3 Songs You Didn’t Know Were One-Hit Wonders in the 70s

One-hit wonders will always be a thing as long as music charts exist. However, some one-hit wonders from the 70s might just surprise you. I personally did not think the following three bands (and their solitary hits) were one-hit wonders at all. You might be in the same boat. Let’s take a look!

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“Mississippi Queen” by Mountain

I could have sworn that the hard rock outfit Mountain had more hits outside of “Mississippi Queen”. My memory must have betrayed me, because that song was technically the American rock band’s only major hit. 

“The Animal Trainer And The Toad” from 1971 managed to make it to No. 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and “For Yasgur’s Farm” from 1970 just barely missed making it to the coveted chart. In the end, “Mississippi Queen” from 1970, which peaked at No. 21, was the band’s only Top 40 hit.

“All Right Now” by Free

Back in my childhood in the 90s and early 2000s, I heard quite a few Free songs on classic rock radio stations. “Stealer” from 1970 and “Wishing Well” from 1972 were just a couple of tunes I know for a fact that I’ve heard before. 

So, color me surprised when I found out that this English blues rock band only made it to the Top 40 in the US one time with the 1970 tune, “All Right Now”. That song peaked at No. 4. Though, it is worth mentioning that Free did have several Top 40 hits in their native UK.

“Layla” by Derek & The Dominos

It’s wild to think that any group Eric Clapton was a part of could be considered a one-hit wonder. However, that was the case for the short-lived group Derek & The Dominos. The group, formed by Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle, and Jim Gordon, made it big with just one song. And that song is the famous hard rock tune, “Layla”.

Derek & The Dominos make it to our list of one-hit wonders from the 70s with “Layla”, which peaked at No. 10 on the Hot 100 chart. Outside of that particular hit single, the group never scored another Top 40 hit on that chart again, and they ended up breaking up after just one album.

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