The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era Revisited: #380-371

You won't find these great One-Hit Wonders* presented like this anywhere.  Let's dive into another 10!

The next One-Hit Wonder went from being an artist to an executive:

     #380:  Tommy Page--"I'll Be Your Everything"

Page worked as a cloakroom attendant at the New York City nightclub Nell's when he was sixteen, taking the coats of stars such as Whitney Houston and Rob Lowe.  Page played a demo tape for the house DJ at Nell's, who used them as part of his mixes.  Soon, Page was introduced to Seymour Stein, the founder of Sire Records.

When Page was 18, he wrote the theme for the movie Shag and released it as his first single.  The song was included on Page's debut album.  Page co-wrote "I'll Be Your Everything" with Jordan Knight and Danny Wood of New Kids on the Block.  While on tour with them, Page was playing piano at a hotel when Knight came up and the two played piano together.  Knight played Page part of a song he'd been working on.  When Page asked if he could record it, Knight agreed and produced the track.  "I'll Be Your Everything" was included on the album Paintings In My Mind and went to #1.

Page has released seven albums in his career before becoming an A&R man at Warner Brothers Records.  Page helped shape the careers of Josh Groban, Green Day, Alanis Morissette and Michael Buble, among others, before becoming an associate publisher at Billboard magazine.

A USC Trojan with a unique voice is next in The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders*:

 

  #379:  Macy Gray--"I Try"  

Gray has been nominated for five Grammy Awards, winning one. She has appeared in several movies including Training Day and Spider-Man.

While going to the University of Southern California, Gray wrote songs for a friend, and a demo was scheduled for the songs to be recorded by another singer.  When the vocalist did not show up, Gray recorded them herself.    She then met writer & producer Joe Solo in Beverly Hills. The two wrote several songs and recorded them in Solo's studio.  

This led to Gray getting a contract with Atlantic Records, with Gray soon landing a deal with Epic. She sang backing vocals on "I Can't Wait" for the Black Eyed Peas on their debut album. In 1999, Gray released her own debut, On How Life Is. The first single, "Do Something", did nothing, but "I Try" was a breakthrough hit, becoming one of the biggest songs of the year. Gray's album reached triple platinum status in the United States.

Gray won the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I Try", which was also nominated for Song and Record of the Year. But in August of 2001, Gray was booed off the field at the Pro Football Hall of Fame exhibition game for forgetting the lyrics to the American national anthem. Gray released The Id, which paled in comparison to her debut. She starred in the movie Spider-Man in 2002 and worked with Santana on his album Shaman. 

Gray has released six albums and 17 singles in her career.

This group hit the Top 10 with their first single release:

#378:  Every Mother's Son--"Come On Down to My Boat"

This group formed in New York City in 1967. Brothers Dennis and Larry Larden were joined by keyboardist Bruce Milner, drummer Christopher Augustine and Schuyler Larsen. The group signed with MGM Records and recorded an album of songs written by Wes Farrell and Jerry Goldstein.

"Come On Down To My Boat" was included on the album and released as a single which peaked at #6. Every Mother's Son was featured in a two-part episode of the television show  The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and the song hit #6 in July.

The group released a second album and three more singles, but the best they could do was "Put Your Mind At Ease" at #46. Larsen left the group and Every Mother's Son broke up in 1968.  Dennis Larden later joined Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band.

We're up to one of several Underrated Songs* in the special:

#377:  Cock Robin--"When Your Heart Is Weak"

This group was named after a 17th century story called "The Marriage of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren".  The group formed in California and signed to CBS Records.  Cock Robin's self-titled debut album did not do well in the United States, but "When Your Heart Is Weak" became a huge hit throughout Europe, especially in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal.  The song only hit #35 in the U.S.

Future releases found continued success in Europe, but their first single was the only one that gained significant worldwide airplay.  The group recently reformed and has released five albums and seven singles.  

At #376, this acclaimed songwriter:

#376:  Michael Penn--"No Myth"

Penn was a member of the band Doll Congress in Los Angeles. He appeared as an extra on television shows, including St. Elsewhere. 

"No Myth" peaked at #13 and helped Penn win the 1990 MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist. Although critics praised his successive efforts, Penn was unable to match the overall success of "No Myth". Gary Leboff wrote in Vox magazine: "His (Penn's) freeform songwriting creates tracks of startling shape and originality, offering literate reflections on the human condition."

Penn has worked extensively creating music for soundtracks, including Boogie Nights.  Michael has released seven career albums and nine singles.    He's enjoyed some success on the Modern Rock charts but nothing else for the rest of the world.

This talented trumpeter enjoyed a massive hit in 1968:

#375:  Hugh Masekela--"Grazing In The Grass"

Masekela was born in South Africa, and was inspired to play the trumpet at age 14 after seeing the movie Young Man With a Horn.  He soon formed the Huddleston Jazz Band, South Africa's first youth orchestra.   Hugh was in the African Jazz Revue and the Jazz Epistles, the first African jazz recording group.  

Following the Sharpeville Massacre on March 21, 1960, where 69 peacefully-protesting Africans were shot dead, and the increasing brutality of the Apartheid state, Masekela left the country.  Hugh enrolled in London's Guildhall School of Music, then friend Harry Belafonte helped him enroll in the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.

Masekela had the huge hit "Grazin' in the Grass" in 1968, which reached #1 and sold over four million copies.  Hugh was nominated for Best Contemporary Pop Performance, Instrumental at the Grammy Awards.  He also appeared at the famous Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.  Hugh released 36 career albums, but outside of his #1 hit, Masekela never did enjoy massive success with his recordings.

Masekela was a session musician for the Byrds, Herb Alpert and Paul Simon, and toured with Simon in support of the album Graceland.

In 1988, Hugh was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Score (Musical) for Sarafina!, which he collaborated on with Mbongeni Ngema.  In 2007, he won the African Music Legend Award from Ghana.  In 2010, Masekela received the Order of Ikhamanga from his native South Africa.

One of the 80's groups checks in next in The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era*:

#374:  Talk Talk--"It's My Life"  

Talk Talk began with Mark Hollis on vocals, drummer Lee Harris, Paul Webb on bass and keyboardist Simon Brenner.  They had several things in common with Duran Duran besides a name in which a single word was repeated.  They shared the same label (EMI) and producer (Colin Thurston) and thus had a similar sound.  Talk Talk in fact opened for Duran Duran on tour in 1981.

Talk Talk released their first single, "Mirror Man" in 1982, followed by their self-titled single later in the year.  "Talk Talk" gave them a #1 song in South Africa but it was largely ignored elsewhere.  In October, the group opened for Genesis at their reunion concert at Milton Keynes Bowl in England.  Brenner left in 1983, to be replaced by Time Friese-Greene, who also produced and co-wrote songs with Hollis.

The group enjoyed major success in the mid-80's, mostly in Europe.  Talk Talk released the album It's My Life in 1984, which contained "It's My Life".  The single reached the Top 10 in Italy, was the only Top 40 song by the group in the United States, and also was widely played in Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the Netherlands and France.

"Life's What You Make It" gave the group a Top 20 hit in several countries in Europe, but their success was contained on that continent.  In later years, the band was not near as successful, but their experimental ventures (Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock) were highly acclaimed and influential to alternative rock groups.

Up next, a group that was unable to follow up their one hit not because of a lack of talent, but because their record company collapsed:

 

#373:  Moving Pictures--"What About Me?"

Singer Alex Smith, guitarist and keyboardist Garry Frost, saxophonist Andy Thompson, Charlie Cole on keyboards and trumpet, bassist Ian Lees and drummer Paul Freeland formed Moving Pictures in Sydney, Australia and gained a strong reputation as a pub act, playing as many as 250 shows a year.  Their first shows included a mix of original songs and covers.  

In 1981, Moving Pictures signed a deal with Wheatley Management.  The group's live shows featured rock & roll, but their debut album, Days of Innocence in 1981, featured rock ballads.  "What About Me" was #1 for six weeks in Australia, the second-biggest selling single of the year behind "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.  The song also reached #29 in the United States, but was hindered by uneven airplay, meaning many radio stations played the song early and enjoyed success with it, but by the time others added it, the song was already off the playlists of the original stations.  Nevertheless, the song still was #88 for the year, an unheard-of feat for a #29 song.  Because of that, in Inside the Rock Era terms, it is one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*!

Another factor that hurt the song and the group was that, after signing with Elektra Records to distribute the song in America, Elektra collapsed, and their promotion was gone.  Moving Pictures was set to play a nationwide tour, opening for acts such as REO Speedwagon, Tom Petty and Hall & Oates.  All of this fell apart because of the failure of Elektra.

So you see, there are many reasons and stories behind One-Hit Wonders, and often times, it is not their fault they didn't continue to have success.  Many times, it is the fault of the record company or radio stations which failed to see the ability and potential of the artist.  Sadly, this was the case with this act.

Moving Pictures released a second album, Matinee, on a much smaller record label in 1983 but it was only successful in Australia, as was their final album, The Last Picture Show in 1987.  Internal friction and disappointment over what they had been through led to the breakup of the group shortly afterwards.  

No further songs emerged that would generate interest by the public, despite five albums and 11 singles. 

 

#372:  Tal Bachman--"She's So High"

Canadian singer-songwriter Tal Bachman is the son of Randy, guitarist with Guess Who and co-founder of Bachman-Turner Overdrive.  His uncle Robbie also played drums in BTO.  Growing up, Tal played songs from the extensive record collection of his father and taught himself how to play guitar.  

Tal's demos were rejected by several record labels before Columbia signed him to a recording contract.  

Bachman's release "She's So High" hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #14 in the U.S. and #3 in his native Canada and won BMI's Song of the Year award.  Tal opened for Bryan Adams and the Barenaked Ladies on tour.

Bachman is currently a member of Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

 

  #371:  Merrill Bainbridge--"Mouth"

Australian Merrill Bainbridge exploded out of the gate with this smash from her 1995 debut album The Garden.  It dominated the top spot in her native Australia for six weeks and also hit #1 in Canada and #4 in the U.S.  

Bainbridge went on an extensive tour, opening for Sheryl Crow among other acts.  Merrill released a follow-up album and several other singles, but none caught on.

Inside The Rock Era has all the great One-Hit Wonders* this summer.  Join us tomorrow for another edition!