The Oldies Music Board / It's International One Hit Wonder Day

**Posted by aflem** September 25, 2025 7:57 am

September 25th is the day for those who got their shining moment in the spotlight and then never returned. International One Hit Wonder Day salutes the artists who made it to the top for a solo second, got their shot at fame and never reached out for that brass ring again.

I always thought the definition of a One Hit Wonder was someone who reached the Top 30 or Top 10 and then disappeared. But according to the definition, they had to have hit #1 to earn the designation. I fundamentally disagree with that categorization, but to each his own. At least once!

I have a lot of favorite One Hit Wonders, but the I think the two biggest in my lifetime that meet the strict criteria have to be The Elegants, whose "Little Star" hit #1 for a single week in 1958. They never had another hit.

The other one that I'll never forget is "In The Year 2525" by Zager and Evans, which also topped the charts for six long weeks in 1969. Their follow-up, a song about a prison guard called "Mister Turnkey," was a missed turkey, hitting only #106 on Billboard. The duo broke up soon after it flopped.

September 25: One Hit Wonder Day

**Posted by RobN** September 26, 2025 12:08 pm

Would you consider two foreign singers/songs that reached #1 on Billboard? Artists may have been popular in other countries, but didn't have follow up success in the US.
"Nel blu, dipinto di blu" - Domenico Modugno 1958
"Sukiyaki" - Kyu Sakamoto 1963

**Posted by aflem** September 26, 2025 1:34 pm

RobN wrote:
Would you consider two foreign singers/songs that reached #1 on Billboard? Artists may have been popular in other countries, but didn't have follow up success in the US.
"Nel blu, dipinto di blu" - Domenico Modugno 1958
"Sukiyaki" - Kyu Sakamoto 1963

If the benchmark criteria is the Billboard chart, then yes, they would have to count as one hit wonders here.

**Posted by GrimsbyFan** September 27, 2025 9:05 am

Kind of a silly definition of the term "one-hit wonder". According to this definition, a song is only a hit if it goes to #1.

If you follow this criteria, Ricky Nelson just missed being a one-hit wonder, because he only had two #1 songs on the Billboard charts.

**Posted by Jim Elder** October 2, 2025 1:43 am

Joan Weber is a “One Hit Wonder” with her only charted single, million selling “Let Me Go, Lover”. It charted in 1954 and reached Number One on Billboard’s Most Played by Jockeys chart on January 1, 1955.

On American Top Forty’s 1975 feature of the "Top 40 Disappearing Acts", Joan Weber was the Number One disappearing act because, according to Casey Kasem’s statement, after “Let Me Go, Lover” hit the charts, she completely disappeared. And I think I remember the statement being something like she completely disappeared off of the face of the Earth (maybe someone can remember this).

Casey Kasem’s researchers embellished the actual circumstances – Joan Weber did not completely disappear after “Let Me Go, Lover” hit the charts. She went on to record four more songs for Columbia Records which were non-hits and, therefore, was subsequently dropped from the record label. After being dropped, Joan Weber went on to sing in nightclubs in several cities.

Columbia Records lost track of her by 1969 and that is what Casey Kasem’s researchers based their statement on.

Last edited by Jim Elder (October 2, 2025 8:26 am)

**Posted by Scotty** October 18, 2025 5:04 am

Jim in the book on history of AT40 it mentions they did find Joan Weber. She had been in a mental hospital many years, rather than broadcast her circumstances they just decided to say they couldn't locate her.