Happy Accidents That Brought These One-Hit Wonders Back To Life

For many one-hit wonders, their brief time in the sun is quickly followed by a fade into the endless noise of new releases, even if you think a track deserves more than 15 minutes of fame. But, for a lucky few, the right circumstances can bring a song raring back to life. These happy accidents can include a savvy music supervisor selecting a personal favorite for a movie scene or social media users collectively deciding that something retro is perfect for the next viral trend. You can't always predict what's going to land, but when it does, you'll see that one-hit wonders still have a lot of life left in them yet.

Sometimes, these happy accidents are so powerful that they don't just resurrect a song; they supercharge it. The Proclaimers, the Scottish pop duo who came to wider attention in the '80s and '90s (depending, perhaps, on which side of the Atlantic you were on), are forever tied to their hit, "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)." Though they're still performing today and have recorded many fine albums since then, the popularity of that track — boosted by its use in 1993's "Benny and Joon" — means its inclusion on every Proclaimers set list is basically law now. And, that sort of second life for a song (and the residuals one hopefully gets) doesn't have to be so bad. A bit of luck can be all you need for a once-forgotten song to re-enter the limelight.

"Hooked on a Feeling," as recorded by Blue Swede, saw an astronomical 700% sales increase after its use in a trailer for the first "Guardians of the Galaxy" film took the promo to a whole new level. But it first hit the scene in 1968, when it was recorded by B.J. Thomas. The original, which sounds markedly different from the "Guardians" trailer version, reached No. 5 on the Billboard charts in 1969. The song changed when British singer, entertainment exec, and T.V. host Jonathan King got his hands on it. He's the one who first introduced the opening chant, taking it to No. 23 in the U.K. in 1972.

From there, Swedish record exec Bengt Palmers told the members of Blue Swede to put it in their shows. Their cover became a hit in regional markets and opened the way for a U.S. release, where it proved a No. 1 hit in April 1974. Okay, technically Blue Swede did break into the top 10 again with "Never My Love" later that year, but can you sing that tune? Probably not, but we're willing to bet that some of you have been muttering "oogachoka" to yourself for the past minute or so.

Even when Blue Swede disbanded, it wasn't over yet for "Hooked on a Feeling," even if "Guardians of the Galaxy" was but a glimmer in a young James Gunn's eye. The Blue Swede version experienced an earlier Renaissance when it featured in the famous "dancing baby" segment of a 1998 "Ally McBeal" episode (though then it only reached No. 71).

If you saw director Emerald Fennell's 2023 film "Saltburn," chances are that you felt a bit pummeled by the experience. It culminates in a final scene featuring a very, shall we say, stripped-down dance performance by actor Barry Keoghan (though social media folks replicating the moves were far more clothed). Playing over it all was "Murder on the Dancefloor," a poppy, frenetic tune that makes it hard to not bust a move despite the menace.

Lyrically speaking, "murder on the dancefloor" was a filler line that songwriter Gregg Alexander intended to replace. Only, he never got around to it or else decided that it worked just fine, leaving the song intact for Sophie Ellis-Bextor's 2002 release. It became a hit and then, like so many chart-topping songs, faded into the background for the foreseeable future. Technically Ellis-Bextor was part of a previous hit, as she was featured in Spiller's 2000 song, "Groovejet," which did pretty well on the dance charts. Still, it wasn't precisely the kind of widespread hit that "Murder on the Dancefloor" became after its initial release and reemergence via "Saltburn."

Alexander was also part of the New Radicals, which had another hit with 1998's "You Get What You Give." Years later, Barack Obama played it during his presidential campaign, and Alexander briefly re-formed the New Radicals to perform at Joe Biden's 2021 inauguration. The track was a favorite of the Biden family during son Beau's cancer treatment.

Formed by twin brothers Charlie and Craig Reed, the Proclaimers was a duo with a strikingly down-home look for the '80s, standing out amongst a slate of acts known for spectacle. As "The Tube" host Paula Yates said during of their Channel Four debut, "Now it's time for something totally weird and unusual." By the middle of the decade, their star was on the rise, even as they were unafraid to make bold statements with their music. 

The Proclaimers resisted altering their Scottish accents for wider distribution, even going so far as to write "Throw the R Away" as their first single. Later, "Letter from America," written in 1984, was openly critical of the Thatcher government's approach to labor unions. But, for many, The Proclaimers are known for their hit single, the upbeat, wholesome '90s-era one-hit wonder love song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)."

For all that it's beloved today — Charlie told the BBC that "We wouldn't get out alive if we played a gig without it" — upon its first release, "I'm Gonna Be" didn't quite land in the U.S., even if it did gangbusters everywhere else. Years later, in 1993, the song finally reached No. 3 in the U.S. after it was featured in the film "Benny and Joon," starring a young Johnny Depp. Over a decade later, the track experienced yet another resurgence when The Proclaimers re-recorded it for the charity Comic Relief in 2007, after which it hit No. 1.

Back in March 1962, "Hey! Baby" first gained hit status via Bruce Channel, who co-wrote the song with Margaret Cobb. Record producer "Major Bill" Smith got in on Channel's burgeoning career, including arranging the recording session in which "Hey! Baby" was cut in a mere 15 minutes and three takes. He also suggested switching out the original guitar intro for a harmonica solo played by Delbert McClinton. When promoting Channel's demo in Nashville, Smith accidentally started the record at "Hey! Baby," but that proved serendipitous, as a key record company exec was intrigued. Those proved to be good instincts, as the single made it to No. 1 in the U.S. and stayed there for a respectable three weeks.

Supposedly, the harmonica break piqued the interest of John Lennon, who performed with the Beatles on a 1962 tour supporting Bruce Channel. The scuttlebutt is that it inspired the harmonica bit that opens "Love Me Do," though this is unproven. Even if it strikes some as an unremarkable entry in the endless catalogue of milquetoast '60s pop-rock, it did gain a significant second life when it was featured in the beloved '80s-defining film "Dirty Dancing." The scene in which it appears shows Patrick Swayze's dance teacher character teaching Jennifer Grey to boogie on a log in the woods for balance's sake, then continues playing as the pair unsuccessfully practices their soon-to-be-iconic lift in a field.

Many bands would be pretty happy to have a hit to their name, but something almost magical happened when Quentin Tarantino picked "Stuck in the Middle With You" for an infamous scene in his 1992 debut film, "Reservoir Dogs." We'll decline to give you all the details, but you surely associate the song with the film. 

The track was released nearly two decades prior in April 1973, the creation of Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan, who basically ran Stealers Wheel as a duo with a succession of supporting musicians. Rafferty went to a party celebrating their signing with A&M Records, where he was forced into the stultifying experience of hobnobbing with uncreative record execs. Inspired, he wrote the song soon after.

Rafferty has claimed that any allusions to Bob Dylan are coincidental, or at least only inspired by Dylan's overwhelming presence in the rock world and Rafferty's own somewhat similar voice. Rumors that Stealers Wheel wrote "Stuck in the Middle With You" as a way to thumb their nose at Dylan simply aren't true.

In the lead-up to "Reservoir Dogs," Tarantino specifically called out the song in his script and offered its use to actors auditioning for the scene. This cemented his sense that it was the perfect pick, even to the point of boosting mediocre performances. As you can see on screen, the pairing of music and scene is nothing short of electrifying. Oh, and it helped that licensing the song was apparently cheap.