Greatest One-Hit Wonders: 1965

In 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson began his first full term. Black activist Malcom X was assassinated. More than 180,000 U.S. combat troops arrived in Vietnam. And NASA’s Mariner 4 snapped the first close-up photos of Mars.

The top-grossing films of 1965 were The Sound of Music, Doctor Zhivago, and Thunderball. My Fair Lady won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, at the 37th Academy Awards. The top three Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles were “Wooly Bully” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” by the Four Tops, and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones.

More than 30 one-hit wonders – artists with just one Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in their career – charted in 1965, and many were very good. For this list, we’ve narrowed down the bunch to six standouts. Hope you enjoy the mix of doo wop, folk rock, soul, country, and more!

The Ad Libs – “The Boy from New York City”

Songwriters: George Davis & John T. Taylor
Genre: Doo wop
Billboard Hot 100: #8 on February 27

Doo wop, a type of R&B music characterized by close harmony vocals and nonsense lyrics sung as rhythm, peaked in popularity in the 1950s and early ‘60s. However, there were occasional doo wop hits into the mid-‘60s.

Produced by the legendary songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, “The Boy from New York City” is a classic of the genre. Driven by a propulsive Motown-like beat, female vocalist Mary Ann Thomas sings the lead about a cute guy in a mohair suit from the Big Apple while the male backup singers provide the “Ooo wah, ooo wah, cool, cool kitty.”

Vocal group the Manhattan Transfer covered it in 1981, and their version peaked at #7 on the Hot 100. The Beach Boys recorded an answer song, “The Girl From New York City,” for their 1965 album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!).

Shirley Bassey – “Goldfinger”

Songwriters: John Barry, Leslie Bricusse, & Anthony Newley
Genre: Orchestral pop
Hot 100: #8 on March 27

With three James Bond film themes to her credit, Welsh singer Shirley Bassey has more than any other artist. Her first, and most iconic, was “Goldfinger” for the third 007 flick.

Recorded at Abbey Road with the John Barry Orchestra, the track features Bassey’s powerful vocals, and credits George Martin as producer (some sources claim that the session was overseen by Barry himself). The session included future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, as well as British session aces Big Jim Sullivan and Vic Flick, best known for playing the iconic guitar line in the James Bond theme. Page later recounted to GQ magazine, “It took [Bassey] just one take. And at the end of the take, she collapsed on the floor…she just held this one note, and she basically ran out of breath.”

Interestingly, the song nearly didn’t make it into the movie. The film’s co-producer Harry Saltzmann hated the track, saying it was the “worst fucking song I ever heard in my life.” Had he not heard it just three weeks before the film’s premiere, he said he’d “take that fucking song out of the picture. I’d take it out! Out!’”

Tony Clarke – “The Entertainer”

Songwriter: Tony Clarke
Genre: Soul
Hot 100: #31 on May 8

Tony Clarke had more success as a songwriter than he did as a recording artist, writing hits for Etta James with “Pushover” and “Two Sides (To Every Story).” He proved himself a capable soul vocalist on his one pop hit, “The Entertainer,” which peaked at #10 on the R&B chart.

Released on the Chess label, the song is about a guy with a broken heart who must get back out there because “the show must go on.” With its groovy organ-led instrumental break, “The Entertainer” enjoyed a resurgence within the Northern soul dance scene in Britain in the late ‘60s and ‘70s. Tragically, Clarke was shot and killed by his estranged wife in 1971. He was 31.

Unit 4+2 – “Concrete & Clay”

Songwriters: Tommy Moeller and Brian Parker
Genre: Folk rock
Hot 100: #28 on June 12

Unit 4+2 were a British pop-rock band formed in the early ‘60s by Brian Parker. Their third single, “Concrete & Clay,” topped the charts in their native UK thanks in large part to its inclusion on pirate radio playlists. The tune boasts a bossa nova melody, a catchy chorus, and a jangly, Byrds-like guitar sound. It’s truly one of the great forgotten songs of the British Invasion.

American singer Eddie Rambeau also had hit with “Concrete & Clay” in 1965. His version peaked at #35 on the Hot 100, making him a one-hit wonder as well. The original Unit 4+2 version is familiar to fans of Wes Anderson’s films, as it was used in his early film Rushmore.

Barry McGuire – “Eve of Destruction”

Songwriter: P.F. Sloan
Genre: Folk rock
Hot 100: #1 on September 25

An anti-war song, “Eve of Destruction” tapped into the growing public disapproval of the U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. Written by P.F. Sloan, who penned a bunch of hits for other artists in the mid-‘60s, the million-seller spoke directly to young Americans who were being sent off to die: “You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’/You don’t believe in war, what’s that gun you’re totin’?” The voting age was 21 at the time.

Interestingly, Barry McGuire’s rough-sounding vocal was not intended to be public. A copy of the early recording was leaked to a DJ who started spinning it, so the hit version includes mumblings where McGuire forgot the words. A more polished final version was never released commercially.

Little Jimmy Dickens – “May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose”

Songwriter: Neal Merritt
Genre: Country
Hot 100: #15 on December 4

A diminutive country singer who stood just 4-foot-11, Little Jimmy Dickens scored a #15 pop hit, and topped the country charts, with the novelty song “May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose.” Among the silly lyrics: “May an elephant caress you with his toes/May your wife be plagued with runners in her hose.” Dickens would place about two dozen singles on the country charts over a career that spanned nearly six decades, but only “May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” hit #1. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1983.

Stay tuned to 360°Sound for more of the Greatest One-Hit Wonders. Up next is 1975!