The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era: #100-#76

If you've been waiting for The Top 100*, you've missed a lot of great artists and songs!  Plus, this is a subjective ranking, so you missed the point--just enjoy the music, and realize how great these "One-Hit Wonders" are...

This artist opened for artists as diverse as B.B. King and the Allman Brothers:

 
#100:  Sunshine--Jonathan Edwards  

Edwards began his career in high school, putting a band together, writing songs and learning all the contemporary folk songs of the time.  He studied art at Ohio University, but left to pursue music in Boston, Massachusetts.  His band played all over New England under various names, including the Headstone Circus, St. James Doorknob and the Finite Minds.  They recorded an album for Metromedia Records as Sugar Creek.

Soon, Edwards began opening for B.B. King and the Allman Brothers, and he signed a recording contract with Capricorn Records.  After a year spent recording his self-titled debut album, the engineer accidentally erased the song "Please Find Me".  The engineer was fired and the war protest song "Sunshine" was put in its place.  

"Sunshine" was released as the single and it rose to #4 and sold over one million copies.  Other artists, such as Juice Newton, Susanna Hoffs and the Isley Brothers, have recorded their versions.

Edwards released 10 albums in his career, but his initial time of songwriting inspiration resulted in his only hit.

One of the elite guitarists of the Rock Era comes in next:

#99:  Rock & Roll, Hoochie Koo--Rick Derringer  

When he was seventeen, Derringer started the group the McCoys.  The band changed its name to The Rick Z Combo and then Rick and the Raiders before going back to the original name of the McCoys.  The McCoys recorded "Hang On Sloopy", which was the #1 song in the U.S. until "Yesterday" by the Beatles topped it.  The McCoys opened for the Rolling Stones for their entire 1966 American Tour.  Derringer adopted his stage name from the Bang Records logo which featured a derringer pistol.

After leaving the McCoys, Derringer ventured into blues rock, hitting #23 with "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" in 1974.  Derringer also played and recorded with the Edgar Winter Group and Johnny Winter's band and recorded on several songs for Steely Dan, Alice Cooper and Todd Rundgren.

Derringer opened for Led Zeppelin on their final American tour in 1979.  In the 1980's, Derringer produced for "Weird Al" Yankovic and played guitar and mandolin on the track "Eat It"  and played guitar for Silver Condor.  In 1983, Derringer played on the Kiss album Lick It Up.

Derringer has released 18 albums in his career.

This artist recorded a #1 song that reflected the spiritual awakening of a generation:  

#98:  Spirit in the Sky--Norman Greenbaum

Greenbaum performed in several high school bands before he studied music at Boston University.  He performed at local coffeehouses in Boston, then moved to Los Angeles in 1965.

Greenbaum wrote and recorded "Spirit in the Sky" in 1969 and it reached #1 and sold two million copies.  Norman recorded four albums in his career but "Spirit in the Sky" was his one breakthrough.

Up next, the artist who recorded a song so popular that countless artists have covered it:

 #97:  Sunny--Bobby Hebb

 

Robert Von Hebb and his brother Harold performed as a song-and-dance team in Nashville, Tennessee when Bobby was three. Bobby performed on a television show hosted by producer Owen Bradley, which earned him a job in Roy Acuff's band.  

Hebb played with Johnny Bragg and the Marigolds, sang backup for Bo Diddley and replaced Mickey Baker in another One-Hit Wonder, Mickey and Sylvia.  After his father was killed in 1963, Hebb turned to songwriting.  

Bobby recorded "Sunny" and sent demos to producer Jerry Ross.  The song was released as a single and reached #2 in the United States and #12 in the U.K. and sold over one million copies.  Hebb toured with the Beatles in 1966 to promote his song.  

Many of the greatest, including Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington, the Four Seasons, the Four Tops, Cher, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Rivers, Dusty Springfield, the Classics IV and Wilson Pickett, have all recorded "Sunny".

Hebb's next-best song was "A Satisfied Mind" in 1966 (#39). He wrote many other songs, including "A Natural Man" for Lou Rawls.  

We're up to the artist who gave us one of The Top 100 R&B Songs of the 70's*:

#96:  Mr. Big Stuff--Jean Knight  

After graduating from high school, Jean Caliste began singing at the bar Laura's Place.  In 1965, she recorded a demo of the Jackie Wilson song "Stop Doggin' Me Around".  Huey Meaux liked what he heard, and signed Jean to a recording contract at Jet Star/Tribe Records.  

Caliste changed her stage name to Jean Knight and recorded four singles which attracted only local attention.  As he singing career was not taking off, she went to work at a cafeteria in New Orleans, Louisiana.

In 1970, songwriter Ralph Williams discovered Knight and asked her to record some songs.  Through the help of producer Wardell Quezergue, Knight recorded several songs, including "Mr. Big Stuff".  But the big national labels all rejected the song.  

But Stax Records saw the potential and released the single, and it was a smash, hitting #2 overall and #1 on the R&B chart.  The song sold over two million copies and earned Knight a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female.  

Knight recorded an album which did well, but disagreements with her producer and label terminated her contract with Stax.  Jean released four albums and six singles, with her next-best song being "My Toot Toot" at #50.

This successful songwriter kept one for himself in 1974:

#95:  Please Come to Boston--Dave Loggins   

Loggins, a cousin of superstar Kenny Loggins, is best remembered as a successful songwriter.  He notably wrote "Pieces of April" for Three Dog Night, a huge hit in 1973, and wrote the Kenny Rogers hit "Morning Desire".  He has also written songs for Alabama, Reba McEntire, Restless Heart and Don Williams.

But he landed the Top 5 song "Please Come to Boston" in 1974, which also reached #1 on the Easy Listening chart.  Dave was able to have a #1 country song with Anne Murray in 1984 with "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do", but could never duplicate his solo success with a mass appeal audience.  Loggins did write the theme song "Augusta" that is used on broadcasts of The Masters Golf Tournament.

Here's one of the New Wave acts that helped revitalize rock and roll in the 1980's:

 #94:  Tainted Love--Soft Cell  

Soft Cell consisted of lead singer Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball, who met at Leeds Polytechnic School in England and began the group in 1978.  The duo recorded the EP Mutant Moments, which generated interest from and ultimately resulted in a recording contract with Some Bizzare Records. 

Soft Cell released "Memorabilia" as their first single, but when it flopped, they were given one last chance.  They decided to record a remake of "Tainted Love", a 1964 soul song by Gloria Jones (the girlfriend of T. Rex's Marc Bolan at the time of his death).

"Tainted Love" hit #1 in 17 countries and reached #8 in the United States.  At the time, it set the Rock Era record for the most consecutive weeks (43) on the chart.  

The duo enjoyed five Top 10 hits in their native England and some success in Ireland, but could never match their worldwide appeal gained with "Tainted Love".  They broke up in 1984 after releasing five albums and 18 singles.

An opportunity to sing with Whitney Houston opened doors for this next artist, and he soon had a #1 song himself:

#93:  Shake You Down--Gregory Abbott  

In his early years, Abbott began singing and playing the piano.  He studied psychology at the University of California and creative writing at Stanford.  He began session work in the recording studio; one of his first opportunities was a duet with Whitney Houston on an independent label.  Abbott then produced the group EQ on Atlantic Records.

"Shake You Down" was the first single and title track from Gregory's debut album in 1986.  It reached #1 in the United States and #6 in the U.K. and sold over two million copies.

"I Got the Feeling" at #56 was the next-best that Abbott could do.  He was able to win first prize at the Tokyo Music Festival and he performed with Princess Stephanie of Monaco in Belgium.  Abbott released 7 albums and 15 singles in his career.

This singer-songwriter turned down an offer to join the Mamas & Papas, then wrote what would become the anthem for a generation:

#92:  San Francisco--Scott McKenzie

Philip Blondheim was born in Jacksonville, Florida, but grew up in North Carolina and Virginia, where he became friends with John Phillips.  In the mid-1950's, Scott sang in a group known as the Singing Strings, then later in a doo wop band the Abstracts.  The Abstracts became the Smoothies and recorded two singles with Decca Records.  It was during this time that Blondheim changed his stage name to Scott McKenzie.

In 1961, Phillips and McKenzie met Dick Weissman and formed the folk group, the Journeymen.  That act recorded three albums and seven singles for Capitol Records.  The Journeymen split in 1964, with Phillips forming the group the Mamas & the Papas.  McKenzie had declined an offer to join the Mamas & Papas, but instead set out on a solo career.  

Scott signed a recording contract with Ode Records.  Phillips wrote, played guitar and co-produced a song he had written for McKenzie called "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)".  Esteemed session musicians Joe Osborn on bass and drummer Hal Blaine also played on the song, which was released in 1967.  The song became a smash for McKenzie, reaching #1 in the U.K. and several other countries and #4 in the United States.  It went on to become an anthem for a generation and has now sold over seven million copies.

McKenzie's follow-up, "Like An Old Time Movie" was a minor hit.  He recorded his debut album, The Voice of Scott McKenzie.  In 1968, he wrote "Hey!  What About Me" that helped launch the career of Anne Murray.  McKenzie released his only other album, Stained Glass Morning, in 1970.

In 1986, McKenzie began singing with a new version of the Mamas & the Papas and in 1988, co-wrote "Kokomo", the first #1 hit for the Beach Boys in 22 years.  Despite recording  the Rock standard "San Francisco", McKenzie never did reach the Top 40 again.

This rock standard gave our next artist his only hit:

#91:  Rock On--David Essex  

Essex took his name from his birthplace of Plaistow, which was in Essex, England at the time.  David went to Shipman County Secondary School and dreamed of being a professional football (soccer) player.  But he also loved music, and played drums in a local band.

Essex recorded his first single "And the Tears Came Tumblin' Down" on Fontana Records in 1963, then toured under the name David Essex and the Mood Indigo.  He got his first break in the entertainment business when he earned the lead role in the stage musical Godspell in 1971.  In 1973, he starred in the movie That'll Be The Day, then recorded his only worldwide hit, "Rock On".  

"Rock On", which David wrote, hit #5 in the United States but was a bigger hit than that for the stations who played it.  The song landed at #1 in Canada.  Def Leppard, the Smashing Pumpkins and Toni Basil are among the artists who have remade the song.

 Essex's single "Lamplight" was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. but airplay was not universal; it only reached #71 in the United States.  He tasted bigger success in his native country with "Gonna' Make You a Star" and "Hold Me Close", but once again, worldwide airplay was limited.   Overall, Essex released 28 albums and 31 singles, an incredible output for an artist who was only able to achieve one major worldwide hit. 

It's shocking that this artist could come up with one of the biggest hits of 1986 and not be bigger stars:

#90:  Shattered Dreams--Johnny Hates Jazz  

Clark Datchler (vocals, keyboards and guitar), Mike Nocito (bass and guitar) and Calvin Hayes (keyboards and drums) met in the early 1980's while working on various projects at RAK Studios in London.  Datchler was the lead singer of Hot Club, a group that Hayes founded while Nocito had worked with the Police, Pink Floyd, Duran Duran and the Cure as a recording engineer.  The trio formed Johnny Hates Jazz in 1986.  

Johnny Hates Jazz released their first single "Me and My Foolish Heart".  It flopped, but Datchler wrote "Shattered Dreams" and the group performed it at Ronnie Scott's jazz club.  Their performance earned them a recording contract with Virgin Records.  Johnny Hates Jazz released "Shattered Dreams" as a single, and it was a worldwide smash, hitting #2 overall and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States, # 2 in Japan and was a Top 5 song in the U.K. and Australia.  The song was one of the biggest hits of  1986 and one of The Top #2 Songs of the Rock Era*.

In 1987, the group released the single "I Don't Want to be a Hero", which reached #11 in the U.K. but only #31 in the United States.  "Turn Back the Clock", with Kim Wilde singing background vocals, was #12 in the U.K. and reached #5 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States but only #31 overall.  

Johnny Hates Jazz released the album Turn Back the Clock, helped tremendously by "Shattered Dreams".  The song was played over three million times in the United States.  

The group released two albums and nine singles, but could never capitalize on their huge hit.

When she burst onto the scene, she looked like a superstar, but she would have just one big crossover:

#89:  Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson

Anderson was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota but her family soon moved to Fair Oaks, California.  She became interested in music at age six, but she was racking up huge successes in the horse show arenas, where she eventually won over 700 trophies.  

In 1965, Anderson accompanied her mother, who had just signed a recording contract with RCA Victor, to Nashville, Tennessee.  Lynn joined in an informal sing-along at a local hotel room with Merle Haggard and Freddie Hart.  Slim Williamson, owner of Chart Records, was in the room and recognized Anderson's singing ability.  This led to Anderson signing a recording contract at age 19.

Anderson debuted in 1966 with the single "For Better or for Worse", which did not chart.  "Ride, Ride, Ride" became her first single to chart at all, and that was just on the country chart.  She scored some Top 10 country hits, but still wasn't known outside that small but loyal group.  In 1967, Anderson performed regularly on The Lawrence Welk Show.  She signed with Columbia Records in 1970.  

Anderson recorded "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden", written by Joe South, but something was different this time.  Famous record executive Clive Davis heard it and believed this one could become a popular hit, so the song was released as a single worldwide.  "Rose Garden" became a huge hit, hitting #1 in Germany for four weeks, #1 in Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland and Norway and reaching #3 in both the United States and the U.K.  "Rose Garden" won the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and helped the album of the same name go Platinum.  

Numerous artists, including Glen Campbell, Andy Williams, Loretta Lynn, Ray Conniff, Martina McBride, Percy Faith, k.d. Lang, Dottie West, Jim Nabors and Dinah Shore, have recorded the song since.  "Rose Garden" remains one of the biggest country crossover hits of all-time and ranked #83 on Country Music Television's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music*.

In 1971, Anderson released "You're My Man" and "How Can I Unlove You", but neither song could get past #63.  She continued to have success on the segmented country chart with three Top 5 hits there, and "Cry" made it to #16 on the Easy Listening chart.  Although most people had only heard "Rose Garden", Anderson did win the American Music Award for Favorite Female Country Artist.  

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Lynn was the first female country artist to headline and sell out Madison Square Garden, playing before a packed house in 1974.  

Anderson was one of the most popular female country singers of the 1970's, but despite 34 albums and 62 singles, she could never translate that popularity into mass appeal success. 

This late singer with the great voice may have only had one solo hit, but she sang backup for some pretty big stars:

 #88:  Lovin' You--Minnie Riperton  

Riperton grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and studied music, drama and dance at the Lincoln Center.  She was taught there to use her full vocal range, which eventually became five-and-a-half octaves.  Minnie graduated from Hyde Park High School, now Hyde Park Career Academy.  She was the lead singer in the Chicago-based girl group the Gems as a teenager.  

Soon, Minnie was singing backup at Chess Records for artists such as Chuck Berry, Etta James, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Ramsey Lewis and Fontella Bass (on "Rescue Me").  Riperton also sang lead for the group Rotary Connection from 1967-1971, which released five albums.

Riperton released her solo debut album Come to My Garden in 1970.  Three years later, Steve Slutzah of Epic Records found Riperton in semi-retirement.  After hearing a demo from her, Slutzah took the song to his label and helped sign Riperton to a recording contract.  

In 1975, Riperton recorded the album Perfect Angel, co-produced by Stevie Wonder.  Sales of the album were slow despite three single releases.  "Lovin' You" was released as a fourth single, and it went all the way to #1 in the United States and 24 other countries, was #2 in the U.K, and sold over one million copies.

Riperton recorded the album Adventures in Paradise later in the year.  "Inside My Love" was a Top 5 hit on R&B stations but wasn't a popular hit (#76).  She then released the album Stay in Love and sang backup for Stevie Wonder on his classic album Songs in the Key of Life.

Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1976.  She continued performing and became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society.  In 1978, she received the Cancer Society's Courage Award, presented to her at the White House by U.S. president Jimmy Carter.  Riperton died on July 12, 1979 at the age of 31 after releasing six albums and 14 singles.

This group scored their one and only hit after they were dropped from Capitol Records:

 #87:  The Middle--Jimmy Eat World  

Lead singer and guitarist Jim Adkins and drummer Zach Lind, who had been friends since preschool, joined with guitarist Tom Linton and bass player Mitch Porter to form Jimmy Eat World in Mesa, Arizona in 1993.  The group released their demo tape and signed with an independent company.  In 1994, they released the EP One, Two, Three Four in 1994.  

Jimmy Eat World released their self-titled debut album in 1994 with Linton handling most of the lead vocals.  The group began attracting attention in the indie underground, which led to a major recording contract with Capitol Records.  Prior to recording their first major album, Rick Burch replaced Porter on bass.   "Rockstar" from their 1996 album Static Prevails was their first single release.  

The group's 1999 album Clarity, which contained the single "Lucky Denver Mint", gained a following.  However, Capitol dropped the group and Jimmy Eat World had to self-finance their next album, Bleed American, in 2001.  The album became their breakthrough, as four singles became hits on the Modern Rock chart.  "The Middle" hit #1 in that genre and reached #5 overall, helping Bleed American go platinum.

Jimmy Eat World followed that album up with Futures, which featured "Pain", another #1 Modern Rock song.  But "Pain" paled by comparison to "The Middle" overall, only reaching #93.  Although the album Chase This Light in 2007 helped the group continue their Modern Rock success, they would never again  come up with another worldwide hit.

Jimmy Eat World released eight albums and 16 singles in their career, with "Sweetness" in 2002 being their next-biggest song.

This group recorded a song in 1972 that became their big hit as well as the standard for future love songs:

 #86:  Precious and Few--Climax  

When the 1960's group the Outsiders split up, this band was formed in 1970 by lead singer Sonny Geraci, songwriter and guitarist Walter Nims, keyboardist and songwriter Nick D'Amico and drummer Jon Jon Guttman.  The group released their first singers under the Outsiders name, but changed their name to Climax after legal action was threatened.

The first album released following the name change was Climax Featuring Sonny Geraci.  "Precious and Few", which was originally recorded in 1970, was stored in the archives of Bell Records for two years before an executive at Bell heard it on a Santa Barbara, California radio station.  Bell subsidiary Carousel Records released the song in Hawai'i as a test market.  After more tests in Buffalo, New York and Boston, Massachusetts in 1972, the song took off and "Precious and Few" made it all the way to #3 and sold over one million copies.

Climax released "Life and Breath" as the follow-up, but only reached #52 with it.  Bell did not have a powerful marketing arm and this hurt the song.  Further, Bell did not release Climax's debut album while "Precious and Few" was hot, failing to capitalize on the moment.  Of note, Climax was the first group to record "Rock and Roll Heaven", a song co-written by new keyboardist Johnny Stevenson that later became a comeback hit for the Righteous Brothers.

Climax released seven other singles before breaking up.

The woman with the amazing voice is at #85:

 #85:  And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going--Jennifer Holliday

Jennifer was born in Riverside, Texas, and began her career at age 19, when she earned a part the same day she auditioned for the Broadway production of Your Arms Too Short to Box with God.  Two years later, Holliday landed the role she would become famous in, that of Effie Melody White in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls.

 

Holliday's performance in Dreamgirls was widely acclaimed, especially her show-stopping performance of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going".  Jennifer became famous for the song, which reached #22 in the United States and #1 on the R&B chart, and she won the Grammy for Best Female Vocal Performance, Rhythm and Blues.

Holliday won the 1982 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical and remained with the musical for four years.  She then toured in the musical Sing, Mahalia, Sing in 1985. 

Holliday continued to record, and had success on the R&B chart, but amazingly, the success in that genre didn't carry over to mainstream success.  She did, however, lend her amazing vocals to Foreigner's #1 song "I Want to Know What Love Is" in 1985.  Holliday sang gospel songs, including those the 1995 album On & On.  In 2011, she released the Christian CD Goodness and Mercy.

Holliday has also appeared on television, including performances on Touched by an Angel and Ally McBeal.

Jennifer received an honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.  She has released seven albums and 14 singles in her career.

This veteran musician landed a big solo hit in 1970:

#84:  I Hear You Knockin'--Dave Edmunds

Edmunds hails from Cardiff, Glamorgan, South Wales.  He played in the piano duo the Edmunds Brothers Duo with older brother Geoff.    The two then joined the Stompers, which later was known as the Heartbeats.  Dave and Geoff then joined the 99'ers.  Edmunds  was the leader of the Raiders of 1961, not the Paul Revere & the Raiders from Boise, Idaho that became superstars.

Edmunds recorded with the Image in 1965 and 1966 before forming the short-lived Human Beans.  That group evolved into the band Love Sculpture, which scored a Top 5 hit in England--"Sabre Dance".

In 1970, Edmunds released the solo single "I Hear You Knocking" on MAM Records.  The song reached #1 in the U.K., #3 in Australia and #4 in the United States and Australia and sold over three million copies.

Edmunds appeared in the film Stardust, then began producing for other artists, working with Brinsley Schwarz among others.  He worked well into the night at Rockfield Studios near Rockfield, Monmouth.

The work with Brinsley Schwarz led to a collaboration with Nick Lowe and they formed the group Rockpile.  Edmunds had hits in the U.K. with songs such as "Girl's Talk", but those never became worldwide hits.

Edmunds worked with Paul McCartney, the Stray Cats, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Status Quo during the 1980's.  In 1983, Edmunds collaborated with Jeff Lynne and two songs--one of which, "Slipping Away", reached #39 in the United States.  "Slipping Away" became his only other hit in the western part of the world.

Edmunds joined Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band for tours in 1992 and 2000.  Edmunds released 12 albums and 25 singles in his career.

This song hit #1 four years after the group had split up:

#83:  When I'm with You--Sheriff 

Vocalist Freddy Curci, guitarist Steve DeMarchi, keyboardist Arnold Lanni, bassist Wolf Hassel and drummer Rob Elliott formed the group Sheriff in 1979 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The group released their self-titled debut album in 1982, which featured a hit in Canada, "You Remind Me", as well as "When I'm with You".  

The single reached #8 in Canada and #61 in the United States.  Frustrated by their lack of success and internal tensions, the band split up in 1985, having never released another record.

Six years after "When I'm with You" had been a hit in Canada, disc jockeys in the United States began playing the song.  When they reported strong listener response, Capitol Records re-released the song.  Amazingly, Sheriff had a hit six years after its release and four years after they had broken up.  It became a #1 song in both Canada and the United States.  Curci continues to be listed in the Guinness Book of Records for holding the longest note in a popular song for the last note in "When I'm with You".

The success led Curci and DeMarchi to attempt to reunite Sheriff, but the other members were not interested.  So, the pair hooked up with former members of Heart to form the group Alias, who enjoyed a #2 song with "More Than Words Can Say".

When this group came out, people didn't quite know what to make of them.  We do--they are ranked #82 in The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era*: 

#82:  Fire--Crazy World of Arthur Brown 

In their prime, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown consisted of Brown on lead vocals, bassist Sean Nicholas Greenwood, keyboardist Vincent Crane, Carl Palmer and Jeff Cutler on drums and Dick Heninghem and Pete Solley on organ.

"Fire" was released as a single in 1968 and reached #1 in the United Kingdom and Canada and #2 in the U.S. "Fire" sold over one million copies.

The song has been covered several times by artists such as Pete Townshend, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and the Ventures.

It isn't just the song that is ranked, but the talent and level of musicianship of the artist, and this group scores high in the latter category:

#81:  Suavecito--Malo  

Guitarist Jorge Santana, Arcelio Garcia, Tellez and Bean played in the group the Malibus while guitarist Abel Zarate, Roy Murray and Richard Spremich played in the band Naked Lunch.  The seven musicians formed Malo in San Francisco.  

Richard Bean soon joined as the timbale player, and wrote "Suavecito" as a poem for a girl in his high school algebra class.  Malo recruited some of the top musicians in the Bay Area, including trumpet players Forrest Buchtel, Jr., Ron Smith, Paul C. Saenz, Luis Gasca and Tom Harrell.

Why Malo didn't have a smash hit with "Suavecito" (it peaked at #18) and why they didn't have further hits are both great mysteries.  Following the release of their debut album, many of Malo's original members left.  Buchtel went on to play with Blood, Sweat and Tears while Harrell became one of the top lyrical trumpet soloists of all-time. 

Malo released eight studio albums and seven singles.

These talented artists gave us plenty to think about with this one:

#80:  What I Am--Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians  

Brickell graduated from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas.  While attending Southern Methodist University, Brickell joined the local folk rock group the New Bohemians as their lead singer. 

When the group signed a recording contract, they changed their name to Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians.  In 1988, the band recorded the highly underrated album Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars.  The song "What I Am" was one of many worthy tracks on the album, but became the group's only hit.  It was co-written by Brickell and Kenny Withrow of the group and peaked at #1 in Canada, #7 in the United States and #31 in the U.K.  Brickell played a folk singer in the 1989 movie Born on the Fourth of July.  The group's follow-up album Ghost of a Dog in 1990 did not fare as well. 

Brickell married Paul Simon in 1992.  She released two solo albums and in 2008, released an album as part of the group the Heavy Circles that included Sean Lennon.

We're saluting the top artists of the Rock Era who enjoyed one big hit, and we're up to #79:

 #79: Evil Woman Don't Play Your Games with Me--Crow 

Crow formed in 1967 with lead singer David Wagner, guitarist Dick Wiegand, Larry Wiegand on bass, keyboardist Kink Middlemist and drummer Harry Nehls forming as South 40.  The group used the name until "Evil Woman (Don't Play Your Games With Me)" was recorded, when Denny Craswell replaced Nehls.  Crow signed a recording contract with Amaret Records.

Crow wrote their one hit that appeared on their debut album album Crow Music in 1969.  The single hit #19 and Black Sabbath covered it their next year.  Crow then recorded the albums Crow and Mosaic in successive years, but those albums didn't contain songs of the caliber of "Evil Woman".  

Crow longed to record for Elektra Records, but Amaret would not release them from their contract and the group disbanded in 1972.  Crow reformed in 1980 with a different lineup and recorded one album.  All told, the group released five albums and nine singles in their career. 

One of the big hits from 1971 is next:

#78:  Smiling Faces Sometimes--Undisputed Truth  

The Undisputed Truth shared many singles with the Temptations, for whom they shared producer Norman Whitfield.  Among them:  "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone", which the Undisputed Truth took to #63.  

"Smiling Faces Sometimes", in fact, was originally recorded by the Tempts, but in this case, the Undisputed Truth had the bigger hit, with "Smiling Faces" hitting #3 in 1971.  Lead and backing vocals were handled by Joe Harris, Billie Rae Calvin and Brenda Joyce.  Rare Earth and Joan Osbourne are among the artists to cover the song.

When Whitfield left Motown to set up his own record company in 1975, the Undisputed Truth followed him.  But they had little success, and faded from view after two more albums.  They did receive some R&B airplay and hit #43 in the U.K. with "You + Me = Love".  In all, the Undisputed Truth recorded eight albums and 15 singles. 

This artist once took over as one of the primary songwriters for the Supremes:

#77:  Indiana Wants Me--R. Dean Taylor

Taylor, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was hired by Motown Records in 1964 as a songwriter and recording artist.  He released his debut single "Let's Go Somewhere" in 1965.  The song was written by Taylor and Brian Holland and produced by Holland and Dozier, fresh off five #1 songs by the Supremes.

Taylor wrote "All I Need" for the Temptations and "I'll Turn to Stone" for the Four Tops.  In 1968, Taylor's "Gotta' See Jane" became a Top 20 hit, but only in the U.K.  After the famous team of Holland/Dozier/Holland left Motown, Taylor became part of the prime creative team for Diana Ross & the Supremes.  Taylor co-wrote "Love Child" and "I'm Livin' In Shame" for the supergroup.

Taylor became one of the first artists to be assigned to Motown's new subsidiary Rare Earth Records.    His first single on that label was "Indiana Wants Me", which reached #1 in his native Canada, became #2 in the #2 and hit #5 in the United States.  Taylor appeared on American Bandstand to promote the song.

"Gotta' See Jane" was re-released, and peaked at #2 in the U.K. but was not a worldwide hit.  Taylor released three albums and 34 singles in his career.  "Ain't It A Sad Thing" at #66 was the best R. Dean could do after a big hit.  But Taylor is recognized as a very successful songwriter.  In addition to the above mentioned songs, he also wrote for Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Marvelettes, Jackie DeShannon, Golden Earring and Brenda Holloway.

Sweden produced this entry in our special at #76:

#76: Lovefool--Cardigans

Peter Svensson and Magnus Sveningsson formed this group in October of 1992 in Jonkoping, Sweden with lead singer Nina Persson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg and keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson. The group began living together in a small apartment and recorded a demo tape.

Ola Hermanson heard the demo and signed the Cardigans to Trampolene Records. In 1994, the group released their debut album Emmerdale, which was re-released internationally in 1997. The album contained the single "Rise & Shine". Emmerdale attracted a loyal base of fans in Sweden.

The Cardigans toured Europe, then recorded the album Life in 1995, which sold over one million copies worldwide. Still, most people around the world had not heard of the Cardigans, but it did get the group the exposure they needed to sign a major recording contract with Mercury Records.

Armed with the Mercury deal, the Cardigans released the album First Band on the Moon in 1996. "Lovefool", written by Svensson and Persson, was a worldwide hit (#2 in the U.K., #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart and #1 in New Zealand), leading the album to Platinum status in just three weeks in Japan. The song was featured in the movie Romeo + Juliet, which gave it great exposure, as did videos on MTV, which used to stand for Music Television.

Yet despite six albums and 17 singles, the Cardigans could never match "Lovefool" with mass audiences. They did find success in the U.K., their native Sweden and Australia, and "My Favorite Game" reached #16 among the much smaller Alternative Rock audience.

We don't do these type of productions that often; that's what makes them "special".  We have just three days remaining, so be sure to catch up on any installments you've missed.