20:42Oldies Music · 1976 · One-Hit Wonders1950s One-Hit Wonders That Vanished Forever
Episode: 10 One-Hit Wonders That Ruled the 1950s Then Vanished Forever
From Sora Music Rewind · 23 min ·
About These 1950s One-Hit Wonders
The 1950s one-hit wonders in this countdown each had a moment when the whole country seemed to be singing their song. Then the spotlight moved on, though the records stayed.
This episode counts down ten of those records. Chart positions and life details below were checked against reliable sources, and a few details from the video have been corrected.
Who Were the 1950s One-Hit Wonders in This Countdown?
#10: The Purple People Eater — Sheb Wooley (1958)
Sheb Wooley grew up in Oklahoma and rode in rodeos, and rodeo injuries kept him out of World War II service. He played the outlaw Ben Miller in High Noon (1952) and later Pete Nolan on TV's Rawhide.
The song began with a riddle told by the child of a friend, about a creature with one eye and one horn that flies and eats people. Wooley gave the monster a sped-up voice. It sat at No. 1 on Billboard's pop charts from June 9 to July 14, 1958, six straight weeks.
Wooley is also believed to be the voice behind the "Wilhelm scream," a stock sound effect first recorded for the 1951 film Distant Drums and since heard in hundreds of movies. He never had another pop hit this big, but he did top the country chart in 1962 with "That's My Pa." He died in 2003.
#9: Rockin' Robin — Bobby Day (1958)
Bobby Day was born Robert James Byrd in Fort Worth, Texas. "Rockin' Robin" was written by Leon René under the pen name Jimmie Thomas, and the chirping bird sound came from Plas Johnson on piccolo.
The single reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart, and it earned a gold record.
Day was also a gifted writer whose songs became bigger hits for others. Thurston Harris took his "Little Bitty Pretty One" to No. 6 in 1957, and the Dave Clark Five took "Over and Over" to No. 1 in December 1965. In 1972, a young Michael Jackson brought "Rockin' Robin" back to No. 2. Day died in 1990 at 62.
#8: Young Love — Tab Hunter (1957)
Tab Hunter was born Arthur Andrew Kelm in New York City. Agent Henry Willson gave him his famous screen name.
"Young Love" was also recorded by country singer Sonny James, whose version went to No. 2 on the pop chart and No. 1 on the country chart. Hunter's version, on Dot Records, spent six weeks at No. 1 in America and topped the British chart as well.
Warner Bros. had Hunter under film contract, and Jack Warner responded by founding Warner Bros. Records in 1958. Hunter had one more Top 20 hit, "Ninety-Nine Ways." In his 2005 memoir, Tab Hunter Confidential, he wrote openly about being gay. He died in 2018 at 86.
#7: He's Got the Whole World in His Hands — Laurie London (1958)
Laurie London was just 13 when he recorded this old spiritual for Britain's Parlophone label with the Geoff Love Orchestra. In Britain it stopped at No. 12.
In America it went much further. In April 1958 it reached No. 1 on Billboard's "Most Played by Jockeys" chart and stayed there four weeks, while climbing to No. 2 on the Best Sellers chart. It sold over a million copies, the most successful American record by a British male singer of the 1950s.
No follow-up came close, and London retired from singing at 19.
#6: Little Star — The Elegants (1958)
The Elegants came from South Beach, Staten Island, where they liked to sing under the boardwalk near their homes. Vito Picone and Arthur Venosa wrote "Little Star," borrowing the melody idea from "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
Billboard launched the Hot 100 in August 1958. On August 25, "Little Star" knocked Domenico Modugno's "Volare" out of first place for one week before "Volare" returned. That single week made the Elegants the first vocal group to top the new chart.
None of their later singles charted at all. Picone later returned as lead singer and kept the song alive on oldies stages.
#5: Butterfly — Charlie Gracie (1957)
Charlie Gracie, a 5-foot-4 guitar player from Philadelphia known as "the Pocket Rocker," recorded "Butterfly" for the new Cameo label on a budget of about $600. It topped the Billboard charts and became Cameo's first No. 1. In Britain it reached No. 12, and his follow-up "Fabulous" reached No. 16 in the U.S.
Gracie toured Britain, where a 15-year-old Paul McCartney saw him perform. McCartney later recorded "Fabulous" in 1999.
Gracie then sued Cameo over unpaid royalties. The case settled out of court, and he used the money to buy his parents a house in Havertown. He never appeared on American Bandstand again, and he ended up playing small rooms for $150 a week. He said he came to regret the lawsuit. He died in 2022 at 86.
#4: Raunchy — Bill Justis (1957)
Bill Justis worked behind the scenes at Sun Records in Memphis, arranging music for artists including Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison. "Raunchy," an instrumental he wrote with guitarist Sidney Manker, came out on Sun's sister label, Phillips International, and reached No. 2 on the Billboard chart.
Its real legacy came in Liverpool. In 1958, a 15-year-old George Harrison played the tune on the top deck of a bus for John Lennon. Lennon thought Harrison was too young, but the performance was so accurate that he joined the Quarrymen, the band that became the Beatles.
Justis never had another hit of that size, though he later scored Smokey and the Bandit. He died in 1982.
#3: The Wayward Wind — Gogi Grant (1956)
Herb Newman and Stanley Lebowsky wrote this song years before it was recorded. By the mid-1950s Newman owned a small label, Era Records, and according to obituary accounts, Gogi Grant recorded it almost as an afterthought in the final minutes of a session meant for another song, "Who Are We."
The afterthought became the hit. "The Wayward Wind" ended Elvis Presley's seven-week run at No. 1 with "Heartbreak Hotel" and stayed on top for six weeks. Billboard voted Grant the most popular female vocalist of 1956.
She had reached the Top 10 once before, with "Suddenly There's a Valley," but never again reached No. 1. She died in 2016 at 91.
#2: Silhouettes — The Rays (1957)
Songwriter Bob Crewe was riding a train in May 1957 when he saw a couple embracing behind a lit window shade. He and Frank Slay turned it into a story with a twist ending.
The Rays recorded it for Crewe and Slay's small Philadelphia label, XYZ. As the story goes, disc jockey Hy Lit fell asleep with it repeating on his turntable, then put it on the air. It reached No. 3 on both the pop and R&B charts. Herman's Hermits took it to No. 5 in 1965. The Rays never had another Top 40 hit, and lead singer Harold Miller died in 2021.
#1: Short Shorts — The Royal Teens (1958)
The Royal Teens were teenagers from Bergenfield, New Jersey. Guitarist Bill Dalton recalled that the idea came from seeing a girl in shorts walking down the street on a warm day.
"Short Shorts" reached No. 3 on the pop chart and No. 2 on the R&B chart. One more single, "Believe Me," reached No. 26 in 1959.
Their 15-year-old piano player was Bob Gaudio. He soon left the road, met Frankie Valli in 1958, and joined the group that became the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote "Sherry" and, often with Bob Crewe, hits like "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man." He entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the group in 1990.
Why Do 1950s One-Hit Wonders Still Matter?
A riddle, a nursery rhyme, a glimpse from a train window. Small ideas became giant records because young listeners wanted something new every week.
Careers often ended for reasons that had little to do with talent. Yet the songs kept working. They opened doors for George Harrison and Bob Gaudio and still play on oldies radio.
For the 1950s one-hit wonders, one record was enough to be remembered.
Which of these songs did you hear first, and do you remember where you were when it came on the radio?
Sources and Further Reading
Topics in This Story
Your turn...
How many of these classic hits do you remember? And which song takes you straight back to the 1950s?
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