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Sunday, September 25, 2016

Artists Whose First Hit Was Their Biggest--Part 19

Here's another segment in our look at those artists who scored their biggest career hit with their first:


Tab Hunter
"Young Love"

By 1957, Tab Hunter was an established television and movie actor, but recorded this song and enjoyed a huge hit with it.  "Young Love" went to #1 for six weeks and sold over one million copies.  Hunter could only get as high as #11 after that.





Brian Hyland
"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini"

This artist from Queen started his own group at the age of 12.  In 1960, he released this solo single, which went to #1.  In his 11-year career, he had 22 hits, with two others, "Sealed With A Kiss" in 1962 and "Gypsy Woman" in 1970, each reaching the Top 10.





Frank Ifield
"I Remember You"

In 1962, Frank Ifield took a song that was a #9 hit for Jimmy Dorsey in 1942 and remade it into a Top 5.  He charted three other times, but #44 is the best he could do afterwards.





Julio Iglesias
"To All The Girls I've Loved Before"

This artist was a soccer goalie for the professional Real Madrid team in Spain until he suffered temporary paralysis from a car crash.  Iglesias reached #5 with this duet with Willie Nelson.  His next-best effort only hit #19.  Julio's son Enrique is a popular singer in his own right.





Immature
"Never Lie"

This is a teenage act from Los Angeles who posted this Top 5 hit in 1994.  Their next release, "Constantly", went Gold but stopped at #16, and the group never attained a hit as big as their first.




Impalas
"Sorry (I Ran All The Way Home)"

This quartet from Brooklyn, New York  scored a #2 smash in 1959, but the next-best they could do was #86.





Information Society
"What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)"

Here we have a Minneapolis act who reached #3 with their first hit in 1988.  Information Society followed that up with the #9 "Walking Away" but future efforts weren't near as successful.





Jorgen Ingmann
"Apache"

We've heard artists from Sweden and the Netherlands so far; here's one from Denmark.  Ingmann achieved one of The Top Instrumentals of the Rock Era* with this #2 hit in 1961, but never landed a Top 40 hit after that.





Iron Butterfly
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"

This heavy metal group achieved their biggest career hit with their first.  Although it only made it to #30, it has nonetheless become a standard.





Chris Isaak
"Wicked Game"

Although this Stockton, California artist has put out a lot of great music, he's another of the One-Hit Wonders.  "Wicked Game" made it to #6, but nothing else from Chris has cracked the Top 40.

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