"Catchy, memorable, irritating, or simply ubiquitous, one-hit wonders capture something of the mood of a time. This collection provides a series of short, sharp chapters focusing on one-hit wonders from the 1950s to the present day, offering a capsule history of popular music tastes and ruminations on the mechanics of fame." -- "A chronicle of changing popular music styles and tastes as exemplified by "one-hit wonders" - focusing on the mainstream, on common musical currency, and on the often maligned"-- Back cover. Provided by publisher.

Introduction / Sarah Hill -- Buchanan & Goodman, 'The Flying Saucer' (1956) / Paul Carr -- The Kingsmen, 'Louie Louie' (1963) / Samuel Murray -- ? and the Mysterians, '96 Tears' (1966) / Adam Behr -- The Easybeats, 'Friday on My Mind' (1966) / Dai Griffiths -- Norman Greenbaum, 'Spirit in the Sky' (1969) / Philip Auslander -- The Archies, 'Sugar Sugar' (1969) / Jon Stewart -- Serge Gainsbourg, 'Je t'aime (moi non plus)' (1969) / Philippe Gonin -- Blue Swede, 'Hooked On a Feeling' (1971) / Sarah Hill, with Bengt Palmers -- Wild Cherry, 'Play That Funky Music' (1976) / Robert Fink -- Althea and Donna, 'Uptown Top Ranking' (1977) / Paul Long -- Plastic Bertrand, 'Ça Plane Pour Moi' (1977) / Patrick McGuinness -- Nick Gilder, 'Hot Child in the City' (1978) / Richard Parfitt -- The Vapors, 'Turning Japanese' (1980) / Abigail Gardner -- Aneka, 'Japanese Boy' (1981) / Richard Elliott -- Toni Basil, 'Mickey' (1981) / Tim Anderson -- Trio, 'Da Da Da' (1981) / Tim Quirk -- Nena, '99 Luftballons' (1982) / Melanie Schiller -- The Grateful Dead, 'Touch of Grey' (1987) / Tom Irvine -- A View from the Ground: Being a One-Hit Wonder / Mike Jones -- A View from the Desk : Product Management / Sarah Hill, talking with a guy in a suit -- Shakespear's Sister, 'Stay' (1992) / Áine Mangaoang -- OMC, 'How Bizarre' (1996) / Geoff Stahl -- Butthole Surfers, 'Pepper' (1996) / Gina Arnold -- Chumbawamba, 'Tubthumping' (1998) / Matt Grimes -- Meredith Brooks, 'Bitch' (1997) / Asya Draganova -- New Radicals, 'You Get What You Give' (1998) / Jon Gower -- Las Ketchup, 'Aserejé' (2002) / Eulalia Febrer Coll -- Gotye, 'Somebody That I Used to Know' (2011) / Ellis Jones.