Members doug osborne Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 When the alarm clock went off yesterday morning they played "... the people out there turn the music into gold", was the song called "Gold"? Had Stevie Nicks on background vox, was it Jon Stewart? Maybe as an artist it was John Stewart's only hit, but as a writer, start with Daydream Believer for the Monkees and Runaway Train for Rosanne Cash, and on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr. Botch Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Pick Up The Pieces - Average White Band Jackie Blue - The Ozark Mountain Dardevils Greeneyed Lady - Sugarloaf True - Spandau Ballet Just to be nitpicky, other hits:AWB: Cut the CakeOMD: Unk ElijahSugarloaf: I have their GH, and I know there's some other tunes from the radio...Spandau: I've always like that song! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr. Botch Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Maybe as an artist it was John Stewart's only hit, but as a writer, start with Daydream Believer for the Monkees and Runaway Train for Rosanne Cash, and on... Didn't he also have some kind of connection with the Kingston Trio, like one of their sons or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Trick Fall Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 "Liar Liar" by The Castaways. I bought this record while it was in the top 10 when I lived in the D.C. burbs in 1965. In December of that same year we moved to Minneapolis (brrr). Being the new kid in high school at the time I was VERY impressed when I saw posters all over the school promoting the homecoming dance featuring "The Castaways". I thought to myself, "This is great, they bring national acts in from California for a high school homecoming dance". Little did I know that "The Castaways" was a Minneapolis based band that was made up of "kids" just a couple of years older than I was at the time. I love the original, but first heard the Deborah Harry version which is great too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff Leites Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Alley-Oop - The Hollywood Argyles He got a chauffeur that's a genuwine dinosawruh (Alley-Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop) And he can knuckle your head before you count to fawruh (Alley-Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Alley-Oop - The Hollywood Argyles He got a chauffeur that's a genuwine dinosawruh (Alley-Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop) And he can knuckle your head before you count to fawruh (Alley-Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop) great, great record, Jeff. Now here's a real test of your 1HW memory: "Dr. Jon (He's My Medicine Man)" by Jon & Robin and The In Crowd (1968) All I can surmise is this record was an attempt to sound like Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood? . Basically a very funny parody of a stoned "Dylan" type song... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Am I too late for the party? I have a thing for one hit wonders. I think these qualify. Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant Toy Soldiers - Martika Promises, Promises - Naked Eyes Love My Way - The Psychedelic Furs Tainted Love - Soft Cell True - Spandau Ballet Don't Disturb This Groove - The System Eddy Grant also had a hit with the theme song from the movie "Romancing The Stone." Martika also had a few singles, including, "More Than You Know," her first signle (Toy Soldiers was the only one to go #1 though). And I believe Naked Eyes had a MUCH bigger hit with their cover of "Always Something There to Remind Me"! Psychedelic Furs also had a bunch of other hits too, including "Heaven," "The Ghost In You" and the theme song to the '80s Molly Ringwald flick, "Pretty in Pink." "Tainted Love" was Soft Cell's biggest hit by far, but '80s diehards remember them for "Sex Dwarf." Spandau Ballet also had other hits like "Gold" and "Only When You Leave." And The System's "You Are In My System" put them on the map before the bigger hit "Don't Disturb This Groove." They also had a minor hit with the theme song to the Eddie Murphy film, "Coming to America." Sorry, don't take it personally, I love refuting One Hit Wonder theories ...My favorite is Wang Chung, whom EVERYONE assumes "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" was their sole hit song, when in fact "Dance Hall Days" was their real big hit a few years earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 You're right, Elsongs. A lot of "one-hit wonders" had one major hit, and at least one, or possibly several, minor "hits" that got some limited airplay, but perhaps didn't make the top 20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Sayers Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 I could give you a list of the one hit wonders I recorded but you wouldn't remember them....... they were hits in my country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rudolf von Hagenwil Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Mama mia, what a question! I own the 3 volume rock and pop lexicon, circa 2572 pages which lists all top ten hits in the USA, UK and Germany since 1940:"Hit-Lexikon des Rock und Pop"http://www.ullsteinbuchverlage.de/ullsteintb/buch.php?id=10346&page=suche&auswahl=a&pagenum=1&page=buchaz&PHPSESSID=0cbfb157c25f253f6fae31a4be3aa410 There other lexicon which list Australia , Africa, Asia etc. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Luigi Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 I can't believe no one has said " play that funky music" by wild cherry. So, I'm saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Didn't "The Israelites" by Desmond Dekker chart in the USA, and give us an early taste of reggae (circa 1970)? Not our first, though: many people think of (1964) as the first USA hit to have a ska/rocksteady beat... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Ha, so many on this list I disagree with...e.g., James Gang? Walk Away wasa bigger hit than Funk 49, wasn't it? But anyway here are my ywo contributions--sure signs of one hit wonders is that there are multipe versions: studio, acoustic, live, anniversary edition. Dishwalla--I don't even know the actual title of the "Tell me all your thoughts on God..." song, and I'm glad about that. Something like Pink Plastic Pliers or Tiny Bronze Regrets... and Of course Deep Blue Something... Verve Pipe: Freshman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hard Truth Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 I think the definition needs to be narrowed. I would disqualify artists with good album sales, artists well established within their non-mainstream genres, artists who used multiple names for their creations and artists successful in other countries. To me, a true one hit wonder is an artist that had one and only one hit song and absolutely no other success. These artists either disappear or are spotted in oldies revues only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard King Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Going back a bit further: "Bobby's Girl" by Marcie Blane.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3huz_ET4iuc This song was arranged by a fellow (Billy Mure http://www.nygirleatsworld.com/ny_girl_eats_world/2007/02/i_am_predispose.html ) who I had the pleasure of meeting a couple of months ago. He is now 91!! years old and still gigging whith HIS band every Sunday evening at "Squid Lips", a club in Sebastian Florida (about 15 miles up the road from me). He is about to sign on to do more gigs on other nights at other clubs. He is doing it because for the love of the music and the fun. He is still a very good guitar/banjo player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Gee, just how hot was Gayle McCormick, the little filly who sang lead on this great 1HW from 1969: Baby, It's You by Smith The world of R&B produced so many 1HW's... Rock history is filled, sadly, with stories of many black 1HW's who got screwed out of their subsequent royalties. I got to know Eddie Holman, III, the son of this fellow who had the 1HW hit in 1970: Hey There, Lonely Girl by Eddie Holman, Jr. The younger Holman is a drummer who grew up in Philly. He was tagging along with his dad in the recording studios in the 70's... He was literally present, as a little boy, in the studios when all those incredible Gamble-Huff smash records were being recorded... Can you IMAGINE???? I was jealous! I don't think Soul recordmaking-- in dense, rich stereo-- gets much better than all those Philly Soul sides... He told me that on his Dad's record, listed above, that the backup vocals near the end were done by none other than Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lsits Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Dishwalla--I don't even know the actual title of the "Tell me all your thoughts on God..." song, and I'm glad about that. Something like Pink Plastic Pliers or Tiny Bronze Regrets... Title is "Counting Blue Cars". Also: "Black Betty" by Ram Jam "Take On Me" by Ah Ha "Talk Talk" by Talk Talk "Billy Don't Be A Hero" by Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods "The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace "King Tut" by Steve Martin "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys "One Tin Soldier" by Coven "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 "Marianne" - by Terry Gilkyson & The Easy Riders, 1957 This isn't absolutely the first song I fell in love with as a kid -- but it's the first one where I really got personal with it. As far as I was concerned it was "our song" -- shared with my kindergarten GF (named Mary Anne, what else?). That relationship didn't make it past the first few days of first grade (we'd both grown apart... we just didn't enjoy the same things anymore... she liked spelling... I liked dodge ball... I knew it was over before the first weekend of the new school year)... Worse yet... I lost track of the song almost completely. I don't think I heard it a single time between 1958 or '59 and 2005 or 2006 when I remembered those more innocent times, my love for that song, and for my golden locked first love -- and decided to try to find the song. I didn't know who it was by or anything about it, except that the refrain was something like Mary Anne by the Sea Shore... I didn't even realize it was supposed to be a calypso song (and Harry Belafonte was a god in my household, so I was pretty hooked into the calypso thang). [Come to think of it, the very first girl I kissed and called my girlfriend -- before kindergarten -- was also named Mary Anne... I don't think I've thought about how ironic that is since back then. Well, there were a lot of Mary's in those days. But no wonder it was such a deeply resonant song for me, then. Heck, I really bonded with Leonard Cohen's "C'mon, Marianne," too. ] Anyhow -- I was drop-jawed to realize that my favorite song from 1956-57 was by Terry Gilkyson -- father of Tony Gilkyson, who played guitar with X for a few years (and I saw a few times), as well as of singer-songwriter Eliza Gilkyson and Nancy Gilkyson who was a VP of Warner Bros for 20 years. It is a small world... after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 You're right, Elsongs. A lot of "one-hit wonders" had one major hit, and at least one, or possibly several, minor "hits" that got some limited airplay, but perhaps didn't make the top 20. But there definitely were true One Hit wonders in the absolute sense, never having any other hit aside from that one song that everyone knows... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Title is "Counting Blue Cars"."Take On Me" by Ah Ha "The Sun Always Shines on TV" and the Bond theme "The Living Daylights." "Talk Talk" by Talk Talk You don't remember "It's My Life"? No Doubt did, they even made a cover version that became a hit in itself! "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys Of any of the artists you mentioned, PSB is anything BUT a one-hit wonder: "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)," "What Have I Done To Deserve This," "It's A Sin," "Suburbia," "Domino Dancing," "Always On My Mind," the list goes on and on. "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood Frankie is technically a Two-Hit Wonder. Remember the video to "Two Tribes" with Ronald Regan wrestling Soviet Premier Konstantin Chernenko? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 ..."Talk Talk" by Talk Talk... I think OHW's who name their bands after the song destined to be their One Hit belong in a special category. A very special category. It seems, to me, the very pinnacle of One Hit Wonderdom... Such bands clearly have a sense of their own destiny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard King Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 "Talk Talk" by The Music Machine. This was on Original Sound records, a label known mostly for their sound effects records at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spokenward Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 I think OHW's who name their bands after the song destined to be their One Hit belong in a special category. A very special category. It seems, to me, the very pinnacle of One Hit Wonderdom...Such bands clearly have a sense of their own destiny. tautological We can put it to a vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Frantag Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 Just remembered "Voices Carry", by 'til Tuesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted September 30, 2007 Members Share Posted September 30, 2007 80s: "Shaddup-a You Face" - Joe Dolce (1980) "Double Dutch Bus" - Frankie Smith (1980) "Take Off" - Bob & Doug MacKenzie (feat. Geddy Lee) (1981) "She's A Bad Mamma Jamma" - Carl Carlton "I Want Candy" - Bow Wow Wow (1983) "IOU" - Freez (1983) "Sex Shooter" - Apollonia 6 (1984) "Da Butt" - E.U. - (Marcus Miller produced this!) (1985) "Misfit" - Curiosity Killed The Cat (1986) "Cars With the Boom" - L'Trimm (1987) "Waiting For A Star to Fall" - Boy Meets Girl (1988) "Heaven Help Me" - Deon Estus (Feat. George Michael) (1989) 90s: "Unbelievable" - EMF (1991) "Deeper Shade of Soul" - Urban Dance Squad (1991) "Rico Suave" - Gerardo (1990) "Informer" - Snow (1990) "Do Anything" - Natural Selection (1991) "Right Here" - BBMak (1999) "I'll Be" - Edwin McCain (1999) "Blue" - Eiffel 65 (1999) 00s: "D-D-Don't Stop The Beat" - Junior Senior (2003) "Heaven" - DJ Sammy (2003) Okay I'm tired...There's tons more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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