| On July 27, Joe Bob was the guest emcee for "One Hit Wonder Night" at Riley Park in Charleston, South Carolina, home of the Charleston River Dogs. That night the River Dogs were playing the visiting Hickory Crawdads (of Hickory, North Carolina), and sadly, the River Dogs lost, 3-2, in 10 innings. Riley Park is built on a marsh near downtown Charleston, with the Ashley River snaking past over the right field fence, the spires of historic Charleston visible beyond the left field fence, and the dormitories of The Citadel military academy looming across the marshes. Four years old, it's undoubtedly one of the most beautiful Class A stadia in the country. | |
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Joe Bob was the guest of River Dogs President Mike Veeck. (Incidentally, one of the co-owners of the team, and the official "Director of Fun," is actor Bill Murray.) The River Dogs' official motto: "There's No Such Thing As Too Much Fun!" This is not a word-for-word transcript of the festivities. Joe Bob sat in a Lazy Boy recliner behind home plate, mixed with the crowd, drank beer, and bantered with River Dogs announcer Ryan Walker between innings. Ryan played the "one hit wonder" over the P.A., then asked Joe Bob to comment on it without giving away the title. Any fan who could name the song won a baseball autographed by various rock-and-roll legends. [click on the photo to see the larger version]
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[Song 1]: That's not a one-hit wonder! Ryan, you've screwed up the whole promotion right at the beginning. They had more than one hit. That's Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Singin' about a Model A racer with 4-barrel carbs and dual exhaust. Although I wonder whether they've actually raced a car in San Pedro, since they pronounce it "San Paydro." I don't even think they have to rhyme that one. Anyhow, lotta songs about cars during their time, but this is one of the best ones. It's got that galloping country fiddle Charlie Daniels kinda feel to it. Although I don't think Commander Cody himself is that convincing as NASCAR enthusiast, since he can talk fast and enunciate. Four stars, though. [Click
Here For The Answer] Canned Heat! 1967! Of course I like this song. I'll bet you didn't even know that Kermit the Frog sang lead vocals for Canned Heat. Listen to that. Actually, this song was played by every rock and roll band of the sixties and seventies because it's so SLOW and it only has one chord. But the message is so great. Listen. The message is . . . uh . . . I'm riding around in my car. Is that the message? Okay, GIANT hint. This song has the same title as a song later popularized by Willie Nelson. [Click
Here For The Answer] The Knickerbockers! You remember the Knickerbockers, don't you, Ryan? Listen, doesn't that sound like Latrell Sprewell. I'm only kidding. Latrell Sprewell wasn't even born when this song came out. 1965. That's actually Patrick Ewing on lead vocals. Because he's, what?, 55 years old? Anyhow, the idea of the Knickerbockers was "Let's dress up exactly like the Beatles and maybe girls will go out with us." It was, however, the greatest band in the history of Bergenfield, New Jersey. That's Buddy Randell on lead vocals. He was previously heard as the singer on the immortal "Short Shorts," but that was with another band. And, of course, the message of this song is . . . You lied to me! Or is it, I lied to you? It's one of those two. [Click
Here For The Answer] This was The Seeds, featuring Sky Saxon on vocals and bass. 1966. This was a definite hippie band, but Sky Saxon was trying to break out, because if you remember him, he was kind of the Neal Sedaka of his day. A lot of electric piano or Hammond organ or Wurlitzer organ--what WAS that thing all the hippie bands used. If you ever saw a picture of The Seeds, you'd never forget em. They had ratty hair and turtlenecks, except sometimes they wore those frilly French-cuff shirts with the puffy sleeves. I think the name "The Seeds" referred to whatever was left after they finished smoking. Daryl Hooper, who plays electric piano, claimed to be 200 years old. This was a tougher song for the garage bands. There are TWO chords in this one. [Click
Here For The Answer] The Castaways! 1965. A great nerd band. And how did we know they were a nerdband? Because they appeared in that classic movie, "It's a Bikini World," wearing their satin shirts and horn-rimmed glasses. Now some people listen to this song and they say "Wow! What a great falsetto he has!" But that was actually the way that guy talked. The Castaways came out of the hot Minneapolis-St. Paul garage band scene. And this was, of course, the first in a series of ONE hits for The Castaways. This song came out in 1965, they broke big. By 1966 they were . . . casted away. [Click
Here For The Answer] This song is from 1966 and it's kind of a tough one. I don't think many people will know the title. But it's by Count Five, the greatest band ever to model itself after The Yardbirds. A lot of fuzz guitar. Count Five was a garage band from San Jose, California, and they liked to dress up in Dracula costumes to disguise the fact that they couldn't sing or play their instruments. After this song became a big hit in 1966, they decided to go ahead and finish high school, graduate in 1968, and THEN start their big musical career. Whoops! [Click
Here For The Answer] The Leaves! Yes, the name of the band is The Leaves, from 1966. Every band in America played it. If you're recognizing it, but it doesn't sound quite right, that's becauseeverybody else recorded it, too. Jimi Hendrix made a recording of it. The Byrdsrecorded it. It was kind of the "Louie Louie" of its day. But OUR version is by . . . The Leaves. The Leaves were a frat band out of San Fernando Valley College in L.A., and they used to go over to Sunset Strip to watch The Byrds play. They loved the Byrds and wanted to play just like them. So think about that. They name themselves The Leaves. What do Byrds do to Leaves? Anyway, they were discovered by . . . Pat Boone. Go figure. Then they bought a fuzzbox and history was made. Actually Jim Pons, the lead vocalist, went on to play with the Turtles, Frank Zappa, John Lennon, he became quite well know. All the rest of the Leaves had to make like a tree . . . [Click
Here For The Answer] The year was 1966, and the band was . . . Music Machine! One of the greatest Beatles lookalike bands in history. They were originally called The Ragamuffins. You might remember them for their all black outfits. Black hair, black gloves, black guitars, black amps, black drums. They were Goth way before it was hip. And they were discovered while playing in a bowling alley in Los Angeles. For some reason they split up in 1969, which I can't understand, because listen to the profundity of these lyrics . . . [Click
Here For The Answer] Yes, of course we all know who that is. The Human Beinz! 1967. Actually this song was originally recorded by The Isley Brothers. But did you know these were white guys? Nobody realized that they were white guys from Youngstown, Ohio, when the record came out, so they got a lot of play on black rhythm and blues stations and shot up the charts. They were discovered, in fact, at Mickey's Bar in Youngstown. I don't know whether theywere playing their guitars at the bar or just drinking at the bar. They called themselves "The Human Beings," but when their big debut album came out--which actually turned out to be their ONLY album--they were a little hacked off to discover it said"The Human Beinz" on the cover. Because the record company thought it would be a great play on words. The hippie "be-in." Human "be-inz." But just when you thought they were dead, their career took off! In Japan! For all we know they may STILL bewandering around Japan, milking that one hit . . . [Click
Here For The Answer] The band was . . . Love. The year was 1966. These were LA rockers. Sounds kinda punk before its time, don't you think? Have you noticed that almost all our songs are from the years 1965 to 1967? Well, there's a reason for that. The main selector for the one-hit wonders is the president of the River Dogs, Mike Veeck himself, and during those years he was learning to play his guitar for his big career as a rock-and-roller. We were going to play the one hit by Mike's own band, Chattanooga Glass, which flourished from about 1972 to 1975, but they never actually HAD a hit. Anyway, Mike not only knows the titles to all these songs--what's even more pathetic is that he can PLAY all of them on his guitar! This is a hard one, though. I don't think ANYBODY will get this. [Song 11]: Now everybody in the stadium should get this one, because this is a local band. The Swinging Medallions. 1965. Somebody told me that the Swinging Medallions are still around, they're still milking this song after 35 years. That's great. Great frat rock band. Actually they're from Greenwood, South Carolina. The organ just won't quit on this song. Tell me if you agree with me, but I think this may be the best musical version of a drunken party in the history of rock and roll. There are eight guys in the Swinging Medallions. Actually, this song was written by Cyril Vetter, drummer for The Greek Fountains, out of Baton Rouge. And if you know Baton Rouge, then you know that The Greek Fountains were named after a frat house at LSU that was famous for . . . hurling. And I do NOT mean Olympic hurling. Or maybe I do. What? That guy is claiming to be a member of the Swinging Medallions? Okay, you're ineligible to win this prize. Or is he just happy? [Click
Here For The Answer] The band is . . . Syndicate of Sound. 1966. But that wasn't the original name of the group. These were the original Pharaohs! Out of San Jose, California. Remember in "American Graffiti" when they pull Richard Dreyfuss aside and say, "I know what you've always wanted. You've always wanted to be a Pharaoh." Well, these were the guys. They were discovered at the Teen World's Fair in San Mateo, California, in 1965, when they won the Battle of the Bands. And this song is great. It's one of those great "I loved you, you weren't worth it, now rot in hell" songs. This is the one they're remembered for. It launched their careers in the year 1966, and it continued to be their signature hit until their careers petered out in about, oh, uh, 1966. [Click
Here For The Answer] Okay, listen to this clue. I think that lyric MIGHT give you a little hint to the title of this one. The band is The Hombres! 1967. Actually they changed their name. Originally they were Ronny and the Daytonas, a hot rod band out of Nashville. But then one day they were listening to their car radio and Bob Dylan came on and they changed to the Hombres and they became existential. Listen to this lyric they wrote: "Saw a man walkin' upside down/ My TV's on the blink/ Made Galileo look like a Boy Scout/ Sorry 'bout that/ Let it all hang out." Isn't that powerful? They burst onto the scene in 1967. The Hombres. And they burst OFF the scene in 1968. [Click
Here For The Answer] That's Sammy Johns, in 1975. Everybody's gonna get this one. Actually, though, this song is disturbing to me. It kinda scares me. "Like a picture she was laying there." So what does he do? He picks her up and puts her in his Chevy van. And THEN she regains consciousness. AFTER she's in the Chevy van. Kind of a serial killer's point of view, don't you think? [Click
Here For The Answer] Is this a one-hit wonder? I guess maybe it was their only hit. Anyway, the band is Lobo. What IS he doing with his dog? What are they doing down there on the bright red Georgia clay? Doing WHAT and living off the land? We have children here tonight. Good grief [Click
Here For The Answer] Well, this is definitely not a one-hit wonder. What's going on here, Ryan? Are you just playing anything you find up there? This is Herman's Hermits. They had, like, fifteen hits. And I guess this was the fifteenth. What is this song about anyway? [Click
Here For The Answer] Tommy James and the Shondells! I KNOW they had
more than one hit. But this is a great one. This is about LSD, isn't it? This is an acid trip song. "Better get ready to see the [Click
Here For The Answer] Oh, man. This was the great Carl Douglas. The only man who could rhyme "frightening" with "timing." But this is actually the first politically correct multi-ethnic song about martial arts. Because these fighters are not just from Chinatown. They're from FUNKY Chinatown. [Click
Here For The Answer] Brewer and Shipley. Who's singing? Brewer or Shipley. So what's this about really? He's sitting in a railroad station, on his way to Georgia. He's not DRIVING to Georgia. He's taking Amtrak to Georgia. Driving would be somewhat suspenseful. So the only question is: Will he get on the train? Or is he too messed up? Isn't that what this is about? |
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