McDuffRule

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘Jump Around’ by the American hip-hop group House of Pain (#11 1992). Produced by DJ Muggs of the hip-hop group Cypress Hill but not used by that band at the time. The song has been universally popular ever since and is frequently used at sporting events.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ by American super-group The Byrds. (#4 1965).  Written by Bob Dylan. Roger McGuinn changed the time signature and gave the song a full electric treatment. The Byrds were a hugely influential band and pioneered the template for modern American music with their ‘jangly guitar’ style. Many famous musicians were in the band including David Crosby and Gene Clark. Their music remains a timeless joy to this day. The song was a number one hit in the U.S., U.K., South Africa and Ireland.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘Oliver Cool’ by Oliver Cool. (#18 1960).  Having completed my radio spots for this year I have decided to feature here the strangest songs I discovered when constructing the McDuff Rule website. These are a little too weird to play on the radio but were all OHWs according to the McDuff rules. My first OHW spot for next year will be on January the 15^th.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘I’m the Pied Piper’ (Adelaide #2 1966) by English pop singer-songwriter Crispian St Peters (1939-2010). Crispian was also a national OHW with his song ‘You Were On My Mind’ (#18 1966). Both song were excellent pop songs and are remembered fondly.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘Gypsy Queen’ (#18 1972) by Aussie pioneering country rock band ‘Country Radio’. Active from 1970 to 1973 the band comprised Greg Quill and Aussie music pioneer Kerryn Tolhurst who garnered great fame especially with the band ‘The Dingoes’ and the song ‘Way Out West’. Gypsy Queen is a little gem from the establishment of the Australian music industry.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘Groove is in the Heart’ (#1 1990) by New York dance and house music band Deee-Lite. Comprising Lady Miss Kier, Supa DJ Dmitry & DJ Towa Tei. Featured on the song is Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest), Bootsy Collins (both personal favourites) and a Herbie Hancock sample. It was number 1 for 4 weeks.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘The Theme from Happy Days’ (#1 in Adelaide & #4 nationally in 1976) by Pratt & McLain (formerly known as Brother Love). Pratt and McLain’s song replaced a version of ‘Rock Around the Clock’ by Bill Haley & The Comets. Happy Days ran from 1974 to 1984 (255 episodes).

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘I’ll Be Gone’ (#10 1971) by Melbourne seminal progressive rock band Spectrum. Centred around Mike Rudd & Bill Putt they were active from 1969 to 1973. They also performed under the name ‘The Indelible Murtceps’ (Spectrum spelt backwards). Spectrum’s contribution to the establishment of the Australia modern music industry was immense and their album ‘Milesago’ is now a classic of early Australian rock.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘She Blinded Me with Science’ (#19 1983) by English multi-instrumentalist Thomas Dolby from his album ‘The Golden Age of Wireless’. A brilliant musician and one-time tech entrepreneur, Thomas has produced a series of wonderful albums and is a personal hero to me and one of my very favourite musicians.

This Week’s One-Hit Wonder (OHW) is ‘Disco Duck’ (#2 1976) by Rick Dees & His Cast of Idiots. Rick Dees is an American entertainer, radio personality, comedian, actor, and voice artist, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show.