jjjrq,
I doubt whether you have found the one and only 1 STEP BLEND FAKE.
When you wish to have undistorted objects distributed along (part of) a circle (or another curved path which may be done similarly) and you know the number of objects, you may use the 1 step fake blend (for each set of objects if you have more sets to be distributed), with some preparation to make things fit together:
If you wish to have the circle act like the baseline as in Path Type, start with step 0) and skip step 1); if you just wish to have the letters centred over the circle, skip step 0) and start with step1).
0) First place the letter objects on a straight horizontal line as they would be on the baseline, with a copy of the first object as the last object (only) if you wish to have the objects go all the way round the circle and meet itself, this is probably more or less what you have already, then reflect a copy horizontally of each letter and move the set of copies down so each letter meets itself at the baseline, then set the fill of the reflected copies to None, then Group each letter with its invisible copy;
1) First place the objects on a straight horizontal line as they would be on a straight path, with a copy of the first object as the last object (only) if you wish to have the objects go all the way round the circle and meet itself; this is probably more or less what you have already;
2) With the centre Reference Point selected in the Transform palette use the X values of the first and last objects to establish the total width (which must be measured centre to centre) for the next steps;
3) Create the circle, copy it in front of itself if you wish to retain the actual circle behind the objects then lock/hide the original and work with the copy, then cut the circle where you want the centre of the first/last object and establish the total circumference (path length), you should be able to see it in the Document Info palette; for a full circle just cut at the start/stop (coinciding), for a partial circle cut in two places;
4) Adapt the size of the objects 1) or the circle 3) so that the width and the circumference (path length) become identical; you may use the Transform palette and multiply/divide the value in the W or H box by the quotient of the two lengths (just add * or / and then the number) and press Ctrl/CmdEnter to retain proportions;
5) Object>Blend>Options>Specified steps, set the value to 1 and set Orientation to Align to Path;
6) Select all the objects and Object>Blend>Make, create a copy just in case (now you have some distorted shapes between the objects, but not for long);
7) Select the Blend from 6) and the cut circle from 3) and Object>Blend>Replace Spine;
8 ) Object>Blend>Expand and Ungroup, and delete the distorted shapes, and you may also delete the copy of the first object (which is on top of it) if you have made one;
9) Enjoy.
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