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"Tennessee Flat Top Box".

OK, girls and boys, a little more Country: Johnny Cash wrote and first recorded this 1961 Country standard when his daughter Rosanne was only six years old. A little Texas boy could play a mean steel-string acoustic guitar and folks would come from near and far just to see him play. #11 Country, #84 Pop. In 1987 Rosanne's then-husband Rodney Crowell encouraged her to record it not knowing that her father had written it, assuming it was public domain. Randy Scruggs played the memorable guitar track. It became the third out of four consecutive #1 hits from her seminal "King's Record Shop" album. It was her effort to mend the somewhat strained relationsship with her father. According to Johnny, her recording was "one of (his) greatest fulfillments". Song? Answer: "Tennessee Flat Top Box". In my humble opinion, the BEST thing that Johnny Cash ever did was giving us Rosanne! Actually, my favorite one of her songs is "If You Change Your...
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"Do You Love Me" by The Contours.

OK, girls and boys, more 60s one-hit wonders: When Berry Gordy, Jr. wrote this R&B dance (hint, hint!) classic in '62 he intended for The Temptations to record it. He couldn't find them (!) so he gave it to another early Motown group. It peaked at #3 on Billboard Hot 100 and at #1 R&B Singles. Covered by, among many others, The Tremeloes, The Dave Clark Five and The Hollies. It made the charts again in '88 (#11) after being featured in "Dirty Dancing". Group? Song? Answer: "Do You Love Me" by The Contours. Gordy said, "getting the concept for the song was easy. I remembered the days when I could never get the girls I liked because I couldn't dance". The trademark "false fade" fooled many DJs into thinking the song was over. They had to be told to wait for the "watch me now!". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijK0WTB_-RY
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"Take a Letter, Maria" by R. B. Greaves.

OK, boys and girls, more 60s TWO-hit wonders (?!): A Georgetown, Guyana native of mixed ancestry composed and recorded his first hit in '69. He was Sam Cooke's nephew. A businessman learns of his wife's infidelity and dictates to his steno before asking her out. It peaked at #2, stayed in the charts for 15 weeks and was RIAA Certified Gold. He had another Top 40 (#27) hit the following year. Doug Stone's '99 cover hit #45 on the Country charts. Artist? Song? Second hit? Answer: "Take a Letter, Maria" by Ronald Bertram Aloysius (R.B.) Greaves III. Second hit: "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me". Tony Orlando and Dawn did a cover and actually many thought it was the original. Remember stenos? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Y0x1jLkLg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izvMbQpGDi0
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"Gimme Dat Ding" by The Pipkins.

OK,boys and girls, more 70s one-hit wonders: This 1970 (great year!) British honky-tonk novelty-pop tune is said to represent the interaction between a piano and a metronome. It was written for the children's TV show "Oliver and The Overlord" and used extensively on "The Benny Hill Show". Sung as a duet by Tony Burrows and Roger Greenaway. Written by Mike Hazlewood and Sir Albert Hammond, OBE (yes, as in "It Never Rains in Southern California", "99 Miles from L.A.", "When I Need You", "To All the Girls I've Loved Before", "One Moment in Time", "I'm a Train"...). It peaked at #9 on Billboard's Hot 100 and at #6 UK that same year. It was banned in Italy, considered to be "vulgar". Song? Duo? Answer: "Gimme Dat Ding" by The Pipkins. BTW, I can't do the boogaloo either. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeIb7Ms4xHc
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"To Each His Own".

OK, girls and boys, back to the 40s: Jay Livingston and Ray Evans penned this standard romantic pop ballad for the 1946 movie of the same name. Olivia de Havilland won the Best Actress Oscar for her leading role. In those days it was fairly common for versions of the same song by different artists to chart at the same time. This one has the distinction of being the ONLY composition to occupy five slots out of the Top 10 simultaneously by different interpreters - Eddie Howard, Freddy Martin & His Orchestra, Tony Martin, The Modernaires and The Ink Spots. The Platters took it to #21 in 1960. Al Martino as Johnny Fontane sang it in "Godfather Part III ('90). Song? Answer: "To Each His Own". As a child, I remember hearing a version in Spanish and I recall bits and pieces of the lyrics. I tried Google AI to no avail - HELP! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G5wqiLiPHg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BflJSsmeOsw
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"99 Luftballons (99 Red Balloons)" by Nena.

OK, girls and boys, more 80s one-hit wonders: This Karges/Fahrenkog-Petersen 1982 Cold War era protest song peaked at #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 in '84 in its original language. It was later "loosely" translated into English by Kevin McAlea and re-recorded by the same artist but it was never as well-received as the original. Artist? Song? Answer: "99 Luftballons (99 Red Balloons)" by Nena. Ah, Nena, she of the hairy armpits on the German video! German bubblegum at its best. Those were the days when MTV and VH1 actually showed music videos. At 25+ million records, Nena remains the most successful German pop singer in chart history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiwgOWo7mDc
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"Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.

OK, girls and boys, back to the 80s: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb penned this '83 classic as an R&B tune for Marvin Gaye, who never recorded it. Inspired by a 1950 Hemingway "sea chase" story published posthumously in '70. An '83 duet became the Song Of The Year, went Platinum, won the '85 AMA for Favorite Country Single and, in '05, was named by CMT "The Best Country Duet Of All Time". Included in The Bee Gees' '98 "One Night Only" live video and album. The brothers Gibb have had at least one #1 hit in EVERY decade from the 60s to the 00s (!). Duo? Song? Answer: "Islands In The Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. I actually like the Bee Gees' version better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQW7I62TNOw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usezH_d3HV8
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