It’s our Countdown to Christmas! This selection was brought to you by our very own Dan Sweeney of Dan Sweeney’s One Hit Wonders who has picked three Christmas one hit wonders.
Do they Know it’s Christmas – Band Aid
A song written in 1984 in reaction to television reports of the 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded in a single day on November 25th, 1984 by Band Aid, a supergroup consisting mainly of the biggest British and Irish musical acts at the time. The record became the fastest selling single in UK chart history, selling a million copies in the first week alone and passing 3 million on the last day of 1984.
The song was also a major success around the world, reaching number 1 in thirteen other countries outside the UK. In the US, the single fell short of the top 10 in the Billboard Hot 100 due to a lack of airplay, but it had sold an estimated 2.5 million copies in the US by January 1985. Worldwide the single had sold 11.7 million copies by 1989. “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” raised $10 million within 12 months of release. The single’s worldwide success in raising awareness and financial relief for the victims of the Ethiopian famine led the recording of several other charity singles in the UK and in other countries, such as “We Are the World” by USA for Africa. The song also led to various spin-off charity events, such as Comic Relief, and the Live Aid concert which would take place seven months later in July 1985.
‘Nuttin’ for Christmas”- Joe Ward
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTxNj69Fq8c
A novelty Christmas song written by Sid Tepper and Roy Bennett. It became a hit during the 1955 Christmas season when it appeared in Billboard’s pop charts by five different artists. Joe Ward was the One Hit Wonder who charted with the song that year at #25. The highest-charting of the 5 recordings was released by Art Mooney and His Orchestra. This version peaked at #6 and became a million-seller. Other charting versions were recorded by The Fontane Sisters, Stan Freeberg, Ricky Zand and the Blue Jeaners.
Other artists who have recorded the song through the years included Spike Jones, Eartha Kitt, Homer and Jethro, Smash Mouth (featuring Rosie O’Donnell), and Sugarland.
The Happy Reindeer – Dancer, Prancer and Nervous- 1959
Okay, these were singing reindeer. Uh Huh. They were at the time to be seen as competition to those other singing “things”–Chipmunks, NUTTY SQUIRRELS, SINGING DOGS, “Witch Doctor” and that Purple People Eater.” The “brains” behind this reindeer act was Russ Regan. Russ’ name has not been widely known on the streets; not so behind the scenes. Regan’s had been in the music business for three decades-plus; at the time. He had leveraged the part of a promo man and for a bit headed the Warner Brothers’ subsidiary Lomo, followed by the vice presidency and general managership of Uni during its’ Neil Diamond and Elton John heyday. In the late ’70s he was president of 20th Century-Fox records for their momentary resurgence and strong R&B showing.
Dan Sweeney is the host of Dan Sweeney’s One Hit Wonders, two hours devoted to exploring one hit wonders including artist interviews, jingles, commercials, and trivia from the years they charted.
