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Get ready to dust off those bell-bottoms and crank up the volume! Join us as we count down our picks for the greatest one-hit wonders of the 1970s that you totally forgot were awesome! From groovy disco jams to funky rock anthems, these songs defined a decade and still slap today. Which forgotten gem will take the top spot?
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00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those 1970s artists whose
00:13creative legacy remains primarily tethered to one song.
00:24Number 20. Hold Your Head Up. Argent.
00:30I don't ready to get you down, you can take me.
00:35Keyboardist Rod Argent formed the band that bore his name prior to the dust fully settling from the breakup of
00:40his prior group, The Zombies.
00:42Argent didn't quite have as much influence or chart success as that formative psych pop group,
00:46but Hold Your Head Up did do extremely well for the band.
00:49Hold Your Head Up. Hold Your Head Up. Hold Your Head Up. Hold Your Head Up. Hold Your Head Up.
00:57Hold Your Head Up.
00:58are charted in Argent's native UK, as well as Canada and the United States,
01:03while the band themselves became something of a reliable album-focused group throughout the 1970s.
01:08It's Hold Your Head Up that remains Argent's most formidable attack on the international pop charts, however,
01:13a song that still gets mentioned and airplayed to this day.
01:16Hold Your Head Up. Hold Your Head Up. Hold Your Head Up.
01:22Number 19. Put Your Hand in the Hand. Ocean.
01:26Put your hand in the hand of the man who steals the water.
01:33It's one of the most frequently covered songs from the admittedly niche genre of religious pop,
01:38a tune that's become notable for its equally sampled open drum break.
01:47Put Your Hand in the Hand first became popular thanks to a 1970s cover by Canada's Anne Murray,
01:53while Ocean's take from a year later became the group's most successful hit.
01:57Put Your Hand in the Hand is short and to the point,
01:59boasting a memorable sing-alongable chorus and a mildly groovy rhythm.
02:03It's that aforementioned drum break that's arguably kept Put Your Hand in the Hand relevant today, however,
02:08thanks to outlets as diverse as the Beastie Boys or the soundtrack to the 2013 thriller Prisoners.
02:22Number 18. Ride, Captain Ride. Blues Image.
02:2673 men sailed up from the San Francisco Bay.
02:33The career of Hard Rocker's Blues Image was short,
02:37but the legacy of infamy behind their founder Mike Panera is actually quite interesting.
02:41Panera co-wrote Blues Image's biggest hit, Ride, Captain Ride,
02:44which helped the group's sophomore effort Open become a huge success.
02:48Ride, Captain Ride.
02:50Up on your mystery ship.
02:54The tune is catchy and melodic to be sure,
02:57but Blues Image only managed one more LP before imploding in 1970.
03:00Panera would go on to play in many more bands, however,
03:04while also becoming involved in the notorious tax scam label culture by founding Illusion Records.
03:09These were labels that released albums of dubious legality with an intention of failure,
03:14in order to take advantage of tax loopholes.
03:24Number 17. Sky High. Jigsaw.
03:34Now, this is one song that knows how to make an impact.
03:38Sky High by Jigsaw seems to intentionally lead with a bombastic orchestral section,
03:42presumably due to its inclusion on the soundtrack to the 1975 action flick The Man from Hong Kong.
03:54It isn't Richard Hewson's backing score that assists Sky High, however,
03:59since Jigsaw's disco-ified funk always works really well on the track.
04:03Hold it all sky high
04:09Des Dyer's lead vocals also create a great chorus,
04:12which got a lot of people listening to Sky High.
04:14The song charted in Jigsaw's native Britain, as well as in the U.S. and Japan,
04:19while Sky High even became connected with the professional wrestling industry in Mexico.
04:23It was used as an opening theme by the legendary luchador Mil Mascaris.
04:27You've blown your all-star.
04:33Number 16. Midnight at the Oasis. Maria Muldor.
04:37Midnight at the Oasis.
04:41Send your camel to bed.
04:44Hey, do any of the local radio stations where you live ever go in on a deep-cut marathon for
04:49any sort of holiday weekend?
04:50If so, then perhaps you've heard a disc jockey say these words.
04:53And coming up next, we'll have Midnight at the Oasis by Maria Muldor.
04:58That's because this warm pop tune used to be an AM radio staple,
05:01a song that feels like it was tailor-made to be played at a 70s lounge or dive bar.
05:11If the color pattern of brownish-yellow were a song, it would be Midnight at the Oasis.
05:16This isn't an insult either, because Maria Muldor's quirky, folk-influenced vocals just sound so 70s in the best possible
05:23way.
05:23Pour us another round, bartender.
05:27Chasing a romance in our head.
05:32Number 15. Popcorn. Hot Butter.
05:41It's definitely the strangest hit tune on this list, but also one of the coolest.
05:46Or is it just us who's still in love with that Moog synthesizer sound of the 1960s and 70s?
05:50Popcorn was an instrumental that was originally composed by electronic music legend Gershon Kingsley in 1969,
05:57before being adapted by jazz musician Stan Free a few years later.
06:01His version, under the moniker of Hot Butter, would become a huge hit in Europe,
06:05where it became something of a dance anthem.
06:14Popcorn was also used, to perhaps even weirder effect,
06:18by exploitation maverick and notable female film director Roberta Findlay
06:21in the 1974 horror film Shriek of the Mutilated.
06:31Number 14. One Tin Soldier. Coven.
06:35Listen, children, to a story that was written long ago.
06:40Success came calling to the occult rock icons in Coven back in 1971,
06:45only a couple of years after they first made an impact with 1969's Witchcraft,
06:50Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls.
06:53One Tin Soldier couldn't feel more removed from that album's satanic rock leanings, however,
06:57instead working as a pop ballad for the 1971 film Billy Jack.
07:01One Tin Soldier rides away.
07:30One Tin Soldier rides away.
07:35Number 13. Black Betty. Ram Jam.
07:45It's interesting to see how a song with a history as lengthy and important as Black Betty
07:50can eventually be changed so far from its original iteration.
07:54Today, most folks can probably recognize the arrangement Ram Jam placed to Black Betty
07:58back when they covered it in 1977.
08:01Yet, did you know that this song actually dates all the way back to the early 1970s?
08:05Black Betty actually started off as a spiritual,
08:08usually being performed in a more somber, folk-influenced manner.
08:11Fast forward to 1977, and former Lemon Piper Bill Bartlett forms two groups,
08:17Starstruck and Ram Jam, both of which cover Black Betty.
08:20Black Betty had a baby, oh, bam, let the damn thing go crazy.
08:23Oh, bam, let the damn thing go black, bam, let the damn thing go.
08:28This new arrangement features heavy riffs, guitar harmonies, and boogie rhythms over Bartlett's
08:33energetic vocal.
08:34The rest is history.
08:35Whoa, Black Betty, bam, let the damn thing go black, bam, let the damn thing go black, bam,God.
08:52The disco era was in no shortage of one-hit wonders,
08:56but very few of them sound as cool and fresh to us as Turn the Beat Around by Vicki Sue
09:00Robinson.
09:01Sure, the production here sparkles with that inimitable 70s sheen,
09:05but Turn the Beat Around doesn't really sound kitschy,
09:07but instead breathes with a vibrant and danceable glow.
09:17Robinson was an actress and singer with a backstory that encompassed everything from folk and rock to pop.
09:23Her work as a disco singer wound up being the trick to get her remembered, however,
09:27thanks not only to the song's slick composition,
09:30but also to Robinson's charisma and musical instincts,
09:33particularly with her cool ad-libs.
09:42Number 11. New York Groove. Ace Frehley.
09:55All four original members of KISS released solo albums back on September 18, 1978.
10:01The Gene Simmons LP may have charted the highest, but Ace Frehley sold the most copies,
10:05being certified less than a month after its release.
10:08This was thanks, presumably, to Ace's cover of the Russ Ballard-penned tune,
10:13New York Groove, which was also the highest-charting KISS solo single.
10:16The song had already been a hit in the UK after being covered by glam rock group Hello,
10:28but it would be the spaceman that would take New York Groove and make it his own.
10:32Ace Frehley continued to include this slinky,
10:34smooth-sounding rocker in his concert sets, all the way to his tragic death in 2025.
10:48Number 10. Tighter, Tighter. Alive and Kickin'.
10:56The psychedelic rock scene of the 1960s and 70s
11:00was often notable for its hard-edged fuzz guitar and wild musicianship.
11:04At the same time, however, groups such as Alive and Kickin'
11:07combined legitimate pop hooks with commercially viable psychedelia to create a hit.
11:17Tighter, Tighter was one of those flashes in the pan
11:19that climbed to number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in 1970.
11:23The tune was co-composed by a certified legend in the form of Tommy James,
11:27who had miles of credits to his name.
11:29As a result, Tighter, Tighter is a pop-psych gem
11:32in the mold of Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company.
11:36A horn section backs up a killer groove,
11:38while some heavier guitar accents a big-sounding chorus.
11:42It's great stuff.
11:50Number 9. It Never Rains in Southern California.
11:53Albert Hammond.
12:01Albert Hammond has achieved more than his fair share of hits.
12:04They're just not usually credited to him as a solo artist.
12:07Nevertheless, this prolific songwriter achieved success on his own terms
12:11back in 1972 with It Never Rains in Southern California.
12:21The tune is one of those story songs that was immensely popular during the 1970s.
12:26A tale as old as time about a young and hungry artist with big dreams.
12:31Unfortunately, the protagonist of It Never Rains in Southern California
12:35finds out the hard way about how sometimes those same dreams can wind up in a skid row gutter.
12:39The song's actual composition belies this negativity, however.
12:43A melodic and sunny pop song with impeccable production and Hammond's strong vocals.
12:48It never rains in California.
12:53But girl, don't be warned ya.
12:57Number 8. In the Summertime.
12:59Mungo Jerry.
13:05Success found Mungo Jerry largely outside of North America.
13:11This group actually had 8 top 40 hits in their native UK.
13:15Yet it's in the summertime that remains Mungo Jerry's primary musical calling card.
13:20Have a drink, have a drive.
13:22Go out and see what you can find.
13:25Perhaps it's the tune's skiffle arrangements that made In the Summertime so popular in Britain,
13:30since that style of folk music became so prevalent in that area.
13:34Elsewhere, In the Summertime feels evocative of those hazy and lazy days,
13:38a non-aggressive tune that celebrates rest and relaxation.
13:41This is despite modern critical appraisal of the song's lyrical content,
13:46which some have labeled as problematic.
14:08With Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks,
14:11the fatalistic energy of the source material feels omnipresent.
14:23This isn't necessarily a bad thing,
14:25since this take on Le Moribon by France's Jacques Brel still feels melancholic,
14:29just with a semi-brightened reworking by Jacks.
14:32We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.
14:37The latter tooled around with the lyrics to make the story of a regretful and dying man feel more optimistic.
14:42Meanwhile, the overall musicality of Seasons in the Sun
14:45feels roughly analogous to Jacks' former work in the psychedelic pop mold
14:49with his wife Susan and the Poppy family.
14:51It's a spooky, ghostly tune that's probably not as depressing as it could have been,
14:56yet still feels indicative of the anything-go sentiment of 1970s pop radio.
15:01But the wine in the song, like the seasons have all gone.
15:05All our lives we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.
15:10Number 6.
15:11Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes, Edison Lighthouse.
15:14She ain't got no money to close her, kind of funny, her hair is kind of wild and free.
15:22The music business is exactly that, a business, with lots of groups coming, going, and being forgotten.
15:28Edison Lighthouse may not be a name immediately recognized by everyone,
15:32but those of a certain age will likely remember their huge hit from 1970.
15:37Because love grows where my rosemary goes.
15:41Well, maybe that isn't entirely accurate, because Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes
15:45was initially recorded by pop singers Jeff Turton and Tony Burroughs,
15:49the latter alongside some session musicians.
15:51The surprising chart success of this version necessitated the formation of a quick group to take advantage.
15:57Enter the local group Greenfield Hammer, who became Edison Lighthouse.
16:00And this hooky, pop rock tune entered the chart chat for good.
16:04Love is your letter you'll never forget her
16:08So much I don't like you
16:11Number 5.
16:12Ring My Bell, Anita Ward
16:21The disco era was in no shortage of blinkin' you miss them hits.
16:25This isn't said to necessarily disparage the genre, but disco chart success was often fleeting.
16:30Yet this is also why so many disco defenders still appreciate hits like Ring My Bell from Anita Ward.
16:36You can ring my bell, ring my bell
16:42These tunes have endured to the modern day without that retro irony that's accompanied many other novelty tunes from the
16:47era.
16:48Instead, this jam can still be found in clubs today, thanks to Clear as a Bell, pardon the pun, production
16:55from songwriter Frederick Knight.
17:03Ward's work on the chorus is particularly memorable, with just enough kitsch to be fun, while definitely evoking a certain
17:10time and place,
17:11one where dancing and fabulous fashion ruled the day.
17:14Open me, I ring my bell
17:19Number 4.
17:21Wildfire, Michael Martin Murphy
17:27The story of Michael Martin Murphy is one of those where his legacy as a one-hit wonder arrives with
17:33an asterisk.
17:34That's because this country and western artist has achieved other chart success.
17:37It's just that he's primarily associated with the 1975 hit Wildfire.
17:41Murphy had formerly been a part of the psychedelic folk rock group The Lewis and Clark Expedition,
17:46and this experience of composing more progressive-minded music served him well.
17:50The arrangements of Wildfire are smooth, but never boring,
17:54and contain interesting guitar licks that drive home satisfying melodies.
17:58When they're keen, killing frost
18:07Meanwhile, the warmth of that chorus feels thick like molasses and sounds capital S-70s in the best way possible.
18:15She ran calling Wildfire
18:20She ran calling Wildfire
18:26Number 3. Dancing in the Moonlight, King Harvest
18:29We get it almost every night
18:33And when that moon gets big and bright
18:37The influences of the French-American act known as King Harvest ranged from pop and rock to folk,
18:42But it was their take on this 1970 track from Bufalongo that eventually became their biggest international hit.
18:53There's an irrepressibly funky groove present on King Harvest's Dancing in the Moonlight
18:57that makes it virtually impossible not to, well, dance.
19:08It's a wonderful mix of upbeat drumming and that all-time classic keyboard intro.
19:12It's one of those tunes that you may hear at a cool supermarket,
19:15but don't think for a second Dancing in the Moonlight is mere muzak.
19:18This song still jams.
19:21Everybody's dancing in the Moonlight
19:24Number 2. Mr. Big Stuff, Jean Knight
19:35Patient and dedicated crate-diggers already know that the world of soul music from the 1960s and 70s
19:41can be a paradise of one-and-done obscurities.
19:44I'll never give my love to a black guy that has a love that's for you
19:49Mr. Big Stuff from Jean Knight doesn't exactly fall into that category,
19:53but it was the only major hit for which the singer was known.
19:56Mr. Big Stuff
19:59You're never gonna break my heart
20:01Mr. Big Stuff
20:03Knight's single and album of the same name for Stax Records is basically soul music 101,
20:08a poppy and catchy tune with a recognizable hook and economical arrangements.
20:13Knight's voice is in charge, possessing strength as she evokes an almost effortless sense of cool.
20:18Mr. Big Stuff is one of those songs that always seems to appear on greatest hits compilations from this era,
20:23and with good reason. It is an absolute classic.
20:27You're never gonna break my heart
20:30Number 1. Vehicle
20:31The Ides of March
20:40It's known by a number of names.
20:42Call it horn rock, or even jazz rock, but there was definitely something in the water back in the 1970s.
20:48Something that emerged after Chicago's debut LP from 69, where more rock groups started incorporating brass into their arrangements.
20:55Do you got what you got to have your child?
20:58Break out in heaven, you know I love
21:02The Ides of March was one of those groups, and Vehicle was their big song.
21:06The song was the fastest selling in the history of Warner Brothers records up until that point.
21:11A hyper energetic horn dominated anthem that screamed 70s.
21:22Vehicle boasts a gritty vocal from guitarist Jim Peterick, and a brassy hook to die for.
21:28It's time capsule stuff, sure, but almost certainly a defining tune that got heavy replay from just about every aspiring
21:35lounge act in town.
21:36Break out in heaven, you know I love you.
21:46What to you defines a perfect one-hit wonder?
21:49Let us know in the comments.
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