Carl Douglas - "Kung Fu Fighting" (1974)

"Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song written by Carl Douglas, published by Edition Carren / SMV Schacht Musikverlage GmbH & Co. KG and produced by Biddu. It was released as a single in 1974, at the cusp of a chopsocky film craze, and eventually rose to the top of the British and American charts, in addition to reaching number one on the Soul Singles chart. It received a Gold certification from the RIAA in 1974, won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best Selling Single, and popularized disco music. It eventually went on to sell eleven million records worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. The song uses the quintessential Oriental riff, a short musical phrase that is used to signify Chinese culture. Kung Fu Fighting was rated number 100 in VH1's 100 Greatest one-hit wonders, and number 1 in the UK Channel 4's Top 10 One Hit Wonders list in 2000, the same channel's 50 Greatest One Hit Wonders poll in 2006 and Bring Back ... the one-hit Wonders, for which Carl Douglas performed the song in a live concert.

Nolan Strong & The Diablos - "The Wind" (1954)

Nolan Strong & The Diablos were a Detroit-based R&B and doo-wop vocal group best known for its hit songs "The Wind" and "Mind Over Matter." The group was one of the most popular, pre-Motown, R&B acts in Detroit during the mid 1950s, through the early 1960s. Nolan Strong (1934–1977), the lead vocalist, had an ethereally high tenor. Strong's smooth voice, influenced mainly by Clyde McPhatter was, in turn, a primary influence on a young Smokey Robinson. The group, along with label-mates Andre Williams and Nathaniel Mayer, recorded for Fortune Records, a small label in Detroit starting in 1954, and ending somewhere around 1973. Strong has also been an influence on rock and roll bands. In December 2009 Lou Reed, of the influential '60s band The Velvet Underground, told Rolling Stone Magazine editor David Fricke, "If I could really sing, I’d be Nolan Strong" - during an interview at the New York Public Library. The Diablos were inducted into the United In Group Harmony Hall of Fame in 2003. In March 2008 the group was inducted into the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame of America. In 2007, The Metro Times listed "The Wind" at #11 in The 100 Greatest Detroit Songs list - which was the November 11th cover story. In September 2010 Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos LP was released by The Wind Records, with distribution by Norton Records. The album features 13 new Diablos covers by a cast of rock and roll, punk and garage rock bands. It features The Dirtbombs, Reigning Sound, Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby and Mark Sultan, among others. "The Wind" is a 1954 doo-wop classic by the pre-Motown Detroit R&B group Nolan Strong & The Diablos. The song appears originally on the group's second 45rpm single, "The Wind / Baby Be Mine," (Fortune Records #511) The song has a unique, reverb-heavy sound and is centered around the high ethereal lead tenor voice of the band's leader, Nolan Strong. In 2007, The Metro Times listed "The Wind" at #11 in The 100 Greatest Detroit Songs list - which was the November 11th cover story. "The Wind" was the group's only national hit, though most of the group's other hits were huge local successes in Detroit, including "Mind Over Matter" (Fortune #546, 1962), which went to #1 on local radio station play lists in 1962.

Edison Lighthouse - Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes (1970)

"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" is a popular song by "one-hit wonder" Edison Lighthouse. The single hit the number one spot on the UK singles chart on the week ending on 31 January 1970, where it remained for a total of five weeks. "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" was written by Tony Macaulay, Barry Mason and Sylvan Whittingham. Essentially they were a studio group with prolific session singer Tony Burrows providing the vocals. When the song became a hit, a group needed to be assembled rapidly to feature the song on Top Of The Pops, a popular TV show. Sylvan Whittingham found a group called Greenfields and brought them to the auditions a week before their appearance on Top of the Pops. Once chosen and rehearsed, they appeared on the show as 'Edison Lighthouse' to mime to the fastest climbing number 1 hit record in history. Burrows sang the song on the programme during his third appearance on the same show with three different groups. It reached number 5 on US pop chart, number 3 in Canada, and number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for five weeks in January and February 1970.

Domenico Modugno - "Volare" (1958)

"Nel blu dipinto di blu" ("In the blue, painted blue"), popularly known as "Volare" (Italian for the infinitive form of the verb "to fly"), is Domenico Modugno's signature song. Modugno's recording became the first Grammy winner for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1958. It is the only foreign-language recording to achieve this honor. It spent five non-consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100 in August and September 1958 and was Billboard's number-one single for the year. It is one of only three one-hit wonders to become single of the year in the history of the Hot 100 (followed by "Stranger on the Shore" by Acker Bilk in 1962 and "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter in 2006).


The song became widely known as "Volare", from its refrain, and reached the top of the charts all over the world through translations into various languages.


The song has been covered at least 100 times over the years. Versions were quickly recorded after the initial success - partly in English, partly in Italian - by The McGuire Sisters and Dean Martin. Bobby Rydell had a hit with his version, reaching #4 on the Hot 100 in the summer of 1960 (this version was later played over the end credits of the 1986 movie Vamp). An up-tempo Spanish version (partly in Italian) was recorded by the Gipsy Kings in 1989, and an English/Spanish salsa version is also sung by Son Boricua of Jimmy Sabater and Jose Mangual Jr. in 2000.


DEAN MARTIN version:

GIPSY KINGS 1989 version:

The Proclaimers - 500 Miles (1988)

The Proclaimers are a Scottish band composed of identical twin brothers, Charlie and Craig Reid (born 5 March 1962, in Leith). They are probably best known for the songs "Letter from America", "I'm On My Way" and "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)". The band tours extensively throughout Europe and other continents. They have released eight studio albums from 1987 until the present, as well as two compilation albums and a DVD, and their next studio album is expected for 2012.


Craig Reid and Charlie Reid were born in Leith in 1962, and grew up in Edinburgh, Cornwall and Auchtermuchty. After several punk rock bands at school they formed The Proclaimers in 1983.


The pair came to public attention when an Inverness based fan sent their demo to the British band The Housemartins, who were impressed enough to invite The Proclaimers on their 1986 UK tour. The exposure of the tour won them a January 1987 appearance on the British pop music television programme The Tube on Channel Four; "Letter from America" peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, whilst the album This is the Story went gold. The follow-up album Sunshine on Leith featured "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" and "I'm On My Way". They had a hit with their EP King of the Road, which reached number 9 in UK in 1990.


In March 2007 they recorded a new version of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" with television comedy characters Andy Pipkin (played by Matt Lucas) and Brian Potter (Peter Kay) for the Comic Relief charity. A long list of celebrities were featured in the music video for this new version, including David Bellamy, Rod, Jane and Freddy, Paul O'Grady, David Tennant, Frank Sidebottom and many more. This new version of the song reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart.


The band was one of The B-52s' touring partners on their Funplex tour in Australia and New Zealand in November 2009, alongside Mental as Anything.


In addition, they featured in VH1's 100 greatest one hit wonders (I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) having been their only US hit single).

Barret Strong - "Money That's What I Want" (1959)

"Money (That's What I Want)" is a 1959 hit single by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. The song was written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, and became the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise.


Anna Records was operated by Gwen Gordy, Anna Gordy and Billy 'Roquel' Davis. Gwen and Anna's brother Berry Gordy had just established his Tamla label (soon Motown would follow), and licensed the song to the Anna label in 1960, which was distributed nationwide by Chicago-based Chess Records in order to meet demand; the Tamla record was a resounding success in the Midwest. The song features Strong curtly demanding that money is what he needs, more than anything else. The single became Motown's first hit in June 1960, making it to #2 on the US R&B chart and #23 on the US pop chart. The song was listed as #288 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.


The song has been covered by a myriad of artists. I was introduced to this song in the early 1980s by the version from THE FLYING LIZARDS (1979):

The Ocean Blue - "Sublime" (1993)

A "Sublime" moment is a beautiful thing.


The Ocean Blue, formed in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 1986, is an American indie pop band that combines melodic guitars and synthesizers. Its core original members included David Schelzel on lead vocals/guitar, Steve Lau on keyboards/saxophone, Bobby Mittan on bass guitar and Rob Minnig on drums and vocals.


The Ocean Blue's members were just teenagers and still in high school when they signed a three-album deal in 1988 with Sire Records, at the behest of Sire founder Seymour Stein. The Ocean Blue's self-titled album debuted in the fall of 1989 and many listeners were surprised to learn that the band wasn't British. The first single release was the song "Between Something and Nothing", an Echo & the Bunnymen-inspired rocker which hit the modern rock top-10 in 1989.

Enoch Light Singers - My Way of Life (1968)

Better known for their hit 'It Must Be Him', not much is known about the Enoch Light Singers. Never put into the limelight, they released a few vinyl singles and disappeared. Bert Kaempfert, however, was a staple of orchestral compositions of the late 60s and went on to do many great works. 'My Way of Life' truly melts the ears with an eerie glow. Somehow light and dark at the same time. I love it!

VISAGE - Fade To Grey (1980)

VISAGE are a British New Wave rock band. Formed in 1978, the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their 1980 hit "Fade To Grey".

The VISAGE album reached #13 in the United Kingdom and was certified "Silver" by the British Phonographic Industry in March 1981. Their second single "Fade To Grey" became a huge dance floor hit. In early 1981, Fade to Grey peaked at #8 in the UK Singles Chart and reached #1 in both Germany and Switzerland.

The "Fade To Grey" structure was primarily composed by Billy Currie and Christopher John Payne. While setting the track listing of the Visage album, Midge Ure composed the song's lyrics after Billy Currie suggested the use of the melody for the album. Steve Strange had singing lessons with Ure in order to maintain himself in tune and be recorded. Gary Numan commented in interview for the Numan Digest: "As far as I'm concerned Chris and Billy were the driving force behind writing 'Fade to Grey'. They used to work on it during the sound checks on my '79 tour.

On the UK Channel 4 show "Top Ten New Romantics" in 1999, Steve Strange claimed to have been the one who came up with the idea for the French vocal in the track (a statement disputed by Midge Ure who claims this idea was his). However the original recording by Currie and Payne had featured a French vocal well before Ure and Strange were involved, and this was written by Payne who now lives in France.

The French vocal was performed by Brigitte Arendt, a young student from Luxembourg.

Martika - Toy Soldiers (1989)

Arguably one of the most iconic songs of the late 1980's, Toy Soldiers by Martika is a song that just seems to always get stuck in my head.

Martika claimed that the inspiration for the song came from a friend who was battling cocaine addiction at the time. According to an episode of VH-1's Pop-Up Video, in which the video was featured, the friend in question ultimately beat the addiction.

However this claim was retrospective, as neither Martika nor Columbia made any such claim at the time of the song's release in 1989, and the song's 'anti-drug' reputation was little more than a happy coincidence - in reality it was a standard teen-love song theme about being over-attached to an uninterested, abusive 'bad-boy' boyfriend.

At the time of the song's release, there was growing public concern about drug addiction in the young, and a number of campaigns throughout most of the world during the AIDS crisis warning of the dangers posed by discarded needles, emphasizing that even without the needle a used syringe was still dangerous to a child, who might wish to play with one as if it were an old fashioned peg doll or toy soldier.

Songs comparing heroin addiction to an abusive love affair have been a music staple for decades (e.g. The Stranglers 1979 single 'Don't Bring Harry'), and 'Toy Soldiers' motifs of emptiness replacing pain, addiction to something they know is not good for them, and a fear of the consequences if it is not ended (along with the children singing 'won't you come out and play with me?') resulted in the song's heavy rotation by radio and TV as anti-drugs due to the ambiguous nature of the lyrics.

The song spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and New Zealand while reaching number five in both the United Kingdom and Australia. When it spent its first week at number one, it had leapt over Madonna's "Express Yourself" and kept that song from reaching the top spot. On Billboard's year-end chart for 1989, "Toy Soldiers" placed number 29. It was Martika's only number-one single in the U.S., and her highest-ranking single in the United Kingdom. The single was certified Gold in the United States by the RIAA.

In March and April 2009, VH1 ran a countdown of the 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s. "Toy Soldiers" placed at #67 on the countdown despite the fact that Martika had three other Top 40 hits: "More Than You Know" (#18); "I Feel the Earth Move" (#25); and "Love ... Thy Will Be Done" (#10).