1974 Rock Song, Blue Swede’s One-Hit Wonder, Is Still a No. 1 Hit 52 Years Later

One of the biggest hit songs to come out of the 1970s was actually a one-hit wonder cover of a track from the decade before.

The song, “Hooked on a Feeling,” was originally released by singer B. J. Thomas in 1968. While it didn’t do too bad this time around, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, it became a No. 1 hit when the band Blue Swede made their version.

Blue Swede covered the song in 1974, releasing it on their album of the same name. Their cover version was much different than the original. It included an “ooga chaka” chant that became one of the most iconic parts of the song, inspired by a 1971 cover of “Hooked on a Feeling” by Jonathan King.

There was also another interesting change from the original to Blue Swede’s version. In order to avoid any interpretations about possible drug references, the Swedish rock band changed a few lines.

The first version of the song included the lines “I got it bad for you girl/ But I don’t need a cure/ I’ll just stay addicted/ And hope I can endure.” For the new version, the verse was changed to “Got a bug from you girl/ But I don’t need no cure/ I just stay a victim/ If I can for sure.”

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The track was a huge hit all around the world. In the U.S., it topped the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1974. In Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, it broke into the Top 10.

While “Hooked on a Feeling” has continued to be a ’70s fan-favorite song over the decades since it came out, it got extra attention some years thanks to its inclusion in hit movie soundtracks.

The Blue Swede song was included in the soundtrack for the 1992 Quentin Tarantino film, Reservoir Dogs. It was also one of the key songs in the Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy, which came out in 2014.

Related: 1981 Rock Song, With 21-Year-Old Singer, Is Still a Powerful Hit 45 Years Later