The Top 500 One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era Revisited: #80-71

Here are 10 more artists who should have had at least one more hit...(Recommended to play at Maximum Volume)

Since hitting #1, this song has taken a life of its own, played repeatedly at sporting events by those with poor sportsmanship:

  

#80: Steam--"(Na Na Hey Hey) Kiss Him Goodbye"  

Garrett DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer and Paul Leka were in a Bridgeport, Connecticut band called the Chateaus.  The trio separated but kept in touch.  Leka took a job as a songwriter with Circle Five Productions and produced the #1 song "Green Tambourine" for the Lemon Pipers.  In 1969, Leka was working at Mercury Records and convinced the label to sign DeCarlo.  DeCarlo recorded four singles and to fill up the B-side of the first single, DeCarlo and Leka were asked to record a throwaway flip side.

Frashuer stopped by and inspired Leka to find a song "Kiss Him Goodbye" the three had written in 1961 but never recorded.  The trio recorded the song without any help from studio musicians.  Leka used the drum track from one of DeCarlo's singles and played the keyboard himself.  Since neither Leka or DeCarlo wanted to have their names on it, the song was attributed to a non-existent band named Steam.

What followed surprised everyone.  A Georgia disc jockey flipped the single over and played ("Na Na Hey Hey) Kiss Him Goodbye" on the radio.  Requests poured in and other stations soon picked it up.  Soon, the song appeared on the Billboard chart, sparking further interest, and popularity snowballed.  The single reached #1 for two weeks in 1969 and worldwide sales have now topped 6.5 million.

An album was recorded by studio musicians and released as Steam, but the "group" never released anything further.

We remember one of the greatest acts from Switzerland:

  

#79:  Double--"Captain Of Her Heart"

Kurt Maloo (vocals and guitar) and Felix Haug (drums and keyboards) were in the trio Ping Pong when they formed Double (pronounced Doo-blay) in 1983 in Zurich, Switzerland.  The duo enjoyed some success with singles and music festival dates around Europe.

In 1985, Double released their debut album Blue, which contained "The Captain of Her Heart".  The single, also produced by Maloo and Haug, hit #3 in Italy, #4 in Canada, #8 in the U.K., and was a #4 Adult Contemporary hit in the United States (the dominant musical format) and #16 overall.  Boz Scaggs is one of several artists to cover "The Captain Of Her Heart".

Double released the album Dou3le in 1987, which failed to emulate the success of their debut and the duo split shortly afterwards.  Maloo released four solo albums before dying of a heart attack in 2004.

Other than that one hit in 1975, this group will be best known as the one that kick-started the career of Paul Carrack:

  

#78:  Ace--"How Long" 

The members of Ace were assembled from several other bands as Ace Flash and the Dynamos, but the name was quickly abbreviated to Ace.  Lead singer and keyboardist Paul Carrack and Terry "Tex" Comer were in the band Warm Dust while lead guitarist Alan "Bam" King played with Mighty Baby.  Drummer Steve Witherington and guitarist Phil Harris.  Ace became popular on the pub rock circuit.  Drummer Fran Byrne replaced Witherington on drums prior to recording.

Ace recorded their debut album Five-A-Side in 1975 and released the single "How Long".  The song hit #3 in the United States and Canada and the Top 20 in the U.K.  Ace moved to the United States and Jon Woodhead replaced Harris in 1976.  The group released the album No Strings in 1977 before disbanding.  "Rock & Roll Runaway" (#71) in 1975 was their next biggest song.

Carrack became one of The Top Vocalists of the Rock Era*, first joining Eric Clapton's band, then Roger Waters's the Bleeding Heart Band.  He became the lead singer for Squeeze in the early 1980s and was the frontman for Mike + the Mechanics as well as achieving moderate success as a solo artist.

This group was all too happy to record a song originally written for the Temptations:

  

#77:  Contours--"Do You Love Me"  

In 1959, Joe Billingslea and Billy Gordon founded the group the Blenders in Detroit, Michigan.  After adding Billy Hoggs, Leroy Fair and Hubert Johnson, the group changed their name to the Contours and in 1960, auditioned for Motown Records.  Motown turned them down, but after a visit from Jackie Wilson (Johnson's cousin), the group signed a recording contract with Motown.

The Contours' single "Whole Lotta' Woman" did not chart in 1961 and Fair was replaced by Benny Reeves, brother of Martha Reeves.  Reeves left to serve in the United States Navy and was replaced by Sylvester Potts.  In 1961, the single "The Stretch" did not chart, so the next year, the Contours recorded "Do You Love Me", a song originally meant for the Temptations, that was written by Motown CEO Berry Gordy, Jr.  

With Gordon singing lead, the song reached #1 on the R&B chart, was #2 overall in 1962 and sold over one million copies.  The group reached the chart with "Can You Do It" (#41), "Shake Sherry" and "Can You Jerk Like Me", although they paled in comparison with their big hit.  Despite several lineup changes and further recordings, the Contours could not match the magic of "Do You Love Me". 

"Do You Love Me" was featured on the "Dirty Dancing" Soundtrack in 1987 and became a #11 hit 26 years after its initial release.  The Hollies, the Dave Clark Five and the Tremeloes all recorded versions of the Contours hit. 

Garage Rock at its finest:

  

#76:   Knickerbockers--"Lies"  

The Knickerbockers formed in 1962 in Bergenfield, New Jersey with brothers Beau (guitar) and John (bass) Charles.  The two brothers were joined by an ever-changing group of musicians  until 1964, when Buddy Randell (vocals and sax) joined the group.  Randell was with the Royal Teens, who had the hit "Short Shorts" in 1958.  Drummer Jimmy Walker completed the band.

Singer-songwriter Jerry Fuller spotted the group playing at the University Twist Palace and signed them to Challenge Records.  For the first three years, the Knickerbockers worked hard without much to show for it.  Finally in 1966, they released "Lies", which hit #20.  

The follow-up single was "One Track Mind" might have been a hit, but Challenge couldn't handle the distribution, and the single peaked at #45.  But the Knickerbockers continued to work hard, appearing in the movie Out of Sight and as regulars on Dick Clark's Where the Action Is on television.

The Knickerbockers were kept down by the problems of their label, and Walker left in 1967 and Randell soon after.  The Charles brothers continued to record under the group's name, then forming the group Lodi in 1971.   

This act gave us a worldwide smash in 1991:

  

#75:  Shakespeare's Sister--"Stay"

Siobhan Fahey left Bananarama in 1988 and conceived Shakespeare's Sister as a solo project. Marcella Detroit joined her, initially as another songwriter, then as a member of the group.  Shakespeare's Sister released their debut album Sacred Heart, which contained a Top 10 song in the U.K.--"You're History", but it was largely undiscovered by most of the world.  

In 1991, the duo released Hormonally Yours.  The second single from that album, was a worldwide smash, hitting #1 in the U.K. for eight weeks and #4 in the United States.  Further singles from the album continued to do well in the U.K., but they didn't share worldwide mass success with "Stay".

Detroit left the group in 1993, leaving Fahey as the sole member of the project until 1996.  The group has released five albums and 18 singles in their career.

Indeed one of the classical instrumentals of the Rock Era is next:

 

#74: Mason Williams--"Classical Gas"

Williams was born in Abilene, Texas, and graduated from Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Mason went to Oklahoma City University and North Texas State University before serving in the United States Navy.

In 1968, Williams released the single "Classical Gas", which rose to #1, sold over one million copies and won three Grammy Awards (Best Instrumental Composition, Best Instrumental Performance and Best Instrumental Orchestra Arrangement.  He also wrote "Cindarella Rockefella", a big hit in the U.K. for Esther and Abi Ofarim, and songs for the Kingston Trio.  Mason's "Concert for Bluegrass Band And Orchestra", also titled "Symphonic Bluegrass", has been performed by over 40 symphonies.  

Williams went on to record over a dozen albums, but never could match the success of "Classical Gas".  The song has now been played over six million times on radio stations. 

Williams was also a stand-up comedian.  He wrote over 175 hours of music and comedy for network television programming and was a key force behind The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.  Williams created the 1968 political satire "Pat Paulsen for President" campaign.  Williams won an Emmy Award in 1968 for his work as a comedy writer.

Williams also wrote material used on television for Andy Williams, Glen Campbell, Dinah Shore, Roger Miller and Petula Clark.  In 1980, Williams briefly worked as head writer for Saturday Night Live on NBC-TV.  

This 1967 smash places this One-Hit Wonder at #72*:

  

   #73:  Blues Magoos--"(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet"  

The group formed in The Bronx, New York in 1964 as the Trenchcoats.  They played at various clubs in Greenwich Village and by 1966, the band changed its name to Bloos Magoos and then Blues Magoos.  They were at the forefront of the psychedelic music trend sweeping popular culture.  

They released two singles on Verve Records but did not get anywhere.  Mercury Records then signed Blues Magoos to a contract and their debut album, Psychedelic Lollipop was released.  The group toured the United States in 1967, opening for the Who and Herman's Hermits.  "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" was released in 1967 and reached #5 in the United States.  It was included in the movie Easy Rider in 1968. 

The follow-up single, "There's a Chance We Can Make It" did not make the Top 40 and subsequent singles were ignored by most music fans.  By 1968, after six albums, the group became discouraged and broke up. 

We go back to the 90's for this next act:

  

   #72:  Verve Pipe --"The Freshmen" 

Brian and Brad Vander Ark, Brian Stout and Donny Brown formed this group in East Lansing, Michigan in 1992.  The Verve Pipe released their first album I've Suffered a Head Injury later that year.  In 1993, A.J. Dunning replaced Stout on guitar and the group released the album Pop Smear, which led to a recording contract with RCA Records in 1995.

The Verve Pipe's first single on RCA was "Photograph", with "The Freshmen" next.  There had been an acoustic version of the latter on their 1992 album, and the new version became their one and only hit, reaching #6.  The group's self-titled album was released in 1999, but failed to continue the momentum.

The Verve Pipe released five albums and five singles in their career.

Legendary words put to music by this Canadian group:

#71:  Original Caste--"One Tin Soldier"  

Songwriter and guitarist Bruce Innes formed this group in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1966 under the name the North Country Singers.  Innes, Graham Bruce and Bliss Mackie started out as a trio before Dixie Lee (Stone) Innes joined the band in 1967.  In 1968, Peter Brown became the first drummer in the group.

The group changed their name to Original Caste and moved to Los Angeles.  They recorded the single "I Can't Make It Anymore" for Dot Records but it got nowhere.  In 1969, the band signed with TA Records, a division of Bell Records.  Although the group wrote much of their own material, Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter wrote "One Tin Soldier" for the band's self-titled debut album.  

"One Tin Soldier" was a big hit in their native Canada and reached #34 in the United States.  The follow-up, "Mr. Monday", was a hit in Japan and Canada but success was limited there.  The Original Caste toured in Canada, the United States and Japan and appeared on television shows. The opened for B.B. King and Glen Campbell in concert and recorded live albums in Japan, where they were very popular.

The members of the group broke up in 1972 after releasing two albums and seven singles, but Bruce and Dixie Innes continued to perform as the Original Caste for several years.  A cover version of "One Tin Soldier" by Coven was featured on the "Billy Jack" Soundtrack in 1971.  

Glad you're with us as we work our way up the rankings.  Join us tomorrow, exclusively on Inside The Rock Era!