190. Joan Osborne – One of Us (1996)
Total Points – 607
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 89
This is the first song in the countdown to be ranked in half of the charts, which is a pretty big distinction when you consider the fact that 74% of these songs were ranked in only 1 or 2 lists. In fact, this song being ranked in 3 lists but still being this low probably indicates I should have been more punitive to songs that didn’t appear as often. This song was written by Eric Basilian of the Hooters, and if you are familiar with their songs and the lyrics of this one then you are probably saying to yourself “That makes since.” Joan, took the song to #4, but that’s all she’s every gotten in the Hot 100, making her a strict definition OHW. She did receive 3 Grammy nominations for this song, and she was much more successful in the Triple A format.
189. Patrick Hernandez - Born to Be Alive (1979)
Total Points – 606
Charts – 1
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 46
This French artist, released his disco single Born to Be Alive and it was an immediate success in Europe. It was a #1 hit in France from April until July. Before being released in the U.S. is was remixed, but once it was released it reached #1 on the Hot Dance Club chart and it crossed over to the Top 100 peaking at #16. To give you an idea how big this song was, in his home country of France, as of 2010, this song is still the 21st best selling single ever.
188. David Essex – Rock On (1973)
Total Points – 606
Charts – 1
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 46
Essex was a British Singer and Actor, who had 19 top 40 hits in the U.K. 1973 was a huge year for Essex, as he starred in his first film “That’ll Be the Day” and recorded this this song which turned out to be an international hit. This Grammy nominated single peaked at #5 in the U.S. Interestingly, this song was remade in 1981 by another Singer/Actor Michael Damian, and his version was rated as the 99th best OHW of the 80s (however, he wouldn’t qualify as a OHW under the rules applied for this lists).
187. Ocean - Put Your Hand in the Hand (1971)
Total Points – 606
Charts – 1
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 46
The Canadian Gospel Rock band Ocean released this song in 1971 and it climbed all the way to #2 on the U.S. charts where it was kept from the #1 spot by Three Dog Night’s Joy to the World. This song was the 22nd best selling song of 1971, and this single was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006. The band had 3 other marginal hits in the Hot 100, but they disbanded in 1975 after just 2 albums.
186. Mountain - Mississipi Queen (1970)
Total Points – 606
Charts – 1
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 46
Of course, in a OHW countdown, where else would you expect to find a band called Mountain but immediately following one called Ocean. This tune, which remains in rotation on Classic Rock stations everywhere, only peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Prior to joining the band drummer Corky Lang had written lyrics as well as the drum parts for this song. Later guitarist Leslie West was looking for lyrics to a guitar part he had written, the two collaborated and this song was born. The song producer insisted on the band doing numerous takes, the cowbell you hear at the beginning was the guitarist's way of counting them off…ultimately the producer liked it, so he left it in.
185. Sniff 'n' the Tears – Driver's Seat (1979)
Total Points – 606
Charts – 2
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 66
The British band released Driver’s Seat and it was a hit in many countries, including reaching #15 here. Ironically, it was not a hit in the U.K, but that was mostly due to unfortunate timing. EMI had a malfunction at the pressing plant, so the single was not available until well after the band’s appearance on Top of the Pops, limiting its success to a spot just outside of the top 40. This band is also a strict definition OHW, but it’s not surprising when you learn that the band split up almost immediately after the album was released.
184. Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm (1993)
Total Points – 606
Charts – 3
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 78
I don’t how close you’ve been paying attention to the Total Points, but this is the 6th straight song with 606 points. This one gets this score even though it appeared in 3 different lists. This band is instantly identifiable by Brad Robert’s bass-baritone voice. This single was the first from the God Shuffled His Feet album, and it received mostly negative reviews, but it was a very successful song worldwide, including reaching #1 in 7 countries. This song, despite its success continues to get panned by critics. Rolling Stone lists it as the 15th Most Annoying Song and VH1 has it as the 15th Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever. VH1 also had it listed as the 31st best OHW song of the 90s.
183. Rocky Burnette - Tired of Toein’ the Line (1980)
Total Points – 605
Charts – 1
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 45
Rocky Burnette is the son of Rock and Roller Johnny Burnette who had 4 top 20 hits of his own in the early 60s. Rocky co-wrote this song with Ron Coleman, who was the bass player for the Brothers Grim and The Everly Brothers. If you listen to the song after knowing the writers’ backgrounds the influence of late 50s early 60s rock becomes more obvious. Toein’ the Line peaked at #8 on the U.S. Charts, which interestingly, tied his dad’s highest ranking song, You’re Sixteen. However, unlike his father, Rocky is a strict definition OHW, but believe it or not, he’s due to release a new album in 2019…so…who knows.
182. Thunderclap Newman – Something in the Air (1969)
Total Points – 605
Charts – 1
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 45
Thunderclap Newman was a band created by Pete Townsend. After Speedy Keen wrote “Armenia City in the Sky, which was used on the The Who Sell Out album, Townsend decided he needed to create a way for Keen to display his talent. Jazz pianist Andy “Thunderclap” Newman (Townsend’s friend from college) was added, along with a 15 year old guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (who went on to play lead guitar in Paul McCartney’s Wings). The bass player on the album Bijou Drains is actually Townsend. This song reached #1 in the UK just 3 weeks after its release, and it held off Elvis in the process. In the U.S. the song peaked at #37.
181. King Missile - Detachable Penis (1992)
Total Points – 604
Charts – 1
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 0
Highest Ranking – 44
This whole thing started when John S Hall the writer started presenting his work at open mic poetry readings. He quickly became a “featured” poet, but when he was expected to do a 20 minute set he felt it would be boring to just listen to poetry for that long, so he asked his friend to play some original guitar music, a bassist and drummer and xylophonist were added and King Missile was born. Now, defining this as a hit is a bit of a reach, as it only managed to get to #25 on the Alternative Charts. The ironic thing is, while this song was by far their biggest hit the singer believes it was also the end of their popularity. He felt after this song their airplay disappeared for future efforts and that the success of Detachable led to people getting tired of their sound.