3 One-Word One-Hit Wonders From 1970 That Shine

When 1970 dawned, it was the mark of a new decade. The 1960s, with all their highs and lows, were over. It was a new age that would see new heroes, new villains, and hear new music. And sometimes those songs would have giant, long, and lengthy titles. At other times, they’d be short. Really short.

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That’s just what we wanted to highlight here. We wanted to look into three songs from the first year of that first new decade of the 70s. More specifically, we wanted to dive into three one-hit wonders from that year. Three one-hit wonders with short, one-word titles! Why? Brevity is good.

“Timothy” by The Buoys from ‘The Buoys’ (1970)

This strange song is catchy on the face of it, but when you dive into—ahem—the meat of the song, you get a chilling, eerie story. It’s the tale of three people trapped in a mine that has caved in. And, well, two cannibalize the third to survive. The track was written specifically to raise eyebrows because the band’s label didn’t have the money for promo. What a world!

“Woodstock” by Matthews Southern Comfort from ‘Later That Same Year’ (1970)

This track, which was originally written by Joni Mitchell and released on her 1970 LP Ladies of the Canyon, was covered by Matthews Southern Comfort. It was the latter version that hit No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Released in 1970, the song definitely hearkens back to the flower power era of the late 1960s. It’s a song between two ages, and as a result, it lets us live there, too.

“Vehicle” by The Ides Of March from ‘Vehicle’ (1970)

It’s never a bad thing to start your track off with horns. They get you going, get the body moving. They may even get your chart rising up the charts. Indeed, “Vehicle”, which benefits from lively horns, is the kind of song that inspires you to jump, boogie, and live your life to its fullest! No wonder this tune hit No. 2 on the vaunted Hot 100!

Photo via The Buoys YouTube