Obscure One Hit Wonders of the Seventies Quiz

Answer: Mississippi

"Mississippi" was the only successful release from John's first solo effort. The "John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.)" LP contained an album version along with a shorter single release version of "Mississippi". Successive efforts to record solo albums became difficult because of his increasing drug abuse. In 1981 Phillips faced a drug distribution charge and along with his daughter, Mackenzie, he made the talk show circuit counseling kids about drug abuse as part of his sentence.
Upon release he reformed various touring lineups of The Mamas and the Papas and co-wrote the Beach Boys' 1988 hit, "Kokomo".
"Somebody's Been Sleeping" was a 1970 release by 100 Proof Aged in Soul. "Long Lonesome Highway" was a Top Twenty by Michael Parks and Crabby Appleton had a 1970 Top Twenty single with "Go Back".

Answer: Wadsworth Mansion

Wadsworth Mansion guitarist Steve Jablecki wrote their only hit, "Sweet Mary". In 1970 the group released a self-titled album on the Sussex Label and released "Sweet Mary " as a single. The song made Number Seven the following year. Wadsworth Mansion took their name from a historical building in Middletown, Connecticut.
While touring in support of their hit the band's equipment was damaged in a flood in Pennsylvania, forcing them to cancel remaining tour dates. By the time they assembled more equipment their label failed to back them with further releases and the band split up.
"Hallelujah" was a Top Forty release by Sweathog. Gary Criss fronted Glass Bottle when they had their only hit, "I Ain't Got Time Anymore". "1900 Yesterday" was a 1971 Top Forty by Liz Damon's Orient Express.

Answer: Mickey Newbury

Mickey Newbury signed with Acuff-Rose Music upon his release from the military and would go on to compose hits for countless Country artists. At one point he had different compositions recorded by various artists in the Top Ten of four charts at the same time.

He created "An American Trilogy" when he combined elements of "Dixie", "All My Trials" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". After Newbury had his Top Forty hit with the song Elvis released a single that peaked at Number 66 the same year. "Crazy Mama" was a 1972 release by J. J. Cale. "I've Been Lonely For So Long" reached Number 26 for Frederick Knight and "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues" made the Top Ten at Number Nine for Danny O'Keefe.

Answer: I'm Doin' Fine Now

New York City formed in 1972 originally using the name Tri-Boro Exchange. Two of the members had previously had success a members of Doo-Wop groups. John Brown sang with The Moonglows, The Five Satins and The Cadillacs. Claude Johnson was with The Genies and Don and Juan. New York City became the opening act for Walter Murphy's Big Apple Band in 1973 and released two albums before disbanding in 1975.
"Jim Dandy" was a 1972 Top Forty song by Black Oak Arkansas. Gunhill Road barely made the Top Forty with "Back When My Hair Was Short" and "Leaving Me" was released by The Independents.

Answer: The McCoys

Because his last named was often misspelled, Richard Zehringer adopted the stage name of Rick Derringer. He was only 17 when "Hang on Sloopy" made it to Number One in the US by his group, The McCoys. They followed up with the Number Seven "Fever" the same year but did not chart another Top Ten hit before breaking up in 1969.
Besides releasing solo efforts Derringer later worked with many other top acts as a guitar player and recorded "Real American", a song adopted by wrestler Hulk Hogan as his entrance music.
The Fortunes had a hit in 1965 with "Here It Comes Again". "I Want Candy" was a Top Forty by The Strangeloves and "Keep on Dancing" by the Gentrys made it to Number Four.

Answer: Sly and the Family Stone

Larry Graham played bass for Sly and the Family Stone throughout their peak hit years between 1967 and 1972. Some of Graham Central Station's recordings featured the Tower of Power brass section players. In 1973 the band released their "Graham Central Station" album on Warner Brothers.

They endured until 1975 and reformed in the nineties after Graham attempted a solo career during the eighties. William "Bootsy" Collins played bass with James Brown in the sixties and with George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic in the seventies. Art Neville was one of the forming members of the New Orleans-based Maters.

Answer: Cledus Maggard and The Citizen's Band

"The White Knight" was a Top Twenty novelty tune released by Jay Huguely, recording the tune under the name of Cledus Maggard and The Citizen's Band. The song made the Billboard Top Twenty and also peaked on the Country charts. It was one of three songs about truckers and CB radios to top the Country charts. "Convoy" by C.W. McCall and "Teddy Bear" by Red Sovine were also Number One Country hits.
"The White Knight" was a song about a police officer who lured truckers into speed traps. It was Jay's only Top Forty hit on either chart.
Cyndi Grecco released a Top Forty single of "Making Our Dreams Come True", from "Laverne and Shirley". John Sebastian took "Welcome Back" to the top slot in 1976 and Pratt and McClain took "Happy Days" to Number Five.

Answer: Float On

The Floaters formed in Detroit in 1976. Former Detroit Emeralds singer James Mitchell formed the group with his brother, Paul Mitchell, along with friends who lived in the Sojourner Truth project. Between 1977 and 1979 the group released four albums, some recordings being done in a garage studio.
"Float On" was a single release from their debut album, also titled "Float On". The single was their only Top Forty hit and managed to reach Number Two on the Billboard charts.
Q was a Disco group from Pennsylvania that hit Number 23 with "Dancin' Man". Slave was a Funk band from Ohio that charted with "Slide". The Number 26 song, "Ariel", was released by Dean Friedman.

Answer: Santa Esmeralda

"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was recorded by Nina Simone one year before The Animals released it as a single. In 1979 the French group, Santa Esmeralda, released a Latin style version of the song that made the US Top Twenty.
One of the core members of Santa Esmeralda was Massachusetts native Leroy Gomez. After forming his own band as a young teen he became a member of Tavares and toured Europe with the band. While touring there he was recruited by Elton John to play saxophone on his "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" album. Upon completion of the project he remained in Paris and was one of the original members of Santa Esmeralda. Casablanca Records picked up their recordings and handled American distribution.
"Native New Yorker" was a 1979 release by Odyssey. Stonebolt took "I Will Still Love You" to Number 29 and Rubicon went to Number 28 with "I'm Gonna Take Care of Everything".

Answer: It was the millionth video to be shown on MTV.

The Buggles formed in England in 1977 with Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley. There are varying accounts of how they arrived at the name The Buggles. The group did not tour, but made they appearances on "Top of the Pops" and other promotional venues such as "Prince's Trust". They never performed live in America, nor did they have another Top Forty release stateside.
The fledgling group shopped "Video Killed the Radio Star" to Island Records and were promptly signed. Within months the song reached Number One in the UK and the group hastily complied an album's worth of material on the heels of the song's success.
"Video Killed the Radio Star" became the first video broadcast on MTV. In February, 2000, "Video Killed the Radio Star" became the millionth video to be shown on MTV.
The American band Niteflyte had a 1979 Top Forty release with "If You Want It".