McDuffRule

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘The Hustle’ (#9 1975) by Van McCoy (1940-1979) and his band the Soul City Symphony. Van was an accomplished musician, record producer, arranger, songwriter, singer and orchestra conductor. He produced music for many famous acts including Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Stylistics and Aretha Franklin.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘Kiss Me’ (#1 1999) by American Christian alternative rock band ‘Sixpence None the Richer’. The name of the band is inspired by a passage from the book ‘Mere Christianity’, a theological presentation by British writer C. S. Lewis. The band formed in 1992 and are still active today, they are lead by members Leigh Nash & Matt Slocum.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘The Harper Valley P.T.A.’ (#2 1968) by Jeannie C. Riley. A Crossover Country hit written by the great Tom T Hall. The song’s narrative was turned into a movie and a TV series, both starring Barbara Eden who rose to fame in the TV series ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ which also starred a young Larry Hagman. It was also the very last time anyone said “sock it to me”, a catch-phrase made famous in Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘I’ll Find My Own Way Home’ (#19 1982) by Jon & Vangelis. Both these gentlemen are hugely famous in their own right. Jon Anderson as a member of British Prog band ‘Yes’ (my very favourite band) and Greek composer/keyboard legend Vangelis. They made four albums between 1979 and 1986. This song comes from 1981s ‘The Friends of Mr Cairo’. Definitely not a singles band but much loved by music fans. Another song from ‘Mr Cairo’ was ‘State of Independence’ with was a big hit for Donna Summer (#10 1983).

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘Mambo No.5’ (#1 1999) by German born singer Lou Bega. The song was composed by Cuban bandleader Perez Prado in 1949. Lou’s cover was a smash hit in Australia. In my long career as a DJ I would often substitute the Bob the Builder version when crowds got too drunk, it’s really good and hey … it’s gotta be fun for me too. Thanks to ABC Presenter Ian Harslett for the selection.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘What a Fool Believes’ (#10 1979) by The Doobie Brothers featuring Michael McDonald. This song was written by Michael and Kenny Loggins. Michael fronted the band from 1975-1982 during the absence of founding member Tom Johnson. Michael’s presence and song writing ability ushered in an extremely successful period for the band which included songs like ‘Takin’ it to the Streets’ & ‘Minute by Minute’. The Doobies are an American institution and have never stopped touring so take their advice and ‘Listen to the Music’.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘Brick’ (#14 1998) by The Ben Folds Five. The band was active until 2006 during which time Ben was a resident of Adelaide. During this time his twins were born here. Ben returned to the United States soon after.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘You Don’t Treat Me No Good’ (#1 1992) by American (Chicago) band Sonia Dada (1990-2005). They had only one other hit song, ‘You Ain’t Thinking (About Me)’ (#3 1993) which qualifies as a ‘Bullet-Dodger’ on our website. Maybe one day I will do a radio show on grammatically challenged song titles and this one would surely qualify. Tom Petty’s ‘You Don’t Come Around Here No More’ is another that springs to mind, all suggestions welcome. Many thanks to ABC Rural reporter Brooke Neindorf for the selection.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘What’s Up’ (#2 1993) by 4 Non-Blondes (1989-1994). From their only album ‘Bigger Better Faster More’ the group was lead by Linda Perry, an accomplished solo artist and producer who toured as part of Pink’s band. The song should have probably been called ‘What’s Going On’ and as such is often used as a trick question in quiz nights.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘La Bamba’ (Adelaide #1 1987) by Los Lobos. Originally a Mexican Folk song from Veracruz, the song’s best known version was an adaption by Richie Valenz (1958). This version is from the bio-pic ‘La Bamba’ a film about Valenz’s short life. Los Lobos are an American rock band from East Los Angeles.