The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era Revisited: #30-21

 Up next, this comedian who recorded one of the surprise hits of the Rock Era:

  

   #30:  The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia--Vicki Lawrence

Victoria Ann Axelrad was born in Inglewood, California.  Lawrence graduated as the valedictorian of her class of 1967 at Morningside High School, and soon changed her stage name to Vicki Lawrence.  Vicki co-starred on the popular television show The Carol Burnett Show from 1967 to 1978, and was the only member of the cast other than Burnett herself that remained on the show for the entire eleven seasons.  Vicki's portrayal of the "Mama" character was so popular that NBC created the sitcom Mama's Family, which aired from 1983-1990.   

In 1972, songwriter Bobby Russell wrote "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia", but he didn't want to record it because he didn't like it.  Lawrence, his wife at the time, believed in it and recorded a demo herself.  The song's publisher wanted to pitch it to Liza Minnelli, but first offered it to Cher, who turned it down.  Being as there was no artist to record the song, Lawrence went into the studio to record the song for release.

"The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" became a #1 smash and was a multi-format hit in the United States, also charting on the Easy Listening chart as well as the Country chart.  It also reached #1 in Canada.    

Once Lawrence showed doubters what a great song it was, her hit has since been recorded by numerous artists, including Reba McEntire and Tanya Tucker.

Lawrence went on to release three albums and 13 singles, but her follow-up, "He Did With Me" in 1973, was the best Lawrence could do at #73 besides her classic hit.

Lawrence made appearances on other television shows such as Laverne & Shirley and Major Dad.  She also was a panelist on several television game shows in the 1970's and 1980's.

A unique song gave this group their only hit:  
#29:  Reflections Of My Life--Marmalade

Marmalade came from the east end of Glasgow, Scotland and formed in 1961 as the Gaylords, then Dean Ford and the Gaylords and finally in 1966, the Marmalade.  They played several dates in Germany before moving to London, where they built up a following by playing clubs.    

After signing with CBS Records, their first singles did not chart in most countries although "I See the Rain" was #1 in the Netherlands.  In 1967, the Marmalade made their debut at the famous Marquee Club in London, opening for Pink Floyd, and they also toured with the Who, Traffic, Joe Cocker, Gene Pitney and the Tremeloes.  The group switched to Decca Records and in 1969, lead guitarist Junior Campbell and lead singer Dean Ford wrote "Reflections of My Life".  The group finally had a big hit, reaching #3 in the U.K. and #10 in the U.s.  "Reflections of My Life" went gold in November of 1971 and the single has now gone over two million in sales.  In 1998, BMI certified that the song had gone over one million in airplay.

In 2008, the song was used as the closing to an American episode of the British television show Life on Mars.

The group released nine studio albums and 29 singles, but the best they could do otherwise was "Falling Apart at the Seams", which peaked at #49 in 1976. The Marmalade did have some success in Great Britain but could never achieve worldwide success after "Reflections of My Life".

The #28 artist went back in their compositions and reworked and recorded a song they'd written four years before the group started.  It became their one and only hit:

  

   #28:  96 Tears--? & the Mysterians

Question Mark and the Mysterians, most often rendered as ? and the Mysterians, formed in 1962 in Bay City, Michigan.  The group played instrumental music inspired by surf music groups and artists such as Link Wray.  

Rudy Martinez of the group wrote "96 Tears", which began as a poem called Too Many Teardrops, written four years before the band was formed.  The song was released as a single on Pa-Go-Go Records, which was owned by group manager Lillian Gonzales.  Martinez visited many local radio stations to promote the single, and it quickly became a regional hit in Detroit and Flint, Michigan.  Cameo-Parkway Records picked up the song and released it nationally.

"96 Tears" sold over a million copies and reached #1.  BMI has certified that the song has been played over three million times in the United States.  It has become a staple of classic rock and has been covered many times by other artists.

? and the Mysterians released two albums and 14 singles.  Two songs in particular received significant airplay, though neither made the Top 20.  "I Need Somebody" was a #22 song and "Can't Get Enough Of You Baby" peaked at #56.

 

 #27:  Bang A Gong (Get It On)-- T. Rex  

Singer-songwriter, guitarist and crazy man Marc Bolan formed T. Rex in 1967, or Tyrannosaurus Rex as they were originally known.  The group released four folk albums under the latter name, before going electric and shortening their name.  A key collaborator was producer Tony Visconti.  The group was a modest success in their native England, with Bolan now writing dramatic songs with lush melodies and surreal lyrics.

By 1971, the group had gone electric, hence the album title Electric Warrior.  "Get It On" was a song written by Bolan, but the song was retitled to "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" to avoid confusion with a song of the same name by a group called Chase.  Elite keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who was desperate for work at the time, played a piano glissando on the record.  Blue Weaver, who would later play keyboards for the Bee Gees, played the grand piano while Ian McDonald of King Crimson played saxophone.  

The song hit #1 in the U.K. and Ireland, #3 in Switzerland, #6 in Norway and #10 in the United States. The Power Station covered the song in 1985 and became a Top 10 hit. 

T. Rex released 12 albums and 28 singles.  An additional five singles were released since the breakup.   The group scored 11 Top 10 hits in their native Great Britain, including four #1's, but "Telegram Sam", which reached #67 in 1972, was the best the group could come up with besides "Bang a Gong".

You may have noticed several psychedelic rock artists in the special, and here's yet another at #26:

 

 #26:  Incense And Peppermints--Strawberry Alarm Clock

This group was originally called Thee Sixpence, but renamed itself in homage to the Beatles' hit "Strawberry Fields Forever".  The group consisted of lead guitarist Ed King, lead singer Michael Luciano, Lee Freeman on rhythm guitar and harmonica, drummer Gene Gunnels, bassist Gary Lovetro and guitarist Steve Rabe.  Randy Seol (drums and percussion) and keyboardist Mark Weitz replaced Gunnels, Rabe and Lovetro.  The group signed with Uni Records.

Strawberry Alarm Clock released "Incense and Peppermints" as their first single in 1967.  Songwriter John Carter did not impress the group with his singing, so Greg Munford, a 16-year-old friend of the band, stepped in to sing lead.  "Incense and Peppermints" reached #1 and sold over one million copies.

Seol brought in songwriters George Bunnell (who also played bass and rhythm guitar) and Steve Bartek and the group recorded their first album Incense and Peppermints.  The group toured with the Beach Boys and Buffalo Springfield in 1968.  Strawberry Alarm Clock released the album Wake Up...It's Tomorrow and the single, "Tomorrow", was only a minor hit (#23).  Two other singles--"Sit with the Guru" (#65) and "Barefoot in Baltimore" (#67) failed to make progress for the band.

Bunnell and Seol left the band in late 1968 as the band was finishing their third album, The World in a Seashell.  Holmes was fired by the remaining members and he retaliated by putting together a fake Strawberry Alarm Clock with Bunnell & Seoul and beginning a tour.  The group filed a lawsuit but the damage was done as promoters were afraid to hire either group.     

Strawberry Alarm Clock toured in 1970 and 1971 with Lynyrd Skynyrd opening for them, but broke up shortly thereafter.  

Bartek later joined Oingo Boingo while King was invited to join Lynyrd Skynyrd.  Strawberry Alarm Clock has reunited several times and is still performing today.

Pretty special list of performers above.  Only 25 artists remain who we feel had the best combination of talent, success of their hit, the highest quality of other songs, and the most potential of all the One-Hit Wonders in the history of the Rock Era.  We'll salute those 25 tomorrow!

In constructing The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era*, we looked at initial and current popularity of the song and the artist, complexity of the song, number and quality of future releases.  Other factors taken into consideration include how much input the artist had into the One Hit Wonder:  songwriting, instrumentation, production, etc.  In other words, the more talented the artist, the more complex the song, the more popular the song, then and more importantly now, and the better their subsequent releases were, the higher the ranking.

To be eligible, an artist must have either had only one Top 100 hit or they scored a big hit and either never hit the Top 20 before or after that or never had more than one other Top 40 hit.  Some organizations who construct similar One Hit Wonder lists eliminate an artist if they had two Top 40 or Top 100 hits.  However, these songs are only minor "hits" that the majority of the people do not ever hear.  By setting the bar at Top 20 hits, this list includes artists who essentially never tasted widespread success after their "One Hit Wonder".  

This does exempt groups like EMF ("Unbelievable"), which is not eligible to be called a "One-Hit Wonder" because "Lies" was a hit in 1991, reaching #18.  Similarly, A-Ha, which has enjoyed great worldwide success, landed the Top 20 hit "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." in addition to their smash "Take on Me".  Michael Murphey ("Wildfire" in 1975) was headed for status as having one of The Top One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era* until he landed at #19 with "What's Forever For" in 1982.  

Then you have an artist such as Berlin, which had the minor hit "No More Words" before their #1 "Take My Breath Away", and then nothing after that.  They are a judgement call.  In Berlin's case, "No More Words" was a big enough hit, in fact one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*, that they are classified as having two hits.  Stephen Bishop never hit the Top 20 after his Top 15 song "On and On".  But he had three other Top 40 hits, enough success to be excluded from One Hit Wonder status. 

Some artists, while perhaps having only one "hit" as defined by the industry, are nonetheless recognized as major stars and contributors to the Rock Era or to music in general, and can hardly be defined as One Hit Wonders.  One example would be Getz & Gilberto, who combined for one of the landmark albums of all-time, Getz/Gilberto.  Stan Getz did hundreds of albums in his career and won multiple Grammys.  Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez and Janis Joplin are others.  The inability of an organization to gauge popularity of an artist or their music doesn't make them "One Hit Wonders".  

Artists who were part of a successful group and only had one Top 20 solo hit are also a judgement call.  Essentially, if the artist in question did an album occasionally away from the group, then continued on with the group does not fit the category.  An example here is Ace Frehley of Kiss, who had the Top 20 hit "New York Groove".  Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane and Starship only had one Top 10 hit, "Hearts".  But obviously, his contributions to one of the best groups of the Rock Era are so great that he doesn't fit the category.  Len Barry's only solo Top 20 hit was "1-2-3", but he scored a big hit as lead singer of the Dovells with "You Can't Sit Down".

An artist who only had one big hit in collaboration with another separate artist isn't eligible as a One Hit Wonder.  Brooklyn Dreams comes to mind.  They scored a Top 5 song with Donna Summer with "Heaven Knows" in 1979 and were never heard from again.  The group reached the Top 5 largely because of Summer, and without her, they couldn't maintain that success.   There are numerous other examples of artists whose only big hit was largely the result of collaboration with and major contributions made by an established star.

There are several cases where an artist would classify as a One Hit Wonder in the United States or Great Britain, Canada, or another country.  But if they exhibited significant worldwide success, to include them as a One Hit Wonder would not only be incorrect; it would be offensive.  Shirley Bassey only had one big hit in the U.S.--"Goldfinger", but certainly great success in England and with her exposure in other James Bond movies. 

Similarly, Stanley Clarke & George Duke, teamed for three albums with one big hit--"Sweet Baby".  But each is a significant success on their own in the field of jazz and cannot be called a One Hit Wonder.

If an artist that had only one big hit isn't here, it doesn't mean they're not a One Hit Wonder--just that their song wasn't good enough to rank among The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders*.

We've done our best to present clear, quality videos without any commercials.  If one appears, please click on "Skip Ad" after 5 seconds... We've gone over the ground rules again.  We've saluted artists from #500 to #26.  Now let's get on with The Top 25*!

This group helped integrate American blues and gospel with modern psychedelic rock:

#25:  Time (Has Come Today)--Chambers Brothers 

This group got their start as members of the choir in their Baptist church.  Brother George served in the United States Army before moving to Los Angeles, and soon the other siblings settled there as well.  The brothers (George on washtub bass, Joe and Willie on guitar and Lester on harmonica) began performing folk and gospel songs throughout Southern California as early as 1954, but they didn't become well known until appearing in New York City in 1965. 

Initially, the Chambers Brothers played at places like The Ash Grove in Los Angeles.  It was there that they met people like Hoyt Axton and Barbara Dane.  Dane took them on tour with her and introduced them to Pete Seeger, who helped get the Chambers Brothers into the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.  Festival goers went nuts upon hearing this unique sound.  They loved it, and the Chambers Brothers were on their way.  That was the year drummer Brian Keenan joined, and George swapped his washtub bass for a bass guitar, as the group went electric.

Shortly afterwards, the group recorded their debut album People Get Ready.  But it was a song on their third album that drew widespread attention.  "Time Has Come Today" reached #11; in fact it was one of The Top Songs Not To Reach the Top 10*, as it spent five consecutive weeks at #11.

Later incarnations of the group included session guitarist Steve Hunter, who had played for Alice Cooper.  But dishonest promoters and managers ruined the group's reputation, and they split in 1972.  The Brothers did get back together two years later to release two more studio albums and they have toured irregularly since.

They may have only one hit to their credit, but it was a huge one, and one of The Most Important Songs of the Rock Era*:

 #24:  Get Together--Youngbloods 

Jesse Colin Young (vocals and bass), guitarist Jerry Corbitt, Lowell Levinger on guitar and electric piano and Joe Bauer on drums made up the Youngbloods.  Colin Young was a folk singer who had already recorded two albums when he met Corbitt.  The two initially performed as a duo in Canada under the name the Youngbloods.  Corbitt introduced Young to Levinger, and Lowell and drummer Bauer soon joined to make the group a quartet.

The group began playing clubs such as Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village and before long, the Youngbloods were the house band at the Cafe Au Go Go and had signed a recording contract with RCA Records.  RCA, however, promoted the group as a bubblegum act, and this would severely limit their success.

The Youngbloods released the single "Grizzly Bear" in 1967, and it hit #52.  The group released their self-titled album, later retitled Get Together, to critical praise.  The single "Get Together" was released, but it only reached #62.  The Youngbloods followed that later in the year with the album Earth Music and, after Corbitt left for a solo career, Elephant Mountain in 1969.

Then, Dan Ingram recorded a brotherhood promotion for WABC-AM using "Get Together".  The National Council of Christians and Jews subsequently picked up the song as their theme on television and radio commercials.  "Get Together" was re-released, and this time, it reached #5 in one of the most competitive times in the Rock Era.  The single also sold over one million copies, by far the biggest success of the group's career.

Levinger took over at lead guitar and the group became known for lengthy improvisations in concert.  In 1971, bassist Michael Kane came aboard and the Youngbloods released two more albums before splitting.  The group produced an output of eight studio albums and nine singles.

At #23, the Spanish group who own one of the top foreign-language songs to ever chart in the United States.  But it isn't the top one (stay tuned for that): 

#23:  Eres Tu--Mocedades

Mocedades is a Spanish singing group consisting of three sisters, Amaya, Izaskun and Estibaliz Uranga, from the Basque Country.  Other brothers and sisters joined and before long, they were an eight-person group.  They originally called themselves Voces y guitarras (Voices and Guitars) with folk and spiritual music and the Beatles as influences. The group sent a demo tape to producer Juan Carlos Calderon in Madrid, who was immediately interested and renamed them Mocedades.  They represented Spain in the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Eres Tu", written by Calderon.  

"Eres Tu" took second place in the contest and was released as a single.  In 1974, "Eres Tu" became one of five Spanish language songs to reach the Top 10 in the U.S., peaking at #9.  It is the only Top 10 song sung entirely in Spanish in the Rock Era.  An English version called "Touch The Wind", which featured a completely different set of lyrics, was released on the "B" side but programmers preferred the Spanish version.

The great song has been covered by over 100 artists; Eydie Gorme had a minor Adult Contemporary hit with it.  Here are but a few of those who have recorded "Eres Tu":  Mr. Acker Bilk, Bert Kaempfert, Bing Crosby, Charo, Floyd Cramer, Johnny Mathis, the Lettermen, the Mantovani Orchestra, Pandora, Percy Faith, Perry Como, Petula Clark, Ray Conniff and Sonny James.

The song has been sung in numerous languages, including Spanish, English, German, French, Italian, Basque, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Czech, Finnish, Vietnamese, Afrikaans, Brazilian Portuguese, German and Korean.

A guitar instrumental version of "Eres Tu" was used in an advertising campaign in the 1990's by the Bank of New Zealand.  Chris Farley and David Spade sing the song in the movie Tommy Boy.

Mocedades released 22 albums and one other single, "Dime Senor", which failed to reach the Top 40.

At #22, a group that had to keep the accidental misspelling of their name because this song was so popular:

 #22:  Nobody But Me--Human Beinz

This group originally was known as the Premiers in 1964, forming in Youngstown, Ohio with John "Dick" Belley and Joe "Ting" Markulin on vocals and guitar, bassist Mel Pachuta and drummer Gary Coates.  Mike Tatman later replaced Coates.  In 1966, the group changed their name to the Human Beingz and recorded covers of songs by Bob Dylan, the Who, the Yardbirds and Them.

The group signed with Capitol Records in 1967, but the label misspelled their name, leaving out the "g".  The understanding was that the name would be changed if the debut single was not successful.  But it was.  "Nobody but Me" reached #8 in the United States and the Human Beinz released an album of the same name.

The band only reached #1 in Japan with "Turn On Your Love Light", but the song only reached #80 in the United States.  The Beinz released the album Evolutions in 1968, which contained another #1 Japanese song, "Hold on Baby".  But once again, success did not spread worldwide and the group broke up in 1969.  

We're up to the singer-songwriter from Texas whose song has only become more popular since its release:

 

 #21:  My Maria--B.W. Stevenson

Stevenson was born in Dallas, Texas and attended W.H. Adamson High School along with other future musicians such as Michael Martin Murphey.    B.W. co-wrote this song with Daniel Moore.

"My Maria" became a big hit in 1973, reaching #9.  The song was later recorded by the country duo of Brooks & Dunn and it became a hit in that much smaller genre.  Stevenson had several other chart singles, including the original version of "Shambala", which Three Dog Night would turn into a classic. Stevenson released 13 albums and 11 singles in his career. However, Stevenson never again regained the success he had with the release of "My Maria".

Get ready for The Top 20*--join us tomorrow exclusively on Inside The Rock Era!