One Hit Wonders

Listening to the radio of late, I have heard a few songs played that were UK one-hit wonders. All great songs in their way and maybe a surprise that further hits did not develop from them.

Here are a selection of a few:

First of all is "Heartache Avenue" by the Maisonettes. Formed by Lol Mason and Mark Tibbenham, "Heartache Avenue" reached the giddy heights of no.7 on the UK chart back in 1982. 

The 2 female backing vocalists appeared on publicity material and mimed on TV, but did not perform on the recording.

Next we go a little further back in time to the Bubblegum era of the late 60's and early 70's."Sugar Sugar" by the fictional cartoon characters The Archies, was written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim (of "Rock Me Gently" fame). 

With vocals undertaken by Ron Dante (lead), Kim and Toni Wine (who sang the line "I'm gonna make your life so sweet"), "Sugar Sugar" became one of the biggest hits of 1969.

The video below shows the original cartoon performance.

Last but not least and even further back in time to the black and white video era, we come to the Overlanders' cover version of the Beatles "Michelle". Arranged by legendary producer Tony Hatch, the song reached no.1 in the UK singles charts in January 1966.