They made some of the most popular rock songs of all time but they were also the most obscure bands of all times. They are the one-hit wonders, those hundreds of performers who hit it big with one song but then faded into the swirling vortex of rock 'n' roll trivia.

Don't believe us? Name two songs by Arthur Brown. Sure, you know Fire. Everybody knows Fire ("da da dah, I think you should burn, da da dah") but what came next? Not much by all accounts, although Brown still tours around Europe and still lights his hair on -- you guessed it -- fire (da da dah).

And what about Iron Butterfly? They practically invented heavy metal music and In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida ("honey, you know that I love you") is one of the best-known rock songs of all time. But the same can't be said for any other offering from the band.

Both bands and hundreds and hundreds of other musical flash-in-the-pans can be found on the website www.onehitwondercentral.com.

It features a decade by decade account from the '50s (Jerry Keller and Here Comes Summer) to the '90s (Proclaimers with I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)).

Toronto classic rock station Q107 recently dedicated an entire weekend to the one-hit wonders that ranged, literally, from A-Z in the rock world.

That was A as in Amboy Dukes and Journey to the Centre of Your Mind to Warren Zevon and Werewolves of London.

Fans may beg to differ. Warren Zevon has a discography that puts most everyone else in the music world to shame.

But when it came to a hit record, Werewolves really was it. Aaahoo!

Q's decision to place someone like Zevon on its list was backed up by Wayne Jancik, who wrote the book on one-hit wonders.

No, really, he did, in 1998. It was called The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders (we don't lie here). It defined one-hit wonders as "an act that has won a position on Billboard's national, pop, Top 40 just once."

That makes for a very long list indeed because it could include some of the biggest names in rock history, from Jimi Hendrix to the Grateful Dead.

We agree it's not quite fair to lump such luminaries on any list with, say, Brownsville Station (Smokin' in the Boys Room) or Brewer & Shipley (One Toke Over the Line), but the Amboy Dukes would seem to fit nicely.

We can't think of anything they did beyond exhorting us to "Come along if you care, come along if you dare, take a ride to the land inside of your mind" in their 1968 song. Granted, they did eventually spawn Ted Nugent but that may be viewed as a mixed blessing.

The Dukes are exactly what makes one-hit wonders so important to music. Journey was a great song and still sounds great today even though its creators have long gone the way of vinyl records.

There were a few other surprises on the Q107 list.

Buffalo Springfield made it as a one-hit wonder on the strength of For What It's Worth.

Anyone over a certain age with a half-decent collection of old vinyl LPs can tell you Springfield also gave us Mr.Soul, Broken Arrow, Sit Down I Think I Love You, Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It? and Bluebird, to name but a few of their great songs.

But, like the late and lamented Mr. Zevon, when it came to a radio hit, For What Its Worth, was, well, for what it was worth.

But there was little to argue with most of Q107's picks that included (and we can hear you singing along already):

dfoley@thespec.com

905-526-3264

Remember Eve of Destruction? Louie, Louie?

* 96 Tears - ? &The Mysterians

* Bend Me Shape Me - The American Breed

* Hold Your Head Up - Argent

* Ride Captain Ride - Blues Image

* I Don't Like Mondays - The Boomtown Rats

* Time - The Chambers Brothers

* Psychotic Reaction - Count Five

* All Right Now - Free

* Reach Out in the Darkness - Friend and Lover

* Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum

* Vehicle - Ides of March

* The Rapper - The Jaggerz

* This Beat Goes On / Switching to Glide - The Kings

* Green Tambourine - The Lemon Pipers

* As The Years Go By - Mashmakan

* Mississippi Queen - Mountain

* In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry

* Eve of Destruction - Barry McGuire

* Cum On Feel The Noise - Quiet Riot

* Black Betty - Ram jam

* Venus - The Shocking Blue

* Driver's Seat - Sniff N' The Tears

* Pictures of Matchstick Men - Status Quo

* Stuck in the Middle - Stealers Wheel

* Brother Louie - Stories

* Incense and Peppermint - Strawberry Alarm Clock

* Hippy Hippy Shake - Swinging Blue Jeans

* Bang a Gong (Get It On) - T. Rex

* The Boys are Back in Town - Thin Lizzy

* Something in the Air - Thunderclap Newman

* Wild Thing - The Troggs

* We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister

* You Keep Me Hanging On - Vanilla Fudge

* Get Together - The Youngbloods

* In The Year 2525 - Zager and Evans

And here's some Q107 didn't have:

* Louie, Louie - The Kingsmen

* How Long (Has This Been Going On) - Ace

* It's Good News Week - Hedgehoppers Anonymous

* Tobacco Road - The Nashville Teens

* Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl? - The Barbarians

* Mickey - Toni Basil

* My Sharona - The Knack

* MacArthur Park - Richard Harris

* Indiana Wants Me - R. Dean Taylor

* Ma Belle Amie - The Tee Set

* The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace

* Beach Baby - First Class

* Black is Black - Los Indio Tablajara

* Afternoon Delight- Starland Vocal Band

* Hot Child in the City - Nick Gilder

* Cars - Gary Numan

* I Want Candy - Bow Wow Wow