Eddie Grant - Electric Avenue


Billy Ocean - Carribean Queen

Hairball Wrote:
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>> Billy Ocean - Carribean Queen


billy ocean had a few hit songs like such classics as "They'll be sad songs (To Make You Cry)" "Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into My Car" and my personal favorite : "When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going"



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-01-23 22:59 by ryanpow.

Mr. Bloe - Groovin' With Mr. Bloe

Great song when it was released (1970)

__________________________

hang on sloopy--the mccoys

elmos..I was a sucker for some of those too

ie: Sugar Sugar

Any list of One Hit Wonders that doesn't include "BRANDY" from Looking Glass or "VEHICLE" from Ides of March is no list at all.

PECAMN

Hey, Pec, I mentioned the great "Brandy" previously. Looking Glass had another great song called "Jimmy Loves Mary Ann", but it wasn't a hit.

I always assumed Vehicle was by Blood Sweat and Tears..........thanks Pecman

virgil wrote:

Little trivia

What do these three songs of one hit wonders have in commom?


My Baby loves Lovin

Love grows where my Rosemary goes

United we stand


All sang by the same guy - He also sang "Beach Baby". Can't call his name though.

"Walk Away Rene" by the Left Bank.

Hey Elmo,

Sorry I missed that...you are right..and BRANDY RULES...great summer drinking song.

PECMAN

keefstheman Wrote:
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> virgil Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Little trivia
> >
> > What do these three songs of one hit wonders
> have
> > in commom?
> >
> >
> > My Baby loves Lovin
> >
> > Love grows where my Rosemary goes
> >
> > United we stand
>
>
> All from 1970?

KTM,
That may be true but not what I was looking for.

Elmo Lewis Very good


Three Different Bands the Same lead singer.

White Plains, Edison Lighthouse, Brotherhood of Man


Tony Burrows, he was like a session singer who sang on a long list of popular songs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-01-24 02:12 by virgil.

Beelyboy Wrote:
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> hang on sloopy--the mccoys


Lead singer was Rick Derringer at age 15.

ryanpow Wrote:
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> "Walk Away Rene" by the Left Bank.

The Left Banke were TWO-hit wonders, the other being "Pretty Ballerina"

saltoftheearth Wrote:
> And I still like
>
> Oh babe (what would you say) - Hurricane Smith
>
Great song.

Smith was an engineer on the early Beatle albums, all the way up through Beatles For Sale.

John Lennon sent him a telegram to congratulate him when Oh Babe (What Would You Say) hit the top ten.

the troggs--wild thing

and 'love is all around' both made u.s. top ten charts.
(they might have have had more hits their home country, dunno)...both killer, wonderful hits.

Didn't he also participate on later albums ?

__________________________

NICOS Wrote:
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> What about Billy Swan - I can't help

Actually, the title is "I Can Help."

Kinda changes the meaning somewhat.


re: Norman "Hurricane" Smith. I read that he stopped working for The Beatles in '65, and also produced some early Pink Floyd records.

One fine Morning

Lighthouse (Canadien Band)

Ah Leah - Doonie Iris

Why Me? - Planet P Project

What's Up - 4 Non Blondes

Donnie Iris (Ah Leah is a great song, BTW) was also a member of The Jaggerz who sang "The Rapper". I'm surprised some rapper hasn't butchered that one.

My favorite one hit wonder is David & David doing "Welcome to the Boomtown".
Thing with many of these one hitters is that they often are established songwriters who for one reason or another want to venture out and sing the tune themselves. David baerwald e.g is songwriting machine; as are severral others in this thread.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

Los Bravos
"Black Is Black" (1966)

Donnie Iris had another lesser known solo hit with "Love is Like a Rock." He was also briefly a member of another one-hit wonder band called Wild Cherry ("Play that Funky Music"). Donnie has recorded lots of great tunes but few have gotten any airplay outside his hometown Pittsburgh.



Elmo Lewis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Donnie Iris (Ah Leah is a great song, BTW) was
> also a member of The Jaggerz who sang "The
> Rapper". I'm surprised some rapper hasn't
> butchered that one.

Didn't know he (Donnie Iris AKA Iraece) was also in Wild Cherry! That's wild! "Ah, Leah" was on of the best songs of the 80's to me. In 1981, Playboy's Top Three songs of teh year were "STart ME Up", "Ah Leah", and "Our Lips Are Sealed".



Another 1-hit wonder:

Phil Seymour - "Precious To Me"
He was also the drummer for Dwight Twilley on the great "I'm On Fire" - not the boring Bruce song.

Donnie Iris wasn't on the recording of Play the Funky Music but he did tour with Wild Cherry before going solo.

According to Donnie's official site:

[www.donnieiris.com]

The Story
Donnie learned how to sing from his Mother and then from Tony Bennett and Marvin Gaye. In 1970, as a member of the Jaggerz, Donnie earned a gold record for writing and singing the No. 1 song “The Rapper.”

In or around 1978, Donnie was asked to join “Wild Cherry” (“Play That Funky Music, White Boy”) in the group’s waning days. Donnie met Mark Avsec, his future collaborator and partner, in “Wild Cherry” and the two of them began discussing plans for a recording project. Oddly enough, Mark’s first love (at the age of 15) was a huge fan of “The Rapper” and Mark thought that was somehow profound. Then again, Mark sees profundity in a good many things.

Mark and Donnie began writing some songs in Donnie’s basement. Eventually, they wanted to lay down some tracks at Jeree’s Recording Studio. Donnie knew of a terrific bass player named Albritton McClain; he also heard about Marty Lee Hoenes, a hot young guitar player who was playing in a band called “The Pulse.” Donnie went to go see both Albritton and Marty and, after hearing them, invited both to come down to Jeree’s Recording Studio to record some tracks for an unknown project; Mark invited drummer Kevin Valentine to the same session (Kevin and Mark were then currently in the band “Breathless”). Mark brought some songs and sketches of songs, a couple of keyboards, and was eager to produce his first record. Pleasantries all around, within a couple of hours the boys were cutting the tracks for “Agnes,” “Ah! Leah!” and the other recordings that would comprise the “Back On The Streets” album.

The project revolved around Donnie’s voice and Mark’s song and production ideas – as well as the ferocious playing of Marty, Al, and Kevin. Mark and Donnie decided the record would be Donnie’s solo album, though they wanted the band to have an identity as well, e.g., Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. But what to call the band? At the time, Mark lived in Cleveland, Ohio and Donnie lived in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania (that is still the case). All of the boys were constantly on the Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpikes (particularly Mark) going to and from Jeree’s Recording Studio in New Brighton, Pennsylvania. Donnie suggested that the group could be called “The Turnpike Cruisers,” based on the 1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser. The “Turnpike Cruisers” was promptly shortened to “Cruisers” and “Donnie Iris and the Cruisers” was born.

The song “Ah! Leah!” was passed by every major label. However, in 1980 you could still break new music on the radio. WMMS in Cleveland added the record. WDVE in Pittsburgh added the record. WBCN in Boston added the record. The phones exploded. The single and album were issued by Midwest Records, out of Cleveland, Ohio, and both began to chart on the Cashbox and Billboard charts. Eventually, Chrysalis and MCA/Universal made overtures to pick up the music – MCA/Universal prevailed. “Ah! Leah!” peaked at or around #29 in Billboard’s Singles Chart, achieved much critical acclaim, and was one of the most played songs in the Album Oriented Radio format in 1980. Donnie was christened by a Toronto reviewer after a blazing show at “The El Mocambo” in Toronto as the “new king of cool.” Hence, the follow-up album was called “King Cool.”

The “King Cool” album was recorded in the “stacked vocals” style that Mark and Donnie pioneered on the first album. It yielded the songs “Love Is Like A Rock” and “That’s The Way Love Ought To Be.” It also yielded the song “My Girl,” which reached at or near #20 on Billboard’s Singles Chart.

Beginning in 1980, the band began touring relentlessly, pausing only for bouts of recording. During a three year stretch, the band headlined shows all over the country and toured with dozens of artists, including Journey, Loverboy, Bryan Adams, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, The Romantics, Eddie Money, UFO, Nazareth, Ted Nugent, Joan Jett, Hall & Oates, and the Michael Stanley Band, to name a few.

Two other MCA albums followed (“The High And The Mighty” and “Fortune 410”) yielding songs like “Tough World” and “Do You Compute?” After Donnie and MCA parted ways, several albums were released on a couple of smaller labels (see the “Discography” section).

When litigation ensued in the mid-eighties, slowing the band’s ability to release a new recording, Mark put out a record (recorded in his basement) under the pseudonym “Cellarful Of Noise” (which was released by CBS Associated). Donnie joined Mark for the second album (called “Magnificent Obsession”), which featured the song “Samantha.”

In 1997, after a fairly long hiatus, the original band re-congregated at Jeree’s Recording Studio to record the “Poletown” album, which many consider to be the finest Donnie Iris and the Cruisers album. This album departed in a major way from Mark’s stacked production style, but the playing is typically ferocious (Albritton, Kevin, and Marty are absolutely brilliant), and the songs are lyrically and musically dark and brooding. This album was also the last time that the band recorded with Jerry Reed doing the engineering. Jerry Reed, a lovely and patient man, passed away in 1999.

In the late 1990s, with Tommy Rich behind the skins and Paul Goll installed on bass, the band recorded one of the many shows that they then regularly played at the “Nick’s Fat City” club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The live album culled from this show is a snapshot of the band during the late 1990s. In 1999, “Together Alone” was released – a very atypical Donnie record. After some false starts at trying to record a new album, Tommy eventually left the band, for the second time, in 2002. Initial tracks were cut for the “Ellwood City” album with Brice Foster on drums in 2003; additional tracks were cut with Kevin Valentine on drums in December 2004.

In August 2004, “Donnie Iris and the Cruisers” celebrated their 25th anniversary before 4,000 screaming fans at the Chevy Amphitheater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. All three drummers – Kevin Valentine, Tommy Rich, and Brice Foster were on the stage (as was Mark’s daughter, Danna, who began sitting in with the band as guest drummer when she turned 16 years old).

The “Ellwood City” album, three years in the making, was released in May 2006.

Epilogue

Donnie Iris is generally considered to be the best screamer in rock and roll. He is now an elder statesman of rock and roll. No young singer has yet upstaged him; no one ever will. Donnie is the real deal, both as a man and as a singer. He is a simple guy who wears a smile and loves his friends and his family. Life is better when Donnie is around. Here’s hoping that he’s around for a long time to come.

If you’ve never been to a Donnie Iris and the Cruisers concert, what are you waiting for?


Unfortunately, Donnie only plays a handful of shows each year in the Pittsburgh - Cleveland area these days. "Live at Nick's Fat City" is a fine live recording although it is pretty tough to find.

deleted...................already on the list



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-01-25 03:21 by Lukester.

'Je Suis Un Rock Star' Bill Wyman.

sf70, thanks for the info!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-01-24 19:41 by Elmo Lewis.

He probably had some others, but I mostly remember "Treat Her Right" by Roy Head
[and the Traits]