[78-L] It's One-Hit Wonder Day! (must be some 78s that qualify)

[Rockined1]

the obvious one------Near You by Francis Craig on Bullet [1947]
Open the Door Richard- Jack McVea BLACK & WHITE  1947






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From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
To: 78L <78-L at 78online.com>
Sent: Sun, Sep 25, 2011 10:24 am
Subject: [78-L] It's One-Hit Wonder Day! (must be some 78s that qualify)


National One-Hit Wonder Day Comes Sept. 25 (VIDEO)
irst Posted: 9/23/11 01:07 PM ET   Updated: 9/23/11 11:28 PM ET
ttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/23/national-one-hit-day-sept-25_n_960605.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
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earn More > Follow   Video , Afternoon Delight , Billy Vera At This Moment , 
isco Duck , Looking Glass Brandy (You'Re A Fine Girl) , Los Del Rio , Marc 
ohn , National One-Hit Wonder Day , Starland Vocal Band , Tony Burrows , 
unkytown , Macarena , One-Hit Wonder , Steve Rosen , Weird News

ndy Warhol said everyone gets 15 minutes of fame, but if you ask one-hit 
onders, they'll say you're lucky to get 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
Before reality TV started turning ordinary folks into stars, there was no 
aster path to the peak of celebrity -- and no more direct route back to the 
epths of obscurity -- than being a one-hit wonder.
Granted, there are probably good reasons why folks like Los Del Rio, the two 
iddle-aged Spanish guys who took "Macarena" to No. 1 in 1996, never followed 
p their big hit, and the world was surely okay with making C.W. McCall's 1976 
it "Convoy" the only No. 1 song dedicated to CB radio.
But we come here to praise one-hit wonders, not to bury them. For every 
ne-and-done novelty like "Disco Duck" by Rick Dees or annoyingly catchy and 
loying tune like Charlene's 1983 smash "I've Never Been To Me," there is a 
tone-cold classic like "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc. or "Sex And Candy" by Marcy 
layground.
Music writer Steve Rosen thinks all of them have a place and deserve a special 
ay: Sept. 25 to be exact, which he declared as National One-Hit Wonder Day in 
990.
Rosen has a special love for those acts who came in, made their statement and 
idn't hang around -- even the embarrassing songs like the aforementioned 
Macarena" or even "Afternoon Delight" by the Starland Vocal Band.
"You have to take the kitsch with the classics," he told HuffPost Weird News. 
It's interesting to hear a song like 'Disco Duck' and wonder what people were 
hinking."

hile many people associate the phrase "one-hit wonder" with what they were 
oing when songs like "Seasons In The Sun" by Terry Jacks (1974) or 
Unbelievable" by EMF (1991) were big on the charts, Rosen believes their 
eyday was the early years of rock.
"Back in the 1950s and 60s, independent record labels ruled rock and there were 
ll sorts of avenues where a catchy song could get played on the radio," Rosen 
aid. "It left a lot of good music, more than we probably can catalog."
Rosen stopped openly promoting National One-Hit Wonder Day in 2001 after the 
/11 attacks, but the day has lived on without him.
"I was driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas one time on Sept. 25 -- which is 
lso my birthday -- and I heard a disc jockey announce it was 'National One-Hit 
onder Day,'" Rosen said proudly. "So it's taken a life of its own."
Early on, Rosen had rules about what constitutes a true one-hit wonder.
"I used to be a purist," he confessed. "To me, only a band that had one chart 
it and disappeared could count as a one-hit wonder. However, I've modified 
hat opinion. Take Looking Glass. They hit No. 1 in 1972 with 'Brandy (You're A 
ine Girl),' and while they had another hit, 'Jimmy Loves Mary Anne,' a year 
ater, it only went to No. 33.
"So, no, the letter of the law says they weren't one-hit wonders, but the 
pirit of the law says they were because no one is calling a radio station 
sking to hear 'Jimmy Loves Mary Anne.' People don't remember the follow-up 
it, they remember the impact of the first song," said Rosen.
Former Looking Glass leader Elliot Lurie, who wrote and sang "Brandy," 
nderstands why he gets lumped into the one-hit wonder box, but has this 
hilosophy: "One is better than none."
"If you know the technical definition of a one-hit wonder, we don't qualify, 
ut 'Brandy' just keeps coming back. I don't take offense to the term. 'Brandy' 
till has an impact and it worked. All the parts came together. If I knew how 
o do it again, I would," Lurie said.
By the same token, Rosen doesn't consider the Grateful Dead or Jimi Hendrix to 
e one-hit wonders, even though they had only one song each that hit the top 40 
harts.
And then there are those musicians who have recorded more than one one-hit 
onder. For instance, British singer Tony Burrows sang lead on five early 1970s 
op classics: Edison Lighthouse's "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)," White 
lains' "My Baby Loves Lovin'," The Pipkins' novelty song "Gimme Dat Ding," The 
irst Class' "Beach Baby" and The Brotherhood of Man's "United We Stand."
Billy Vera is one artist who gets lumped into the one-hit wonder category 
ecause his 1986 No. 1 hit "At This Moment" looms so large in his career.
In truth, Vera had four top 40 hits in the 1960s and 1970s before "At This 
oment" was played on the popular sitcom "Family Ties" and hit it big. But he 
oesn't mind being miscategorized as a one-hit wonder.
"It doesn't bother me. Every time it gets used -- even on a one-hit wonder 
pecial on VH-1 -- I make money," said Vera, who is able to look bemusedly at 
he one-hit wonder tag because he's had a long, varied career that has included 
riting hits for Dolly Parton, leading the house band on George Lopez's 
ecently canceled talk show and producing reissue albums of his favorite bands.
Vera also doesn't think having just one hit is a bad thing.
"A lot of people only have one great hit in them," Vera said. "I suspect many 
f those one-hits were huge, and there is nothing harder to follow than a big 
it because expectations are so high. Sometimes, the follow-up is just a 
ewrite of that big hit."
Steven Greenberg is another musician who knows the elusive joy of having that 
ne big moment. In 1980, he was the mastermind behind Lipps Inc., which gave 
he world one of the all-time great one-shots with "Funkytown," a dance hit 
hat is still played regularly all over the world.
"I don't mind having that one hit," he said. "I call it 'one-hit wonderful.'"
Greenberg won't discuss how much money he's earned from the song, except to say 
t's allowed him "some creative freedom." For instance, he was able to produce 
nd direct a 1998 documentary called "Funkytown," which followed the careers of 
ive bands from his home town of Minneapolis.
"[The song] is a nice calling card with a certain segment of the population," 
reenberg acknowledged. "Everyone has a positive response to it. It opens 
oors."
Pop culture historian Brent Mann worked in radio during the 1980s, a fertile 
eriod for one-hit wonders like Thomas Dolby, Dexys Midnight Runners and even 
ump N' The Saddle's Three Stooges-themed novelty "The Curly Shuffle."
"Every time I played a one-hit wonder, the phones would ring," said Mann, 
uthor of the 2003 book "99 Red Balloons And 100 Other All-Time Great One-Hit 
onders."
Although Mann is a lifelong lover of one-hit wonders and considers Marc Cohn's 
991 hit "Walking In Memphis" to be the pinnacle, he is pessimistic about the 
uture of this unique part of pop culture history.
"If a radio station can break a song, it gives hope to indie labels, but the 
ormula for ranking has changed," he said. "Now a song can be a hit, but never 
e played on radio -- like Selena Gomez. She gets tons of downloads, but you 
on't hear her on the radio."
So if one-hit wonders are a dying breed, Mann believes they should be enjoyed 
nd celebrated -- especially on Sept. 25.
"I say go to YouTube -- it's now the world's largest jukebox -- and plug in 
homas Dolby's 'She Blinded Me With Science,' Katrina and the Waves' 'Walking 
n Sunshine' and even Rick Dees' 'Disco Duck,' and just enjoy."

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