One Way Ticket (Neil Sedaka song)

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"One Way Ticket"
One Way Ticket (to the Blues) - Neil Sedaka.jpg
Single by Neil Sedaka
from the album Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits
LanguageEnglish
A-side"Oh! Carol"
Released1959
GenrePop
Length2:13
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)Jack Keller, Hank Hunter

"One Way Ticket" is a song written by Jack Keller and Hank Hunter. The track was originally performed by Neil Sedaka and included as the B-side on Sedaka's 1959 single "Oh! Carol". In 1961, the song featured in the track listing of his third studio album, Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits, but was never released as a standalone single. Despite this, the song made it to #1 on the Japanese pop charts, where it was affectionately called "The Choo-Choo Train Song".

The lyrics allude to several popular songs of the late 1950s, including "Lonesome Town", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Bye Bye Love", "A Fool Such as I", and "I Cried a Tear".

"One Way Ticket" has been covered by other artists, most notably by British disco band Eruption in 1978 and Soviet band Poyushchiye Gitary (Поющие гитары, "The Singing Guitars") in 1969 by the name "Siniey Inei" (Синий иней, "Blue Frost").

Eruption version[]

"One Way Ticket"
One Way Ticket by Eruption UK vinyl.jpeg
Artwork for UK vinyl single
Single by Eruption
from the album Leave a Light
B-side"Left Me in the Rain"
ReleasedJanuary 1979
Recorded1978
GenreDisco
Length3:35
LabelHansa, Ariola, RCA
Songwriter(s)Jack Keller, Hank Hunter
Producer(s)Frank Farian, Rainer M. Ehrhardt
Eruption singles chronology
"Leave a Light"
(1978) 		"One Way Ticket"
(1979) 		"Go Johnnie Go"
(1980)

"One Way Ticket" was covered by British disco band Eruption for their second album, Leave a Light. The song became a big hit in Europe in the first half of 1979, topping charts in Austria and Switzerland, and reaching top 10 across Europe. "One Way Ticket" is now one of the band's trademark hits, along with their cover of "I Can't Stand the Rain".

Track listing[]

  • 7" Single (1979)
A. "One Way Ticket" – 3:35
B. "Left Me in the Rain" – 3:54
  • 12" Single (1979)
A. "One Way Ticket" (Long Version) – 5:05
B. "Left Me in the Rain" – 3:54
  • CD Single (1994)
  1. "One Way Ticket" (Radio Version) – 3:58
  2. "One Way Ticket" (Club Mix) – 5:58
  3. "One Way Ticket" (Never Return Mix) – 5:44
  4. "If I Loved You Less" – 4:08

Chart performance[]

Chart (1979) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[1] 10
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[2] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[3] 2
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[4] 5
French Singles Chart[5] 4
Irish Singles Chart[6] 13
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[7] 32
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[8] 8
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[9] 1
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[10] 9
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[11] 30
West Germany (Official German Charts)[12] 7

Other cover versions[]

  • The song was covered by Barry Blue on his 1974 debut album Barry Blue.
  • Hong Kong singer Got Kim-ching (葛劍青) recorded a Cantonese version "麻雀經" (lit. "On Mahjong") in 1975.
  • Soviet disco group "Zdravstvuj, Pesnya!" ("Здравствуй, песня!", "Hello, the song!") covered "Sinyaya Pessnya" in 1979, the Russian version previously sung by The Singing Guitars.
  • Finnish singer Vicky Rosti recorded a Finnish version "Menolippu" in 1979.
  • Czech singer Naďa Urbánková recorded a czech version "Prázdný expres" in 1980.
  • The song was copied by music director Bappi Lahiri for the Bollywood film, Pyaara Dushman (1980). The song, Hari Om Hari (singer: Usha Uthup), was a roaring hit.
  • The song was covered by Korean singer 'Bangmi' in 1980. The title of the song was '나를 보러 와요(Come see me).'
  • The song was covered by Durango, Colorado band Amazing Larry on their album Red Scare, 2005.
  • Polish singer Mandaryna recorded a dance cover of the song for her third studio album, which was shelved in 2008 and remains unreleased. Nonetheless, the singer performed her version at live shows.

References[]

  1. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  2. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Eruption – One Way Ticket" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  3. ^ "Ultratop.be – Eruption – One Way Ticket" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  4. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Eruption – One Way Ticket" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  5. ^ "Discografie Eruption" (in French). www.infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  6. ^ "The Irish Charts – All there is to know". www.irishcharts.ie. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  7. ^ "Charts.nz – Eruption – One Way Ticket". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  8. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Eruption – One Way Ticket". Singles Top 100.
  9. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Eruption – One Way Ticket". Swiss Singles Chart.
  10. ^ "ERUPTION Artist Official Charts". Official Charts Company. www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  11. ^ "Eruption Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  12. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Eruption – One Way Ticket". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 28, 2019.

External links[]

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