One-Hit Wonder: The Champs

From the West Coast, their No. 1 was on the charts for over four months earned them a Grammy: The Champs, according to history-of-rock.com.

In 1955, Dave Burgess, 18, recorded two country singles that were not successful. He moved on to a different label. That label would put four singles on one record, when usually there is only two. The quality of the songs was poor. Burgess recorded about 10 records with them. That was in 1956.

A year later, working as a DJ, Burgess continued to write and record songs with some success. One on the pop charts and one on the country.

Burgess then joined a third record company that was owned by Gene Autry. He also recorded as Dave Dupree. He eventually became a session guitarist.

As Burgess was working on a session, he asked fellow musicians to help him out. It all turned out with a Tex-Mex sax, drummer on bells, guitar riff and plucking of guitar strings. "Tequila" was released by the company and hit the charts in December 1957 and topped them in March. The group picked a name after Autry's horse, Champion. They shortened it to The Champs.

The Champs formed in 1957 with members Dave Burgess, Chuck Rios (saxophone), Gene Alden (drums), Dale Norris (guitarist) and Joe Burnass (bassist).

They did win Best Rhythm and Blues Performance at the Grammys in 1958.

The Champs were not prepared as they hit the road. Rio left in 1958 and there were other member changes as the years went on.

The Champs released "El Rancho Rock" and "Chariot Rock" with some success. In 1960, "Too Much Tequila" kept the band together for a little while longer. They then released "Limbo Rock" in 1962. Chuck Berry then released it.

The Champs disband in 1965.