You know the song. It's instantly recognizable, even without the slightly daft religious lyrics. The fuzzed-out guitar, the chugging riff, the weird little noises in the background. But who recorded "Spirit in the Sky" (now playing in a Nike commercial near you...)?
The guy's name is Norman Greenbaum, and this is one of those useless bits of trivia that I know that prevent me from remembering important deadlines and where I put my keys. I'd be willing to bet that eight out of ten people on the street could hum the riff and sing the chorus, but not tell you who recorded it.
"Spirit in the Sky" would be my nomination for the song known by the most people recorded by the most unknown artist. I'm not sure what else even comes close-- "Rock and Roll, part 2" by Gary Glitter, maybe, though his kiddie porn troubles have recently linked his name to the song more tightly than before. Possibly "Low Rider" by War.
I don't think it's really fair to include songs that exist in a million versions-- "Mack the Knife," for example, has been recorded by a bunch of people, and they all sound similar enough that some confusion is understandable-- or songs by easily confused groups-- there are a dozen songs that could be either the Temptations or the Four Tops, and guessing wrong there is no surprise. I'm talking about people who are totally obscure, who nevertheless recorded songs that are instantly recognizable by a large number of people.
Any suggestions of somebody with a hit song who's more obscure than Norman Greenbaum?
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Melanie...I got a brand new pair of roller skates you gotta brand new key song. You know the one.
American Pie by Don McLean??
Something In The Air - Thunderclap Newman
Blinded By The Light - Manfred Mann
Brother Louie - The Stories
Ride Captain Ride - Blues Image
Brandy - Looking Glass
Do most folks know it was Gordon Lightfoot on Edmund Fitzgerald?
And don't forget "The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace :-)
Golden Earring - Radar Love
Red Rider - Lunatic Fringe
Golden Earring had Twilight Zone some years later....
Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle with You, and
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty (who was in Stealers Wheel, so does it count???)
Dobie Grey - Drift Away (give me the beat boys, and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away...)
OK, home with the flu, time for a nap :-) So far this has been the highlight of the day, beating the chicken soup by a wide margin...............
I've never heard "Spirit in the Sky". Honest. Maybe it's a US thing, or maybe I just don't watch enough tv.
When it first started playing on the linked site, though, it kinda reminded me of "Eagle Rock" -- which was the cue for all Union College residents to drop trou and dance in a circle, back when I lived there. Curse you for the flashback, Chad!
Norman Greenbaum disappeared from the face of the earth after "Spirit in the Sky", although for some reason I know the name of the follow-up album, "Petaluma". Another neuron shot to hell. He sets a tough standard.
War had several hits back in the 1970s - "Cisco Kid", "Why Can't We Be Friends", etc., so they're off the hook here. Melanie's disqualified for having had another minor hit, "Lay Down / Candles in the Rain".
Some other suggestions are similarly tarnished. Manfred Mann had hits in an earlier incarnation, and the lead singer for Red Ryder (Tom Cochrane, I think) had a hit or two on his own. I'd DQ both Stealer's Wheel and Gerry Rafferty for their connection, and besides, Rafferty had another hit ("Right Down the Line").
Gary Glitter himself had some hits in England, I believe, so if we're constraining things to worldwide nonentities, I'd even evict him.
Most of Perry's suggestions are good ones, though. I'd also nominate "Kiss Him Goodbye" by the studio-only group Steam (which is in exactly the same category as the Gary Glitter song for ubiquity and obscurity). Others that come to mind are:
"867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone
"Into the Night" by Benny Mardones
"Everlasting Love" by Carl Carlton
"Let the Music Play" by Shannon
"Rock Your Baby" by George Macrae (sp?)
My work here is done.
Blinded By The Light - Manfred Mann
Blinded by the Light was written and recorded by the little known artist, Bruce Springsteen.
(complete with unmangled lyrics)
Anyways, how about
"Woke Up this Morning" -- Alabama 3
"Forever Young" -- Alphaville
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" -- ??? (not The Platters originally)
Oh, too many to choose:
Kajagoogoo - Too Shy
Steven 'Tin Tin' Duffy - Kiss me (with your mouth)
Icicle Works - Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly)
Sugarloaf - Green Eyed Lady
The Tee Set - Ma Belle Amie
Edison Lighthouse - Love Grows (where my Rosemary goes)
Paper Lace - The Night Chicago Died
Street People - Jennifer Tompkins
are the first handful that come to mind
The origins of the Lion Sleeps Tonight actually seems to be a very tangled story ...
I really love "Sprit in the Sky." (As a percussion-playing friend said to me once, "it just has such great SOUNDS.")
Rolling Stone did an issue within the last couple of years with a feature list of "500 best rock songs" of all time. I decided to download 30 or 40 that I either didn't know or hadn't thought of in a while. RS ran a picture of Larry Greenbaum. Apparently he is Jewish, and in the picture he was dressed like a hippie, and holding a chicken, on a farm in Vermont or somewhere. He looked like the sweetest, kindest person you could ever meet. Totally fueled my obsession with an already-great tune.
Brandy - Looking Glass
Oh, that's a good one, too.
When it first started playing on the linked site, though, it kinda reminded me of "Eagle Rock" -- which was the cue for all Union College residents to drop trou and dance in a circle, back when I lived there. Curse you for the flashback, Chad!
I'm not sure I know the song, and I'm pretty sure that's not still a tradition. Though it might be, I guess-- I don't get invited to those sorts of parties...
"Woke Up this Morning" -- Alabama 3
Another fine choice. And actually, a very good album (Exile on Coldharbor Lane), if you can find it.
I think Reservoir Dogs probably knocks out "Stuck in the Middle With You," as the soundtrack album explicitly identifies the band (in the fake radio lead-in).
I thought of another: "Tequila," by The Champs (the Pee-Wee Herman dance song). Even I had to Google them.
And "Escape (the Pina Colada Song)" by Rupert Holmes.
Lists like this are going to be highly subjective based on how old people are, and what some might recall as obvious other people will be clueless to. Nevertheless, some songs that I think are obscure enough.
"Time of the Season" by The Zombies
"Crimson and Clover" by Tommy James and The Shondells
"Life is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane (is that what you were thinking of Derek?)
"There She Goes" by The La's
Another fine choice. And actually, a very good album (Exile on Coldharbor Lane), if you can find it.
The follow-up albums aren't bad, if you dig that sort of thing. Not quite as good, but still good.
How about "Me and Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul?
The winner is probably ""Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by... well, do you know? Interestingly enough, it was actually the B-side of a release by a group thrown together in the studio.
Although I do like the Norman Greenbaum song.
Another good one is "Signs" by .... well, I'll let you guess. It's probably as recognizable as Spirit.
You didn't know that the Champs did Tequila? For shame.
"Venus"- Shocking Blue
"In the Summertime"- Mungo Jerry
"Walking on Sunshine"- Katrina and the Waves
"Horse with no Name"- America
"Toast and Marmalade for Tea"- Tin Tin
"Horse" was often mistakenly thought to be by Neil Young
"Toast" was similarly mistaken for the Bee Gees (it was in fact produced by Maurice Gibb)
On this side of the pond, people who were around in the 80's will remember Spirit in the Sky as covered by Doctor and the Medics. It gets more airplay than the original.
I am shocked - shocked! - that The La's are considered obscure. The album is pure pop magic.
I'm going to hold out for the irredentist position that true obscurity belongs only to people who never got close to the charts again.
Rupert Holmes, unfortunately, had another top 40 song, "Him", which I actually heard the other day while out shopping. The Zombies, Tommy James, America and such had several hits apiece, all of which still get radio play, so I can't see them as in the running for a Greenbaum.
I'm not sure what to do about cover versions versus originals - "Venus" was, of course, redone by Bananarama in the 1980s. I suppose such cases do add a bit to the fame of the original song and its singer(s), so I'd consider them a step below the real thing.
So of the further suggestions made, the only one I can really endorse is "In the Summertime". "Green Eyed Lady" is a good try, but Sugarloaf did hit the charts again with "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You", which admittedly I haven't heard in a good solid 25 years, at the very least.
My further suggestions are:
"My Maria" by B.W. Stevenson
"I Can Help" by Billy Swan
"Turning Japanese" by the Vapors
But none of these are as famous as "Spirit in the Sky", or "Kiss Him Goodbye", that's for sure.
Hello Chad: I think we should limit this to "one-hit wonders."
Toni Basil: Mickey!
Boy Meets Girl: Waiting For a Star to Fall (anyone know their real names?)
But one-hit wonders wasn't really what was being asked; I thought it was songs that everybody knows, but nobody knows who wrote or originally performed them. The 80s are full of one hit wonders. Take "Walking on Sunshine". Don't most people associate that with Katrina and the Waves. Similarly, "Take on Me" is a-Ha and "Come on Eileen" is Dexy's Midnight Riders to name the other big one hit wonders that pop into my head.
Best I can come up with is "Funkytown" by Lipps, Inc., but I'm guessing that Mr. Greenbaum is still the more obscure act of the two.
I thought the constraint here were songs everyone has heard, but didn't know the recording artist, not that the artist was never heard from again.
However, I had no idea Tom Cochrane was the lead in Red Ryder (and I couldn't remember if it was with an i or a y, which is why I went with the normal spelling above), but thinking on it, yeah, that's the same voice that recorded Life Is A Highway.
I had no idea Melanie was ever heard from again. That's sort of bizarre.
As for not knowing Don McLean was behind American Pie...well let's run with the spirit of Talk Like A Pirate Day and suggest keel hauling for such heresy!
You've all named some good songs, but I'd argue that the only one that meets the original criteria - instantly recognizable, eminently hummable, completely obscure artist - is:
"Tainted Love" Soft Cell
I think most people know Soft Cell. On the other hand, "Tainted Love" is a cover of a song from the 60s, and I forget who the original performer is, so it is a good example.
"The Israelite" Desmond Decker and the Aces
How about "Smile a Little Smile for Me" by The Flying Machine? Think I have the 45 at home. Or "Popcorn" by Hot Butter? And a version of "House of the Rising Sun" by Frijid Pink, which seems disallowed just because of the song itself. Or "Take a Letter Maria" by RB Greaves, "Red Rubber Ball" by The Cyrkle, but song credits to SImon and Garfunkel?
Just remembered "Backfield in Motion" by Mel & Tim.