"One Hit Wonders" Daily Trivia

Yay! Silver for me.

 

Tin, thanks to the hint.

 

ANSWER TO YESTERDAY'S QUESTION.....

#147


2/19/19



The first British group to have a #1 hit in the U.S..


"Telstar" / The Tornadoes
London Records #1 1962




A great tune written by Joe Meek, a recording engineer in London. He took his royalties from a Tommy Steele record and opened his own recording studio and ran an ad in a trade paper looking for musicians. He chose five guys, named them The Tornadoes and rehearsed them into their first single "Love and Fury" which was unsuccessful. When the U.S. launched the world's first communications satellite, Joe was inspired to write this instrumental. He called the Tornadoes back from a tour with Billy Fury. Legend has it that he taught them the tune and taped it in 90 minutes. The song hit the top in America and was the first British group to do so. It sold over 5 million copies. Although no other American hits were in store, they did have at least 3 more in the U.K..

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.....


#148


2/20/19


A little "high-brow" hit from artists who have been around since 1947. (this one should be pretty easy also)


Please choose from the answer options above........

 

Damn, only just logged on. But I got a gold star for #147 before I read your answer. I'm claiming it anyway!

 

#147
On a fall night in 1962, KPUG disc jockey Michael T. Forney made the national news by playing, over and over again, the newly released single “Telstar.”

RadioWest.ca • View topic - KPUG Disc Jockey Draws National Attention to Bellingham

 

Love that story...the days when DJ's could be DJ's.

 

re. answer #147 I grew up listening this compilation lp (AU, early 70's)

Discogs linky

There's at least one other OHW song on this interesting lp

 

Hint for #148.....Think early 80's.

 

Tin star, thanks to your hint. That narrowed it down significantly.

 

Wish you hadn't told us that. It means I'm gonna kick myself for not getting one from my era!

 

And it's your home boys too!

 

ANSWER TO YESTERDAY'S QUESTION......


#148


2/20/19


A little "high-brow" hit from artists who have been around since 1947. (this one should be pretty easy also)


"Hooked On Classics" / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
RCA records #10 1982




Only one guess? And I thought this one would be easy....On the heels of disco, this was a very unlikely idea. Under the leadership of Louis Clark, they continued experimenting with pop and jazz arrangements.


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.....


#149


2/21/19


These Memphis battle of the bands winners were 17 year olds who barely knew how to tune their instruments and recorded this as a "B" side in only 35 minutes.



Please choose from the answer options above........

 

Well, I've been thinking back to the new romantic / synth pop stuff, but nothing's fitting the clue.

 

Oops, posted too late, just seen the answer. And that's outrageous, they're not even an artist!

 

Sure, each musician is an artist, and the record meets all the criteria as a One Hit Wonder.

 

Shouldn't count if I can't picture them in my head! That's my rule, and I'm sticking to it!

 

Yeah, I know it (I think). I took an educated guess and looked it up on Wikipedia, for whatever kind of star ...

 

I was wrestling with a couple of possibilities, think I have silver for #149

 

Hint....It was a short song "doubled" to make it longer.

 

Bronze star for #149 - confirmed by the hint.

 

Silver Star for #149 — though I question one of the details in the original clue!

 

Gold Star for #149. The clue further confirmed what I already knew.

 

This confirms my hunch from my research. Tin star.

 

In case anyone missed this possible clue.