Norman Greenbaum
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Norman Greenbaum is a singer-songwriter who was born on 20 November 1942 in Malden, Massachusetts. He studied music at Boston University. Greenbaum is best known for his "Spirit In The Sky", which sold two million copies in 1969 and 1970. The song, with its combination of 'heavy' guitar, hand-clapping, and spiritual lyrics was a memorable one-hit wonder.
The song has been used in many advertisements and television shows, as well as films including Remember The Titans, Contact, Apollo 13, Ocean's Eleven, Wayne's World 2, Miami Blues, and the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard. A cover version by the British band Doctor and the Medics reached number one in many countries, in 1986, and also made them another one-hit wonder. In 2000, the song was again covered by the Christian Rock group dc Talk for the CBS mini-series Jesus: The Epic Miniseries. It was covered again in 2003 by UK pop star Gareth Gates, who appeared with the Kumars in the official single for the British charity Comic Relief. The song gave Gareth his 4th number one, so ending the run of one hit wonders with the song. Goldfrapp sampled the song in their 2005 single "Ooh La La".
Of the song, Greenbaum once said, in an interview: 'It sounds as fresh today as when it was recorded'. Greenbaum lives in Petaluma, California, where he operates a Delicatessen called "Norms". He no longer performs in public, but continues to promote concerts and lives off the royalties from his songs.
Greenbaum is notable for the rare achievement of having recorded two one-hit wonders. In 1968, under the name Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band, he recorded the novelty hit "The Eggplant That Ate Chicago".
