BETHEL — In honor of ‘National One Hit Wonder Day,’ upcoming on September 25th, The Bethel Citizen asked Bethel what it’s favorite one hit wonder song was out of the 10 hits it provided. Signs were put up across Bethel and this one made it to number one…The winner was: “Play That Funky Music,” by Wild Cherry from 1976. The song tripled the other runner-ups, though, “Sugar, Sugar,” by The Archies from 1969 followed up second, and finishing in last place was, “Life is a Highway,” by Tom Cochrane, released in 1991.
A little background story about Bethel’s favorite One Hit Wonder band.
The lead singer of the Wild Cherry, Rob Parissi, was from a steel mill town called Mingo Junction, Ohio. The band formed it’s name from a box of cough drops which Parissi had been taken from a recent hospital stay. They originally played across Ohio, Virginia, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Parissi eventually left the band then rejoined with new members. When the band came together in the disco era, they came up with, “Play That Funky Music.” It lead to them being signed by Epic Records, the song became a number one hit on Billboard, and the album went platinum. The band was named Best Pop Group of the Year by Billboard.
Their three other albums did not have as much commercial success, and eventually, each band member went off to do their own thing with music.
Such is the tale of One Hit Wonders.
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