The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era Revisited: #110-101

These 10 artists will take us up to The Top 100, which begins tomorrow.  First, let's enjoy these!

This act just barely made the One-Hit Wonders:

  

#110:  Ozark Mountain Daredevils--"Jackie Blue"

This group formed in Springfield, Missouri in 1972.  The Ozarks sent a demo tape to Paul Peterson and Stan Plesser, who managed another Missouri act--Brewer and Shipley.  Peterson and Plesser liked what they heard and agreed to manage the Ozarks as well.  

The demo tape found its way to A&M Records, and in 1973, the group signed a recording contract.  Their debut album yielded "If You Wanna' Get To Heaven", which peaked at #25.  You recall in the ground rules for this special that a one-hit wonder can only have one Top 20 hit and a maximum of two Top 40 hits.  The Ozarks just made that criteria on both counts.

Drummer Larry Lee wrote this for the group's album It'll Shine When It Shines, though in the beginning, it was in very raw form.  Lee sang the song for the band as "Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh Jackie Blue/He was dada, and dada doo/He did this, he did that/He went there, he went there.  Despite being in rough form, the group performed it as is at live shows before recording most of the album in the barn at Ruedi Valley Ranch near Bolivar, Missouri.

"Jackie Blue" soared to #2 in Canada and #3 in the U.S. in 1975.

The group has released six more albums, including one as recent as 2018.  No other song has come close to the Top 40 besides the #3 "Jackie Blue" and the #25 "If You Wanna' Get To Heaven".

This artist opened for artists as diverse as B.B. King and the Allman Brothers:

  
#109: Jonathan Edwards--"Sunshine"  

Edwards began his career in high school, putting a band together, writing songs and learning all the contemporary folk songs of the time.  He studied art at Ohio University, but left to pursue music in Boston, Massachusetts.  His band played all over New England under various names, including the Headstone Circus, St. James Doorknob and the Finite Minds.  They recorded an album for Metromedia Records as Sugar Creek.

Soon, Edwards began opening for B.B. King and the Allman Brothers, and he signed a recording contract with Capricorn Records.  After a year spent recording his self-titled debut album, the engineer accidentally erased the song "Please Find Me".  The engineer was fired and the war protest song "Sunshine" was put in its place.  

"Sunshine" was released as the single and it rose to #4 and sold over one million copies.  Other artists, such as Juice Newton, Susanna Hoffs and the Isley Brothers, have recorded their versions.

Edwards released 10 albums in his career, but his initial time of songwriting inspiration resulted in his only hit.

 

 #108:  Sixpence None the Richer--"Kiss Me"

This act formed in New Braunfels, Texas, getting their name from a passage in the book Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, which points out that children buying gifts for their parents with the parents' money means the parents are "none the richer" monetarily.  Sixpence None the Richer was staying in a Dutch hotel when this smash was written.  Lead singer Leigh Nash said the group had been in their rooms for about an hour when Matt Slocum called to tell her he had written a new song.

"Kiss Me" jumped to #2 and finished 1999 as the #6-selling song of the year in the U.S., #1 in Canada and Australia and the Top 10 in 16 countries.

This is another song recognized by the Grammy Awards, as you might expect higher-ranked songs to be.  Sixpence None the Richer was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and won the award for Best Gospel Rock Album.

The group did reach #32 with "There She Goes", but no other Top 20 hits besides "Kiss Me".

One of the elite guitarists of the Rock Era comes in next:

#107:  Rick Derringer--"Rock & Roll, Hoochie Koo"  

When he was seventeen, Derringer started the group the McCoys.  The band changed its name to The Rick Z Combo and then Rick and the Raiders before going back to the original name of the McCoys.  The McCoys recorded "Hang On Sloopy", which was the #1 song in the U.S. until "Yesterday" by the Beatles topped it.  The McCoys opened for the Rolling Stones for their entire 1966 American Tour.  Derringer adopted his stage name from the Bang Records logo which featured a derringer pistol.

After leaving the McCoys, Derringer ventured into blues rock, hitting #23 with "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" in 1974.  Derringer also played and recorded with the Edgar Winter Group and Johnny Winter's band and recorded on several songs for Steely Dan, Alice Cooper and Todd Rundgren.

Derringer opened for Led Zeppelin on their final American tour in 1979.  In the 1980's, Derringer produced for "Weird Al" Yankovic and played guitar and mandolin on the track "Eat It"  and played guitar for Silver Condor.  In 1983, Derringer played on the Kiss album Lick It Up.

Derringer released 18 albums in his career.

This artist recorded a #1 song that reflected the spiritual awakening of a generation:  

#106:  Norman Greenbaum--"Spirit In The Sky"

Greenbaum performed in several high school bands before he studied music at Boston University.  He performed at local coffeehouses in Boston, then moved to Los Angeles in 1965.

Greenbaum wrote and recorded "Spirit In The Sky" in 1969 and it reached #1 and sold two million copies.  Norman recorded four albums in his career but "Spirit In The Sky" was his one breakthrough.

Up next, the artist who recorded a song so popular that countless artists have covered it:

   

#105:  Bobby Hebb--"Sunny"

 

Robert Von Hebb and his brother Harold performed as a song-and-dance team in Nashville, Tennessee when Bobby was three. Bobby performed on a television show hosted by producer Owen Bradley, which earned him a job in Roy Acuff's band.  

Hebb played with Johnny Bragg and the Marigolds, sang backup for Bo Diddley and replaced Mickey Baker in another One-Hit Wonder, Mickey and Sylvia.  After his father was killed in 1963, Hebb turned to songwriting.  

Bobby recorded "Sunny" and sent demos to producer Jerry Ross.  The song was released as a single and reached #2 in the United States and #12 in the U.K. and sold over one million copies.  Hebb toured with the Beatles in 1966 to promote his song.  

Many of the greatest, including Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington, the Four Seasons, the Four Tops, Cher, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Rivers, Dusty Springfield, the Classics IV and Wilson Pickett, have all recorded "Sunny".

Hebb's next-best song was "A Satisfied Mind" in 1966 (#39). He wrote many other songs, including "A Natural Man" for Lou Rawls.  

We're up to the artist who gave us one of The Top 100 R&B Songs of the 70's*:

#104:  Jean Knight--"Mr. Big Stuff"  

After graduating from high school, Jean Caliste began singing at the bar Laura's Place.  In 1965, she recorded a demo of the Jackie Wilson song "Stop Doggin' Me Around".  Huey Meaux liked what he heard, and signed Jean to a recording contract at Jet Star/Tribe Records.  

Caliste changed her stage name to Jean Knight and recorded four singles which attracted only local attention.  As he singing career was not taking off, she went to work at a cafeteria in New Orleans, Louisiana.

In 1970, songwriter Ralph Williams discovered Knight and asked her to record some songs.  Through the help of producer Wardell Quezergue, Knight recorded several songs, including "Mr. Big Stuff".  But the big national labels all rejected the song.  

Stax Records, however, saw the potential and released the single, and it was a smash, hitting #2 overall and #1 on the R&B chart.  The song sold over two million copies and earned Knight a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female.  

Knight recorded an album which did well, but disagreements with her producer and label terminated her contract with Stax.  Jean released four albums and six singles, with her next-best song being "My Toot Toot" at #50.

This successful songwriter kept one for himself in 1974:

 

#103:  Dave Loggins--"Please Come To Boston"   

Loggins, a cousin of superstar Kenny Loggins, is best remembered as a successful songwriter.  He notably wrote "Pieces Of April" for Three Dog Night, a huge hit in 1973, and wrote the Kenny Rogers hit "Morning Desire".  He has also written songs for Alabama, Reba McEntire, Restless Heart and Don Williams.

But he landed the Top 5 song "Please Come To Boston" in 1974, which also reached #1 on the Easy Listening chart.  Dave was able to have a #1 country song with Anne Murray in 1984 with "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do", but could never duplicate his solo success with a mass appeal audience.  Loggins did write the theme song "Augusta" that is used on broadcasts of The Masters Golf Tournament.

Here's one of the New Wave acts that helped revitalize rock and roll in the 1980's:

   

#102:  Soft Cell--"Tainted Love" 

Soft Cell consisted of lead singer Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball, who met at Leeds Polytechnic School in England and began the group in 1978.  The duo recorded the EP Mutant Moments, which generated interest from and ultimately resulted in a recording contract with Some Bizzare Records. 

Soft Cell released "Memorabilia" as their first single, but when it flopped, they were given one last chance.  They decided to record a remake of "Tainted Love", a 1964 soul song by Gloria Jones (the girlfriend of T. Rex's Marc Bolan at the time of his death).

"Tainted Love" hit #1 in 17 countries and reached #8 in the United States.  At the time, it set the Rock Era record for the most consecutive weeks (43) on the chart.  

The duo enjoyed five Top 10 hits in their native England and some success in Ireland, but could never match their worldwide appeal gained with "Tainted Love".  They broke up in 1984 after releasing five albums and 18 singles.

An opportunity to sing with Whitney Houston opened doors for this next artist, and he soon had a #1 song himself:

  

#101:  Gregory Abbott--"Shake You Down"  

In his early years, Abbott began singing and playing the piano.  He studied psychology at the University of California and creative writing at Stanford.  He began session work in the recording studio; one of his first opportunities was a duet with Whitney Houston on an independent label.  Abbott then produced the group EQ on Atlantic Records.

"Shake You Down" was the first single and title track from Gregory's debut album in 1986.  It reached #1 in the United States and #6 in the U.K. and sold over two million copies.

"I Got The Feeling" at #56 was the next-best that Abbott could do.  He was able to win first prize at the Tokyo Music Festival and he performed with Princess Stephanie of Monaco in Belgium.  Abbott released 7 albums and 15 singles in his career.

Again, the last few days should show the reason why 500 was the number chosen for this special, rather than 100. With 100, you would have missed all the songs of the last 40 days!  But 100 is the number we are down to, and you'll hear those beginning tomorrow on Inside The Rock Era!