Some of the best hits in rock music were one-hit wonders. Here are a few rock bands from the 70s you probably didn’t know you knew. Plus, here are the songs that make them recognizable today.
Mungo Jerry
You might be more familiar with the British multi-genre band Mungo Jerry than you think.
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The band had a massive hit with the song “In The Summertime”. It came out in 1970 and spent time on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in the US.
The song was written by lead singer Ray Dorset, who once called it “a celebration of life.”
“It’s got no chorus; all it’s got is a melody that goes over and over again with a set of lyrics that conjure up a celebration of life,” he said, per Songfacts. “Especially if you’re a young person: it’s a great day, you’ve managed to get a car—preferably with the top off—you’re cruising around, and if you’re a guy you’re picking up girls.”
Looking Glass
If you know the song “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)” then you know the group Looking Glass. The muse for their one-hit wonder was an imaginary character.
“The name [Brandy] was derived from a high school girlfriend I had whose name was Randy with an ‘R,’” Looking Glass guitarist Elliot Lurie told The Tennessean in 2016. “Usually when I write—I still do it the same way I did back then—I strum some guitar and kind of sing along with the first things that come to mind. Her name came up. Then, I started writing the rest of the song, and it was about a barmaid. I thought Randy was an unusual name for a girl, so it could go either way. The song was about a barmaid, so I changed it to Brandy.”
Ram Jam
Ram Jam wasn’t a band for very long, but they did have success with their iconic song “Black Betty”. There are many theories on what the song is actually about. According to American Ballads and Folk Songs, “Black Betty” is about a whip that was used in Southern prisons.
“Black Betty is not another Frankie, nor yet a two-timing woman that a man can moan his blues about,” the book shares. “She is the whip that was and is used in some Southern prisons. A convict on the Darrington State Farm in Texas, where, by the way, whipping has been practically discontinued, laughed at Black Betty and mimicked her conversation in the following song.”
Photo by: Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns
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(Original Caption) A singer called Joni. Joni Mitchell, Canadian singer-songwriter, United Kingdom, 1968. The guitar-pickin' gal is Joni Mitchell, a long blonde haired Canadian folk singer. Pictured last night outside the Revolution club, Joni is here (until 1st October) for radio, television and concert appearances. Apart from concert appearances, 25 year old Joni will be heard on "Top Gear" on Radio One and "The Monday Show" on BBC 1. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) -
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