We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago….today we take another break from the albums of the period to focus on some of the hit singles…and today it’s a bunch of one hit wonders…..
White Lies, Blue Eyes-Bullet….a surprise hit for a trio of New York vocalists named Ernie Sorrentino, Lenny Lambert and Bobby Flax. They put together touring band to go out on the road as this song was climbing the charts. They even got a slot on American Bandstand. The band never had another hit. Later, one of the horn players recruited to fill out the touring band landed sweet gigs…trombone player Roger Pontbriand with KC & The Sunshine Band and Wild Cherry,
Sweet Mary-Wadsworth Mansion…a pop band from Rhode Island that broke through for a moment. A solid piece of pop instrumentation with some nice vocal work including the nonsense choruses.
Sweet City Woman-Stampeders….A #1 in Canada and #8 in the US. A Top 40 hit featuring a strummed banjo…that was a hook and it worked
Stay Awhile-The Bells…. The Bells were from Montreal and the group included Frank Mills (remember Music Box Dancer?)…He was gone before the group took this breathy piece of sexual innuendo #1 in Canada and #7 in the US. The first time I heard this on the radio I was almost embarrassed. You may get alot of straight ahead sexual references in songs now….but not in 1971. Jackie Ralph and Cliff Edwards did the “quivering” in this one…
Chick-A-Boom-Daddy Dewdrop…..Daddy Dewdrop was an American songwriter named Dick Monda who also appeared in movies as a child. He was producing music for the Groovie Goolies TV show including this song which they re-cut and took #9 on the Billboard charts. Nobody ever said that songs had to be intelligent to be hits.
The song first appeared on a Saturday morning cartoon show called the Groovie Goolies…
The Goolies were part of the Sabrina, The Teenage With and Archie show….It featured characters like Frankie, Drac & Wolfie,,,but also some deadly plays on words including Bella La Ghostly , Tiny Tomb (lead singer of the Mummies & Puppies) and Mama Casket, a plump green mummy.
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