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One Hit Wonder


Navy Vet.

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I had a conversation this weekend with a friend and we discussed one hit wonder artist. John Fred Gourrier or better known as  John Fred  had a big hit -Judy in Disguise. He said later in life that the song set him up for life.

My favorite one hit wonder of all time is Norman Greenbaum's  Spirit in the Sky.  I dig the fuzz guitar. My pick for best one hit wonder of all time.

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Way to many for me to pick  favorite, a few come to mind (more will come when I hit submit)

“Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” - Steam

"Mother-in-law" - Ernie K-Doe

 “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” - MFSB

"Stay" - Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs

"Relax" - Frankie Goes to Hollywood

"Turn The Beat Around" - Vicki Sue Robinson

"Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" - Huey 'Piano' Smith and the Clowns

"Don't Leave Me This Way" - Thelma Houston

"Maniac" - Michael Sembello

"Me and Mrs. Jones" -  Billy Paul

"Hurt" - Timi Yuro

"Play That Funky Music" - Wild Cherry

"Yeh Yea" - Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames

"Love Letters" - Ketty Lester

That's a good start...

 

Insights and incites by Notes

 

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10 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said:

Way to many for me to pick  favorite, a few come to mind (more will come when I hit submit)

“Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” - Steam

"Mother-in-law" - Ernie K-Doe

 “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” - MFSB

"Stay" - Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs

"Relax" - Frankie Goes to Hollywood

"Turn The Beat Around" - Vicki Sue Robinson

"Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" - Huey 'Piano' Smith and the Clowns

"Don't Leave Me This Way" - Thelma Houston

"Maniac" - Michael Sembello

"Me and Mrs. Jones" -  Billy Paul

"Hurt" - Timi Yuro

"Play That Funky Music" - Wild Cherry

"Yeh Yea" - Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames

"Love Letters" - Ketty Lester

That's a good start...

 

Insights and incites by Notes

 

Me and Mrs. Jones is a hell of a  song.

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In the Year 2525

The weirdest thing to ever be a hit, in the news lately because it was No 1 at the time of the moon landings. The Wall Street Journal (of all the unlikely papers to cover something like this), even ran a piece last month on how strange it was.

Apparently its writer, Rick Evans, who died in 2018, retreated to obscurity in New Mexico to live in isolation and look at the sky, which actually seems rather nice and fitting for the man who wrote 2525. His sidekick, Zager, makes guitars, the virtues of which are (ahem) a somewhat contested topic on acoustic guitar forums.

Edited by Lord Summerisle
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43 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said:

Way to many for me to pick  favorite, a few come to mind (more will come when I hit submit)

“Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” - Steam

"Mother-in-law" - Ernie K-Doe

 “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” - MFSB

"Stay" - Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs

"Relax" - Frankie Goes to Hollywood

"Turn The Beat Around" - Vicki Sue Robinson

"Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" - Huey 'Piano' Smith and the Clowns

"Don't Leave Me This Way" - Thelma Houston

"Maniac" - Michael Sembello

"Me and Mrs. Jones" -  Billy Paul

"Hurt" - Timi Yuro

"Play That Funky Music" - Wild Cherry 

"Yeh Yea" - Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames

"Love Letters" - Ketty Lester

That's a good start...

 

Insights and incites by Notes

 

Wild Cherry had several songs in the top 100 during the seventies. I would not consider them a one hit wonder at all.

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9 minutes ago, Lord Summerisle said:

In the Year 2525

The weirdest thing to ever be a hit, in the news lately because it was No 1 at the time of the moon landings. The Wall Street Journal (of all the unlikely papers to cover something like this), even ran a piece last month on how weird it was.

Apparently its writer, Rick Evans, who died in 2018, retreated to obscurity in New Mexico to live in isolation and look at the sky, which actually seems rather nice and fitting for the man who wrote 2525. His sidekick, Zager, makes guitars, the virtues of which are (ahem) a somewhat contested topic on acoustic guitar forums.

I bought that 45 at K-Mart. Wore the record out in a year.  I still dig the song.

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Band named after a 1960s UK TV prog.

Song title from a Monty Python sketch ("Phone-In",  from Monty Python's Matching Tie and Hankerchief LP).

Not a lot of people know that.

=D>

 

And I must insist that Georgie Fame is not a one-hit wonder but a very fine musician and bandleader who also had hits in the UK with "Getaway" and "Bonnie and Clyde" among others.

 

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19 minutes ago, jdgm said:

 

Band named after a 1960s UK TV prog.

Song title from a Monty Python sketch ("Phone-In",  from Monty Python's Matching Tie and Hankerchief LP).

Not a lot of people know that.

=D>

 

And I must insist that Georgie Fame is not a one-hit wonder but a very fine musician and bandleader who also had hits in the UK with "Getaway" and "Bonnie and Clyde" among others.

 

I  don't think Vic is there, but I dig the song. Thanks.

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2 hours ago, merciful-evans said:

Friday On My Mind - The Easybeats        possibly my favourite ever pop song. Its been covered a number of times but never equaled.

 

 

Yes - I loved that, had the single, can still 'sing' (I use the term loosely) the  1st verse and chorus.

Written by Vanda and Young.....the latter was the elder brother of Malcom and Angus.

 

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5 hours ago, jdgm said:

... Vanda and Young.....the latter was the elder brother of Malcom and Angus.

Yes, George Young was the elder brother to Angus and Malcom Young of AC/DC.  Further, Vanda and Young produced all the AC/DC albums prior to Highway to Hell.  

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11 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

Way to many for me to pick  favorite, a few come to mind (more will come when I hit submit)....

 

Wh-where is The Monster Mash in that list?  I toured with Bobby... well, one tour.  We also played Me and My Mummy.  That's why he was a true one-hit-wonder. :^)

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22 hours ago, Navy Vet. said:

Me and Mrs. Jones is a hell of a  song.

 

In 1982 or so Billy Paul's comeback record was recorded in Mantua NJ.  We have dinner sometimes right across the street from that building.  I played on all of the demos, they kept four of them as they were and put them on the record.  He was a very nice man, living in near squalor over in Blackwood.  He sat in an easy chair with a giant can of Iron City and crooned out Me and Mrs.  It was awesome.

The record was so good they actually succeeded at giving a few away,  he left the country for a few years.  lolz

rct

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22 hours ago, brad1 said:

Wild Cherry had several songs in the top 100 during the seventies. I would not consider them a one hit wonder at all.

Thanks. I didn't know that. Only one got radio play around here, "Play that funky......."

How about "Vehicle" - Ides of March.? It's the only one of theirs that hit the radio around her.

"Lies" - The Knickerbockers - such a good Beatles homage that many people thought they were The Beatles (actually they were much tighter)

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50 minutes ago, rct said:

 

In 1982 or so Billy Paul's comeback record was recorded in Mantua NJ.  We have dinner sometimes right across the street from that building.  I played on all of the demos, they kept four of them as they were and put them on the record.  He was a very nice man, living in near squalor over in Blackwood.  He sat in an easy chair with a giant can of Iron City and crooned out Me and Mrs.  It was awesome.

The record was so good they actually succeeded at giving a few away,  he left the country for a few years.  lolz

rct

Man that's awesome. Makes me wonder why I'm even on this site posting, I have no experience's like that. I never got close to recording with anyone known,  just the unknown,  and they remained that way. But I do feel fortunate about my  generation and era I grew up in because it was the greatest era for music of all time. From Elvis to the Police it was a great era. And to quote John Fogerty,.." never lost one minute of sleep  worryin" about the way things might have been."

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52 minutes ago, Navy Vet. said:

Man that's awesome. Makes me wonder why I'm even on this site posting, I have no experience's like that. I never got close to recording with anyone known,  just the unknown,  and they remained that way. But I do feel fortunate about my  generation and era I grew up in because it was the greatest era for music of all time. From Elvis to the Police it was a great era. And to quote John Fogerty,.." never lost one minute of sleep  worryin" about the way things might have been."

 

No man, I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time.  We did the recording on Friday and Saturday overnights, literally 12 and 14 hours at a time over a few weekends.  All of the players had day jobs.  To close up our Six Degrees of Separation Navy Vet, my day job was at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.  You mighta known me as just another filthy Yardbird!

rct

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4 minutes ago, rct said:

 

No man, I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time.  We did the recording on Friday and Saturday overnights, literally 12 and 14 hours at a time over a few weekends.  All of the players had day jobs.  To close up our Six Degrees of Separation Navy Vet, my day job was at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.  You mighta known me as just another filthy Yardbird!

rct

But you got to record with a singer that was known and had a hit record. In fact a record that still stands the test of time.  I call that good stuff.

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Yup, it was fun and cool and I think I might have gotten a couple hundred bucks out of it.  Just lucky though, no more.  We all got guitar stuff here, no need to pal around with famous people to have any cred here.

rct

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