'70s One-Hit Wonders

Sure, other decades have had their one-hit wonders — artists who emerged seemingly from nowhere to make a lone mark on the charts — but in the ’70s they were as ever-present as earth shoes, Afros, ponytails, and pre-faded jeans. Philly soul duo McFadden & Whitehead wrote tons of hits for other acts, but their own trip to the top came with the funky force of nature “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now.” Van McCoy produced and penned tunes for others, too, but his name will be forever linked to his ’75 string-soaked smash “The Hustle,” which paved the way for disco’s rise and gave the world a new way to move. And even though half of Free would eventually conquer the world as Bad Company, the blues-rockin’ Brits had only one U.S. hit, with the primal growl and razor-totin’ riffs of “All Right Now.”

In Next Steps, discover ’70s one-hit heroes whose brief ride resonates even now.

You may have never heard from them again, but the one-hit wonders of the ’70s each had a golden moment that still shines brightly down the decades. Like a lot of their pop peers, Steam was a studio-only project masterminded by a couple of enterprising songsmiths, but their sassy sing-along “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” is still chanted by sports fans of every kind to razz the opposing team. Jim Peterik would hit it big in the ’80s with Survivor, but he started out with Blood, Sweat & Tears-style brass-rockers Ides of March, whose “Vehicle” has driven many an auto commercial over the years. And for as many Brian Wilson disciples as there are today, no one ever came closer to cracking the Beach Boys code than the First Class, whose sun-dappled “Beach Baby” remains the definitive salute to Brian and his boys of summer.

Get your grin on with the silly side of ’70s pop, in Deep Cuts.

The ’70s was a golden age of novelty songs, and plenty of gloriously goofy, gut-busting tunes took over the airwaves. When health-food habits became all the rage, Larry Groce unveiled the “Junk Food Junkie,” whose dirty secret was an addiction to Big Macs and KFC. Loudon Wainwright III — Rufus’ papa — has had a long career as a respected singer-songwriter, but his only visit to the Top 40 was with the country-tinged ode to rank-smelling roadkill, “Dead Skunk.” Even jazz singer Michael Franks exercised his funny bone, singing about the frozen feet of his objet d’amour on the slinky, swinging “Popsicle Toes.”

If there’s one phrase that applies to all of our one-hit wonders, it’s “only in the ’70s . . .” Only in the ’70s could folk/blues pioneer Leadbelly’s field holler “Black Betty” become a heavy-riffing hit for blistering blues-rockers Ram Jam. Only in the ’70s could Canadian songsmith Terry Jacks adapt French composer Jacques Brel’s bleak “Le Moribond” into the breezy-sounding sunshine-pop sing-along “Seasons In the Sun.” And only in the ’70s — before radio programmers started permanently tightening their playlists — could folk-rockers Stealers Wheel, flashy funkateers Wild Cherry, electro-disco trailblazers Lipps, Inc., and many more rub shoulders on the Pop charts. These are the artists who made the most of their moment of glory, in what was undoubtedly pop’s most eclectic era ever.