The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era Revisited: #190-181

There are some very talented acts in this segment--enjoy!

Despite recording this great song, this group could not come close to the success of their one big hit:

  

#190:  Flamingos--"I Only Have Eyes For You"

Jacob and Ezekial Carey and cousins Paul Wilson and John E. Carter formed the Flamingos in Chicago, Illinois.  Earl Lewis soon joined, and after several name changes (from the Swallows, El Flamingos and the Five Flamingos) the group became known as the Flamingos.  Sollie McElroy replaced Lewis, and the group's first single on Chance Records was "If I Can't Have You".

That song and "That's My Desire" were local successes, and Carter's song "Golden Teardrops" helped the Flamingos spread their fame regionally.  The group switched to Parrot Records in 1954, then, after Nate Nelson replaced McElroy, the group signed with Checker Records.  The group scored a #5 song on the segmented R&B chart in 1955 with "I'll Be Home".  The Flamingos appeared in the 1956 movie Rock, Rock Rock.  Zeke Carey and Carter were drafted into the United States Army later that year.

Nelson, Jake Carey and Wilson continued the group with new member Tommy Hunt joining.  Tenor, lead guitarist and arranger Terry Johnson also joined and the Flamingos began recording for Decca Records.  Zeke Carey returned to the group in 1958, and the group switched labels once again to End Records.  Johnson wrote "Lovers Never Say Goodbye" and the group recorded their first album Flamingo Serenade.    
The next single, "I Only Have Eyes for You", was a remake of a 1934 song that put the Flamingos on the map.  The song reached #11 overall in the United States and was a #3 R&B hit.  The group appeared in the movie Go, Johnny, Go, and became known for their stage show and choreography.

But the group began falling apart by the end of the decade. Hunt left for a solo career, and Nelson and Johnson split to form the Modern Flamingos in 1961.  Nelson eventually joined the Platters in 1966.  New members were brought in, but the best the group could do after that was #26 in the U.K. with "The Boogaloo Party".  

The Flamingos received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award in 1996 and were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame in 2004.  "I Only Have Eyes for You" was inducted into the Grammy Award Hall of Fame.

This group rode the car song craze of the 60's:

 

#189:  Ronny & the Daytonas--"G.T.O."

This group formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1964 and secured the services of Bill Justis ("Raunchy") as their manager.  Paul Jensen (vocals and guitar), Thomas Ramey (bass, guitar), Lynn Williams (drums), Lee Kraft (songwriting, guitar) and John "Bucky" Wilkin (songwriting, guitar, vocals) were the original members.

Ronny & the Daytonas signed to Mala Records and released "G.T.O." as their debut single.  It hit #4 and sold over one million copies.  A follow-up, "Bucket T" reached #54.

But out of 15 singles, "G.T.O." was their only big hit.

Although this song talks of a "return", this artist had never had a hit before...nor since:

 

 #188:  Mark Morrison--"Return Of The Mack"

Here's the third single from the 1995 debut album for British R&B singer Mark Morrison.  It rocketed up to #1 in the U.K., then spread around the world, reaching #2 in the United States and selling over two million copies.

Morrison was constantly in trouble with the law and was imprisoned in 1997.  He attempted a comeback in 2006 but was not successful.

Here's one of those songs that almost everyone recognizes instantly:

 #187:  Mike Oldfield--"Tubular Bells"  

Oldfield attended St. Edward's preparatory school and Presentation College in Reading, Berkshire, England.  He began playing acoustic guitar in local folk clubs.  Mike and his sister formed the folk duo the Sallyangie in 1967 and signed a recording contract with Transatlantic Records.  The two released the album Children of the Sun in 1968.

Oldfield then joined a duo called Barefoot before playing bass and lead guitar for Kevin Ayers' backup group, the Whole World.  Bandmate David Bedford encouraged Oldfield to develop a song he was working on called "Tubular Bells".  Oldfield shopped the song to several record labels without luck.  

Then, when Oldfield went to record his bass guitar part for the Arthur Louis Band, engineers Tom Newman and Simon Heyworth heard Oldfield's song and took it to Richard Branson, who was about to start Virgin Records.  Oldfield signed a recording contract and recorded "Part One" of "Tubular Bells" in one week.    

The Tubular Bells album was released as the inaugural album of Virgin Records.  Oldfield played more than twenty different instruments on the project.  The album sold over 2.6 million copies in the U.K. alone.  The title track got significant exposure when it was included as music for the classic movie The Exorcist.  The single reached #7 and won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition and is considered to be a forerunner of the New Age movement.  

Oldfield's music was used as the musical score for The Space Movie that celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.  Mike's follow-up album, Hergest Ridge, reached #1 in the U.K. but, unlike its predecessor, success did not spread worldwide.

Oldfield made a transition to popular music and wrote songs for other artists, the best of these being "Family Man" in 1982 for Hall & Oates.  Oldfield wrote the score for the movie The Killing Fields.  Mike continued to explore new musical styles with The Songs of Distant Earth.  In 1994, the asteroid 5656 Oldfield, was named after him.

Oldfield has released 27 albums and 47 singles in his career.

This artist sounds a lot like the Beach Boys.  And interestingly enough, there's a Beach Boy tie-in involved:

 

 #186:  Henry Gross--"Shannon"

By the age of 14, this artist was performing regularly in New York clubs.  While at Brooklyn College, Henry Gross co-founded the great 50's music revival group, Sha Na Na.  The 18-year-old Gross was the youngest musician to perform at the legendary Woodstock Festival.

This song was written about the death of the dog of Beach Boys member Carl Wilson.  While touring with the Beach Boys, Henry Gross visited Wilson's home and mentioned that he had an Irish Setter named Shannon.  Wilson said that he too had an Irish Setter with that name who had recently been killed by a car.

"Shannon" hit #6 in the U.S. and was a #1 song in Canada and New Zealand.

Gross was able to bring "Springtime Mama" into position #37, but he could never reach the Top 20 again.

This artist sadly was never properly paid for his work 66 years ago and passed away in 2020:

  

#185:  Phil Phillips--"Sea Of Love"  

After performing the song "Sweet Slumber" at his school, Philip Baptiste was encouraged to pursue a singing career.  He performed with his brothers in a gospel group known as the Gateway Quartet before recording "Sea Of Love" in 1959.

Baptiste changed his name to Phil Phillips and released the song on Khoury Records.  But after the song began receiving heavy airplay, the song was leased to Mercury Records.  "Sea of Love" reached #2 overall and #1 on the R&B chart and sold over one million copies.

But Phillips was only paid $6,800 and still has not received any further royalties for his huge hit.  Because he fought for what was rightfully his, an album that Phillips recorded was not released.  Del Shannon and the Honeydrippers both recorded cover versions of the song.

An association with the Beatles will forever keep this artist in the public mind:

  

#184:  Terry Stafford--"Suspicion"

Stafford grew up in Amarillo, Texas, graduating from Palo Duro High School.  After high school, Stafford moved to Los Angeles to pursue a music career.

Stafford released the single "Suspicion", which had been previously recorded by Elvis Presley, in 1964 and it reached #3 in the United States and #31 in the U.K.  The song holds the distinction of being #6 on April 4 when the Beatles made history by holding down the entire top five.  "Suspicion" sold over one million copies.

Stafford's follow-up single, "I'll Touch A Star" made it to #24, just shy of the Top 20 benchmark which defines a major hit. His 1973 composition "Amarillo by Morning" later became a huge hit in 1982 for country superstar George Strait.

Friendship with 2/5's of Fleetwood Mac helped this artist break through:         

  #183:  Walter Egan--"Magnet & Steel" 

In 1977, Egan signed a recording contract and recorded his first album, Fundamental Roll, produced by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The following year, Egan released the album Not Shy, produced by Buckingham and Richard Dashut. Egan performed at the first Texas Jam in Dallas in front of 100,000 people along with acts such as Journey, Aerosmith, Van Halen, and friends Heart and Eddie Money.

Magnet And Steel", which featured backing vocals by Nicks, was released as a single and reached #8 in the United States and #32 in Australia.

Egan wrote the song "Hot Summer Nights" for the group Night and had a minor hit with it himself that is worth checking out.  Walter released eight albums in his solo career.  He later became a touring member in a later version of the group Spirit.  

This artist recorded one of the big hits of 1967:

 

#182:  Five Americans--"Western Union"

This group formed as the Mutineers in Durant, Oklahoma with lead singer Mike Rabon, John Durrill, Norm Ezell, bassist Jim Grant and Jimmy Wright on drums. Guitarist Robert Rambo, keyboardist Leonard Goldsmith later joined the Five Americans. They released "I See the Light" in 1966, which reached #26. "Evol-Not Love" reached #52 later that year.

Then in 1967, the group recorded "Western Union", which became a #5 song.  Though they also had minor hits with "Sound Of Love" and "Zip Code" in 1967, "Western Union" was their only Top 20 hit out of 21 singles.  

The Five Americans broke up in 1969.  Rabon went on to sing lead and play guitar for Gladstone ("A Piece Of Paper" in 1972).  Durrill wrote "Dark Lady" for Cher and also was a member of the touring group the Ventures.

 Contributions of the members of this band went far beyond the group:

  

#181:  Pilot--"Magic"    

Pilot was formed in 1973 in Edinburgh, Scotland by David Paton and Billy Lyall, members of an early version of the Bay City Rollers.  Stuart Tosh and Ian Bairnson joined the group and Pilot recorded several demos in 1973 and 1974.

The group signed a management deal with Nick and Tim Heath and John Cavanaugh and eventually inked a recording contract with EMI Records.  In 1974, Pilot released the single "Magic" from their first album, a song written by Paton and produced by Alan Parsons.  "Magic" reached #5 in the United States and #11 in the U.K.  

A follow-up single, "January", reached #1 in the U.K. and Australia, but was only #87 in the U.S., and nothing further reached the Top 30. Paton, Tosh and Bairnson were members of the Alan Parsons Project, and Paton was a noted session musician, playing for Elton John and Rick Wakeman, among others.

Hope you enjoyed those 10.  We'll be right here tomorrow with another great segment!