The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era Revisited: #220-211

We've got another great list for you today in our special.

At #220, the artist who gave us one of The Top Love Songs of the Rock Era*:

   #220:  Bloodstone--"Natural High"  

This group formed in high school as the Sinceres as a doo-wop act in Kansas City, Missouri in 1962.  They were backed by the brass group the Smokin' Emeralds and drew large crowds at a venue called the Place.  In 1971, the group's members included drummer Melvin Webb, Roger Durham and Harry Williams on percussion, Charles Love on lead vocals and guitar, bassist Charles McCormick and guitarist Willis Draffen.

The band then moved to Los Angeles, where they met managers George Braunstein and Ron Hamady.  Eddie Summers replaced Webb on drums and the group changed their name to Bloodstone.  The group then traveled to London and signed a recording contract with Decca Records.  

Bloodstone released their self-titled album which included the singles "That's The Way We Make Our Music" and "Girl (You Look So Fine)", both written by Summers.  In 1973, the group released the album Natural High, with its title track reaching #10 and helping the album sell one million copies.

Bloodstone toured with Elton John, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions.  Bloodstone released 13 singles, many of which had success in the R&B genre but were unable to crack the mainstream.  

A sister act scored their big hit in the 60's:

  
#219:  Paris Sisters--"I Love How You Love Me"  

The Paris Sisters consisted of lead singer Priscilla Paris, older sister Albeth Paris and middle sister Sherrell Paris.  They formed in San Francisco and hooked up with producer Phil Spector.  They first recorded for Decca Records in 1954, but "Be My Boy" in 1961 was their first charting single.

The follow up to "Be My Boy" was the single "I Love How You Love Me", which reached #5 and sold over one million copies.  The Paris Sisters finished their career with five charting singles, but "He Knows I Love Him Too Much" at #34 was the next best they could do.  

The group appeared in the 1962 movie It's Trad, Dad!, released in the United States as Ring-a-Ding Rhythm.  Sherrell later was the production assistant on The Price Is Right television show.

This next group's big hit included some big names as backing musicians:

#218:  Cascades--"Rhythm Of The Rain"  

The Silver Strands began performing while serving in the United States Navy in 1960 on the USS Jason in San Diego, California.  After leaving the Navy, the group recruited manager John Gummoe to join their group and became the Thundernotes.  After original guitarist Len Green left, the group consisted of lead singer Gummoe, Eddie Snyder on guitar, David Szabo on keyboards, Ronald Lynch playing keyboards and saxophone, bassist Dave Stevens and drummer Dave Wilson.

The group released the instrumental "Thunder Rhythm" as their first single on Del-Fi Records.  Influenced by the nearby Beach Boys, the group recorded vocal harmonies and released a demo tape.  Barry DeVorzon, an executive at Valiant Records, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers, signed them to a recording contract and changed their name to the Cascades.  The group's first release on Valiant--"There's A Reason" was a regional hit.  

The group then recorded a song Gummoe had written while in the Navy.  Backing musicians included Glen Campbell on guitar and drummer Hal Blaine.  "Rhythm Of The Rain", arranged by Perry Botkin, was released as a single in 1962.  It reached #3 in the United States, #5 in the U.K., was a major hit in over 80 countries, and sold over one million copies.

The Cascades were on their way.  But after an album and several other singles, none matched the success of "Rhythm of the Rain".  The group continued to perform in San Diego clubs such as The Cinnamon Cinder and toured often.  The Cascades appeared in the movie Catalina Caper in 1967 but eventually split in 1975.

The same musicians that helped out the Cascades also were the driving force behind this next act:

#217:  Hondells--"Little Honda" 

The Beach Boys recorded "Little Honda", written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, for their album All Summer Long. Producer Gary Usher then gave vocalist Chuck Girard a copy of All Summer Long and asked him to learn it.

Usher then recruited several studio musicians, including guitarist Glen Campbell and drummer Hal Blaine and together the group recorded an album of Honda-related songs for Mercury Records.  Mercury released "Little Honda" as the single and as it rose up the charts, Usher assembled a touring group to support the record.  "Little Honda" eventually reached #9.

The Hondells released another album in 1966 and had a minor hit with the Lovin' Spoonful song "Younger Girl" before disbanding.  Usher went on to assemble numerous temporary groups, including the Rip Chords, who are also featured in Inside the Rock Era's salute to One-Hit Wonders.

If you were listening in the spring of 1975, you'll remember this song:

#216:  Sammy Johns--"Chevy Van" 

Johns received his first guitar at age nine and formed his own band, the Devilles, as a teenager. The group performed in local clubs and recorded a few records that received regional airplay.

After moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 1973, Johns signed a recording contract.  In 1975, the single "Chevy Van" was released, which rose to #5 and sold over a million copies.  Although Johns never would enjoy further recording success, he has written songs for other artists, including John Conlee, Waylon Jennings and Conway Twitty.  

This former lead singer of the Dovells enjoyed his own solo hit:

#215:  Len Barry--"1-2-3"

Barry's inspiration in school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was to be a professional baseball player.  Upon entering military service, however, Barry sang with the U.S. Coast Guard band at Cape May, New Jersey and decided to pursue a musical career.

After his discharge, Barry joined the Dovells as lead singer.  With that group, Barry enjoyed hits such as "You Can't Sit Down" and "Bristol Stomp".  The latter sold over one million copies.  Barry and the Dovells appeared on The Dick Clark Show, Shindig and Hullabaloo.

Barry left the Dovells and recorded the solo single "Lip Sync".  In 1965, Len recorded "1-2-3", which hit #2 in the United States, also made the Top 10 in the U.K. and sold over one million copies.  "Like a Baby" just missed the Top 20 at #27 in the U.S.  Barry co-wrote both songs.  He also recorded a remake of Roy Head's song "Treat Her Right".

In 1969, Barry and John Madera co-produced The Original Version:  Journey to the Moon album for Buddah Records.  The album used actual conversations with the astronauts and U.S. President Richard Nixon, among others, mixed with original music.   The band included Daryl Hall, later to join Hall & Oates, and the album was approved by NASA.

Barry went on to write "Keem-O-Sabe" and was a key contributor to the Philadelphia disco sound. 

This artist started a musical "project" that resulted in a #1 record:

#214: M--"Pop Muzik"  

Robin Scott enrolled at Croydon Art college in a London suburb.  While at Croydon, he began writing songs which he performed on radio and television, which led to his debut album, Woman From the Warm Grass.

After this initial foray into the music business, Scott began singing his own songs and accompanying himself on guitar. He played folk music clubs, sharing bills with emerging artists such as David Bowie.  Scott conceived of a multimedia project called "The Voice" which aired on BBC Radio 3.  

In 1972, Scott won the Search For A Star national talent contest, but refused a recording offer from EMI because they would not include his backing band.  In 1973, Scott wrote a musical called "Heartaches & Teardrops".  Scott then began working with the band Roogalator, producing their album and releasing it on his own Do It Records.

While in Paris, France, Scott began working on a project he called "M" with a group of session musicians.  The single "Pop Muzik", which he wrote and produced, reached #1 in the United States and #2 in the U.K.

A follow up called "Moonlight and Muzak" was released and reached #33 in the U.K.

All told, Scott released four albums and nine singles, but none approaching the level of "Pop Muzik".



Up next, one of the most promising newcomers of the 1980's:

#213:  Bertie Higgins--"Key Largo"        

Bertie was born in Tarpon Springs, Florida.  Higgins played drums in a band known as the Romans as a teenager, changed to the Roemans when Tommy Roe became the lead singer.  The group released three singles between 1964 and 1966, which received some airplay but did not chart.

Higgins achieved his only hit with "Key Largo"  in 1981, a song which referenced the Humphrey Bogart movie of the same name.  "Key Largo" reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and was #8 overall and sold over one million copies.  

Higgins did achieve success in Japan and China with his song "Casablanca", continuing the theme of Bogart movies, but his only worldwide success was with "Key Largo".

This gospel-rock band hit paydirt in 1971:

#212:  Ocean--"Put Your Hand In The Hand"

Ocean was a gospel-rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1970.  They consisted of Greg Brown on vocals and keyboard, Jeff Jones on bass and vocals, Janice Morgan on guitar and vocals, guitarist Dave Tamblyn and Chuck Slater on drums.

In 1971, they struck gold with the million-seller "Put Your Hand In The Hand", which reached #2.  The single was recorded on Yorkville Records, picked up for distribution by Kama Sutra.

Ocean had a hit in their native Canada with "We've Got A Dream" but couldn't achieve further worldwide success and broke up in 1975 after two albums.

 This talented singer was discovered by Paul Revere & the Raiders:

 

 #211:   Merrilee Rush--"Angel Of The Morning"

   

Merrilee Gunst is from Seattle, Washington and studied piano at an early age.  In 1960, she became the lead singer for the Amazing Aztecs.  She soon married saxophone player Neil Rush and the two performed covers as Merrilee and Her Men before joining the R&B group Tiny Tony and the Statics.

Merrillee and Neil then formed Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts, which became popular at dances in the Northwest.  The great group Paul Revere and the Raiders discovered her during this time and invited Merrillee to open for them on tour.  Mark Lindsay, the lead singer of the Raiders, introduced Rush to producer Chips Moman, and her career was born.

Rush recorded "Angel Of The Morning" in 1968 and the single was released on Bell Records.  Songwriter Chip Taylor, brother of actor Jon Voight  and uncle of actress Angelina Jolie, wrote the song.  Merrilee made a great impression with listeners and the song rocketed up to #7 in the United States and was a worldwide hit.  "Angel Of The Morning" went gold and earned Rush a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Pop Female Vocalist of the Year.

Merrilee appeared on numerous television programs including American Bandstand, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, The Everly Brothers Show and Happening.  Rush and the Turnabouts released "That Kind of Woman" in 1968, while the rest of her releases were solo singles.  Her next best effort came in 1977, when Merrilee reached #54 with "Save Me".  

Wow, some great songs in there!  We've got another 10 One-Hit Wonders* lined up for you tomorrow!