In the definition of “One Hit Wonder” in the dictionary there is a picture of Bob Lind. He had one huge hit, “Elusive Butterfly”, in 1966. It got to No. 1 in Australia and a few other places, and was top 10 in the US and the UK. Never again, with any song or album, did he trouble the pop charts anywhere on the planet.
The explanation has as much to do with Lind himself as with the record-buying public. Cutting his teeth as a folk singer in coffee houses in Denver, he never sought to be, or expected to be, a pop singer. He released two albums on the back of that hit, but was reportedly well nigh impossible to work with, was overfond of the usual drugs of the time, and was unable to handle his sudden success. He recorded a final album in 1971 before leaving the music business for over forty years. Album no. 4 arrived in 2012.
“Elusive Butterfly” is the well-known hit, but I think this one is equally as good:
