The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era Revisited: #100-91

 If you've been waiting for The Top 100*, you've missed a lot of great artists and songs!  Plus, this is a subjective ranking, so you missed the point--just enjoy the music, and realize how great these "One-Hit Wonders" are...

This singer-songwriter turned down an offer to join the Mamas & Papas, then wrote what would become the anthem for a generation:

#100:  San Francisco--Scott McKenzie

Philip Blondheim was born in Jacksonville, Florida, but grew up in North Carolina and Virginia, where he became friends with John Phillips.  In the mid-1950's, Blondheim sang in a group known as the Singing Strings, then later in a doo wop band the Abstracts.  The Abstracts became the Smoothies and recorded two singles with Decca Records.  It was during this time that Blondheim changed his stage name to Scott McKenzie.

In 1961, Phillips and McKenzie met Dick Weissman and formed the folk group, the Journeymen.  That act recorded three albums and seven singles for Capitol Records.  The Journeymen split in 1964, with Phillips forming the group the Mamas & the Papas.  McKenzie had declined an offer to join the Mamas & Papas, but instead set out on a solo career.  

Scott signed a recording contract with Ode Records.  Phillips wrote, played guitar and co-produced a song he had written for McKenzie called "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)".  Esteemed session musicians Joe Osborn on bass and drummer Hal Blaine also played on the song, which was released in 1967.  The song became a smash for McKenzie, reaching #1 in the U.K. and several other countries and #4 in the United States.  It went on to become an anthem for a generation and has now sold over seven million copies.

McKenzie's follow-up, "Like An Old Time Movie", was a minor hit.  He recorded his debut album, The Voice of Scott McKenzie.  In 1968, he wrote "Hey!  What About Me" that helped launch the career of Anne Murray.  McKenzie released his only other album, Stained Glass Morning, in 1970.

In 1986, McKenzie began singing with a new version of the Mamas & the Papas and in 1988, co-wrote "Kokomo", the first #1 hit for the Beach Boys in 22 years.  Despite recording the great song "San Francisco", McKenzie never did reach the Top 40 again.

This rock standard gave our next artist his only hit:

  #99:  Rock On--David Essex  

Essex took his name from his birthplace of Plaistow, which was in Essex, England at the time.  David went to Shipman County Secondary School and dreamed of being a professional football (soccer) player.  But he also loved music, and played drums in a local band.

Essex recorded his first single "And the Tears Came Tumblin' Down" on Fontana Records in 1963, and then toured under the name David Essex and the Mood Indigo.  He got his first break in the entertainment business when he earned the lead role in the stage musical Godspell in 1971.  In 1973, he starred in the movie That'll Be The Day, then recorded his only worldwide hit, "Rock On".  

"Rock On", which David wrote, hit #5 in the United States but was a bigger hit than that for the stations who played it.  The song landed at #1 in Canada.  Def Leppard, the Smashing Pumpkins and Toni Basil are among the artists who have remade the song.

 Essex's single "Lamplight" was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. but airplay was not universal; it only reached #71 in the United States.  He tasted bigger success in his native country with "Gonna' Make You A Star" and "Hold Me Close", but once again, worldwide airplay was limited.   Overall, Essex released 28 albums and 31 singles, an incredible output for an artist who was only able to achieve one major worldwide hit. 

It's shocking that this artist could come up with one of the biggest hits of 1986 and not be bigger stars:

   #98:  Shattered Dreams--Johnny Hates Jazz  

Clark Datchler (vocals, keyboards and guitar), Mike Nocito (bass and guitar) and Calvin Hayes (keyboards and drums) met in the early 1980's while working on various projects at RAK Studios in London.  Datchler was the lead singer of Hot Club, a group that Hayes founded while Nocito had worked with the Police, Pink Floyd, Duran Duran and the Cure as a recording engineer.  The trio formed Johnny Hates Jazz in 1986.  

Johnny Hates Jazz released their first single "Me And My Foolish Heart".  It flopped, but Datchler wrote "Shattered Dreams" and the group performed it at Ronnie Scott's famous Jazz club in London.  Their performance earned them a recording contract with Virgin Records.  Johnny Hates Jazz released "Shattered Dreams" as a single, and it was a worldwide smash, hitting #2 overall and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States, # 2 in Japan and was a Top 5 song in the U.K. and Australia.  The song was one of the biggest hits of  1986 and one of The Top #2 Songs of the Rock Era*.

In 1987, the group released the single "I Don't Want To Be A Hero", which reached #11 in the U.K. but only #31 in the United States.  "Turn Back The Clock", with Kim Wilde singing background vocals, was #12 in the U.K. and reached #5 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States but only #31 overall.  

Johnny Hates Jazz released the album Turn Back the Clock, helped tremendously by "Shattered Dreams".  The song was played over three million times in the United States.  

The group released two albums and nine singles, but could never capitalize on their huge hit.

When she burst onto the scene, she looked like a superstar, but she would have just one big crossover:

 

   #97:  Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson

Anderson was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota but her family soon moved to Fair Oaks, California.  She became interested in music at age six, but she was racking up huge successes in the horse show arenas, where she eventually won over 700 trophies.  

In 1965, Anderson accompanied her mother, who had just signed a recording contract with RCA Victor, to Nashville, Tennessee.  Lynn joined in an informal sing-along at a local hotel room with Merle Haggard and Freddie Hart.  Slim Williamson, owner of Chart Records, was in the room and recognized Anderson's singing ability, which led to Anderson signing a recording contract at age 19.

Anderson debuted in 1966 with the single "For Better Or For Worse", which did not chart.  "Ride, Ride, Ride" became her first single to chart at all, and that was just on the Country chart.  She scored some Top 10 Country hits, but still wasn't known outside that small but loyal group.  In 1967, Anderson performed regularly on The Lawrence Welk Show.  She signed with Columbia Records in 1970.  

Anderson recorded "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden", written by Joe South, but something was different this time.  Famous record executive Clive Davis heard it and believed this one could become a Popular hit, so the song was released as a single worldwide.  "Rose Garden" became huge, hitting #1 in Germany for four weeks, #1 in Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland and Norway and reaching #3 in both the United States and the U.K.  "Rose Garden" won the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and helped the album of the same name go Platinum.  

Numerous artists, including Glen Campbell, Andy Williams, Loretta Lynn, Ray Conniff, Martina McBride, Percy Faith, k.d. Lang, Dottie West, Jim Nabors and Dinah Shore, have recorded the song since.  "Rose Garden" remains one of the biggest Country crossover hits of all-time and ranked #83 on Country Music Television's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music*.

In 1971, Anderson released "You're My Man" and "How Can I Unlove You", but neither song could get past #63.  She continued to have success on the segmented country chart with three Top 5 hits there, and "Cry" made it to #16 on the Easy Listening chart.  Although most people had only heard "Rose Garden", Anderson did win the American Music Award for Favorite Female Country Artist.  

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Lynn was the first female Country artist to headline and sell out Madison Square Garden, playing before a packed house in 1974.  

Anderson was one of the most popular female Country singers of the 1970's, but despite 34 albums and 62 singles, she could never translate that popularity into mass appeal success after "Rose Garden". 

This late singer with the great voice may have only had one solo hit, but she sang backup for some pretty big stars:

  

#96:  Lovin' You--Minnie Riperton  

Riperton grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and studied music, drama and dance at the Lincoln Center.  She was taught there to use her full vocal range, which eventually became five-and-a-half octaves.  Minnie graduated from Hyde Park High School, now Hyde Park Career Academy.  She was the lead singer in the Chicago-based girl group the Gems as a teenager.  

Soon, Minnie was singing backup at Chess Records for artists such as Chuck Berry, Etta James, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Ramsey Lewis and Fontella Bass (on "Rescue Me").  Riperton also sang lead for the group Rotary Connection from 1967-1971, which released five albums.

Riperton released her solo debut album Come to My Garden in 1970.  Three years later, Steve Slutzah of Epic Records found Riperton in semi-retirement.  After hearing a demo from her, Slutzah took the song to his label and helped sign Riperton to a recording contract.  

In 1975, Riperton recorded the album Perfect Angel, co-produced by Stevie Wonder.  Sales of the album were slow despite three single releases.  "Lovin' You" was released as a fourth single, and it went all the way to #1 in the United States and 24 other countries, was #2 in the U.K, and sold over one million copies.

Riperton recorded the album Adventures in Paradise later in the year.  "Inside My Love" was a Top 5 hit on R&B stations but wasn't a Popular hit (#76).  She then released the album Stay in Love and sang backup for Wonder on his classic album Songs in the Key of Life.

Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1976.  She continued performing and became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society.  In 1978, she received the Cancer Society's Courage Award, presented to her at the White House by U.S. president Jimmy Carter.  Riperton died on July 12, 1979 at the age of 31 after releasing six albums and 14 singles.

This group scored their one and only hit after they were dropped from Capitol Records:

  

#95:  The Middle--Jimmy Eat World  

Lead singer and guitarist Jim Adkins and drummer Zach Lind, who had been friends since preschool, joined with guitarist Tom Linton and bass player Mitch Porter to form Jimmy Eat World in Mesa, Arizona in 1993.  The group released their demo tape and signed with an independent company.  In 1994, they released the EP One, Two, Three Four in 1994.  

Jimmy Eat World released their self-titled debut album in 1994 with Linton handling most of the lead vocals.  The group began attracting attention in the indie underground, which led to a major recording contract with Capitol Records.  Prior to recording their first major album, Rick Burch replaced Porter on bass.   "Rockstar" from their 1996 album Static Prevails

was their first single release.

The group's 1999 album Clarity, which contained the single "Lucky Denver Mint", gained a following.  However, Capitol dropped the group and Jimmy Eat World had to self-finance their next album, Bleed American, in 2001.  The album became their breakthrough, as four singles became hits on the Modern Rock chart.  "The Middle" hit #1 in that genre and reached #5 overall, helping Bleed American go Platinum.

Jimmy Eat World followed that album up with Futures, which featured "Pain", another #1 Modern Rock song.  But "Pain" paled by comparison to "The Middle" overall, only reaching #93.  Although the album Chase This Light in 2007 helped the group continue their Modern Rock success, they would never again  come up with another worldwide hit.

Jimmy Eat World released eight albums and 16 singles in their career, with "Sweetness" in 2002 being their next-biggest song.

This group recorded a song in 1972 that became their big hit as well as the standard for future love songs:

   

#94:  Precious And Few--Climax  

When the 1960's group the Outsiders split up, this band was formed in 1970 by lead singer Sonny Geraci, songwriter and guitarist Walter Nims, keyboardist and songwriter Nick D'Amico and drummer Jon Jon Guttman.  The group released their first singles under the Outsiders name, but changed their name to Climax after legal action was threatened.

The first album released following the name change was Climax Featuring Sonny Geraci.  "Precious And Few", which was originally recorded in 1970, was stored in the archives of Bell Records for two years before an executive at Bell heard it on a Santa Barbara, California radio station.  Bell subsidiary Carousel Records released the song in Hawai'i as a test market.  After more tests in Buffalo, New York and Boston, Massachusetts in 1972, the song took off and "Precious And Few" made it all the way to #3 and sold over one million copies.

Climax released "Life And Breath" as the follow-up, but only reached #52 with it.  Bell did not have a powerful marketing arm and this hurt the song.  Further, Bell did not release Climax's debut album while "Precious And Few" was hot, failing to capitalize on the moment.  Of note, Climax was the first group to record "Rock And Roll Heaven", a song co-written by new keyboardist Johnny Stevenson that later became a comeback hit for the Righteous Brothers.

Climax released seven other singles before breaking up.

The woman with the amazing voice is at #93:

 

   #93:  And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going--Jennifer Holliday

Jennifer was born in Riverside, Texas, and began her career at age 19, when she earned a part the same day she auditioned for the Broadway production of Your Arms Too Short to Box with God.  Two years later, Holliday landed the role she would become famous in, that of Effie Melody White in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls.

Holliday's performance in Dreamgirls was widely acclaimed, especially her show-stopping performance of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going".  Jennifer became famous for the song, which reached #22 in the United States and #1 on the R&B chart, and she won the Grammy for Best Female Vocal Performance, Rhythm and Blues.

Holliday won the 1982 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical and remained with the musical for four years.  She then toured in the musical Sing, Mahalia, Sing in 1985. 

Holliday continued to record, and had success on the R&B chart, but amazingly, the success in that genre didn't carry over to mainstream success.  She did, however, lend her amazing vocals to Foreigner's #1 song "I Want To Know What Love Is" in 1985.  Holliday sang gospel songs, including those the 1995 album On & On.  In 2011, she released the Christian CD Goodness and Mercy.

Holliday has also appeared on television, including performances on Touched by an Angel and Ally McBeal.

Jennifer received an honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.  She has released seven albums and 14 singles in her career.

 

 #92:  Bad Day--Daniel Powter

Canadian singer-songwriter Daniel Powter grew up in Coldstsream, outside of Vernon, in British Columbia.  He was with a group in Victoria, BC that recorded a CD and Powter played keyboards on The Chris Isaak Show.  Daniel wrote this monster hit in 2001 and recorded it in 2002 but, as is typical of corporate record labels, couldn't find a company that wanted to release it.  (Nearly all of them have very bad ears!)  Finally, someone at Warner Brothers Records was good at their job and signed Powter to a recording contract and the song was released in 2005.

By the time it's run was finished, "Bad Day", the song only one record label thought was good enough, was a Top Five song in 10 countries, including #1 on both the Adult contemporary and Popular charts in the U.S. and #1 in Ireland, had sold over six million copies and finished as the #1 song of the year.  "Bad Day" was nominated for Male Pop Vocal Performance of the Year at the Grammy Awards and won Billboard Music Awards for Hot 100 Song of the Year and Digital Song of the Year.

Powter recorded three more albums and 16 singles, and although he did enjoy further success in his native Canada and some in Europe and Asia, he never enjoyed another worldwide Top 40 hit again.

This veteran musician landed a big solo hit in 1970:

 

   #91:  I Hear You Knockin'--Dave Edmunds

Edmunds hails from Cardiff, Glamorgan, South Wales.  He played in the piano duo the Edmunds Brothers Duo with older brother Geoff.    The two then joined the Stompers, which later was known as the Heartbeats.  Dave and Geoff then joined the 99'ers.  Edmunds  was the leader of the Raiders of 1961, not the Paul Revere & the Raiders from Boise, Idaho that became superstars.

Edmunds recorded with the Image in 1965 and 1966 before forming the short-lived Human Beans.  That group evolved into the band Love Sculpture, which scored a Top 5 hit in England--"Sabre Dance".

In 1970, Edmunds released the solo single "I Hear You Knocking" on MAM Records.  The song reached #1 in the U.K., #3 in Australia and #4 in the United States and Australia and sold over three million copies.

Edmunds appeared in the film Stardust, then began producing for other artists, working with Brinsley Schwarz among others.  He worked well into the night at Rockfield Studios near Rockfield, Monmouth.

The work with Brinsley Schwarz led to a collaboration with Nick Lowe and they formed the group Rockpile.  Edmunds had hits in the U.K. with songs such as "Girl's Talk", but those never became worldwide hits.

Edmunds worked with Paul McCartney, the Stray Cats, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Status Quo during the 1980's.  In 1983, Edmunds collaborated with Jeff Lynne on two songs--one of which, "Slipping Away", reached #39 in the United States.  "Slipping Away" became his only other hit in the western part of the world.

Edmunds joined Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band for tours in 1992 and 2000.  Edmunds released 12 albums and 25 singles in his career.

We don't do these type of productions that often; that's what makes them "special".  We have just three days remaining, so be sure to catch up on any installments you've missed.