One-Hit Wonders: The Easybeats

Many songs that charted but only one U.S. hit for the band down under: The Easybeats, according to milesago.com.

Johannes "Harry Vanda" Vandenburg traveled from England to Australia in 1964 with his family. As a lead guitarist, he was in a group in Holland. Vandenburg met Dingeman "Dick Diamonde" Vandersluys and they would play the musical scene.

The two met teen singer Stevie Wright, also from England, living in Australia and in a couple of bands. He joined Harry and Dick playing at different jam sessions and would eventually be the lead singer. They met George Young, a guitarist and singer. On a train, they met drummer Gordon "Snowy" Fleet.

Fleet came up with the band name: The Easybeats. Their manager was also a real estate agent, Mike Vaughn. He was able to sign them with a new record deal where The Easybeats recorded a number of songs that George Young as producer and guitarist, vocals and keyboards. Many of those songs did chart in Australia.

The Easybeats' popularity rose and they were recording and touring into 1966 and also did a TV special.

While in England, Vanda and Young wrote "Friday On My Mind" and it was released in October 1966. It did not do well there. It did follow "Sorry" on the Australian charts and jumped from No. 7 to No. 1 in 1967. The Easybeats' "Friday On My Mind" did eventually reach the charts across the world, reaching the Top 20s in the U.S.

Snowy Fleet left the band to be with his family. Drummer Tony Cahill replaced him after a number of others auditioned.

In 1968, The Easybeats continued to record and tour. They were starting to drift apart and did disband in 1969.

The Easybeats were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005.

Dick Diamonde retired from music completely. Tony Cahill joined another band and lives in the U.S. Stevie Wright joined a band, also went on stage; which revised his solo career. Wright, 68, died in 2005. Vanda and Young returned to England under different names and continued to record and produce music. They did help Wright with his solo career.