<p>I know, coureur, I must have been really dim or really not paying attention. What can I say? 20 lashes with a wet noodle for me. (I <em>could</em> plead that I was having a Senior Moment and just “did not recall”, but that would be wrong. So wrong.)</p>
<p>Well, I tried. The closest I could get to a One-Hit Wonder that really stuck with me was…</p>
<p>DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT - King Harvest, 1973
I was in love with some megapopular boy at the time, and he had no idea that I existed, so I used to imagine myself dancing in the moonlight with that jerk. There was a great electric piano riff in that song. </p>
<p>(YOU) RING MY BELL, by Anita Ward, in 1978. I don’t know how this one wormed its way into my brain, but it did! I was a junior at Berkeley, and anyone who liked Disco would have been thrown in the stocks at Sproul Plaza and publicly ridiculed for weeks. Well, there weren’t any stocks, but the majority of students would have happily joined together to build stocks for any secret Disco-ites. :)</p>
<p>Is singing ability inherited? I do remember Bob and Joan, and have wondered how talented their children would have been - and what that would sound like. </p>
<p>If you’re near a TV and your schedule is the same as mine, turn to PBS for “American Masters - Bob Dylan” by Martin Scorsese. Joan is talking about him. Good stuff.</p>
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<p>Probably terrible. Dylan is known much more for his talent with words and ideas than the talent of his voice. And Joan has a nice soprano voice that she unfortunately warbles with excessive vibrato. Put’em both together and I’m not sure what you’d get.</p>
<p>The Grassroots–“Midnight Confession” (1968)</p>
<p>Driver, sorry, although I was a big fan of the Grassroots, they were no one-hit wonder. </p>
<p>“In the entire history of Rock n’ Roll; only 9 bands (including The Beatles) have charted more hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 than The Grass Roots.
They hold the all-time attendance record for a one act U.S. concert of 600,000 people on July 4th, 1982 in Washington, DC.
During a 6-year period (1967-1972) The Grass Roots set a record for being on the Billboard charts an unbelievable 307 straight weeks and have sold over 20 million records worldwide.”</p>
<p>Where Were You When I Needed You - July 1966
Let’s Live For Today-June 1967
Things I Should Have Said - Sept. 1967
Midnight Confessions - Sept. 1968
Bella Linda - Jan. 1969
The River Is Wide - May 1969
I’d Wait A Million Years - Aug. 1969
Heaven Knows - Nov. 1969
Baby Hold On - June 1970
Temptation Eyes - Feb. 1971
Sooner Or Later - June 1971
Two Divided By Love - Oct. 1971</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.angelfire.com/co/helper/grassroots.html[/url]”>http://www.angelfire.com/co/helper/grassroots.html</a></p>
<p>Over30,
I guiltily admit to knowing beforehand that you are right. I just didn’t know any of those other songs. At the age of 12, I wore my MC 45 out. It was a real favorite. Which of those other songs did you really like?</p>
<p>Coureur, you give me pause…TheMom winces at my Bob Dylan imitations, which I could swear were faithful and accurate.</p>
<p>Driver, The first six on the list above. I have a difficult time making such important decisions.</p>
<p>Coureru, I didn’t necessarily think that voice would be pleasing, just interesting!</p>
<p>TheDad, maybe you just need to learn the harmonica - that seems to disguise the voice a little.</p>
<p>Over30, there are some honorable mentions here that don’t qualify as “One Hit Wonders.” Someone listed Otis Redding, and I about fell off my spinny computer chair in an apoplectic fit. One of the most influential R&B artists ever, the guy who wrote Aretha Franklin’s RESPECT, inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame in 1989, was not a One Hit Wonder. </p>
<p>Edison Lighthouse has been mentioned a few times. They made a habit of recording different songs under different band names, and they were phenomenally successful at it. “Love Grows,” by Edison Lighthouse, “My Baby Loves Lovin’,” by White Plains, and “United We Stand,” by The Brotherhood of Man, charted between January and May of 1970, prompting a mention in the Guinness Book of WR for the most singles charted simultaneously under different group names containing the same artists. I guess, it was a smart move marketing-wise because the critics couldn’t get them in their sites long enough to trash their entire body of work. It was just too confusing to think about. 
</p>
<p>Edison Lighthouse was created from an already successful group called, The Flying Machine, who recorded, “Smile A Little Smile For Me.” I guess, you could say that Edison Lighthouse was a One Hit Wonder band, but the musicians were responsible for consistently churning out some of the most memorable Top 40 “feel good” hits of the 1970’s. Next time you’re in the dentist’s chair, sit back, relax, and :::choke::: enjoy! :o </p>
<p>I’m sure that I had a Thin Lizzy 8-track in my crate of albums. “Boys Are Back in Town” was on the Jailbreak album, their fifth and most successful American album. They put out a Greatest Hits album in 2004. Janis Ian has been a prolific artist over the years and is one of those singer/songwriters whose work you hear all of the time during poignant moments on various TV and movie soundtracks. “All Roads to the River” on her 1993 album, Breaking Silence, was rerecorded by John Mellencamp, and her album, Billie’s Bones, recorded in 2003 in Nashville, has a beautiful cut of “My Tennessee Hills” with Dolly Parton. She’s come a long way as an artist. A little self-absorbed, yes. A One Hit Wonder, not at all. ;)</p>
<p>Over30: go now, from my window, leave at your own chosen speeeeeed.</p>
<p>Damn. I think TheMom might prefer the e-version of my Dylan imitations.
Anyway, I’m having enough trouble with violin that I’m not going to worry about the harmonica for the riffs and interludes.</p>
<p>I watched Yesterday’s instalment of the Dylan bio with a foreign guest who had not heard of him before. I was hard to convince this young woman of the importance of this guy with his truly nasal voice. She concluded H and I were on a total nostalgia trip. Could be right…</p>
<p>One Hit Wonder that I remember was “The Night the Lights Went our in Georgia” by Vicky Lawrence. I was in 6th grade and I think I wore out my 45.</p>
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<p>Tiny Tim!!</p>
<p>–who is my contribution to one hit wonders with “Tiptoe Through the Tulips”.</p>
<p>The Scorcese Dylan documentary was fabulous. He did a masterful job linking Dylan’s early inspirations starting with Hank Williams. Then, showing Dylan mature from an imitator to a creator. It was such a pleasure to see the video of a young Dylan when he hit is creative stride with stuff like Mr. Tamborine Man, Desolation Row, Like A Rolling Stone, etc.</p>
<p>The interview segments with Dylan were fascinating. I’m convinced that every word the man has ever uttered has been a lie, but he still manages to convey a lot of truth.</p>
<p>The movie was also very effective in conveying Bob Dylan as a chameleon. That has been the secret to his staying power. Go to see him play over the years. The slow songs become fast. The loud songs become soft. The ballads become rockers.</p>
<p>The movie also vividly displayed how weary he was of having to play the role of Bob Dylan by 1966. He was smart to walk away from it for eight years while he built a defense mechanism of just being a gigantic enigma. The Beatles ran aground in the same way. They just could not continue to be the Beatles.</p>
<p>Dylan was four years ahead of his time with the electric band. The live performance technology didn’t catch up until the late 1960s, early 70s. Hats off to him for trying. The Beatles never really attempted any of their more complex material in their live shows.</p>
<p>It is hard to overestimate the defining impact the release of “Like a Rolling Stone” had on the music industry. That song, the first ever at more than the standard 3 minutes on the Billboard charts, pretty much invented “album rock”.</p>
<p>Dylan and Baez duets? Excrutiating. She totally destroyed his performances. I think that Dylan was a fabulous singer, not in the “pretty voice” style, but in his phrasing. Baez was totally lost.</p>
<p>OMG, Slugbug, “Smile A Little Smile for Me” should definitely be on the other list, too. </p>
<p>Everybody together now, in a whiny slurred voice:</p>
<p>Smile a little smile for me…
Rose marie…
Therez no uze in cryin’</p>
<p>In a little while you’ll see
Rose marie…
Whatz the uze in cryin’</p>
<p>…at least that’s how I remember it.</p>
<p>I’d also nominate “Wildflower” and “Rock me Gently” for the other list, too. Thank god they were one-hits.</p>
<p>But Eagle, Men at Work had many hits, including “Who can it be now,” “It’s a Mistake”, and my favorite, “Overkill”.</p>
<p>Nice review interesteddad.</p>
<p>I was stunned on how young Dylan looked in the mid-60s. 15 came to mind.</p>
<p>Garland,</p>
<p>Good point, Men at Work were actually multi-hit wonders.</p>
<p>I had a few others but thought they may be too regional so I left them out. But, in the interest of keeping this thread alive:</p>
<p>Loudon Wainright III - Dead Skunk
Jud Strunk - Daisy a Day</p>
<p>SluggBugg,</p>
<p>Awesome posts and background on some of the songs.</p>
<p>TSDad:</p>
<p>One of the remarkable things about Dylan is the sheer volume of his songwriting creativity over a very short period of time. He showed up in NYC, never having written a song in 1961 and four years later had produced a tremendously innovative and influential body of work. I have both volumes of his complete songbooks and it is just song after song after song. Lennon/McCartney were the same way, again over the span of just a few years. Like a meteor appearing and streaking across the sky.</p>
<p>Dylan had a great quote in his 60 Minutes interview last year. Referencing that period of songwriting, he said, “I can’t do that anymore. I can do other things, but I can’t do that.” The interviewer asked, “Why not?” Dylan said, "Well, you try to sit down and write a song like “Like a Rolling Stone. It’s not something that you have any control over. It just happens.”</p>
<p>I think that’s what drives the Dylans and the John Lennons crazy about the absurd press questioning about the “meaning” of their songs. The songwriting process for those guys wasn’t conscious or calculated or premeditated. It just happened, like spontaneous combustion. They couldn’t do anything but parry with the press because they didn’t understand how the songs happened anymore than the next guy. They sit down at a piano and next thing they know, there’s one of the great songs of all time. It wasn’t like they decided to sit down and write one of the great songs of all time or had some secret formula. I think it’s a combination of pure creativity and good fortune to be at exactly the right moment of time to explore a totally new direction and then the new direction is so obviously exciting that it snowballs.</p>
<p>It’s interesting that both Dylan and the Beatles emerged first as incongruous imitators of unfashionable musical styles. Dylan, the Jewish kid from Minnesota, imitating Hank Williams. Lennon and McCartney, the skinny white kids from Liverpool imitating the black American blues artists. I think the tension/disconnect between the artist and the material probably sheds some light on why they were the ones to blaze new directions. From a performance standpoint (but not songwriting) Elvis was much the same way – the white church choir voice juxtaposed with the black gospel roots of his material.</p>
<p>I once had a computer literate friend make a CD for me with every version of “Like a Rolling Stone” that he could locate. I think he found somewhere in the neighborhood of 13-16 different versions, including 2 by Dylan. There are surely more, but, in any event, it makes for interesting “long-distance drive” listening.</p>