Greatest One-Album Groups/ Performers

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

What are the groups you WISHED made that second album, but never did? Your favorite One-Album Wonders.


Blind Faith

Ugly Casanova

[moneyp]

Sex Pistols? I can no longer remember if they count or not.

[moneyp]

The cinematic equivalent of a one-album wonder would be Charles Laughton:

[Brian Olewnick]

I guess this qualifies...Pretty sure it was the only album the issued as such, though other songs turned up elsewhere.

[pollo loco]

The cinematic equivalent of a one-album wonder would be Charles Laughton:

Or Dick Powell.
pl

[moneyp]

Or Dick Powell.
pl

You'll have to explain that one to me, PL.

[Pete C]

[pollo loco]

You'll have to explain that one to me, PL.

Charles Laughton's and Dick Powell's only directorial efforts were "Night of the Hunter" and "The Enemy Below," I believe. Oddly enough, Robert Mitchum starred in both films. I liked those movies a lot!
pl

[moneyp]

Oh, how about Handsome Boy Modeling School?



I guess "The Quintet" (Massey Hall) is kind of a one-album wonder too, huh?

[pollo loco]

I messed up sending my first reply, in which I mentioned that "The Enemy Below" also starred Curt Jurgens. That one had a good cast--Theodore Bikel included.
pl

[stonecrest]

[moneyp]

Charles Laughton's and Dick Powell's only directorial efforts were "Night of the Hunter" and "The Enemy Below," I believe. Oddly enough, Robert Mitchum starred in both films. I liked those movies a lot!
pl

PL, Dick Powell directed five films. In addition to THE ENEMY BELOW, he helmed:

THE HUNTERS (also with Mitchum)
SPLIT SECOND (with the recently deceased Jan Sterling)
YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM IT (with wife June Allyson)
THE CONQUEROR, the movie that may have wound up killing him, along with John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorhead and, in a roundabout way, Pedro Armendariz.

At least they say it was cancer that killed him, and not being married to June Allyson. I'm still skeptical.

[BFrank]

An album I only recently discovered. This live album has members of a semi-obscure, Australian group, Radio Birdman as well as Dennis Thompson of the MC5 and Ron Asheton of the Stooges. It's a one-shot album has all the energy and power of all 3 of these groups with a little Blue Oyster Cult and the Damned thrown into the mix.

AMG gives it a solid 4 stars.

[Gary Sisco]

The Wild Tchoupitoulas. Hands down.

[Gary Sisco]

Willis Alan Ramsey.

Someone once called out from the audience to him, asking when he was ever going to do another album. His reply: "What was wrong with the first one?" :-)

[pollo loco]

[QUOTE=mone peterson]PL, Dick Powell directed five films. [QUOTE]

Didn't know that. Learn something every day.
pl

[walto]

Brian, the Shaggs had a second (and much worse) album.

[Deke]

Dion Parker.

The guy was a busker in the US who got snatched off the streets and shoved into a studio during the Dylan/Donovan folk rock boom. He turned in a cracking little batch of songs then wandered back onto the streets.

Years later I was touring around South England one bank holiday and my sister got... pains..., so we tuned in to BBC local radio to see where there would be a pharmacy open, and whatdyerknow, they were interviewing the guy.

Don't nobody tell me the world is humungous.

[Alastair]

Skip Spence - Oar

OK, so he did this'n'that afterwards, but this was his only proper work after his first stint in Moby Grape.

[Underhound]

Stump - A Fierce Pancake


(picture unavailable)

[Scott Dolan]

Man, you folks are missing out on THE greatest one album group of all time!!

[Gentle Giant]

If you've never heard Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson's 1977 solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue, don't laugh. It's truly excellent, and the CD is long out of print. Copies on eBay often go for $80-100. He died before completing his follow-up.

[Brian Olewnick]

Brian, the Shaggs had a second (and much worse) album.

Is that "The Shagg's Own Thing"? According to AMG, that album includes the entire first album and some additional tracks recorded between 1969-75. That's why I tried to sneak in "Philosophy of the World" as their only (full) album.....

[Gary Sisco]

Jeffrey Frederick & The Clamtones -- Spiders In The Moonlight

[BFrank]

Separated at birth?

Jeff Bridges


Dennis Wilson

[clinthopson]

My all time favorite one shot disc is the Happy Schnapps Combo's "Raise It."

[patricia]

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that Van Morrison only did one album with the group, Them, which was the self-titled one, which included the definative version of "Gloria". Whatever happened to Them, after Morrison left the group and did they ever do another album??

[Chris D]

I would include Quiet Sun, fronted by Phil Manzanera. In its initial formation, the group never recorded. When Roxy Music took a break, Manzanera worked on the acclaimed "Diamondhead" -- and he booked time for Quiet Sun to record at long last. There is some overlap in feel between the albums.
"Mainstream" flirts with fusion and has a prog feel that Manzanera mostly avoided. The group is killer: Phil on guitar, Bill MacCormick on bass, Charles Hayward on drums and Dave Jarrett on keyboards. So you've got alumni of Roxy, Matching Mole and Gong.
Underrated and mostly unknown, this album remains a favorite.

[Deke]

Morrison made a second album with a group called Them, but they were a different Them to the original Them. Does any of that make sense?

After his initial success he decided that the rest of the band weren't up to his standard, so he fired them and formed another Them. Then he decided that he was the star and he didn't need no Them, so if my memory serves me well he made his next album with "His Street Band & Choir".

Van the man has a reputation for being morose, unaproachable, and basically unfriendly, but on one of his many 'final' tours, many years ago, he came to the Oxford New Theatre and something tickled his fancy. He was laughing, joking, and they couldn't get him off stage. A couple of times he let the band members do a number while he remembered some more of his stuff to do, then they did rock'n'roll. They wound up jamming to the Loius Prima songbook.

By all accounts, the following day he was back to his usual self.

[patricia]

Morrison made a second album with a group called Them, but they were a different Them to the original Them. Does any of that make sense?

After his initial success he decided that the rest of the band weren't up to his standard, so he fired them and formed another Them. Then he decided that he was the star and he didn't need no Them, so if my memory serves me well he made his next album with "His Street Band & Choir".

Van the man has a reputation for being morose, unaproachable, and basically unfriendly, but on one of his many 'final' tours, many years ago, he came to the Oxford New Theatre and something tickled his fancy. He was laughing, joking, and they couldn't get him off stage. A couple of times he let the band members do a number while he remembered some more of his stuff to do, then they did rock'n'roll. They wound up jamming to the Loius Prima songbook.

By all accounts, the following day he was back to his usual self.

Thanks Deke. The album I mentioned was one of my favourites and I had no idea that Van found the band not up to par. He sounds like a real winner.
I guess if you're an artist, you're high-strung, or charmingly eccentric and if you're a regular person, you're just a jerk.