The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era Revisited: #250-241

These artists may not be household names, but there's not too many households that don't know their songs.

This next act gave us this great song in 1987:

   
#250:  T'pau--"Heart And Soul"  

This band formed in 1986 in Shropshire, England, named after the Vulcan priestess in the classic television series Star Trek. Carol Decker was the lead singer and songwriter, accompanied by lead guitarists Dean Howard and Taj Wyzgowski, rhythm guitarist and songwriter Ronnie Rogers, drummer Tim Burgess, Michael Chetwood on keyboards and bassist Paul Jackson.

After their initial single "Heart And Soul" flopped in the U.K., it caught on in the United States, hitting #4 in 1987.  Upon its re-release in their native country, T'Pau also hit #4 in the U.K. 

The group's next single, "China In Your Hand", became a #1 song in the U.K. and other European countries, but didn't even make the Top 100 across the Atlantic.  T'Pau also enjoyed regional success with "Valentine".

In 1988,  T'Pau released the album Rage, which contained the U.K. Top 20 single "Secret Garden".  But the album paled by comparison to their debut.  Future releases showed diminishing returns, although the group still performs live occasionally.

You don't often find a National Merit Scholar finalist in rock & roll, but here he is:

   

#249:  Elvin Bishop--"Fooled Around And Fell In Love"  

Bishop and his family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma when he was ten years old.  He attended Will Rogers High School and won a full scholarship to the University of Chicago as a National Merit Scholar finalist to study physics.

In 1963, Bishop met harmonica player Paul Butterfield and joined his blues band for five years.  Elvin then formed the Elvin Bishop Group and signed with Fillmore Records.  Bishop toured with the Allman Brothers Band and received airplay in 1975 with "Travelin' Shoes".  

In 1976, Bishop released the single "Fooled Around And Fell In Love", which reached #3 in the United States and #34 in the U.K.  The song featured lead singer Mickey Thomas and drummer Donny Baldwin, who both later joined Jefferson Starship.

In 1984, Bishop performed at the Long Beach Blues Festival.  In 1988, he signed with Alligator Records and has released several Blues-oriented albums that have been well received in that genre.  In 2008, his album The Blues Roles On, aided by such stars as B.B. King, Derek Trucks and George Thorogood.  The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. 

Bishop has recorded 18 albums in his career and released five singles, but "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" is his only hit.

This act achieved their big success, then disappeared:

   #248:  O'Kaysions--"Girl Watcher"

This group first formed as the Kays in 1959.  Lead singer and organ player Donnie Weaver, guitarist Wayne Pittman, Eddie Dement on trumpet, saxophone player Gerald Toler, bassist Jimmy Hinnant and Steve Watson on drums were the original members.   "(I'm A) Girl Watcher" was released in 1968 on a local record label before being picked up nationally by ABC Records.  It went to #5 in the United States and sold over one million copies.

The group recorded a self-titled debut album after their single took off, but it was the only album the O'Kaysions ever released.

 Here's another artist who scored one big hit, but had a bigger impact as a songwriter:

 

 #247:  Matthew Wilder--"Break My Stride"

Wilder started as one-half of the folk group Matthew & Peter in the 1970's.  In 1978, he moved to Los Angeles, where he sang for television commercials and served as a backing vocalist for Bette Midler and Rickie Lee Jones.

Wilder released his debut album I Don't Speak the Language in 1983.  "Break My Stride" helped the album get off the ground, reaching #5 in 1984.  He was able to reach #33 with "The Kid's American" from the same album, and the title cut from his next album Bouncin' Off the Walls hit #52, but Wilder was never able to reach the Top 20 after "Break My Stride".

Although his solo career went downhill, Wilder continued to write and produce for artists such as Christina Aguilera, No Doubt and Kelly Clarkson.  Wilder was nominated for an Academy Award along with David Zippel and Jerry Goldsmith for Original Music Score for the movie Mulan in 1998.  

At #246, a group that made the most of their opportunity:

  
#246: Kajagoogoo--"Too Shy"  

Nick Beggs (bass), lead guitarist Steve Askew, keyboardist Stuart Croxford Neal and drummer Jeremy Strode formed Art Nouveau in 1979 in Bedfordshire, England.  The group released a single but record companies were not interested. 

In 1982, the group advertised for a lead singer and chose Christopher Hamill, who went by the stage name of Limahl.  They changed their name to Kajagoogoo and were able to sign a recording contract with EMI Records with help from Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran.  Rhodes produced Kajagoogoo's first single, "Too Shy", which went to #1 in the U.K. and #5 in the United States.   

Further releases did OK in their native country and in some other European countries, but didn't spark worldwide interest.  Tensions rose in the group, and Limahl was fired in 1983.  They were able to score one more big hit in the U.K. with "Big Apple" and a popular dance song in the U.S. with "Turn Your Back On Me" but nothing matched the overall success of "Too Shy".  

Up next, a group helped by Nirvana: 
#245:  Meat Puppets--"Backwater" 

The Meat Puppets formed in 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona.  Their original lineup was Curt Kirkwood on guitar and vocals, bassist brother Cris Kirkwood and Derrick Bostrom on drums. The three met while attending Brophy Prep High School.  Joe Carducci of punk rock label SST Records became interested in the group and the Meat Puppets signed a recording contract.

The group released their self-titled album in 1982 and Meat Puppets II in 1984.  But the members grew tired of Punk Rock and began experimenting.  The Meat Puppets stayed with SST for a decade and released several albums in addition to a heavy touring schedule.  

The Kirkwood brothers were guest musicians on Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance in 1993.   Kurt Cobain and the other members of Nirvana stated that they had been influenced by the sound of the Meat Puppets, and this greatly boosted the group's popularity.

The following year, the Meat Puppets recorded the album Too High To Die, which featured "Backwater" and a hidden-track update of "Lake Of Fire", which they had performed with Nirvana.  The song only made it to #47, but the album went Gold because of it.  

However, just like Nirvana, members of the Meat Puppets were destroyed by the use of drugs.  The group deteriorated and broke up in 2002.  They released a total of 13 albums and 16 singles, with "Backwater" being their only hit.  

This group backed up some of rock's pioneers, then found themselves with a big hit of their own:

   #244: Nashville Teens--"Tobacco Road"  

Arthur Sharp began his music career as manager of Aerco Records in Woking, Surrey, England.  Sharp and Ray Phillips joined with pianist John Hawken, guitarist Mick Dunford, Pete Shannon Harris on bass and drummer Dave Maine to form the Nashville Teens.  Eventually, Barry Jenkins became the drummer and John Allen took over on guitar for Dunford.  

The group backed Jerry Lee Lewis for his Live at the Star Club album in Hamburg, Germany, an album many considered as one of the best live Rock albums ever.  They later backed Carl Perkins and played with Chuck Berry when he toured Great Britain.  Famous producer Mickie Most spotted the Nashville Teens at a concert and produced their debut single in 1964, "Tobacco Road".

The song reached #6 in the U.K. and #14 in the United States.  The group followed that up with "Google Eye", a Top 10 song in the U.K. that went nowhere in other countries.  The Nashville Teens appeared in three movies in 1965--Pop Gear, Be My Guest and Gonks Go Beat.  When other songs failed to chart, Jenkins left to join the Animals and by the latter part of the decade, the group was back to playing for other artists like Perkins, Chuck Berry and Gene Vincent.  The Nashville Teens broke up in 1973.

#243: Blu Cantrell--"Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops)!"  

Tiffany Cobb recorded several demos and sang backup for "artists" such as Puff Daddy, and I use that term loosely, prior to being discovered by Red Zone Entertainment.  She also sang with Dionne Warwick, Usher, Babyface and Herbie Hancock.  

Her producers placed her in the hands of famous producer Antonio "L.A." Reid, who heard one song Cantrell wrote and also sang for her.  In 2001, Cantrell released her debut album, So Blu.  The album's single "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!) went to #2 in the United States, #3 in Australia and #12 in the U.K., helped the album go Gold and earned Cantrell Grammy nominations for Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and an American Music nomination for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist.

Cantrell wrote material for other artists, then released her second album, Bittersweet.  That album contained "Breathe", which was #1 in the U.K. but lacked the worldwide appeal of "Hit 'Em Up Style".

Then, Cantrell went 10 years without albums and has been largely forgotten, except for her One-Hit Wonder.

At #242, this talented band:
  
#242:  Fuel--"Hemorrhage (In My Hands)"

Guitarist and songwriter Carl Bell and drummer Jody Abbott formed the group Small the Joy in 1989 in Brownsville, Tennessee and invited singer/guitarist Brett Scallions and vocalist and keyboardist Erik Avakian.  The group then changed their name to Fuel and moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where they played in local bars and nightclubs.

Fuel released their first EP Porcelain in 1996, which contained the minor hit "Shimmer".  Officials at Epic Records were impressed enough to sign the band to their label and released a second EP, Hazleton, the following year.

The group recorded their first full-length album, Sunburn, in 1998.  "Shimmer" was included on the album, and Fuel also received Mainstream Rock airplay with "Bittersweet", "Jesus Or A Gun" and "Sunburn".  The title track was also featured in the movie Scream 3, while Fuel recorded "Walk The Sky" for the movie Godzilla.

The group toured in support of the album, but problems with Abbott led Fuel to enlist Jonathan Mover on drums.  In 2000, Fuel released the album Something Like Human and single "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)".  The song reached #11 in Canada, #30 in the United States (a #1 Alternative Rock smash) and #46 in Australia.  The single helped Fuel achieve Double Platinum status with Something Like Human.

But legal problems and Scallions' surgery to repair a deviated septum prevented Fuel from recording another album until 2003.  Although these events were out of the group's control, it is considered a cardinal sin in the music industry to go that long without releases.  The album Natural Selection included "Falls On Me", which only peaked at #52, and the album failed to reach 500,000 in sales.  

Fuel has released four albums and 13 singles in their career.

 This next artist scored her big hit as a teenager:

  

   #241:  Samantha Mumba--"Gotta' Tell You"  

Mumba attended Billie Barry Stage School in Dublin, Ireland from age three to fifteen.  Louis Walsh, manager of Westlife and Boyzone, discovered Samantha on the television talent show Let Me Entertain You and helped sign her to Polydor Records.

Mumba co-wrote and recorded her debut album Gotta' Tell You when she was 17.  The title track was released in 2000 and hit #1 in her native Ireland, #2 in the U.K. and #4 in the United States and helped the album sell over four million copies.  

After Mumba's second album was cancelled, Samantha put her music career on hold and began auditioning for films.  In 2001, she played the lead in the movie The Time Machine.

In 2002, Mumba reached the Top 5 in the U.K. with "I'm Right Here", but the song only reached #80 in the United States.  Shortly afterwards, Mumba was dropped from her record label.  In 2010, Mumba confirmed that she would no longer record and would instead focus on acting. 

We're over halfway, and the segments will keep getting better and better.  There's one place in the world to find them all--right here on Inside The Rock Era!