Sometimes, even the most talented musicians make it to the Billboard Hot 100 chart and then disappear without a trace soon after. That was the case for the following musicians who disappeared without a trace from the Hot 100 chart in the 70s. And I think they deserve some love today. Let’s take a look!
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Sammi Smith
You don’t hear about women in the outlaw country subgenre much, but Sammi Smith was one of them. And she’s a name that just can’t be ignored. Smith was an incredible talent best known for her chart-topping cover of a Kris Kristofferson classic, “Help Me Make It Through The Night”, in 1971.
The whole of her discography is quite a treat. But, sadly, Smith only made it to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with that hit. She had one song from 1972 make it to the chart again, and then she disappeared. However, she definitely didn’t disappear from the country charts. Smith continued to dish out tunes that charted well on that side of the spectrum well into the 90s.
Norman Greenbaum
“Spirit In The Sky” by Norman Greenbaum technically came out in December 1969, but the song was such an enormous success throughout the early 70s that I just had to include Greenbaum on our list of musicians who disappeared after hitting the Hot 100. This legendary boogie rock song topped a number of charts and peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 1970.
After his follow-up, “Canned Ham”, made it to No. 46, Greenbaum had one more hit just barely make it to the Hot 100 in 1971 before he disappeared completely. According to lore, Greenbaum grew tired of the music industry and returned to his life as a farmer. Later, he returned to music as a manager in the 1980s.
R. Dean Taylor
Remember the Canadian pop and rockabilly singer R. Dean Taylor? His song “Indiana Wants Me” was a hefty hit on the Hot 100 chart in 1970, when it hit No. 5. The song did similarly well on the Canadian and UK charts. Taylor makes it to our list of musicians who hit the Hot 100 and disappeared in the 70s because, while a few songs made it to the lower end of the Hot 100 through 1972, none of his follow-ups hit the Top 40. It’s a shame, because he was quite a talented artist. Taylor went on hiatus from music in the 1980s and passed away in 2022.
Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
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