Story behind the Greatest Classic Rock One Hit Wonder of The 1970s | Professor of Rock

Story of 1970 Hit: Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum:
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Norman Greenbaum and the off the wall story of creating Spirit in the Sky the greatest one hit wonder of the 70s! He once wrote a song about warning the people of Chicago about a “monster eggplant" that was going to eat their city, He also became a goat farmer. The fascinating story of rock n’ roll non-fiction. NEXT on Professor of Rock.
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Hey music junkies and vinyl junkies Professor of Rock always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest 70s vinyl songs of all time for the music community and vinyl community.
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It’s time for another for another edition of our series Bottled Lightening where we break down the history of a beloved one hit wonder that still resonates in our culture E.B. White, the acclaimed writer of such literary standards as Charlotte’s Web & The Trumpet of the Swan, once encouraged readers to- “always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.” I love the spirit of that quote, because... as an insatiable music fanatic, I am constantly amazed by the wonderment of how a song can put a ’Svengali hold’ on your body & soul. That emotional effect is most fascinating in the phenomenon of the so-called ‘one hit wonder.’ Or bottled lightening as we call it.

The general definition of a “one hit wonder” is a musical artist who is successful in the public arena with one hit song, without producing a comparable subsequent hit. No phrase riles up an artist more than being called a “one hit wonder,” mainly because it implies that the rest of their work is meaningless, just because the music didn’t yield commercial success.

For me, the concept of a “one hit wonder,” is a very intriguing mystery, that will never be solved. How can you explain the reasons why an artist can create a song that becomes a monster smash, and then never be able to do it again. Even when the artist follows the same formula, has the same talent, and applies the same musical process. It is not logical… It’s certainly not scientific, or predictable… but there are countess examples of those kind of 'flairs of fame' throughout recorded music history.

One of the most interesting stories of this phenomenon” is the tale of Norman Greenbaum, who created the everlasting classic “Spirit in the Sky.” Norman Greenbaum is a lovable paradox:
He was raised in a nearly Orthodox Jewish family, and wrote a song about Jesus. He was a folk singer, who abandoned an acoustic guitar, and turned to a psychedelic fuzz box to make 'lighting in a bottle.'

Instead of riding the wave of fame by living a rock and roll lifestyle, Norman became a goat farmer while his single dominated the music charts around the world. Greenbaum loved southern blues and folk music that was popular in the 50s and 60s. As a boy, he enjoyed listening to nighttime AM broadcasts of the Grand Ol’ Opry, which included country flavored gospel tunes. When he graduated from high school, Norman performed in coffeehouses around the Boston area, before dropping out of Boston University, and moving to LA in ’65.