Results: One-Hit Wonders In Reverse Alphabetical Order (Part 5)

E: David Essex-Like Status Quo back at S, he was much bigger in his native U.K. than the U.S. Of his two British #1's, neither was his only top 40 hit here. That's 1973's top five "Rock On," a sparse, rubbery questioning of where rock 'n' roll-and the youth listening to it?--should head, which also lyrically evoking the music's '50's roots. What struck me as weird as a kid I now hear as funk, but I can find no evidence of the song receiving soul radio play. Have you ever perceived a piece of music to be in a genre the people who made it may not have intended?

D: Bo Diddley-If ever there's an arist whose impact outsizes his chart presence, it's he whose parents named him Ellas McDaniel. His "shave-&-a-hair-cut-two-bits" beat, a homemade electric guitar with a rectangular base, and plenty else made him an influence on many rockers and bluesfolk. But he could only scrape the pop top 20 in 1959 with "Say Man," a dialogue of smack talk between Diddley and his, methinks, uncredited maracas man, Jerome Green. It's plenty fun, though not wholly representative of Diddley's work. Do you know anyone whose influence outweighs his/her quantifiable success?

C: Shawn Colvin-I enjoyed her first album in '89 but didn't think much about Colvin until her folky pop caught the zeitgeist in 1996 when "Sunny Came Home," from Colvin's fourth longplayer. made the top ten. As songs about committing arson to escape one's past, it's deceptively calm. More jarring for Colvin and Grammys viewers was Wu Tang Clan rapper Ol' Dirty B****** preempting her acceptance speech for song of the year at the '97 ceremony. Have you ever purposely burned any architecture &/or had a moment of glory stolen from you by someone else's rudeness?

B: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown-What acts might link progressive rock to the psychedelic rock preceding it. My U.S. nominee is Jesus hippie ensemble The All Saved Freak Band. This group band led by an ex-school teacher who came a notch shy of #1 in 1968 with "Fire" is a fair U.K. pick. Opening line "I am the god of hell fire, and I bring you fire!" nigh guarantees its singer shares no spiritual ground with any Christian freaks, but by his/their horror movie obsession and use of death masks, Brown's World prefigured some metal and psychobilly bands. Do you believe there's fire in hell?

A: Sunshine Anderson-Soul music took directions other than her use of '70's instrumentation with hip-hop-informed beats, but she was one of the genre's upstarts as the 00's dawned. Debut single, "Heard It All Before," topped the r&b chart and nicked pop's top 20 in 2001. Two more albums by 2010 didn't relaunch a hit streak, but yay for Anderson (real first name?: Sunshine!) not giving up recording. Currently, her website features a new single, detox products she endorses, and a book she authored on reinventing oneself with a title referencing her one-hit wonder status. Have you ever reinvented yourself?