1963 One Hit Wonders page 1963 One Hit Wonder tune timeline
with weekly chart links,
song links and samples at Tunecaster music encyclopedia
The Ultimate One Hit Wonders Site.
Here are all the one hit wonders, year by year, in tune timeline order. Tunecaster samples, full song or video links, downloads, extras, below each song in green.
Stream amazon samples, click play to the right. Full weekly CHART data, click underlined blue chart peaks, 1975 to date.ROCK chart data, click reddish
underlined peaks, 1980 to date.
41 years of one hit wonders, each on its own page; and late 50s, links to far right. SEARCH and find a song, or browse the alphabet for one hit wonders, at bottom of page.
Although the
number
one song Tell Him was the only top 20 hit for The
Exciters, the group received airplay for other songs. Tell Him
was followed-up with Do
Wah Diddy, which received some radio airplay months
before Manfred
Mann made the song a classic.
Coney Island
was in Brooklyn, New York City. The Excellents were from The
Bronx, New York City. The echo sound of the singing was created
by recording in a hallway.This became the most popular song
by the group. The Excellents received minor airplay with other
songs too, like You
Baby You, the other side of this single.
Although Sneaky
Sue was the only top 20 hit for Patty Lace And The Petticoats,
the group followed-up with Girls Don't Trust That Boy which
received slight radio airplay.
Although Wiggle
Wobble was the only top 20 hit for Les Cooper And The Soul Rockers,
the group received slight radio airplay with other songs like
Twistin' (One More Time).
In the 1950s, Les Cooper was a singer with The Empires. Wiggle
Wobble was written by Les Cooper.
Cast Your Fate
To The Wind was a top 20 one
hit wonder for Vince Guaraldi, a jazz writer and
piano player. The follow-up, Mr. Lucky, received slight airplay.
Vince Guaraldi was best known for performing Peanuts
themes for movies and TV specials. Cast Your Fate To The Wind
was written by Vince Guaraldi.
The instrumental song Wild Weekend was the only top 20
hit for The Rebels. The group received some airplay as The Hot-Toddys
and as The Rockin' Rebels with songs like Rockin' Crickets and
Buffalo Blues. Wild Weekend was written by: Tom Shannon, Phil
Todaro.
The instrumental song Our Winter Love was the only top
20 hit for piano player Bill Pursell. He followed-up with Loved,
which received slight radio airplay. Our Winter Love was written
by: John Cowell, Bob Tubert.
Ronnie Bright
was the actual bass man in Mr. Bass Man. Johnny Cymbol later
changed his stage name to Derek, and made the 1969 number 13 hit Cinnamon.
The extra featured here is a live performance many years later.
If You Wanna
Be Happy was a top 20 one
hit wonder for Jimmy Soul, whose follow-up, Twistin'
Matilda, was a top 20 near miss. Gary U.S. Bonds wrote the song.
The instrumental song Pipeline was the only top 20 hit
for Chantay's. The group followed-up with other songs that received
slight radio airplay, like Monsoon.
The video featured here is a live performance. The writers of
this song were: Brian Carman, Bob Spickard.
During the watusi
craze, El Watusi was the only solo top 20 hit for drummer Ray
Barretto. He never had another song with mentionable airplay.
The song was from the album Charanga Moderna. The song
was from the production Ray Barretto.
In 1961, Kyu Sakamoto recorded Ue
O Muite Aruko (I Look Up When I Walk). For Americans, it was
released as Sukiyaki and became a 1963 number one song, the biggest
Japanese language hit ever.
In 1981, A
Taste Of Honey reworked the song and brought it to
number
one again. Finally, in 1994, 4
P.M. (for positive music) made a dance version, and
the song hit number
one a third time.
Kyu Sakamoto followed-up this song with China Nights (Shina
No Yoru), which received some international radio airplay. Sukiyaki
was written by: Rokusuke Ei, Hachidai Nakamura.
Swinging On
A Star was first made popular by Bing Crosby in 1944. Big Dee
Irwin was the lead singer of the group The Pastels that had
the 1958 top 20 near miss song Been So Long. There were two
unrelated groups called The Pastels. Big Dee had other songs
that received minor airplay too, like I Only Get This Feeling.
Jul
1963
14
6
16
On Top Of
Spaghetti
Tom Glazer And The Do-Re-Mi Children's
Chorus
On Top Of Spaghetti
was a spoof of the song On Top Of Old Smokey. In 1951, Vaughn
Monroe And His Orchestra and The Weavers And Terry Gilkyson
each had popular versions of that song.
Tom Glazer was a popular singer and host in the 1940s, with
his radio program Tom Glazer's Ballad Box. He sang on
many records for decades, and wrote popular songs recorded by
others.
Just One Look
was the only top 20 hit for Doris Troy. This song was remade
by The
Hollies, Anne
Murray, and Linda
Ronstadt, among others. Doris Troy followed-up with
What'cha Gonna Do About It, which received slight radio airplay.
The extra featured here is Doris Troy talking about her career.
Just One Look was written by: Gregory Carroll, Doris Payne aka
Doris Troy.
Although instrumental song Wipe Out was the only top 20 hit
for The Surfaris, the group received some radio airplay with
other songs like Surfer Joe. The video featured here is a live
performance.
In 1987, Fat
Boys And The
Beach Boys remade Wipe Out and it hit number
12.
Kai Winding
was a pre-rock era trombone player who was featured in many
recordings. As a solo artist, he recorded under varied names
like, in 1946, Kai's Krazy Kats with the song Loaded. More was
written by: Nino Oliviero, Riz Ortolani. The song was from the
movie Mondo Cane.
The Kind Of
Boy You Can't Forget was the only top 20 hit for The Raindrops.
The duo received airplay with other songs too like What A Guy.
The Raindrops was the duo of married songwriting team Jeff Barry
and Ellie Greenwich. The two wrote many top songs, mostly in
the 1960s, for many artists. This was one of their compositions.
Martian Hop
was the only top 20 song by The Ran-Dells, and a huge international
record. The duo followed-up with other songs including Sound
Of The Sun that received minor radio airplay.
instrumental
song Maria Elena was a Mexican song first made popular in 1941
by Jimmy Dorsey And His Orchestra, and a top 20 one
hit wonder for Los Indios Tabajaras, who were members
of the Brazilian Tabajara tribe. Ernesto Lecuona wrote the song.
Dominique was
the only big hit for The Singing Nun, and a huge 1963 number one song even though
she refused to promote the record. Nun Jeannine Deckers wanted
to remain anonymous as she played guitar in the convent. The
church helped her attain a record contract, but she soon left
the church.
Although number one song Dominique was the only top 20 hit for
The Singing Nun, she followed up with Tous Les Chemins (All
The Roads) which received minor airplay. She later recorded
under other names.
The extra featured here is an updated video.
Unchained Melody
was made popular in 1955 by Les Baxter, Roy Hamilton, Al Hibbler,
and others. The song was also performed by Roy Orbison and Andy
Williams and others. Vito & The Salutations totally rearranged
the song, and produced a top 20 hit. Vito never had another
top 20 hit, but he received slight airplay with other songs
like Eenie Meanie.
