3 One-Hit Wonders From the 60s That Should Have Been Huge

If you close your eyes, you could probably name a dozen famous names from the 1960s. Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Janis Joplin, and on and on. But though the era gave music fans and the world at large some of the most beloved creative figures of the 20th century, there are still many names that slipped through the proverbial cracks.

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That’s what we wanted to take a look at here. We wanted to highlight three artists who should have been bigger. Performers who boasted one song that rose into the Billboard Hot 100 Top 40, but who somehow didn’t remain household names like many of their peers. Indeed, these are three one-hit wonders from the 60s that should have been huge.

The Wailers

Also known as The Fabulous Wailers (and not to be confused with Bob Marley’s backing band), this group from Tacoma, Washington, just outside Seattle, garnered a Top 40 with this saxophone-driven instrumental. Indeed, the band’s tune, “Tall Cool One”, cracked the Top 40, peaking at No. 36 on the Hot 100. The propulsive, garage, surf rock track is the kind that seems both ancient and necessary today. Bring back The Wailers!

Merrilee Rush

Known for her 1968 single, “Angel Of The Morning”, Merrilee Rush was at the top of the world towards the end of the decade. And while she enjoyed a terrific career, performing often around her native Pacific Northwest, she never quite became the next Cher or Grace Slick. Of course, those lofty names shouldn’t be the bar, but Rush had it all. Talent, magnetism, and a hit song about personal empowerment. We would have given her a 10 record deal!

Iron Butterfly

Now these are some legendary one-hit wonders. The group that helped create and define heavy rock music suffered the simple fate of so many other bands before and after them. Being in a band is hard. It takes tremendous coordination, luck, friendship, and patience to keep a bad alive. And Iron Butterfly, which helped define heavy rock with songs like “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” experienced bad luck, including missing a performance at Woodstock because they were stuck at an airport, and creative differences. Sounds like many other bands—unfortunately. What began in 1966 fizzled out five years later.

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