Vocalist Phoebe Snow scored her big hit in 1975 when "Poetry Man" soared to #5. With a little help from Paul Simon, she scored another one with "Gone At Last," which reached #23. Snow came close to cracking the Top 40 once again with a reinvention of her sound to suit the early 80s. "Games" and "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" topped out at #46 and #52, respectively, in 1981. Both of these came from her 1982 comeback record, "Rock Away." Overlooked was the irresistibly fun jam, "Shoo-Rah Shoo Rah." Sadly, Snow passed away in 2011 at the age of 60.
Simon & Garfunkel are one of the most successful folk rock duos of all-time, first breaking onto the charts in a big way by claiming the top spot in 1966 with "The Sound Of Silence." They repeated this feat twice more, when "Mrs. Robinson" spent three weeks at #1 and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" spent six weeks at #1. With all their other hits, these songs helped earn Simon & Garfunkel the rank of #179 among the most successful chart artists of all-time. In addition to their classics, it is worth mining the rest of their impressive catalogue - there, you'll find many other gems like this one: "Keep The Customer Satisfied" from their landmark 1970 album, "Bridge Over Troubled Water." The duo remained active until 1971, but reunited on rare occasions. Consequently, they enjoyed further chart success in 1975 when "My Little Town" reached #9 and again in 1982 when their cover of "Wake Up Little Susie" went to #27. They were inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame in 1990.
The prolific Paul Simon started his musical career back in high school, teaming up with Art Garfunkel to become one of the most successful musical duos of the 60s. Not surprisingly, Simon enjoyed plenty more success as a solo artist, beginning in 1972 when "Mother And Child Reunion" peaked at #4. Simon would nearly top the charts twice, coming in at #2 with "Kodachrome" and "Loves Me Like A Rock." He'd finally claim the top spot in 1976 with "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover." Simon explored a wider musical landscape as his career evolved, and his venture into world music continued to produce chart success into the 80s with his acclaimed album, "Graceland." The big hit everyone remembers is "You Can Call Me Al," which surprisingly only reached #23 in 1987. Simon managed to score one more chart appearance in 1991 with "The Obvious Child," which stalled at #92. Nevertheless, counting his time with Garfunkel, that gives Simon 4 decades of chart appearances. And he continues to make wonderful music. "Father And Daughter" is a beautiful song from his 2006 record, "Surprise." The big surprise is why a song like this doesn't get onto the charts anymore.
Gary Puckett and the Union Gap rose to prominence with a string of hits in the late 60s, including "Young Girl" and "Lady Willpower," both of which just missed the top spot. Despite a number of other top 10 hits, the band's last quickly came in 1970 when "Let's Give Adam And Eve Another Chance" stalled at #41. Several of their biggest tunes were written by Jerry Fuller. Puckett immediately turned to a solo career and was back on the charts in no time with "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself," which landed at a lackluster #61 in 1970. The next year would be his last appearance on the chart, when this terrific ditty written by Paul Simon peaked at a disappointing #71. To my ears, it deserved much better than that!
Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians were not destined to be "one hit wonders". However, you mention their name and the only song most people will recall is their smash debut single, "What I Am", which went to #7 in 1988. It pushed their first album, "Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars" to #4 on the Billboard Top 200. The second single released from the record was the beautifully melancholy acoustic track, "Circle". The band was ahead of its time releasing a "coffeehouse" track like this before Jewel made it cool in the mid-90s. Radio was not friendly enough to the song and it stalled before cracking the top 40 (peaking at #48). Vultures were now circling the band, who tried to bounce back with the peppy "Love Like We Do". It is another great track with animation in the video to boot, but it failed to chart altogether. The band broke up shortly after their 1990 sophomore effort, "Ghost of a Dog", flopped. Two years later Edie married Paul Simon and saw a bit of a comeback in 1994 with a song he produced called "Good Times", which went to #60. The band reunited in 2006 to release "Stranger Things". At least I am not alone in my appreciation for the song "Circle". None other than the punk band Bowling For Soup covered it on their 2013 album, "Lunch. Drunk. Love."
