Adam and Shawna, the lead characters In my Adam Parrall mysteries, once led a band—Parallax—which, though they stayed popular enough to tour for many years, really had only one big hit: “Knife to the Heart,” which almost made it to the Number One spot but was aced out by the Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” (it was the height of the disco era). This led many people to write off Parallax as a “one-hit wonder.”

Of course, Parallax is a fictitious group, but many actual artists are primarily known for their one big it in the sixties, seventies, and eighties, even though they may have had other records that were hits in regional markets. Here are my five favorites:

“Bang a Gong” T Rex (1971)

T Rex (known as Tyrannosaurus Rex before they shortened it) was a British glam rock band in the 1980s led by the enigmatic Marc Bolan. Although they had minor hits with some great songs (“Ride a White Swan,” “Telegram Sam”), “Bang a Gong” was by far their biggest hit.

“Time Won’t Let Me” The Outsiders (1966)

The Outsiders were from Cleveland, and this, their debut single, hit #1 locally before reaching the #5 spot nationally. It’s a great record, but they were never able to duplicate its magic, even though they had several more minor hits.

“Play That Funky Music” Wild Cherry (1976)

Sure, this record is gimmicky, but it’s also infectious as hell, reaching the Number One spot in the middle of the disco era. Wild Cherry was from Ohio, and probably returned there shortly after they weren’t able to come up with more hits.

“Spirit in the Sky” Norman Greenbaum (1970)

Greenbaum was an idiosyncratic songwriter and performer, first charting with the novelty hit “The Eggplant That Ate Chicago” in 1966, as a member of Dr. West’s Medicine Show & Junk Band. “Spirit in the Sky” hit the Top Five, but he never struck gold again, even with great songs like “California Earthquake” (later recorded by Mama Cass Elliott).

“The Middle” Jimmy Eat World (2001)

This band had already been dropped by Capitol Records before they were picked up by DreamWorks and tried a simpler approach to their music. They struck gold with “The Middle,” and though they never again released anything else that reached its heights, continued to record (ten albums total, so far), and are still at it.

“My Sharona” The Knack (1979)

Call it proto-punk or alt-pop, this record was a huge hit for the L.A. group. It was Number One in the U.S. for six consecutive weeks, and ended up being the biggest hit of the year. Their follow up, “Good Girls Don’t,” was also a sizeable hit, but nowhere near the hit that “My Sharona” was, so the group can still sort of be considered a one-hit wonder.

Other one-hit wonders.

“My Sharona” The Knack

“Spirit in the Sky” Norman Greenbaum

“Bang a Gong” T Rex

“The Middle” Jimmy Eat World

“I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” Proclaimers

“Time Won’t Let Me” Outsiders

“96 Tears” ? & Mysterians

“Saturday Night” Bay City Rollers

“Let Your Love Flow” Bellamy Brothers

“Rock Your Baby” Andy Kim

“Brother Louie” Stories