3 One-Hit Wonders From the 1960s That Put a Smile on My Face

Sometimes you just want a throwback song. Sometimes you want to leave the modern-day pop charts aside or the modern-day indie darlings you and your friends adore at the doorstep. And sometimes, you just want to dive into music that’s twice as old as you are and remember what people enjoyed decades before social media and the 21st century. Here below, we wanted to do just that. We wanted to explore three songs from some 60 years ago that have little to nothing to do with today. Three songs—or, more specifically, three one-hit wonders—from the decade of the 1960s that are simply fun and put a smile on our faces.

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Indeed, these are three one-hit wonders from the 60s that just make you want to grin.

“Monster Mash” by Bobby Pickett from ‘The Original Monster Mash’ (1962)

This 1960s novelty song, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, is a favorite that comes around every late October. Well, as things progress, the celebration of Halloween seems to come around earlier every year. So, perhaps by late August, we’ll all be singing this one. But no matter what the time period, that’s the point. We know this song by heart. It’s one of the most popular tunes to listen to in the scary season. We hear about monsters of all kinds getting down to boogie. Who wouldn’t want to be at a monster party? And hearing all about it here just makes us smile.

“The Girl from Ipanema” by Stan Getz and João Gilberto from ‘Getz/Gilberto‘ (1964)

This track, which hit No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, is the perfect tropical tune to set your vacation off right. It just puts you in the mood to sip a drink on the beach as you stare out into the ocean and maybe catch a few of the other vacationers in their beach finest out of the corner of your eye. Mixing jazz with the allure of foreign majesty, this song lives on today thanks to its storytelling and its sense of adventure.

“Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies from ‘Everything’s Archie’ (1969)

A track from a cartoon band, this song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it’s as sticky as its subject matter. You might not know that this tune comes from the animated group The Archies, a band plucked from the Archie comic books, but that’s where we’re at with this 1969 classic. Put it on and watch the whole gang dance in their stocking feet as if your living room were a sock hop! The 1960s are alive and well with this number, to be sure!

Photo of Archies Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images