Artists Whose First Hit Was Their Biggest--Part 37

We're presenting some of the artists who were very successful with their first hit, so much so that everything else they did didn't measure up:

Silhouettes

"Get A Job"

This Philadelphia group went all the way to #1 in 1958 with their first and only hit.

Simple Minds

"Don't You (Forget About Me)"

One of the most important movies of the '80s was The Breakfast Club, and this Scottish group recorded a song for the movie that was featured prominently at the conclusion of the film.  Simple Minds also enjoyed the #3 hit "Alive & Kicking" and "Sanctify Yourself" is also noteworthy, but they are best known for this song.

The Singing Nun

"Dominique"

One of the more surprising hits of the Rock Era comes from 1963, in which Jeanine Deckers, a nun from the Fichermont, Belgium convent, recorded this song.  It was a #1 smash of four weeks, but Deckers never had another hit afterwards.

Percy Sledge

"When A Man Loves A Woman"

Here's another of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*, a classic that Percy Sledge took to #1 in 1966.  Percy reached the Top 20 two other times, but nothing he recorded touched his first great song.

Millie Small

"My Boy Lollipop"

Jamaican-born Millie Small found herself amongst the heavyweights in 1964, during the thick of Beatlemania.  Her first hit went to #2, but she could only manage a #40 hit after that.

Smith

"Baby It's You"

This group featured a dynamic lead singler, Gayle McCormick, who passed away last year.  Smith took this song to #5 in 1969, the first and last Top 40 hit they had in their career.

Hurricane Smith

"Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?"

Norman Smith produced for Pink Floyd and engineered for the Beatles.  In 1973, he reached #3 with this song, but it was the last Top 40 hit for him.

Michael W. Smith

"Place In This World"

This keyboardist for Amy Grant, who wrote Grant's song "Find A Way", burst onto the scene in 1991 with this solo hit.  He did manage a #1 Adult Contemporary hit with "I Will Be Here For You" the following year, but it stalled at #27 on the Popular chart.

Snow

"Informer"

One of the biggest first hits is this one from Toronto, Canada's Snow.  He went to #1 for seven weeks in 1993 and sold over two million copies of "Informer".  Snow reached #19 with his follow-up, the last time we've heard from him.

Phoebe Snow

"Poetry Man"

This singer-songwriter began performing in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, New York in the early '70s.  In 1975, she first charted with "Poetry Man", a #5 song.  Phoebe never came close to matching that success.