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The Weekly One Hit Wonder


bear

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Greetings everyone. I'm going to start this thread, wherein each week, I will post a One Hit Wonder from the 70's.

It's always been my favorite part of the seventies music scene. while the Fleetwood Macs and Elton Johns and Doobs and Eagles were maintaining their places at the top of the charts, along come those odds and ends, on the fringes of the music world, to unseat the perrenial chart toppers for a while. Sometimes they would hit the top ten, maybe even number one. then, just as quickly, they were gone.

It always fascinated me. And, there a lot of them. Really, really good songs.

So, hopefully, I'll get it right. Hopefully, I won't make a fool of myself. Most of all, hopefully, people will click on the link and listen to the song for the first time in decades, or maybe even for the first time ever, and think, yea, that's groovy.

If I get facts wrong, straighten me out. If I leave something out, fill it in.

And finally, I am going to say, even though it's my intention to make this a 70's one hit wonder thread, I may take liberties. There are a lot of two hit wonders, too. Too many i love for me to ignore. So, I'll include some of those as well. Also, I may bleed over into the 60s, as well as the early 80's, because, again, there are some that are simply too good to ignore.

Anyway, my mild OCD dictaes that I do a little more homework for he first song I've picked out. I should be posting it sometime over the weekend. It's a good one, too! :thumbsup:

Namaste, friends.

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choice one mate...you could start with dan the wanks one hit wonder "mr boo" which sank without trace about a week after its release on an unsuspecting public....and cat-lovers too.......dude will fill you in... :lol: :lol: :lol:

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choice one mate...you could start with dan the wanks one hit wonder "mr boo" which sank without trace about a week after its release on an unsuspecting public....and cat-lovers too.......dude will fill you in... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Mr. Boo is a contemporary artist. Dan the Wank's Mr. Boo has not been officially released - it was an underground hit. Stay turned for the World Release. As his manager, I'm calling the shots. Unlike Britney who needs to go to rehab to generate publicity, Mr. Boo is a real artist who doesnt care about hype. In fact, he will have nothing to do with the RIAA because of this.

FYI, Kiwi, he's doing a thread about 70s one hit wonders not stars of the future like Mr. Boo.

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choice one mate...you could start with dan the wanks one hit wonder "mr boo" which sank without trace about a week after its release on an unsuspecting public....and cat-lovers too.......dude will fill you in... :lol: :lol: :lol:

That's "Me And You And A Dog Named Boo"!!

:rolleyes:

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Mr. Boo is a contemporary artist. Dan the Wank's Mr. Boo has not been officially released - it was an underground hit. Stay turned for the World Release. As his manager, I'm calling the shots. Unlike Britney who needs to go to rehab to generate publicity, Mr. Boo is a real artist who doesnt care about hype. In fact, he will have nothing to do with the RIAA because of this.

FYI, Kiwi, he's doing a thread about 70s one hit wonders not stars of the future like Mr. Boo.

stars of the future???... :lol::lol:

"An Auckland-bound jetliner came close to being hit by blazing pieces of what is thought to have been a Russian satellite hurtling into New Zealand airspace."......c`mon dude...you can tell us....that wasn`t a satellite...that was mr boo crashing and burning wasn`t it.....i`m sure those are burn marks and not spots on his fur.... :lol: :lol:

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stars of the future???... :lol::lol:

"An Auckland-bound jetliner came close to being hit by blazing pieces of what is thought to have been a Russian satellite hurtling into New Zealand airspace."......c`mon dude...you can tell us....that wasn`t a satellite...that was mr boo crashing and burning wasn`t it.....i`m sure those are burn marks and not spots on his fur.... :lol: :lol:

Consider the source and the country it came from :lol: Now Mr. Boo may not be a star in THAT guy's EYES, but then again, Mr. Boo has fur, not wool on his back :ass:

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Ok, then. And awaaaay we go.

The year was 1977.

At the movies, Star Wars blasted into space with cutting edge special effects, the Bee Gees provided a brilliant soundtrack for John Travolta to dance to in Saturday Night Fever, Burt Reynolds and his mustache charmed the pants off of my first crush, Sally Field, in Smoky and the Bandit, and Roger Moore tried again (and failed, IMO), to be the James Bond in The Spy who Loved Me.

On the Boob Tube, Bill Murray replaced Chevy chase on SNL. American Bandstand turned 25, (Dick Clark might still be 25). Roots changed the way people looked at people. CHiPS started off silly and stayed that way. Fantasy Island told tales of Paradise Found & Lost. Jack Chrissy, and Janet took non-sex sexual situation comedy to new heights.

The music world loses Elvis.

On the charts, Rod Stewart's 'Tonight's the Night', and Andy Gibb's 'I just Want to Be Your Everything' battled it out for the top spot.

Meanwhile, topping out at #18 on the charts,

Ram Jam's Black Betty

clubbed you over the head with crunchy guitars and a tribal beat.

The band members were:

BILL BARTLETT lead guitar and vocals

HOWIE BLAUVELT bass and vocals

PETER CHARLES drums

MYKE SCAVONE vocals and percussion

ramjam.jpg

Ram Jam's 1977 recording

Bill Bartlett had an earlier one hit wonder, with the Lemon Pipers (Green Tambourine).

The song was boycotted by the NAACP, citing it was degrading to black women, even though the song was done in the 1930's by black men. this is where my history is a bit muddled. From what I've read, Huddie 'Leadbelly' Ledbetter wrote the song. However, upon more research, i've found that John and Alan Lomax recorded an a capella version in 1934 by either Leadbelly or 'Iron Head' James Baker, depending on where you get your information. It's a mystery to me, and, actually, I kind of like that the song's exact origins are unknown.

Leadbelly.jpg

Huddie 'Leadbelly' Ledbetter

I could have sworn I had a recording of Leadbelly doing the song with his guitar, somewhere here in this computer, but I simply cannot find it. So, I scrounged up:

allegedly Leadbelly's 1939 a capella version

the song, however, has been covered several times.

1960s:

Odetta

Harry Belafonte

1980s:

Nick Cave

2002:

Tom Jones

2004:

Spiderbait

Ram Jam released one more album, in 1978, never to be heard from again. but, they will always have the most kick-ass version, IMO.

Edited by bear
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Re: Ram Jam's Black Betty

Oddly, I don't remember the song, but it's pretty tight. Sort of reminds me of what the Allman Brothers were doing at the time.

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Oddly, I don't remember the song, but it's pretty tight. Sort of reminds me of what the Allman Brothers were doing at the time.

Actually, a little more back story, before Bartlett was teamed up with the rest of Ram Jam, he'd done another version of Black Betty, with another group he lead, 'Starstruck', which included David Goldflies, who later played with the Allman Brothers.

Musical circles, eh?

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Ok, and off we go, to 1974.

At the theaters, Mel ruled the roost with Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstien, and disater fims were all the rage, with The Towering Inferno, Airport 1975, and Earthquake grossing big at the box office. Sequels also made money, as Herbie the Love Bug rode again, Billy Jack went to trial, and unbelievably, Godfather II was even better than the first.

On the Boob Tube, Florida Evans left her job as Maude's maid and let the Good Times roll. (I never could figure out how a woman living in the projects of Chicago commuted all the way to New York to clean house). The spinoofs continued, with Rhoda leaving the apartment above Mary's, (she was finer than Mary, I think),

President Nixon resigned Live!, on tv. Happy Days debuts, and within a few years, Fonzie turns into a cartoon of, well, himself. Other debuts in 1974 included The Rockford Files, Policewoman, Chico and the Man, and one of the coolest saturday morning shows ever, The Land of the Lost. (Sleestacks scared the crap out of me). Monty Python's Flying Circus airs it's final episode in the UK, and debuts on American TV.

In music, The Doobs release 'What Once Were Vices Are Now Bad Habits' (a great title), spawning the hit 'Black Water' (which, if I remember correctly reading somewhere, was a B-side). The Captain and Tenille got married. Cher files for divorce. The Ramones play their very first concert in New York. Peter Wolf marries Faye Dunaway. (Wow! I did not know that!).

Some self titled debut album released in 1974:

Bad Comany

Kansas

Badfinger

Kiss

Rush

And speaking of self titled debut albums, that brings me to the next one hit wonder, the Scottish band...

Pilot

and their one hit wonder,

Magic

Their debut album, Pilot, was produced by Alan Parsons. The band members were:

pilot.jpg

David Paton: Bass

Billy Lyall: Keyboard

Stuart Tosh: Drums

Ian Bairnson: Guitar

Some of these names (Paton and Lyall), you may recognize from another Scottish band, The Bay City Rollers.

The song was poppy, fun, bubblegum fare. I liked it a lot, though, and still do to this day. The song reached #11 in the UK, but made it all the way to #4 on the Billboard charts. They did have another hit in the UK, 'January', which went all the way to #1, but for the purposes of this thread, I'm sticking to the US charts.

They had a few other songs that charted, 'Call Me Round', & 'Just A Smile', but they were very, very minor, and barely made a sound. Not that I could find, anyway.

The video. (I didn't know there was one!!!)

In 1977, with only two members remaining(Paton and Bairson), Pilot released their 4th and final album.

Their discography:

Pilot (From the Album of the Same Name) - (1974)

Second Flight - (1975)

Morin Heights - (1976)

Two's a Crowd - (1977)

1978 came along, and Tosh, Paton, and Bairnson became members of The Alan Parsons Project.

Tosh also worked with 10cc.

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Thanks. It's good to be here. I was a member of another pretty sizeable music forum, but it devolved into a circus. 200 posts a day in the fun and games forum, 10 in music. So, I left.

Anyway, moving on to the third entry in the thread, following the trend, I'm going back a little further, to 1970. What was going on then? Let's take a look, shall we?

In 1970, the average cost of a gallon of gas was .36 cents, to fill the tank of your Plymouth Fury, which cost $3.600, right off the showroom floor. A new house would run you around $24,000, and you could mail a letter anywhere in the world for .06 cents.

At the movies, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice & a bunch of stuff us kids weren't allowed to see, M*A*S*H gave us an ever-so-brief glimpse of Sally Kellerman's girl parts, George Lazenby made an even briefer appearance as 007, Patton slapped the crap out of some shell-shocked soldier, then apologized (without really apologizing). And the greatest soundtrack of all accompanied, in my opinion, the purest music movie ever, Woodstock.

On the not quite boob, but getting there fast, tube, Josie and the Pussycats set the standard for little boys, like myself, who watched them every saturday morning, but weren't quite sure why they were so interesting. With Flip Wilson, what you saw was what you got, Mary Richards turned the world on with her smile, and the Partridge Family spawned Danny Bonaduce.

The music scene was pretty darned good.

1970's freshman class* included Queen,The Doobie Brothers, Stxy, and ELO

(*meaning they formed, not necessarily releasing anything)

Some pretty darned good albums:

George Harrison ~ All Things Must Pass

Neil Young ~ After the Goldrush

The Beatles ~ Let It Be

Black Sabbath ~ Paranoid

Janis Joplin ~ Pearl

James Brown ~ Sex Machine

The Doors ~ Morrison Hotel

Simon decided he was just about tired of carrying Garfunkel, and went on his own (kinda like George Michael and that other Wham guy, only 20 years earlier)

The Monkees, still imitating the Beatles, broke up. (actually, I rather like a bunch of Monkees songs)

On the charts, the above mentioned Simon and Garfunkel's last effort, Bridge over Troubled Water, was number one, The carpenters longed to be close to you, the Jackson 5 sang their ABCs, and coming in at Number One on the charts the week of April 27, 1970, we had...

The Ides of March ~ Vehicle

A great, ballsy, crunchy song I've always loved, and invariably makes the cut on any 70's mix cd I burn. The Ides of March were born in 1964, in a basement in Berwyn, Illinois. Originally a guitars , bass and drums band, they later added a horn section.

'Vehicle' was written by Jim Peterik*. A lot of people think the song is about a dark perv, trying to lure girls into his car, but in actuality, it was written about an ex-girlfriend of Peterik, who, after their breakup, continued to call him and ask for rides here and there and everywhere. Peterik says he finally got fed up and told her "I'm just your vehicle", and it clicked with him.

Instead of writing the whole story:

From Songfacts

This is really a great song. The horn section is simply spot-on pure energy, and rivals anything Tower of Power or Chicago ever did. (Early Chicago, not that 80's crap, after Peter Cetera castrated them).

Anyway, give it a listen, and be sure and crank it up!!

http://www.yousendit.com/download/QlVpSkhlcTIzMWswTVE9PQ

* after doing some research, I have found out a lot about Jim Peterik. this guy has been ariound for 40 years in the music business. Before Ides, he was in a band called the Chitown Hustlers (I couldn't find any music on line), and after Ides, he founded Survivor (Eye of the Tiger), then was with .38 Special for a long time, cowriting a bunch of their hits (Wild Eyed Southern Boys, Hold on Loosely, Rockin' Into the Night, Caught Up in You, Fantasy Girl, among others).

In 1990, Jim reunited with Ides, then in 1993, went back to Survivor. In 1997, back to Ides, where's he's been ever since. They still tour.

The Ides of March, 1970:

1970group.jpg

2007:

idesofmarch.jpg

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