Verdelle Smith is an American pop singer who was a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

with the song " Tar and Cement" in 1966, an adaptation of the Italian massive hit "

Il ragazzo della via Gluck "Il ragazzo della via Gluck" ("The boy from Gluck Street") is an Italian pop song by Adriano Celentano, covered by artists from many other countries. Composition The music of the song is by Adriano Celentano and the lyrics by Luciano Beretta a ...

" from

Adriano Celentano Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian musician, singer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is dubbed "''il Molleggiato''" (the springy one) because of his dancing. Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both commercial and ...

. She currently lives in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York.

Selective discography

Singles

Issued on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

in the United States. Some also on Capitol in Canada and Australia;

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

in the UK;

Peak Records Peak Records is an American record label that was founded by The Rippingtons leader and guitarist Russ Freeman and Andi Howard in 1994. Peak is distributed by Bob Frank Entertainment. History *1994 Peak Records is co-founded by Russ Freeman a ...

in New Zealand. *"(Alone) In My Room" was originally a Spanish song written by Joaquin Pieto, and was later recorded by

the Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an United States, American pop music, pop musical ensemble, group of the 1960s and 1970s which included Noel Scott Engel (eventually known professionally as Scott Walker (singer), Scott Walker), John Walker (musician), Jo ...

on their second LP, ''

Portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

'' (1966); by

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato), and is best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. Nancy Sinatra ...

, also in 1966, for her debut album ''

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer Stre ...

''; Willie and the Walkers (#40 in Canada, Jan.1968); and by

Marc and the Mambas Marc and the Mambas were a new wave group, formed by Marc Almond in 1982 as an offshoot project from Soft Cell. The band's line-up changed frequently, and included Matt Johnson from and Annie Hogan, with whom Almond worked later in his solo ...

for their 1983 album ''

Torment and Toreros ''Torment and Toreros'' is the second album to be released by Marc and the Mambas. The album reached #28 on the UK album charts in August 1983. The song "Torment" was written by Marc Almond, Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Robert Sm ...

''. The English lyrics were also written by Pockriss and Vance. *"Oh How Much I Love You" *" Tar and Cement": Verdelle Smith recorded "Tar and Cement", an English-language version of the 1966 Italian song "

" by singer

. Her English version was written by Lee Pockriss and

Paul Vance Joseph Paul Florio (November 4, 1929 – May 30, 2022), known professionally as Paul Vance, was an American songwriter and record producer, primarily from the 1950s until the 1970s. His most successful song compositions, all written with Lee Poc ...

. "Tar and Cement" made it to No. 2 in Australia and to No. 38 in the United States It was also No.6 on "Keener 13" from Detroit radio station

WKNR WKNR (850 AM) – branded as ''850 ESPN Cleveland'' – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland. Owned by Good Karma Brands, WKNR is the Cleveland affiliate for ESPN Radio and the AM flagsh ...

for the week ending June 27, 1966. In Canada, it reached #32. *"I Don't Need Anything", which was later a minor UK hit in 1967 for

Sandie Shaw Sandie may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Sandie Clair (born 1988), French professional racing cyclist * Sandie Fitzgibbon, Irish former camogie player * Sandie Jones (1950/1951–2019), Irish singer * Sandie Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker (1879 ...

. *"If You Can't Say Anything Nice About Me" *"Baby, Baby" / "There's So Much Love All Around Me" *"Life Goes On" / "Juanito" *"Carnaby's Gone Away" / "Sittin' and Waitin'" *"There`s so much love all around me"

Albums

*''(Alone) In My Room'',

, 1966. Produced by Marvin Holtzman, arranged by Lee Pockriss. *''Tar and Cement—The Complete Recordings 1965–1967'', Omni Recordings, 2013.

References

External links

* * 21st-century African-American women singers American women pop singers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-pop-singer-stub