I don't often post in the music forums, except maybe to grouse & harrumpf about some hapless rap/hip-hop artist, making some snide-ass comment about The Downfall of Civilisation As We Know it. I am an unabashed, unapologetic fan of Top-40 Pop music from around 1949-85. Some would scoff at this, branding me unsophisticated, they are prolly right, as my nature is basically coarse, vile, & vulgar. Be that as it may, one fondness I have-& expect a LOT more of you have than are willing to admit-is for One-Hit Wonders. Frequently, these are gems, nuggets, diamonds in the rough. One that I've long had a fondness for is Christie's 1970 anthem-like ode, "Yellow River", which is about a guy coming home from a war-a sentment echoed longingly around that era. I love the caramel-sounding guitar, the plaintive background singers, the whole piece is practically perfect in a way many pop songs aspire to, but few attain. Well, while canoodling around YouTube-another guilty pleasure I offer no excuse for- I came across a French cover of my sainted "Yellow River", "L'Amerique", by an ex-pat American living in France, Joe Dassin. He was accompanied on this by a comely lass named Laam. Anyway, I've played it a couple dozen times, I looked up the lyrics, & it's actually quite favorable about America-surprising in itself for a French song. Joe passed in 1980, aged 42. Bet most of y'all have never heard of him-I hadn't. More's the pity. Anyway, check it out. It's really a lot better than pop has any right to be...-Unca Sandy

Hey, you can't post in this forum. You were banned years ago for being an unabashed, unapologetic fan of Top-40 Pop music from around 1949-85. :D

Hey, you can't post in this forum. You were banned years ago for being an unabashed, unapologetic fan of Top-40 Pop music from around 1949-85. :D

No kidding. Sheesh.

What he said! LOL!

Gawd help us if he starts quoting lyrics....

Oooooh, you bestids...Don't get me started..."So long, boy, you can take my place/Got my papers, got my pay/ So pack my bags & I'll be on my way/ To Yellow River....Put my gun down, the war is won/Fill my glass high, the time has come/I'm goin' back to the place that I love/ Yellow River...YELLOW RIVER, YELLOW RIVER/Is in my eyes & in my mind/YELLOW RIVER, YELLOW RIVER/ Is in my blood, it's the place I love...Got no time explanations, got no time to lose/Tomorrow night you'll find me underneath the moon...at Yellow River..."
"Cannon fire lingers in my mind/I'm so glad I am still alive/'Cause I've been gone for such a long time/From Yellow River...I remember the nights were cool/I can still see the water blue/And I remember the Girl that I knew/ From Yellow River..."

Back to the topic of the thread:

Sandy, my all-time favorite 1-hit wonder is "Be Thankful For What You Got", the song of the summer of 1974, written & recorded by William DeVaughn. I suppose that I should have posted the following excerpt in the "Lyrics" thread y'all got going on, but:

Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene with a gangsta lean
Gangsta whitewalls, TV antennas in the back
You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall
Just be thankful for what you got