The 20 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 1960s

The 1960s was the greatest decade in the history of popular music. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Motown, the British Invasion, folk, soul, psychedelia — the decade produced more enduring music than any other period in the twentieth century. But not every artist who left a mark did so with a body of work. Some came, made one perfect thing, and were gone. Here are twenty of the greatest.

1. The Troggs — "Wild Thing" (1966)

Three chords, a flute solo that sounds like it was played by someone who had never touched a flute, and one of the most primitive and irresistible hooks in rock history. "Wild Thing" reached number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and Jimi Hendrix famously lit his guitar on fire after playing it at Monterey Pop in 1967. The Troggs never came close again.

2. Zager and Evans — "In the Year 2525" (1969)

A genuinely disturbing science-fiction song about the eventual obsolescence of humanity, "In the Year 2525" was number one for six weeks in the summer of 1969 — the same summer as Woodstock and the moon landing. It remains one of the strangest chart-toppers in American music history. Denny Zager and Rick Evans parted ways shortly after its success.

3. The Kingsmen — "Louie Louie" (1963)

The lyrics were so incomprehensible that the FBI investigated the song for two years — from 1964 to 1966 — to determine if they were obscene. The investigation concluded that the lyrics were "unintelligible at any speed." That investigation may have been the best publicity any rock and roll record ever received. The Kingsmen never duplicated the success, but "Louie Louie" never went away.

4. Bobby "Boris" Pickett — "Monster Mash" (1962)

The novelty record that became eternal. Bobby Pickett, doing a Boris Karloff impression, recorded this Halloween standard in a single session in 1962. It reached number one just before Halloween, disappeared, returned to the charts in 1973, and has appeared on every Halloween playlist since. Pickett tried to follow it up with other monster-themed novelty records. None of them worked.

5. Norman Greenbaum — "Spirit in the Sky" (1969)

The fuzz guitar on this record is one of the most recognizable sounds in rock and roll — a thick, buzzing wall of electricity that sounds like it was recorded in a cave. Norman Greenbaum wrote and recorded the song in about fifteen minutes. It became one of the defining sounds of 1970, reached the top five on both sides of the Atlantic, and has been used in more than a dozen major films. Greenbaum has said he made enough money from the song to retire comfortably.

6. The Monotones — "Book of Love" (1958)

Technically this is late 1950s, but its spirit is pure early 60s. "Who wrote the book of love?" is one of the great rhetorical questions in pop music. The Monotones, a group of friends from Newark, New Jersey, recorded the song and had a massive hit. They released several more singles and none of them came close.

7. Shocking Blue — "Venus" (1969)

The Dutch rock group Shocking Blue had a massive international hit with this swirling, hypnotic song about the goddess of love. "Venus" reached number one in the United States in 1970, making Shocking Blue the first Dutch act to top the American charts. The song was later covered by Bananarama in 1986, giving it a second life entirely.

8. Joe South — "Games People Play" (1969)

A mordant, wise song about human pretension and dishonesty that somehow became a pop hit, winning the Grammy for Song of the Year in 1970. Joe South was a gifted songwriter — he wrote "Down in the Boondocks" for Billy Joe Royal and "Hush" for Deep Purple — but as a recording artist in his own right, "Games People Play" stood alone.

9. Steam — "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" (1969)

It was written and recorded as a throwaway B-side — the musicians didn't even think it was worth putting on the record. The label disagreed, it became number one, and now it's played at every sporting event when the visiting pitcher walks off the mound in defeat. The members of Steam never got another hit. The song got eternal life.

10. The Box Tops — "The Letter" (1967)

At barely two minutes long, "The Letter" — driven by Alex Chilton's improbably raspy, soulful voice (he was sixteen years old) — went straight to number one. The Box Tops continued recording and had some modest follow-up success, but nothing touched "The Letter." Chilton went on to lead Big Star, one of the most critically revered bands of the 1970s, but never achieved mainstream success again.

"A one-hit wonder is only a failure if the hit wasn't wonderful. Most of these songs are wonderful." — music critic Greil Marcus

The list goes on — "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell and the Drells, "96 Tears" by ? and the Mysterians, "Green Tambourine" by the Lemon Pipers, "Little Bit O' Soul" by the Music Explosion — the 1960s was full of people who showed up, made something perfect, and moved on. In a decade of extraordinary music, even the one-timers were extraordinary.