3 Classic Rock One-Hit Wonders That Remind You of the Good Ol’ Days

What’s better than classic rock? Wait … don’t answer yet. What’s better than one-hit wonders? Wait … don’t answer that yet either. Because with their powers combined, the only true response is classic rock one hit-wonders! Yay!

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Here below, we wanted to explore three such wonderful works. A trio of classic rock one-hit wonders that will take you back when times were different and music a little less complicated. Indeed, these are three classic rock one-hit wonders that will remind you of the good ol’ days.

[RELATED: 3 Two-Hit Wonder, Foreign-Born Bands that Ruled the 1970s]

“Spirit in The Sky” by Norman Greenbaum from Spirit in the Sky (1969)

This song sounds like it’s been on every soundtrack for every film about the Vietnam War. Part gospel, part rock and roll, the song is about death, about transitioning. He was inspired to write it, he says, after seeing country singer Porter Wagoner sing a gospel tune. Norman Greenbaum subsequently wrote his own version in, he says, just 15 minutes. No matter how it was created, it’s a masterpiece of the late 1960s culture. And in the tune, which hit No. 1 on several charts around the globe and cracked the Billboard Hot 100, Greenbaum sings over hand-claps,

When I die and they lay me to rest
Gonna go to the place that’s the best
When I lay me down to die
Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky

Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky (spirit in the sky)
That’s where I’m gonna go when I die (when I die)
When I die and they lay me to rest
I’m gonna go to the place that’s the best

“Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry from Wild Cherry (1976)

A classic rock song born of a request. A former cover band, Wild Cherry was playing a gig when a woman walked over and asked if they could change it up and play something funky. Boom! Inspiration! And so the Ohio-born group put together this funky 1976 rock tune that has since stood the test of time. Indeed, on the track, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, lead vocalist Rob Parissi jokes about the origins of the song, singing,

Yeah they were dancin’ and singin’
And movin’ to the groovin’
And just when it hit me
Somebody turned around and shouted

“Play that funky music, white boy
Play that funky music right
Play that funky music, white boy
Lay down that boogie
And play that funky music ’til you die.”

“Smokin’ in the Boys Room” by Brownsville Station from Yeah! (1973)

This track, which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, was later covered by Mötley Crüe. But before the Los Angeles glam rockers got their hands on it, it was Brownsville Station who wrote and recorded it and made it famous. It’s a rebellious song, one about no rules and puffing away on cigs in the school’s boys’ bathroom. Take that, authority! And on the offering, lead vocalist Cub Koda sings,

Smokin’ in the boy’s room
Smokin’ in the boy’s room
Now, teacher, don’t you fill me up with your rules
But everybody knows that smokin’ ain’t allowed in school

A checkin’ out the halls makin’ sure the coast is clear
Lookin’ in the stalls, no, there ain’t nobody here
Oh, my buddy Fang, and me and Paul
To get caught would surely be the death of us all

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