One-Hit Wonders

The one-hit wonder has a long and storied history in popular music exhorting listeners to dance to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony to ponder mortality to get a job to bask in the sunshine or just to get up and dance again. Catchy memorable irritating or simply ubiquitous one-hit wonders capture something of the mood of a time. This collection provides a series of short sharp chapters focusing on one-hit wonders from the 1950s to the present day with a view toward understanding both the mechanics of success and the socio-musical contexts within which such songs became hits. Some artists included here might have aspired to success but only managed one hit while others enjoyed lengthy if unremarkable careers after their initial chart success. Put together these chapters provide not only a capsule history of popular music tastes but also ruminations on the changing nature of the music industry and the mechanics of fame.