Jun 13, 2012

THE PARADE - THE PARADE (A&M 1968) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve




Sunshine pop pioneers Parade teamed veteran songwriter and producer Jerry Riopelle (a former Phil Spector associate who'd played keyboards on sessions headlined by the Ronettes, the Righteous Brothers, and Ike & Tina Turner) with character actors Murray MacLeod (known for his work on television series including Hawaii Five-O and Kung Fu) and Allen "Smokey" Roberds. MacLeod and Roberds -- longtime friends and songwriting partners who occasionally collaborated with Roger Nichols of A Small Circle of Friends fame, leading to erroneous rumors that Roberds and Nichols were in fact one and the same -- met Riopelle while unsuccessfully pitching a song written for Spector to produce; the trio soon christened themselves Parade, co-writing "Sunshine Girl" and selling the song to A&M producer Chuck Kay. Recorded with session legends including drummer Hal Blaine, bassist Carol Kaye, and saxophonist Teenage Steve Douglas, "Sunshine Girl" cracked the Billboard Top 20 in 1967, emerging as one of the first and most successful records to embody the summery, harmony-rich sound that would later be dubbed sunshine pop. During the process of recording the follow-up, "She's Got the Magic," fellow actor Stuart Margolin -- later "Angel" on the classic TV series The Rockford Files -- joined Parade as well; the second single failed to repeat the success of "Sunshine Girl," however, missing the pop charts altogether. The same fate befell the group's third release, "Frog Prince," although in 1968, Parade climbed as high as number 127 with "Radio Song." After two more flops, "She Sleeps Alone" and "Hallelujah Rocket," the group dissolved. While Riopelle later signed to Capitol as a solo act, MacLeod and Roberds briefly signed to Epic as Ian & Murray; as Freddie Allen, Roberds also recorded an early version of Nichols' and Paul Williams' "We've Only Just Begun," later a worldwide smash for the Carpenters.[allmusic]
Here

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

great album! love those sunshine pop bands in the sixties! thank you

winston smith said...

hiya . the edgar winter 'entrance ' link is broken . when unzip only 2 tracks

Pep Sonic said...

Thank you very much for this beautiful album. Cheers.

Ed Kelleher said...

Thanks great music remember Sunshine Girl in 67' never heard the other songs nice harmony etc

Anonymous said...

Thanks much for The Parade--very nice sunshine pop music.

Doug said...

Thanks.Excellent album.

Unknown said...

http://lanneedudragon.blogspot.fr/2012/06/hs30-small-town-pleasures.html

and thanks for all the hard work you're putting in this terrific blog.

Anonymous said...

Hi!

Great to see this Blog is "back"! Been watchin' & waitin' since Feb.'s last upload.
Nice diverse & international selection of LPs. Thanx! LUV the Sunshine Pop sound! When music was FUN. A lovely collection on The Parade LP.
Please keep 'em coming.

Ciao! For now.
rntcj

P.S. Visit here for some obscure 60's music:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OBSCURE60sBANDS/

Anonymous said...

Can you re-up the THE CHECKMATES LTD. - LOVE IS ALL WE HAVE TO GIVE,the links are dead.Thanks.
Joanne

how to climb said...

Thanks for sharing dear.

Bill said...

Hi webmaster,
splendid site indeed !!! Thanks
I wish to report some dead links:
http://smalltownpleasures.blogspot.com/2009/01/contraband-transatlantic-1974-japan.html
http://smalltownpleasures.blogspot.com/2009/01/appaloosa-appaloosa-columbia-1969-japan.html
http://smalltownpleasures.blogspot.com/2009/04/fantasy-paint-picture-polydor-1973-jap.html
http://smalltownpleasures.blogspot.com/2009/09/sandstone-can-you-mend-silver-thread.html
http://smalltownpleasures.blogspot.com/2009/10/ten-years-after-stonedhenge-deram-1968.html

Hope you will upload them again, thnkxs

Anonymous said...

George,

You have an amazing blog! Any chance you have a link to the Japanese CD rip of Wayne Berry's 1974 album Home At Last on RCA records featuring Jackson Browne, Jesse Ed Davis, Jeff Skunk Baxter, etc. Great album, very hard to find! You seem to specialize in Japanese editions so I figured I would give it a shot. Thanks in advance. Dean from NJ USA

Dean from NJ USA said...

George,

You have an amazing blog!!! Any chance you have a link to the Japanese CD edition of the 1974 RCA album titled Home at Last by Wayne Berry. It came out in the Year 2000 from Japan with K2 Mastering. It is a great album with Jackson Browne, Jesse Ed Davis, Jeff Skunk Baxter and more guesting. Since your blog specialized in Japanese editons, I thought I would take a shot. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! - Dean

Anonymous said...

Is STP going to continue? It's been a while... I hope so, you are one of the best blogs out there.

Anonymous said...

Blog abandoned???

Betto Skin said...

Dead link...please, re-up???

Frank M. Young said...

Dead blog?