'70s One-Hit Wonders 2

If you're going to have only one hit, it had better be good, and our '70s one-hit wonders produced some biggies. The Shocking Blue made #1 in 1970 with "Venus," and though they never got there again, the song went back two more times (in '81 and '86) for two different acts. The Buggles made a splash in 1979 with their ode to olden times, "Video Killed the Radio Star," but they couldn't know how prophetic the song would be — two years later, it was the first-ever played on MTV.

Being a one-hit wonder doesn't mean you can't have a long, distinguished career. The late, great rock raconteur Warren Zevon had already studied with Igor Stravinsky and played with the Everly Brothers when he hit with "Werewolves of London" in 1978 — cries of "Aaa-ooo!" followed him ever after. Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind" is an FM staple, but Lowe's primary gig has been behind the soundboard, as producer to everyone from Elvis Costello to the Pretenders. And Kraftwerk hit only once, with "Autobahn," but their profound influence as the German godfathers of electronica is indisputable.

Where else but Essentials will you find an entire decade's worth of wide-ranging, far-flung one-hit wonders? Where else but Deep Cuts can you experience the sprightly piano tinklings of Frank Mills' Top 10 hit, "Music Box Dancer," alongside the funky world-music beats of Cameroonian sax player Manu Dibango's "Soul Makossa," or even the instrumental disco extravaganza of Argentine composer/producer/arranger Bebu Silvetti's "Spring Rain"? Nowhere, that's where.

When a decade is so rich, so full-to-bursting with one-hit wonders, one iTunes Essentials is just not enough. Cue the fanfare — it's '70s One Hit Wonders 2! Gone from the charts, but by no means forgotten, our one-hit wonders are wonderful, indeed, be they time-capsule dance tunes ("Thank God It's Friday" by Love and Kisses), hot rock nuggets (Argent's "Hold Your Head Up"), shimmering pop bubbles (Phoebe Snow's "Poetry Man"), story songs (Paper Lace's "The Night Chicago Died"), or novelty bits (C.W. McCall's trucker anthem "Convoy"). The best part? We've brought them all together so that you don't have to.