3 One-Hit Wonders From the 1960s That Listeners Love To Hate, but Were Hits for a Reason

Some one-hit wonders from the 1960s were just too weird, too tone-deaf, and too “unlistenable” for fans to love forever. Despite hitting the charts in a big way, the following songs have become quite hated in retrospect. Let’s take a look, shall we?

“They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” by Napoleon XIV

This strange little track is such an anomaly in music history, I find myself continuously fact-checking that it actually made it all the way to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart back in 1966. Performed by one Jerry Samuels and billed under the name Napoleon XIV, this song is about a man who seems to be chasing the woman he loves and is mentally falling apart in the wake of her absence. By the end of the song, it is revealed that he is chasing a dog, not a woman. 

The B-side of this song, titled “!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT”, was just the A-side played in reverse. Naturally, the normies didn’t love this one, but I’m obsessed with how strange it is.

“Indian Reservation” by Don Fardon

In the 1960s, a lot of music was released that was very much (unfortunately) intentionally racist, misogynistic, and downright bigoted. I won’t excuse the times; it was awful then, and it’s awful now. That being said, I think some songs with racially insensitive lyrics in the 60s weren’t intended to be harmful. They were harmful, certainly, like this tone-deaf song by Don Fardon. But I do think Fardon had good intentions here, wanting to shine a light on the plight of Native Americans that is still ongoing today. 

However, the fact that this song closes out with “Cherokee nation will return, will return” is particularly damning, as the Cherokee nation is quite literally still here. Also, Cherokee communities are not known as “reservations.” Despite the song eventually getting the criticism it deserved, “Indian Reservation” by Don Fardon was a hit upon its release and reached No. 20 on the Hot 100 chart.

“Mr. Custer” by Larry Verne

This one-hit wonder was Larry Verne’s only major hit, and it topped the Hot 100 back in 1960. Which is interesting, because I seem to see people dunking on this song everywhere I look on the internet. Listeners loved it half a century ago, though, otherwise it wouldn’t have been such a major hit. This novelty song has since been called everything from “offensive” to “morally wrongheaded” by some, and straight-up “unlistenable musically” as well. I have to agree with the modern-day masses here. Making light of war via racist depictions of Native Americans in a way that was meant to be comical was wild back then, and it’s wild now.

I won’t include a video clip of this one to save you from cringing.

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images