"One Hit Wonders" Daily Trivia

ANSWER TO YESTERDAY'S QUESTION.....


#326


8/19/19


This "ranking" group was known for its' falsetto hit in 1962.

"A Wonderful Dream" / The Majors
Imperial Records #22 1962





Not much is known about The Majors except they were from Philly and mostly known from their falsetto lead singer, Ricky Cordo. Many people have commented that they thought the singer was a female. Note: Both posts from the last two days featured "Majors".


It has always puzzled me how an artist or group could sometimes have a megahit and we never hear from them again. Especially if they wrote it. As a final authority I'll use the Billboard Top 40 charts because that should narrow the field to songs most everyone is familiar with.In some cases, an artist could have had another minor regional hit that no one ever heard of. I know of a One Hit Wonder where the group had two other hits in the South but people on the west coast would have never heard them. I will try to make the questions somewhat difficult to attract multiple answers or guesses. Each day I will update this thread with the previous day's answer and a new question. Correct answers should contain the correct title and artist as it appeared on the record or chart.
What I found recently after starting this thread was that if someone correctly answers the question soon after it's posting, it takes away the incentive for others to participate. I don't want that to happen since this is a forum. So, let me describe how I think this can work successfully. You have five choices for initial answers...

1. If you absolutely know that you know the answer, without any doubt, simply post "GOLD STAR", and leave a comment, if you like, about the song that doesn't hint or giveaway the answer. Please come back and post your full comments and memories about the song after the answer has been posted. This is what I want to encourage the most since this is a forum.

2. If you want to confirm your initial thought and look it up, post a SILVER STAR , with the same criteria as in #1.

3. If you want to take the time to research the answer, post a TIN STAR. Same criteria as #1.

4. Post your guesses. But let us know it's a guess, meaning it may or may not be correct. Comments would be welcomed.

5. Simply post "I don't know" and leave any comments you might have.

With these choices, it gives everyone a chance to correctly answer the question early and still leave room for everyone to participate until the official answer is posted. Again, I really want to hear your comments and memories about the song/artist. Good luck and have fun !


NEW QUESTION......


#327


8/20/19


A north of the border group with a song written by a writer of an Anne Murray hit.




Please choose from the answer options above.

 

That was a major (ahem) reason that I got a gold star for #326. "Major" was on my mind.

In any case, I have a tin star for #327.

 

Oh dang, I should've checked. The song I thought about was The Lion sleep tonight.

 

Having recently read Anne Murray's biography, I can claim gold for number 327.

 

Back to 326, I enjoyed scrolling through the lists of 1962 songs, and was surprised how many I thought were from 1961.

One track I thought of for the answer was Here I Stand by the Ripchords, but I guess it didn't make the Top 40, and may not have been from 1962.

I also found a favorite that has not yet appeared in this thread, but which also features falsetto. It will surely come in another post.

 

And I was right!

 

But Hey Little Cobra by the Ripchords was a big hit!

 

FYI...The lead vocal on "Hey Little Cobra" was Terry Melcher, Doris Days' son and the one Charles Manson was hoping to kill on his murder spree for not fulfilling a promise to release Manson's album. Bruce Johnston was also part of the group.

 

I didn't like that at the time because I was tired of car songs. But I ruled them out for several reasons, including that they had another top 40 hit.

 

This message is coming from about a mile above the ocean somewhere around Indonesia and Australia courtesy of Qatar Airways free hour of WiFi access.

I do sometimes put very subtle references to the answer in my answer, but aim at a level of subtlety that would be useless to someone who doesn't yet know the answer. I don't think I would have got the answer from my own clue

For #327 I have a fairly solid-looking tin-star answer. I thought that there were too many Anne Murray hits and research would take up more than an hour and I'd have to pay actual money for further WiFi access to find the answer. But, a bit of tactical search quickly found a fully plausible answer. Some luck may have been involved.

 

Hint for #327......AGAIN....the hint is in the above post of HitAndRun and again I'm sure he never realized it.

 

Gold star for #327. Knew it before the hint, and because of that, I found the hint in the post above.

It's another early example of a type of music that would become its own genre.

 

Again, I had to re-read the question. Tin Star for #327!

I had the single as a child... I actually preferred the B-side.

 

ANSWER TO YESTERDAY'S QUESTION.....

#327


8/20/19


A north of the border group with a song written by a writer of an Anne Murray hit.


"Put Your Hand In the Hand" / Ocean
Kama Sutra Records #2 1971





From Toronto, Ocean did not intend on being known as a "Gospel Rock" band but that's what happened. The song was written by Gene MacLellen who also wrote Anne Murray's debut hit "Snowbird". Three other songs were released in the U.S. but nothing hit like this one.


It has always puzzled me how an artist or group could sometimes have a megahit and we never hear from them again. Especially if they wrote it. As a final authority I'll use the Billboard Top 40 charts because that should narrow the field to songs most everyone is familiar with.In some cases, an artist could have had another minor regional hit that no one ever heard of. I know of a One Hit Wonder where the group had two other hits in the South but people on the west coast would have never heard them. I will try to make the questions somewhat difficult to attract multiple answers or guesses. Each day I will update this thread with the previous day's answer and a new question. Correct answers should contain the correct title and artist as it appeared on the record or chart.
What I found recently after starting this thread was that if someone correctly answers the question soon after it's posting, it takes away the incentive for others to participate. I don't want that to happen since this is a forum. So, let me describe how I think this can work successfully. You have five choices for initial answers...

1. If you absolutely know that you know the answer, without any doubt, simply post "GOLD STAR", and leave a comment, if you like, about the song that doesn't hint or giveaway the answer. Please come back and post your full comments and memories about the song after the answer has been posted. This is what I want to encourage the most since this is a forum.

2. If you want to confirm your initial thought and look it up, post a SILVER STAR , with the same criteria as in #1.

3. If you want to take the time to research the answer, post a TIN STAR. Same criteria as #1.

4. Post your guesses. But let us know it's a guess, meaning it may or may not be correct. Comments would be welcomed.

5. Simply post "I don't know" and leave any comments you might have.

With these choices, it gives everyone a chance to correctly answer the question early and still leave room for everyone to participate until the official answer is posted. Again, I really want to hear your comments and memories about the song/artist. Good luck and have fun !


NEW QUESTION.....


#328


8/21/19


An influential group formerly known as the Grass Roots.




Please choose from the answer options above.

 

The actual spelling of Gene's last name is MacLellan (1938-1995). His daughter Catherine is an active performer hereabouts.

 

#328 tin star

In my mind, they're a two hit wonder, as that's how many songs I could name off the top of my head. Turns out the less famous one (to me at least) was the bigger hit.

 

Gold star for #328.

 

Got it, tin star for #328. I agree, I thought their lesser "non-top 40" song was the bigger hit.

 

I'm not sure what you're doing,...but, this not a place to post One Hit Wonders. Please read the instructions on the last post from me.

 

#328 - my first Silver Star (I think).

Really good band. I particularly like a cover of one of their other songs, by a British band with a German guitarist.


Re: #327 - I'm pretty sure I still have the single in a box stored in the basement (unless it got lost in a move over the years). I think the B-side is the stronger song ("Tear Down The Fences").

 

Missed that one. I was working on "tin", as in One Tin Soldier, as opposed to "ocean" ... lol

 

For a moment, I thought you were referring to a different one of their songs that was covered by a different British band that was unfortunately virtually unknown here in the US, until you got to the German guitarist.