3 Underrated Artists of the 1970s Wrongly Mistaken for One-Hit Wonders

Every decade produces its fair share of one-hit wonders, and the 1970s were no exception. However, there are a handful of artists from that time who are wrongly considered one-hit wonders. These are artists who were considerably underrated and unappreciated in their time. Here are just three that had more than one hit song on the charts.

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Underrated Artists with More Than One Hit Song

Mungo Jerry

Mungo Jerry was formed by Ray Dorset in 1970. The band went through several lineup changes over the years, with Dorset as the only constant member. Their big hit was “In the Summertime,” a jangly, bluesy tune that spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the U.K. chart and two weeks at No. 1 on the Canadian charts. Mungo Jerry is often considered a one-hit wonder, but they had several other hits in the 70s as well. “Baby Jump” also topped the U.K. charts in 1971, spending two weeks there. That same year, “Lady Rose” went to No. 5.

Don McLean

Don McLean is known for the song “American Pie” and is considerably underrated, but he’s far from a one-hit wonder. “American Pie” went to No. 1 in the U.S. and No. 2 in the U.K., spending 16 weeks on the U.K. charts in 1972. Additionally, his song “Vincent” was a No. 1 in the U.K. for two weeks that same year, following it up with “Crying” in the top spot for three weeks. McLean has an impressive discography of 20 studio albums, but he’s still the most well-known for the hit “American Pie.”

Harry Chapin

Harry Chapin was criminally underrated in the 1970s folk rock scene, and his death at age 38 cut a promising career far too short. Still, he released a couple of hits in that time, including “Cat’s in the Cradle,” his most well-known song. It hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts for a week in 1974. Subsequently, “I Wanna Learn a Love Song” reached No. 7 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S. and stayed there for nine weeks. Overall, his 1974 album Verities & Balderdash reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart. Meanwhile, his narrative song “30,000 Pounds of Bananas” never charted, but it remains a cult classic.

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