 1 after only three weeks, holding off Elvis Presley in the process. The scale of the song's success took everyone by surprise and there were no plans to promote Thunderclap Newman with live performances. Eventually, an augmented line-up, incorporating Jim Pitman-Avory on bass and McCulloch's elder brother Jack on drums, played a handful of gigs. It has been rumoured that the band played live on only five occasions, although Keen has referred to a two month tour, playing ?everywhere?.

"Something in the Air" appeared on the soundtracks of the films The Magic Christian and The Strawberry Statement, the latter of which helped it reach no 25 in America. In the UK, a follow-up single, "Accidents", didn't appear until May 1970, and charted for one week only at 44, whilst an album, Hollywood Dream, reportedly peaked at no 163.

The members of the band had little in common. Newman once commented, in a 1972 interview with New Musical Express that he got on well with Keen but not with his music, whilst for McCulloch it was the other way round. Unsurprisingly, after a third single was virtually ignored, the band split.

Newman recorded a solo album, Rainbow, in 1971, whilst McCulloch had stints with a dozen or more bands, including Stone the Crows, after the death of Les Harvey, and Wings. He died of heart complications brought on by a heroin overdose in 1979, aged 26.

Keen reappeared with a solo album for Track in 1973, Previous Convictions, and set about recording a double album as a follow-up. Frustrated at his lack of progress at Track, he took the demos to Island Records, where it was pared down to a single album and released in 1975 as Y'know wot I mean? A single, "Someone to Love", received plenty of airplay but failed to sell.

Discouraged, Keen ceased recording after a final single in 1976. He briefly moved into the producers seat, working with punk band Johnny Thunder and the Heartbreakers in 1977, and also producing the first album by Motörhead before effectively leaving the industry. He suffered from arthritis for several years, but by the time Y'know wot I mean? was reissued on CD in 1996, he had plans to finally record his third solo album. Sadly, this never materialized. Keen died, unexpectedly, aged 58 in February 2003.

Only one member of the band survives, and has recently 're-formed' the group, playing their first live gig live at a small pub in Hereford, England, called The Black Lion.

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This is a great song ::

Top 40 Hits of 1962 (#1)

DUKE OF EARL

Gene Chandler

Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl

Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl

Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl

Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl

Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl

Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl

Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl

Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl

As I walk through this world

Nothing can stop the Duke of Earl

And-a you, you are my girl

And no one can hurt you, oh no

Yes-a, I, oh I'm gonna love you, oh oh

Come on let me hold you darlin'

'Cause I'm the Duke of Earl

So hey yea yea yeah

And when I hold you

You'll be my Duchess, Duchess of Earl

We'll walk through my dukedom

And a paradise we will share

Yes-a, I, oh I'm gonna love you, oh oh

Nothing can stop me now

'Cause I'm the Duke of Earl

So hey yeah yeah yeah

Well, I, oh I'm gonna love you, oh oh

Nothing can stop me now

'Cause I'm the Duke of Earl

So hey yeah yeah yeah

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Here's one to ponder...

The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace

Da da da da da da da da da da daaaa daaaa ddaaaaaahhhhh.

Mother what a night it really was....

brother what a night it really was....

Gloorr reeyy Beeeeeeee....

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You Only Get What You Give - New Radicals

Groove is in the Heart - DEELite

Steal My Sunshine - Len

There are more, but these are the three I could think up the fastest.

The new radicals was pretty DAMNED good...as well as Steal My Sunshine. :happybanana:
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  • 6 months later...

Fantastic list , Jimmy, though it kinda hurt my eyes reading it...

Quite a number of these weren't one hit wonders in the UK. Several were very commercially successful, having lots of "hit records", including "Number Ones":

David Essex

Boney M

Paper Lace

Mungo Jerry

Dean Friedman

to name but some...

But what I find quite staggering is the inclusion on your list of T.REX,Thin Lizzy, and the Boomtown Rats: all MASSIVE over here in their time. Were they really one-hit wonders in the States???! Crikey!

My favourite UK "one hit wonder":

Uptown Top Ranking - Althia & Donna

Edited by Guest
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Hey How about

Turning Japanese - The Vapors... :guitar:

In the UK at least, "Turning Japanese" wasn't the only hit record for The Vapors, though it was by far the biggest and most remembered. Their very excellent "New Clear Days" album (still available, if anyone's interested) yielded another smaller hit "News At Ten". A couple of years later they hit the Top 10 again with "Jimmie Jones", taken from their second, less spectacular album entitled "Spiders"

I'm not meaning to be "picky" here, just trying to be informative.

("New Clear Days" is a really good album)

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My Name is Norman Bates by Landscape

My name is Norman Bates; I?m just a normal guy.

My name is Norman Bates-s-s-s-s.

My name is Norman Bates; I?m just a normal guy.

My name is Norman Bates-s-s-s-s.

But Landscape had a much bigger hit with "Einstein-a-Go-Go", as far as I can remember. That said, "Norman Bates" was a great single...

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And I really really really like "Hey Jealousy' by the Gin Blossoms

One of my fave bands of all times, scarcely a bad song...no-one's ever heard of them at all over here...Hey jealousy got a little airplay, we (our little pub band) used to cover Cheatin' and, over ten years only one member of the audience ever recognised it. (Mind you, it could've been how we played it)

I'd vote for...

Eye and Socket Moustache Buggery by Nerve Rack...massive in the UK, whatever happened to them? :)

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Eye and Socket

Moustache

Buggery

Three distinct songs (though the first two did segue together)by the near legendary Nerve Rack, (from their 2nd album "Experiments With Facial Hair", fact fans). None of them released as a single. One hit wonders? Looks like you've lost the plot, johnnyguitar? Whassamatter,the heat getting too much for ya'?

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Edna is waaay cool :thumbup:

Why, thanks... :) You too...

I am looking at One Hit Wonders sites but they include bands such Marmalade, Mott the hopple and others which actually mayt have had a big hit, but they are also well known artists. I would call one hit wonder someone like Tee Set ("Ma belle amie") or Vanity Fair ("Hitchin´a ride"), or Timbuk3 with "The future´s so bright I have to wear shades"...

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