Along with a couple of new people, Jackie and Theresa, and the usual suspects Joe, Larry, Charles, Arlene, Scott, Sam, Jen, Ken and Sally (her third time), there was an unusual happening: a Newsday reporter

(Valerie) and photographer (Jeremy) came to do a story on us. Can fame and fortune be far off? This was Part Two of our ONE-HIT WONDERS theme, carried on by popular demand.

1. Worst That Could Happen, Brooklyn Bridge, 1969 (Charles)

Last time we tried this with the chords the Brooklyn Bridge used. It started with a friendly C, but soon degenerated into hostile sharps and flats. This time we had easier chords, but it's still a hard song to sing.

2. Bad Moon Rising, Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1969 (Ken)

After leading off with a tough number, we played one we were well-rehearsed for, just to show off for the press.

3. Silhouettes, the Rays, 1957 (Larry)

This is part of a medley I often mess around with on piano and ukulele, along with one I learned in second grade, Sons of God, as we prepared to make our First Communion.. I like to intersperse those two with the

Beatles' Happiness Is A Warm Gun and Led Zeppelin's D'yer Mak'er. You could do all of these with C Am F and G7, guaranteeing no mistakes. It's the contrast between the songs that never fails to entertain me:

the Rays blend of ardent romance with comedy; militant Catholicism for 8-year olds; Lennon's ode to dangerous drugs; and those noisy, long-haired Zeppelin fellows doing an old-fashioned rock and roll

number.

4. Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, Steam, 1969 (Sam)

We only did one verse of this, but played the chorus again and again. This is on my Top 5 list of all-time best one-hit wonder songs. (I keep seven such lists so I don't have to really pin myself down. There's always a little wiggle room.)

5. Happy Days TV show theme, 1974 (Arlene)

This wasn't difficult, went very well, AND we all ended together. That's cause for modest celebration.

6. Yellow River, Christie, 1970 (Dan)

No one else knew it. We did a verse and a chorus before quitting.

7. You Light Up My Life, Debby Boone, 1977 (Ken)

Ken started off with a happy-ukey version, then went into what he called "the slow, painful version." Why do people hate this song? Too syrupy? Some of us were almost embarrassed by it. I'll go out on a limb and

declare that I always liked it. Don't be haters, brethren. That's Pat Boone's daughter you're dismissing.

8. Rubber Duckie, Ernie, 1970 (Ken)

Never heard this. Not bad. Sesame Street had songwriters who could even appeal to adults. It was a little hard because of the fast chord changes.

9. Wooly Bully, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, 1965 (Ken)

Before Valerie left, we had to rope her into playing one song with us, and this was it. It was a raucous and enthusiastic rendition, one of our better efforts, and we've played this one a lot.

10. Teenager In Love, Dion and the Belmonts, 1959 (Vin)

We did this better a few months ago. This time we skipped a verse. It can also be done as a C Am F G7.

11. Walk Away Renee, the Left Banke, 1966 (Dan)

What a pretty song. Dig those violins.

12. Martian Hop, the Ran-Dells, 1963 (Arlene)

No one could play this. We just watched the video. Weird but fun. Note: The chords are "F# B C# F#". At 1:26 there's a key change to: "G C D G"

13. Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead, Fifth Estate, 1967 (Arlene)

The Munchkins did it better.

14. Sea Cruise, Frankie Ford, 1959 (Arlene)

Here's a real, old-fashioned '50s rocker. It couldn't have been simpler.

15. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, Silkie, 1965 (Arlene)

I never heard of this band. Their version was similar to the Beatles. This was our best effort of the evening.

16. Green Door, Jim Lowe, 1956 (Dan)

Hardly anyone remembered this, but it was easy to play.

17. I Can See Clearly Now, Johnny Nash, 1972 (Ken)

This is a nice one. We had trouble on the bridge, but only because he holds the word "skies" through eight chord changes. We'd have to practice that again and again to get the timing correct. Arlene asked me to describe my cheat for C#m. It is this: G string first fret and C string first fret. The trick is that you must avoid strumming the A string. It doesn't sound bad and it's better than playing no chord at all.

18. One of Us, Joan Osborne, 1995 (Ken)

I thought this would have gone better. It's easy to play. It made a big splash when it came out.

19. King of the Road, Roger Miller,1965 (Sam)

He had five Top Ten hits in '64 and '65, including Dang Me, and probably his second most popular song, England Swings. I have his greatest hits album.

20. Mambo #5, Lou Bega, 1999 (Ken)

We only watched a few seconds of the risqué video and didn't play much of it..

21. Eve of Destruction, Barry McGuire, 1965 (Charles)

It's hard to sustain the disgusted and angry tone one needs to do this song as the list of outrages is enumerated. We transposed to C-Key to make it easier to play.

22. I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag, Country Joe and the Fish, 1967 (Suzala)

We did just one verse and chorus. It's a jolly melody with bitter lyrics. They did it at Woodstock.

23. Judy In Disguise (With Glasses), John Fred and His Playboy Band, 1967 (Sam)

It was hard to play. This came out six months after the Beatles' Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. I used to mix them up. The lyrics in neither song make a lick of sense.

24. I Put A Spell On You, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, 1956 (Sam)

Couldn't do it.

25. Venus, Shocking Blue, Dec. 1969 (Sam)

Everyone is familiar with the British Invasion. Shocking Blue was part of the Dutch Invasion of the early seventies, along with Mouth and MacNeal (How Do You Do?, 1972), Focus (Hocus Pocus, 1973), and Tee Set (Ma Belle Amie, 1970), all from the Netherlands. Scott did the very cool guitar intro.

26. One Toke Over the Line, Brewer and Shipley, 1970 (Arlene)

This slightly countryish song was a nice way to end the evening. For anyone interested, these guys had one other song that got some airplay on FM radio, titled Witchi-tai-to (1969). It was written by an Indian jazz man, based on an ancient chant he learned from his grandfather. Pretty neat.

I bet I could play ten songs each by the Four Tops and the Temptations, and fifteen each by the Supremes and Stevie Wonder, and you'd know them all. These are some of the great acts from the great MOTOWN label of Detroit, and that's what we're doing next time.

-- Dan.