The Top 500 One Hit Wonders of the Rock Era: #450 to 426

We've presented 50 artists in our special thus far.  If we've done our homework right, you should begin to see a slight uptick in talent and level of success with each group.  Here we go with the third day of The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders*.

  #450--Forget Me Nots--Patrice Rushen

Rushen was regarded as a child prodigy, exhibiting great talent and potential early in life as a classically trained pianist. She graduated from Locke High School in Los Angeles, then earned a degree in Music at University of Southern California.

After winning a competition at the 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival, Rushen garnered considerable attention and earned a recording contract with Prestige Records the following year. Rushen recorded three albums with Prestige and became an in-demand session player, which led to a major contract with Elektra Records in 1977.

Rushen achieved success on the smaller genre of R&B with songs like "Haven't You Heard" (#42 overall), "Feels So Real" (#78) and "You Remind Me". But it was "Forget Me Nots" that enabled Rushen to reach a mass audience. The single hit #23 in the United States and truth be told was underrated.  The song earned Rushen a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. 

By this time, Rushen had become proficient on multiple instruments, including the flute, clarinet and several kinds of percussion. Patrice had released five albums and she was a guest on Soul Train in 1981. Patrice also wrote the opening theme for The Steve Harvey Show.

Rushen became the first female head composer and musical director for the Grammy Awards, the People's Choice Awards and the Emmy Awards and the first woman to serve as musical director for the NAACP Image Awards, a position she held for twelve years. Rushen also was musical director/composer for Newsweek's American Achievement Awards and was musical director for Janet Jackson's janet. World Tour. In 2008, Rushen became a professor at the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

This act's signature hit was named after them:

#449:  In A Big Country--Big Country

Stuart Adamson (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Bruce Watson (guitar, mandolin, sitar and vocals), keyboardist Peter Wishart, brother Alan on bass, and drummer Clive Parker  formed this group in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1981.  Big Country fused Scottish folk and martial music styles with guitar-driven rock to achieve success in the 1980's. 

The group rehearsed for eight months before playing a concert in Dunfermline.  This led to dates opening for Alice Cooper in 1982, but their keyboard-oriented sound wasn't well-received by Cooper's fans who only liked one kind of music and weren't deep enough to appreciate Big Country.  So the group was dumped from the tour after just two concerts.     

The Wisharts and Parker were fired from the band, which brought in Tony Butler (bass and vocals) and Mark Brzezicki (drums and vocals) to replace them. 

Big Country signed with Phonogram Records.  They recorded "Harvest Home" in 1982, and the single reached #91 in the U.K.  The following year, "Fields of Fire" reached the Top Ten in the U.K., but Big Country still lacked a worldwide audience.  The group recorded the album The Crossing, which included "In a Big Country".  That single finally helped the group score a breakthrough, as it hit #17 in the United States.  Big Country performed on Saturday Night Live and at the Grammy Awards, and the success of their single led to album sales of over one million in the U.K. and Gold status in the United States.

While playing on a worldwide tour in 1984, Big Country released "Wonderland", which was #8 in the U.K. but only #86 in the United States.  Despite the great talent of the group, they would never chart in the U.S. again.  Big Country released the album Steeltown, which was a #1 album in the U.K. but only #70 in the United States.  The group achieved three more U.K. Top 30 songs from Steeltown.

The group participated in the Band Aid project "Do They Know It's Christmas?", then toured in 1985, both as headliners and opening for artists such as Queen.  Big Country also recorded the score for the movie Restless Natives.

The 1986 album The Seer produced three more Top 30 songs in the U.K., including the Irish number one song "Look Away", #7 in the U.K.  For their fourth album, Big Country brought in producer Peter Wolf.  Peace in Our Time was #9 in the U.K. but sold poorly elsewhere. 

The 1991 album No Place Like Home was not received well at all and nearly broke up the band.  Subsequently, Big Country was dropped by Phonogram, their label of ten years.  Without a major label, Big Country faded away, with only the album The Buffalo Skinners in 1993 achieving significant airplay.

But the group was still a concert draw, opening for the Rolling Stones and the Who on tour in the 1990's.  Butler played bass and sang vocals on Pete Townshend's solo hit "Let My Love Open the Door".  Brzezicki played drums for the Cult on their 1985 album Love.  

Big Country gave a "Final Fling" farewell tour, culminating in a sold-out concert in Glasgow in 2000.   The group recorded eight albums and released 29 singles in their career.

   

The One Hit Wonder at #448 was the music director at Columbia Pictures from 1936-1962:

#448:  Moonglow and Theme From 'Picnic'--Morris Stoloff

Stoloff was a child prodigy on the violin, toured the United States as a featured soloist at age 16, and became the youngest member ever of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Soon, movies began including sound, and Hollywood studios needed musicians to provide it. He first worked at Paramount Pictures before being hired at Columbia. He won three Oscars for Best Score (Cover Girl in 1944, The Jolson Story in 1946 and Song Without End in 1960) and was nominated an additional 14 times. 

By the late 1940's, Stoloff began recording some of the more popular songs as singles for Decca Records, even though they had been written by someone else.  In 1956, he released the single "Moonglow and Theme From 'Picnic'", which exploded to #1 for three weeks and sold over one million copies.

When Frank Sinatra founded Reprise Records in the early 1960's, he hired Stoloff as musical director.  Stoloff released 11 albums in his career, but nothing else captured the public's attention like "Moonglow".

At #447, the founder of the Songbird Foundation, who enjoyed his one big hit in 1972:

#447:  Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues--Danny O'Keefe  

O'Keefe was born in Spokane, Washington, but got his start in the coffee houses of Minnesota.  He hit #9 in 1972 with his One Hit Wonder, which also sold over a million copies.  O'Keefe's songs have been covered by Elvis Presley, Jackson Browne, Andy Williams, Judy Collins, Jimmy Buffett, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Alison Krauss, Leon Russell and others.

O'Keefe's music career has now spanned four decades, resulting in 12 album releases, but he's never been able to

match his 1972 success.

Our next featured artist lost his eyesight at age one:

#446:  Angel Eyes--Jeff Healey Band 

Jeff Healey lost his eyes to toretinoblastoma, a rare cancer.  His eyes were surgically removed and he was given artificial replacements.  Healey began playing guitar at age three.  He formed the group Blue Direction at age 17 and played in various local clubs in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Healey began hosting a jazz and blues show on radio station CIUT-FM.  Shortly afterwards, Healey formed the Jeff Healey Band with bassist Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen.  The group performed nightly in local clubs such as Grossman's Tavern and Albert's Hall, where they were discovered by guitarists Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins.

In 1988, the group signed a contract with Arista Records and released the album See the Light, which featured "Angel Eyes" and "Hideaway".  The latter was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, while "Angel Eyes" reached #7.  The Jeff Healey Band was the house cover band for the bar featured in the movie Road House.  In 1990, the group won the Juno Award for Canadian Entertainer of the Year.  

The albums Hell to Pay and Feel This gave Healey 10 charted hits in Canada between 1990 and 1994, including a cover of the Beatles' While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which featured George Harrison and Jeff Lynne on backing vocals and acoustic guitar.

Healey toured throughout North America and Europe and performed at his club, Healey's in Toronto.  Healey toured and played guitar with artists such as Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, ZZ Top and Steve Lukather.  In 2009, Healey's album Mess of Blues won Best Blues Album at the Independent Music Awards.  

Healey recorded five albums as the Jeff Healey band and six solo studio albums and released 17 singles.  Despite all this, Healey could never match the worldwide success of "Angel Eyes".

This talented act from the San Francisco Bay area performed their One Hit Wonder on American Bandstand and opened for Styx on a national tour in 1980:

#445:  The Joker--Snail

Bob O'Neill and Ron Fillmore began playing together in 1967 in the band Talon Wedge.  That group evolved into one of Santa Cruz's most loved bands.  Snail released two albums, Snail and Flow, and played the club circuit around San Francisco until 1981.  Then, legal issues brought on by the bankrupt record label that controlled them forced the group to retire, just one step away from that big break they deservedly earned.  

Since then, the group members have been in contact and several reunions of Snail have sold out San Jose and Santa Cruz venues.  

The next One Hit Wonder was a talented producer, songwriter, performer, and record company and recording studio owner:

#444:  Chase--Georgio Moroder  

Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder began his own label in the 70's in Munich, Germany, Oasis Records, which later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records. He collaborated with Donna Summer on songs like "I Feel Love" and produced many of Donna's other hits including "On the Radio".

In 1979, Moroder's full film score for the movie Midnight Express won him his first Academy Award for Best Film Score.  The movie featured his only major chart success, "Chase", which reached #33.  The next best song he did was "Son of My Father", his first release in 1972.  Moroder also produced the soundtrack album to American Gigolo, which included one of The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era*, "Call Me" by Blondie.  

Moroder has also produced soundtracks for movies such as Scarface, Metropolis, Flashdance, The Never Ending Story and Cat People.  

Moroder was the founder of Musicland Studios in Munich, which was used to record albums by Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Queen and ELO. In addition to producing for Summer, Moroder also produced songs for Melissa Manchester, Blondie, David Bowie, Irene Cara, the Three Degrees, Bonnie Tyler and France Joli (another One Hit Wonder).

In 2004, Moroder was honored at the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony in New York City, where he was inducted for his many outstanding achievements and contributions as producer.  In 2005, Georgio was given the title of Commendatore by then President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.  In 2010, Moroder received the Great Order of Merit of the South Tyrol.  

One of the big hits from the spring of 1976 is next:

#443: More, More, More--Andrea True Connection

True was an adult film star, who tried her hand at recording to take advantage of the disco craze. Her single "More, More, More" reached #4 in the United States and #5 in the U.K. in 1976

True released three other singles, with "N.Y., You Got Me Dancing" in 1977 (#27) her next-best song.

At #442, one of the top Easy Listening songs of the Rock Era:

#442:  We'll Sing in the Sunshine--Gale Garnett  

At age 11, Garnett and her family moved from Auckland, New Zealand to Canada.  Gale made her public singing debut in 1960 and pursued an acting career, making guest appearances on television shows such as 77 Sunset Strip.

In 1963, Garnett performed in a New York City nightclub for the first time and was signed to RCA Records.  The following year, she wrote "We'll Sing in the Sunshine", which reached #4 on the popular chart in the United States, hit #1 for seven weeks on the Easy Listening chart and won a Grammy for Best Folk Recording.  

Garnett recorded her debut album, My Kind of Folk Songs and continued to record through the 1960's.  Although "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" would forever be her only major singing success, Garnett appeared in several movies into the new millennium, including My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002.

Up next, another country artist who had one big crossover:

#441:  Help Me Make It Through--Sammi Smith

Smith dropped out of school at age eleven (don't try this at home) and began to sing professionally in nightclubs.  She married at 15 (something else not to try).  In 1967, she divorced and moved to Nashville, Tennessee.  Johnny Cash discovered her, leading to Sammi signing a recording contract with Columbia Records.

Smith produced her first minor country hit in 1968--"So Long, Charlie Brown, Don't Look for Me Around".  In 1970, Smith signed with Mega Records, then the following year, she finally hit paydirt with a song written by Kris Kristofferson--"Help Me Make It Through the Night".  The song reached #8 and sold over two million copies.  Smith won a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Kristofferson won an award for songwriting. 

Smith released 13 albums and 43 singles, but could never break out of the country market after that, leaving "Help Me Make It Through the Night" as her One-Hit Wonder.

We turn to another instrumental in this One Hit Wonder:

#440: Miami Vice Theme--Jan Hammer

Hammer began playing piano at age four and formed a jazz trio in high school, performing throughout Eastern Europe. Jan completed many classes at the Prague (Czechoslovakia) Academy of Musical Arts. But when the Soviet Union invaded his country in 1968, Hammer moved to the United States and became a citizen after being accepted at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

After graduation, Hammer toured with Sarah Vaughn for a year and he became known when he played keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970's. Hammer released his first solo album, The First Seven Days, in 1975. The Jan Hammer Group was formed in 1976 and the group recorded three albums the following year and one in 1977.

He worked with elite guitarist Jeff Beck often during this period, playing on the albums Wired and There and Back.  Hammer than collaborated first with Al Di Meola then Neal Schon, recording albums and performing live.  

In the fall of 1984, Hammer agreed to score the weekly television series Miami Vice.  The Soundtrack hit #1 on the albums chart in 1985 and sold over four million copies.  Hammer won Grammys for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Instrumental Composition for "Miami Vice Theme".  He won Keyboard Magazine's poll as Best Studio Synthesist for the second straight year.

Hammer did movie and television soundtracks over the next decade and released an album of non-soundtrack material in 1994 called Drive.  In 1996, Hammer wrote all the original music for TV Nova, the first commercial television network in Eastern Europe.  He composed the themes for 23 original shows, 50 separate station I.D.'s, music for all the special broadcasts and all the music for the news, sports and weather programs.

Hammer has collaborated with some of the most influential jazz and rock musicians of our time such as Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana, Steve Lukather, Neal Schon, Tommy Bolin, Al DiMeola, Mick Jagger and Stanley Clarke.  He has written and produced 14 motion picture soundtracks, the music for 90 episodes of Miami Vice and 20 episodes of the British television series Chancer.

Hammer has worked on numerous collaborations, and he's released 24 albums of his own.  And yet he's never come close to matching the success of "Miami Vice Theme".

The next group was kept down by industry insiders, which doomed them to One Hit Wonder status:

#439:  I Love You--People  

This group formed in San Jose, California in 1965.  Their one hit was first recorded by the Zombies but that version never hit.  People's version was #1 in Australia, Italy, Japan, Israel, South Africa and the Philippines and reached #14 in the United States.  The group hired key songwriter Larry Norman after Norman opened for them at a concert in Pacific Grove, California, and also hired Gene Mason, whom Norman had worked with.  Both shared lead vocals beginning in 1966.  

People started out with gigs at schools, churches, etc. and began attracting large crowds.  It wasn't long before they performed at major concerts and festivals on the West Coast, appearing with the Who, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Paul Revere & the Raiders and the Dave Clark Five.  Carl Engleman, head of A&R at Capitol Records, signed People after hearing them play at the Whatsit Club.

People always opened their show with a 13-minute rock opera.  After 27 shows with the Who, Pete Townshend was inspired to write Tommy, and released it 18 months later.

People recorded their first two albums with little success.  Meanwhile, Cathy Stashuk, president of their fan club, suggested the group record the Zombies' 1965 song "I Love You".  People added the song to their live performances with good results and in 1968, Capitol released it as their second single.  The group created a promotional film of the song for American Bandstand and the song became a hit, peaking at #14 in the United States and selling over a million copies.  The song reached #1 in Japan, Italy and Israel.  People toured extensively to promote the song.

There are numerous reasons why an artist is a One Hit Wonder and many of them relate to problems within the industry, not the quality of the group, unfortunately.  In People's case, it was jealousy.  Their albums were produced by Mikel Hunter, one who broke all the rules of AM Radio and could predict accurately what was going to be a hit.  Bill Gavin and Bill Drake, meanwhile, had created companies that would, for a price, tell radio stations what songs would be popular and what to add to their playlists.  Hunter, of course, merely had to be followed for free because he was so spot-on.  Gavin and Drake decided to bury Hunger and told their clients not to play "I Love You"; it wasn't going to be a hit.  This practice limited the success of the song and largely led to People being a One Hit Wonder.  A sad but all too common story.

Geoff Levin of the group has provided music for the television shows Friends, Saturday Night Live, All My Children, Good Morning America and 20/20.  Another member, John Tristao, is the frontman for Creedence Clearwater Revisted, the group with original CCR members Stu Cook and Doug Clifford that plays the music of the supergroup.  

This next artist is now helping his daughters with their music careers:

#438:  The Rain--Oran "Juice" Jones                

Jones graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1981, the second African-American Brigade Commander in Naval Academy history.  Jones served in the United States Marine Corps until 1986.

Jones was the first artist signed to OBR Records in 1986.  He released his debut album Juice and the single "The Rain" peaked at #9 overall and was a #1 R&B hit in the United States and reached #4 in the U.K and was nominated for two Grammy Awards.

Future releases were not successful, but Jones turned to producing and scoring music for commercials and independent movies.

This next One-Hit Wonder may have enjoyed a hit with this in 1975, but it is now one of the most-parodied songs of the Rock Era:

(Click on link below to listen...)

Powered by mp3skull.com
#437:  Feelings--Morris Albert     4   7*

In 1973, Sao Paulo, Brazil's Albert signed with Copacabana Records.  In 1974, he recorded his first album and "Feelings" reached #1 in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and his native Brazil.  Albert received four Grammy nominations for the song.  In 1976, he won the Grand Prize at the International Song Festival of Palma de Mallorca with the song "So Nice".

In 1977, Morris was recognized by ASCAP as the owner of the new most-recorded song in music history, displacing Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" ("Yesterday" by the Beatles soon topped both.)  Artists such as Frank Sinatra, Glen Campbell, the O'Jays, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Shirley Bassey, Percy Faith, Ferrante & Teicher and Dobie Gray are among those who have recorded "Feelings".  In 1980, Albert began writing scripts and soundtracks for movies and television.  Later in the decade, Albert built a state of the art recording studio, the first of its kind in the Philippines.  

Alpert released two albums and another single besides "Feelings", but was never able to match its worldwide success.

This artist was able to break out of the narrow confines of the country chart for one big mass appeal hit:

#436:  I'm Not Lisa--Jessi Colter

Colter met future husband Waylon Jennings and the duo sang on two songs that were country hits but little else.  The exposure did help Colter earn a recording contract with RCA Records.  

Jessi released her debut album in 1970.  Five years later, Colter signed with Capitol Records and released her first single, "I'm Not Lisa".  The song reached #4 in 1975.  The following year, she collaborated on the album Wanted: The Outlaws, which reached Platinum status.

Colter went on to record 10 albums and 17 singles in relative obscurity, only achieving success on the country chart.

The next One Hit Wonder is by a group whose members are better known for their work outside the band:

#435:  New Romance--Spider

This New York City group formed in 1977 and released two albums on Dreamland Records.  "New Romance" reached #39, far too low for the quality of the song, and thus Spider never made it.

But they should have.  Besides exhibiting great musicianship, the band also contained a great songwriter, Holly Knight (also Spider's lead singer).  Knight's songs include "Better Be Good to Me", which was a smash on Tina Turner's comeback album, Private Dancer.  Two members of Spider, Anton Fig and Jim Lowell, toured with elite guitarist Link Wray.  Fig played for several different bands throughout the decade, and later went on to play drums for Paul Shaffer's band on Late Night with David Letterman.

This One Hit Wonder was selling out concert halls before they had a recording contract:

#434:  We're Not Gonna Take It--Twisted Sister  

This hard-rockin' band from Long Island, New York formed in 1972 with lead singer Micheal Valentine, guitarist Billy Diamond, Mell Star on drums, bassist Kenneth Harrison Neill and Johnny Heartbreaker, who would soon change his name to Jay Jay French.

Twisted Sister was the resident band at the Mad Hatter in East Quogue, New York in 1973.  The group went through several lineup changes but were just a bar band.  In 1976, the group hired Dee Snider on vocals and drummer Tony Petri.  Dee and Jay Jay began to talk (rap) to the audience between songs and these raps began to overshadow the sets. The group began to sell out large halls, including the New York Palladium, with a recording contract or any airplay on radio.

There were yet more lineup changes with A.J. Pero taking over on drums and the group started its own record label.  They released two singles that caught the attention of Martin Hooker, president of Secret Records.  Twisted Sister signed with Secret and released their debut album, Under the Blade.  This gave them a cult following in the U.K., paving the way for the group to open for Motorhead.  Secret Records went out of business, but the group signed with Atlantic.  Twisted Sister then recorded You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll in 1983 and Stay Hungry in 1984.  The latter, spurred by sales of "We're Not Gonna' Take It", sold over two million copies.

However, a subsequent album paled by comparison and the accompanying tour flopped, leading to the band's eventual demise.

This artist's one big hit was an instrumental for a song you know better by Johnny Rivers:

#433: Memphis--Lonnie Mack

Mack began his career in the mid-1950's, and seldom has there been an artist who has come and gone more often. Mack was a great guitarist, but didn't have the songwriting ability to get his songs played. He utilized elements of R&B, country, bluegrass, rockabilly, soul and gospel in his music.

Mack began playing acoustic guitar at age seven. In his mid-teens, he began performing in roadhouses in Cincinnati, Ohio.  In the late 1950's, Mack recorded "Pistol Packin' Mama" on Dobbs Records. He then worked as a session guitarist for Fraternity Records, playing on singles by local R&B artists.
In 1963, at the end of a recording session, Mack and his band were offered the remaining twenty minutes of studio time. Mack recorded an instrumental loosely based on the melody of Chuck Berry's song "Memphis, Tennessee".

While Mack was touring with singer-songwriter Troy Seals, a friend told him that his song "Memphis" was climbing the charts. Mack was completely surprised, saying he had no idea what was happening. "Memphis" rose to #5.

But despite releasing 11 career albums, the best that Lonnie could do after that was "Wham!", which reached #24 later that year. Mack did several recordings through 1971, then slipping into relative obscurity for 14 years. Mack himself said, "Seems like every time I get close to really making it, to climbing to the top of the mountain, that's when I pull out. I just pull up and run". 

In the early 70's, Mack played guitar in Dobie Gray's band.  In 1975, Mack was shot during an altercation with a police officer.  Lonnie recovered, but once again virtually disappeared from the music business.  He recorded a few albums that attracted little attention.

Besides his solo career, Mack has also recorded with the Doors, James Brown, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Freddie King, Ronnie Hawkins, Roy Buchanan, Albert Collins and others.  In 2005, Mack was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

Other than his one big hit, this artist mostly stayed out of the limelight, but was a key force behind one of the biggest groups of the Rock Era:

#432:  Music to Watch Girls By--Bob Crewe Generation  

Bob Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 hits for the Four Seasons and has written many great songs.  He learned music from 19th and 20th century classical composers and the giants of jazz and swing, including Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Harry James and Tommy Dorsey.

Crewe initially landed recording contracts as a solo singing artist, but it was his songwriting that won him the greatest fame.  Crewe and pianist Frank Slay, Jr. formed a partnership that led to the creation of several hits.  Crewe was the singer on the Rays' hit "Silhouettes" in 1957, which reached #3, and the duo also wrote "Lah Dee Dah" for Billy Ford and Lillie Bryant and "Tallahassee Lassie" for Freddy Cannon.

As a solo artist, Crewe recorded two albums in 1961 that made him a teen heartthrob, with coverage in magazines such as 16 Magazine and to appearances on television variety shows.  

In the early 1960's, Crewe began writing with Bob Gaudio.  Their first work together was "Sherry" in 1962, which became one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era* by the Four Seasons.  The pair followed "Sherry" with many others, including "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Rag Doll", "Walk Like a Man" and "Ronnie" for the Four Seasons and "The Sun Ain't Gonna' Shine (Anymore)", which became a hit for the Walker Brothers.  

In addition, Crewe oversaw recording sessions by artists such as Dee Dee Sharp, Ben E. King and the Orlons.  In 1965, Crewe began his own record label, DynoVoice Records.  The label released songs such as "A Lover's Concerto" by the Toys and Crewe was chiefly responsible for the success of Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels.  With the guidance of Crewe, the group scored 11 Top 100 hits, capitalizing on Crewe's arrangements of "Devil with a Blue Dress On" and "Sock It to Me, Baby!".  Crewe also helped the career of the Tremeloes when they recorded "Silence Is Golden", a song originally recorded by the Four Seasons.

In 1967, Crewe, recording as The Bob Crewe Generation, released the instrumental single "Music to Watch Girls By".  The song became by far his biggest solo hit.  The Bob Crewe Generation also recorded the "Barbarella" Soundtrack in 1968.  

In 1967, Crewe and Gaudio teamed up to write "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", which reached #2 for Frankie Valli.  Crewe then collaborated with Oliver to produce his hits "Jean" and "Good Morning Starshine".  Bob continued to have a hand in  musical projects; in the mid-70's, he and Sir Monti Rock III formed Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes, who had the hit "Get Dancin'", and produced "My Eyes Adored You" for Valli.  In 1977, Crewe and Kenny Nolan wrote "Lady Marmalade", which became a #1 smash for Labelle.

In 1985, Crewe was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.  He has written or produced songs for Michael Jackson, Roberta Flack, Lesley Gore, Bobby Darin and Patti LaBelle, among others.  His songwriting and work behind the scenes obviously made Crewe a major talent, but "Music to Watch Girls By" was his only major success as a solo artist.

This former singer on The Tonight Show enjoyed one big hit, though he should have had many more...

#431:  Love You Like I Never Loved Before--John O'Banion

O'Banion began performing in theater at age 13 and joined the band Hog Honda & the Chain Guards in Kokomo, Indiana.  He hosted his own radio show on WIOU at age 15 and his own local television show at age 20.  

John was the lead singer in Doc Severinsen's band (of The Tonight Show fame).  Johnny Carson was a big fan and supporter of O'Banion, who also appeared on television shows of Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas, as well as on American Bandstand and Solid Gold.

O'Banion left The Tonight Show to pursue a solo career and was the winning singer on the first episode of Star Search.  John released the single "Love You Like I Never Loved Before" in 1981, which reached #24.  He won the prestigious Tokyo Music Festival Award in 1982 with "I Don't Want To Lose Your Love", which later became a country hit for Crystal Gayle.  O'Banion further endeared himself to Japanese fans with two songs in the movie Legend of the Eight Samurai.  

O'Banion also starred in the movies Borderline with Charles Bronson and the television movie Courage with Sophia Loren and Billy Dee Williams.  In 1995, he released an album of jazz covers that included his versions of 10 CC's "I'm Not in Love", "Hearts", made popular by Marty Balin and Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do For Love".  

O'Banion should have been a star, so this one is on radio for ignoring him.  He released four career albums.

This English artist enjoyed a worldwide hit in 1972:

#430:  Beautiful Sunday--Daniel Boone

Boone (real name Peter Green and then Peter Lee Stirling) began his career as the guitarist and lead singer of the Beachcombers, who played gigs in Birmingham, England from 1958-1962.  The group met up with Tommy Bruce ("Ain't Misbehavin'" from 1960 and released several records as Tommy Bruce and the Bruisers.

The group landed an appearance on the British television show Thank Your Lucky Stars but their records were not successful.  Stirling wrote several songs during this period, including "I Think of You" and "Don't Turn Around" for the Merseybeats.  The Bruisers broke up in 1967 and Stirling became the co-owner of a recording studio in London.  In 1971, he changed his name to Daniel Boone and joined Penny Farthing Records.

Daniel Boone co-wrote his One Hit Wonder that sold over two million copies worldwide.  It reached #15 in the United States and #21 in the U.K. in 1972.  Boone was especially popular in Germany, where "Beautiful Sunday" hit #1.  He released singles of both that song and the follow-up, "Annabelle", in German.  The song was also popular in much of Southeast Asia.  On the Japanese chart, "Beautiful Sunday" ranks 19th in all-time sales with nearly two million copies sold.

Here's one of many artists in the countdown who have made valuable contributions as a songwriter:

#429:  Modern Day Delilah--Van Stephenson

Stephenson played in several garage bands as a teenager, and and after graduation, gained a reputation as a songwriter for Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle, Restless Heart and Dan Seals.  Stephenson scored a recording contract and released his first album, China Girl, in 1981.  In 1984, Van reached #22 With "Modern Day Delilah".

Stephenson released two more albums and three singles, but the best he could do after his One Hit Wonder was #45.  He did go on to enjoy a successful foray into the much-smaller country music field with the group BlackHawk in the 1990's.  

A group from America's Pacific Northwest lands at #428:

#428:  I Can't Wait--Nu Shooz

The husband and wife team of John Smith and Valerie Day formed this group in Portland, Oregon, in 1979 that originally included 12 members.  They eventually pared their act down to seven members and released six career albums, but it was their third, Poolside, that contained their one big hit.  

"I Can't Wait" was originally released in Portland in 1985 and became a big local hit, but still the major labels, in their infinite wisdom, turned them down.  Peter Slaghuis remixed the song in the Netherlands, and once the head honchos at Atlantic Records heard that mix, they signed Nu Shooz to a recording contract.  It was still the same song by the same group that radio had ignored earlier, just the mix was different, but I digress...

Upon release in 1986, the song became a huge hit, reaching #3 in the United States.  The group released the single "Point Of No Return", which made it to #28.  Nu Shooz was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.  

In 1988, the group released the album Told 'U So.  The single "Should I Say Yes?" was a minor R&B hit but only reached #41 overall.     

Here's the only living musician to be awarded the Order of Merit from the Jamaican government:

#427:  I Can See Clearly Now--Jimmy Cliff

Cliff was born in Somerton District, St. James, Jamaica.  He began writing songs while at Primary school.  In 1962, Jimmy went to the Kingston Technical School in Kingston.  Cliff attempted to attract producers to record his songs without success.  Finally, he persuaded Leslie Kong to go into the recording business to record Jimmy's songs.  "Hurricane Hattie" became a local hit for Cliff when he was 14 years old.

In 1964, Cliff was chosen to be one of his country's representatives at the World's Fair.  Afterwards, he signed a recording contract with Island Records and moved to the U.K.  Cliff made his international debut with the album Hard Road to Travel.  A song written for him by Nirvana's Alex Spyropoulos and Patrick Campbell-Lyons called "Waterfall" won the International Song Festival and was a hit in Brazil.

In 1969, Cliff released the album Wonderful World, Beautiful People, which contained the great protest song "Vietnam".  In 1972, Jimmy starred in the reggae movie The Harder They Come.  The soundtrack album sold well and is credited with bringing reggae music to a worldwide audience.  

After a break, Cliff toured for several years and recorded with Kool & the Gang.  His album Cliff Hanger in 1985 won a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.  But Jimmy still wasn't able to enjoy a popular hit.  Cliff collaborated with other artists on the song "Sun City" to protest the existing South African policy of apartheid.  He provided backing vocals for the Rolling Stones on their 1986 album Dirty Work, and Jimmy's song "Shelter of Your Love" was included in the movie Cocktail.  

Cliff performed at the Rock in Rio festival in 1991 and continued to have a following in his native country of Jamaica and the U.K.  He finally struck it big with his version of the Johnny Nash classic "I Can See Clearly Now".  The song was included on the "Cool Runnings" Soundtrack in 1993.  The song reached #18 overall and #9 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States, #23 in the U.K. and #1 in France.

Cliff performed at the closing ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and his song "You Can Get It If You Really Want" was included in the soundtrack to the popular movie Something's Gotta' Give.  Cliff scored a big comeback in 2012 when his album Rebirth was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. 

In 2003, the Jamaican government honored Cliff with The Order of Merit in recognition of his contributions to the film and music of Jamaica.  In 2010, Cliff was inducted as one of the many artists in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  

Up next in the One-Hit Wonder spectacular, a cousin of Sam Cooke:

#426:  Doctor's Orders--Carol Douglas

At age 10, Douglas was a winner on the television game show Name That Tune.  She attended Quintanos High School for young professionals along with Bernadette Peters, Gregory Hines and Patty Duke.  While at Quintanos, Carol sang in the female trio April, May & June, a client of Little Anthony and the Imperials.  In 1963, she recorded a single for RCA Victor but it was not successful.  

Douglas recorded several jingles for television commercials (including General Mills) but mostly starred in off-Broadway productions as an actress.  In the early 1970's, Douglas toured in a lineup of the Chantels featuring original lead singer Arlene Smith.  In 1974, Douglas was recruited by Midland International Records to sing a cover of "Doctor's Orders", which was a hit in the U.K. by Sunny.  

Douglas' audition landed her a five-year recording contract, and "Doctor's Orders" hit #11 in the United States, one of the first disco hits that crossed over to the mainstream.  The song was produced by Meco Monardo, who later found fame with the instrumental "Theme from 'Star Wars'".  Without Monardo, Douglas was a popular club presence but with little mainstream success; her only other hit only made it to #81 (despite six albums and 12 single releases).  Douglas did continue her disco success with songs like "Midnight Love Affair".

We're now well into The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era*, with 75 revealed.  If we accomplish one thing with this special, we will have conveyed the tremendous talent of these artists.  With few exceptions, they aren't the "flash in the pan" that many in the media make them out to be, as they mock them, while none of the mockers could actually achieve a big hit themselves.  It takes considerable talent, hard work and perseverance to get to the level these 500 artists achieved, plus a good deal of luck as well.