Song of the Day 1/17: Arthur Conley, “Funky Street”

One-hit wonders get more attention, but there are lots of two-hit wonders out there, too. Arthur Conley, for example.

Conley was singing for minor labels from the late ’50s to the mid-’60s when Otis Redding heard him and signed him to his fledgling label. Together they reworked a Sam Cooke tune into “Sweet Soul Music,” a No. 2 hit in 1967. After Redding died later that year Conley’s career started a downward slide, but he hit the Top 20 one more time with “Funky Street.” It reached No. 14 the next year.

In the mid-’70s Conley dropped out of the business and later surfaced in Europe, with his name changed to Lee Roberts. I recounted the story when “Sweet Soul Music” was featured as Song of the Day back in 2023.

Strictly speaking, Conley had three hits, if you consider a hit any song reaching the Top 40. As the follow-up to “Sweet Soul Music,” his cover of “Shake, Rattle and Roll” peaked at No. 31.