Ram Jam
Formed in the mid-70s, Ram Jam was an east coast group best known for its one Top 20 single, Black Betty, in 1977. That song was the focus of a boycott by some black groups, which considered it offensive to black women, even though it had been written by Huddie ‘ Leadbelly’ Ledbetter, the legendary black folk and blues singer. The group consisted of guitarist Bill Bartlett (b. 1949), bassist Howie Blauvelt (formerly a member of Billy Joel's early group the Hassles), singer Myke Scavone and drummer Pete Charles. Bartlett had earlier been lead guitarist with the Lemon Pipers. After leaving that group, Bartlett retired from music for some time, before recording a demo of the Leadbelly song. Released on Epic Records, it reached number 18, but the group never had another hit. In the UK they succeeded twice, in 1977 (number 7) and in 1990 a re-mix version made number 13 making them a quite extraordinary one-hit-wonder.