Music is subjective, obviously. You might love these entries. They might be on a playlist you frequent or maybe even the first single you bought. But if you comb through the pages of this blog and find even one more bizarre song than these ten, let me know.
The Singing Dogs Medley – Singing Dogs (1955)
This is the first novelty record, at least in terms of One Hit Wonders. The novelty being that it’s just dog barks, pitched to the tune of a few children’s nursey rhymes. It was created by Carl Weismann, a Danish recoding engineer, who was trying capture bird calls but kept getting interrupted by the shouts of these canines. Thankfully, the version I’ve posted here is only a fraction of the near 8 minute long original but by all means, hunt for the full length song at your own peril.
2. The Singing Nun – Dominique (1963)
The Singing Nun has a very heart-breaking back story that I’ll save for another day but out of all of her songs, it makes sense that this was the hit. Belgian French religious acoustic bops. Fully niche.
3. Napoleon XIV – They’re Coming To Take Me Away Ha Haa! (1966)
Just because something is purposefully made to be weird doesn’t stop me pointing at it and saying ‘Wow, that’s weird’. A tuneless almost militaristic ditty about someone having a psychotic break from reality will always have a spot reserved in the Oddity Drawer but at least we don’t have to listen to the B Side, which was the song played backwards.
4. Telex – Rock Around The Clock (1979)
There are plenty of synth pop groups littered on the pavement that is One Hit Wonderville. The album this hit came from is similar in sound to acts like Space or even Hot Butter. So then why is this song in the ‘Weird’ list? Listen to how sloooooow it is. People bought this. It made it to number 34. In the summer? Mid July?
5. Portsmouth Sinfonia – Classical Muddly (1981)
Where is the line between taking the piss and genuine heart felt sincerity? It’s hard to find it on this record. Formed from students from the Portsmouth School Of Arts, all of whom were amateur or musicians playing an unfamiliar instrument to them, this single was actually put out two years after the group stopped performing. Wikipedia says the song is “synchronized to a disco beat” which I would a b s o l u t e l y beg to differ.
6. Laurie Anderson – O Superman (1981)
Look, I actually quite like this song. It’s only taken me 10 years to come round to it but I have. Almost eight and a half minutes of minimalistic electronic music. Not Pop. This is far cry from every other record on the charts in terms of having a boogie round the record player but it obviously was quite popular considering it peaked at No 2 on it’s second week.
7. Mad Donna – The Wheels On The Bus (2002)
As parodies go, this is very good. The music sounds like William Orbit’s stella production without getting too silly with it and Michelle Chappel, the titular Mad Donna, nails the Queen Of Pop’s cadence. I miss this animation style, just to briefly mention the video.
8. Jonny Trunk And Wisbey – The Ladies’ Bra (2007)
This seems to be a joke that got a bit out of hand. Jonny Trunk is a music label founder and producer and Wisbey is an actor, impressionist, musician, etc. This song was first released on a ten year anniversary compilation for Trunk Records (guess who’s label that might be) and was more than likely the result of the two of them *ahem* fucking about. Soon enough, radio got a hold of it and sent it on it’s way up the charts. Oh, and if the music sounds familiar, it’s called “The Gonk” by Herbert Chappell. It’s been in lots of things.
9. John Cage – 4’33” (Cage Against The Machine Version) (2010)
Shuffling. Coughing. The hum of an amplifier. Out of context, this might seem like the strangest of the bunch. In the late 00’s, Xmas Number One in the UK Charts was dominated by X Factor. As a reactionary measure, campaigns were run to boycott and replace the contestant winners from reaching the top spot. In 2009, Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing In the Name” was the song pushed to poll position. A year later and Simon Cowell’s brood were still threatening to dominate. A swaggle of musicians stepped up to the challenge. They picked famous out-there composer John Cage’s “4’33””, a piece of music where the performers are instructed not to play their instruments. They actually filmed the entire thing. Unfortunately, they weren’t successful in their mission, they reached #21 and no higher, but it all makes for a pretty weird One Hit Wonder.
10. RSPB – Let Nature Sing (2019)
It’s just birds init. Have you heard the Diplo remix?