"One Way Ticket" is a 1967 song co-written by American composer Stephen J. Lawrence, which became

Helen Reddy Helen Maxine Reddy (25 October 194129 September 2020) was an Australian-American singer, actress, television host, and activist. Born in Melbourne to a showbusiness family, Reddy started her career as an entertainer at age four. She sang on rad ...

's first single. The lyrics were written by Bruce Hart. It was introduced by

Gloria Loring Gloria Loring-Lagler (born Gloria Jean Goff; December 10, 1946) is an American singer and actress. She is known for playing Liz Chandler on ''Days of Our Lives'' for six years (1980–86). She and singer-actor Carl Anderson performed the duet " ...

on her 1968

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

album, ''Today'', produced by Bob Morgan. Loring's original rendition was not, however, released as a single.

Helen Reddy cover

covered "One Way Ticket" in 1968. It was a non-album single, and was excluded from any later compilations of her work as a result of her label change to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. Reddy would later state - whether or not in absolute earnest - that this, her first single,History of "One Way Ticket"
at poparchives.com.au. Retrieved 2020-11-09 sold (presumably in the US) six copies - five or even all six of them purchased by her mother-in-law. Reddy's rendition would in fact receive enough support in her native Australia to reach #83 on the national pop singles ranking, with the local hit parade for Melbourne - her birthplace - ranking the single as high as #43. In 1973,

Pickwick Records Pickwick Records was an American record label and British record distributor known for its budget album releases of sound-alike recordings, bargain bin reissues and repackagings under the brands Design, Bravo (later changing its name to Internati ...

included her version on a variety LP entitled, "Helen Reddy/Shirley Bassey/Dusty Springfield." In 1974 K-tel Records included "One Way Ticket" by Reddy in one of their TV albums, ''Dynamic Sound''. In 2005, Raven Records Australia included the song as a bonus track on the two-fer reissue of Helen's '' No Way to Treat a Lady''/''Music Music'' albums, using a tape furnished by Reddy, since none of sufficient quality could be found in the Universal vaults, which now owned Philips Records.

Chris Rayburn cover

Chris Rayburn, an American singer who worked in Britain during the 1960s, recorded "One Way Ticket" for a 1968 single released in the UK and in the US. It was produced in London by Mike Hurst and arranged by Harry Robinson. Rayburn's single was released a few months after Helen Reddy's.

Cass Elliot cover

Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group brok ...

covered "One Way Ticket" in 1970. Her version was included on her album, ''

Mama's Big Ones ''Mama's Big Ones'' is a compilation album of previously released material as noted below, by Cass Elliot. Overview Cass Elliot's solo tenure with Dunhill Records, inaugurated in the spring of 1968, had proven contentious, the label insisting ...

''. It was released as a single in the UK in 1971 but failed to chart. Elliot also performed "One Way Ticket" "live" on ''

The Andy Williams Show ''The Andy Williams Show'' was an American television variety show that ran from 1962 to 1971 (alternating during the summer of 1970 with ''Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens'')Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time N ...

'' and ''The

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty ...

Show'', circa 1970.

Later uses

* Elliot's version of "One Way Ticket" was featured in the 1996 British film '' Beautiful Thing'', along with several other songs by Elliot and the Mamas and the Papas. *Helen Reddy's version of "One Way Ticket" was sampled in 1999 in the

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

and

Freddy Fresh Frederick Schmid, better known by his stage name Freddy Fresh, is an American DJ, musician, and electronic music producer. Fresh has recorded for over 100 independent record labels, including major labels Sony UK, Virgin, BMG UK, and Harthous ...

song "Badder Badder Schwing".

References

External links

* {{Cass Elliot 1968 debut singles 1971 singles Helen Reddy songs Cass Elliot songs Songs written by Bruce Hart (songwriter) Songs with music by Stephen J. Lawrence 1967 songs Philips Records singles Songs about trains