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The 5th Dimension
The 5th Dimension is an American vocal group. Their music encompasses sunshine pop, pop soul, and psychedelic soul. They were an important crossover music act of the 1960s and 1970s, although both praised and derided for their particular musical approach and mass appeal. During the original group's heyday, they were twice invited to perform at the White House, and accepting those invitations was controversial during that era of social upheaval. Formed as The Versatiles in late 1965, the group changed its name to "The 5th Dimension" by 1966. Between 1967 and 1973, they charted with 20 "Top 40" hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, two of which – " Up, Up and Away" (No. 7, 1967) and the 1969 No. 1 " Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" — won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Other big hits include " Stoned Soul Picnic" (No. 3), " Wedding Bell Blues" (No. 1), " One Less Bell to Answer" (No. 2), a cover of " Never My Love" (Pop chart, No. 12/Easy List ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One Less Bell To Answer
"One Less Bell to Answer" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Originally written in 1967 for Keely Smith, the song was rediscovered in late 1969 by Bones Howe, the producer for the 5th Dimension, and the song was included on the group's 1970 debut album for Bell Records, ''Portrait''. Lead vocals on the single were sung by Marilyn McCoo. "One Less Bell to Answer" was a platinum record. The song peaked at No.2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 behind " My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison for the weeks of December 26, 1970 and January 2, 1971. On other US charts, it went to No.1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, as well as No.4 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart. Background Burt Bacharach and Hal David disagree on the origin of "One Less Bell to Answer". Bacharach told Paul Zollo, the author of ''Songwriters on Songwriting'', that the song was inspired by an incident that occurred with his then-girlfriend, actress Angie Dickinson. "That was kind of a freak that it h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stoned Soul Picnic (song)
"Stoned Soul Picnic" is a 1968 song by Laura Nyro. The best-known version of the song was recorded by the 5th Dimension, and was the first single released from their album of the same title. It was the most successful single from that album, reaching No. 3 on the U.S. Pop chart and No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. It became a platinum record. The song was composed and recorded by Nyro for her album '' Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'', released in March 1968. According to Marilyn McCoo, it was producer Bones Howe who suggested that it would be a good song for the 5th Dimension to cover. The group would go on to record several more hits with Nyro songs, including " Sweet Blindness", " Wedding Bell Blues", " Blowin' Away", and " Save the Country". An instrumental version was recorded by jazz vibraphonist Roy Ayers and became the title track to his 1968 album. The word ''surry'', used frequently in the lyric (e.g. "Surry down to a stoned soul picnic"), is a neologism by N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronald Townson
Ronald Townson (January 29, 1933 – August 2, 2001) was an American vocalist. He was an original member of the 5th Dimension, a popular vocal group of the late 1960s and early 1970s; he is the only original member of the group who is no longer living. Family background Townson was married to Bobette and had two sons, Kim and Kyle. Raised Methodist, he began taking an interest in his wife's Jehovah's Witnesses faith in the early 1980s. Prior to that, it had caused friction within their marriage. Biography Townson was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He started singing at age six and was a featured soloist on various choirs throughout his school years. His grandmother inspired him to sing and his parents arranged for him to have private singing and acting lessons. During high school, he appeared for three seasons in productions of ''Bloomer Girl'', '' Annie Get Your Gun'', and ''Show Boat''. He also won third place in the Missouri State trials for the Metropolitan Opera. Townson t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Music Group, an American division of multinational conglomerate Sony. Founded in 1889, Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels, along with Epic Records, RCA Records and Arista Records. History Beginnings (1888–1929) The Columbia Phonograph Company was founded on January 15, 1889, by stenographer, lawyer, and New Jersey native Edward D. Easton (1856–1915) and a group of investors. It derived its name from the District of Columbia, where it was headquartered. At first it had a local monopoly on sales and service of Edison ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wedding Bell Blues
"Wedding Bell Blues" is a song written and recorded by Laura Nyro in 1966. The best known version was a number one hit for the 5th Dimension in 1969. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a woman whose boyfriend has not yet proposed to her, and who wonders, "am I ever gonna see my wedding day?" The song carries dual themes of adoring love and frustrated lament. The title subsequently became a popular phrase in American pop culture. Laura Nyro recording Nyro wrote "Wedding Bell Blues" at the age of 18 as a "mini-suite". The lyrics were inspired by an affair that actor and nightclub owner Bill Carter had in the 1950s with singer Helen Merrill, the mother of Nyro's good friend Alan Merrill. The song originally featured several dramatic rhythmic changes—a trait Nyro explored on future albums. It was recorded in 1966 for Verve Folkways on her debut album '' More Than a New Discovery''. Arranger Herb Bernstein did not allow Nyro to record her original arrangement, whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grammy Award For Record Of The Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to sales or chart position." The Record of the Year award is one of the "General Field" categories at the awards presented annually since the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1959 (alongside Best New Artist, Song of the Year and Album of the Year). Arrangers, songwriters, musicians and background singers of a winning recording can apply for a Winners Certificate. Songwriters can only apply for a certificate if it is a new song. Since the 55th Annual Grammy Awards in 2013, mastering engineers are considered nominees and award recipients in this category. Although " record" often refers to any recording of music, Record of the Year differs from Song of the Year or Album of the Year: * Record of the Year is awarded for a single or for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious and significant awards in the music industry in the United States, and thus the show is frequently called "music's biggest night". The trophy depicts a gilded gramophone, and the original idea was to call them the "Gramophone Awards". The Grammys are the first of the Big Three networks' major music awards held annually, and are considered one of the four major annual American entertainment awards with the Academy Awards (for films), the Emmy Awards (for television), and the Tony Awards (for theater). The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4, 1959, to honor the musical accomplishments of performers for the year 1958. After the 2011 ceremony, the Recording Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 67th Ann ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)
"Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" (commonly called "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "The Age of Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine In") is a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical ''Hair'' by James Rado and Gerome Ragni (lyrics), and Galt MacDermot (music), released as a single by American R&B group the 5th Dimension. The song spent six weeks at number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop singles chart in the spring of 1969 and was eventually certified platinum in the US by the RIAA. Instrumental backing was written by Bill Holman and provided by a group of session musicians commonly known as the Wrecking Crew. The song is listed at number 66 on ''Billboard''s "Greatest Songs of All Time". Background The medley was constructed of two songs from the musical ''Hair''. The first song was "Aquarius", and the second was "The Flesh Failures: Let the Sunshine In". The lyrics of "Aquarius" were based on the astrological belief that the world would soon be entering th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Up, Up And Away (song)
"Up, Up and Away" is a 1967 song written by Jimmy Webb and recorded (as "Up–Up and Away") by US soul-pop act the 5th Dimension with backing from members of The Wrecking Crew. Their original version reached no. 7 on ''Billboard'''s Hot 100 in July 1967 and no. 9 on its Easy Listening chart, and number one in both Canada and Australia. In 1999, Webb's song placed 43 on BMI's "Top 100 Songs of the Century". A canonical example of sunshine pop, themed around images of hot air ballooning, it cleaned up at the 10th Annual Grammy Awards in 1968, winning for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, Best Performance by a Vocal Group, Best Performance by a Chorus and Best Contemporary Song. The 5 Grammys won was a standalone record for most Grammys received by one song until 2025 when Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us tied it at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2003, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Personnel The m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), online streaming, and radio airplay in the U.S. A new chart is compiled and released online to the public by ''Billboard''s website on Tuesdays but post-dated to the following Saturday, when the printed magazine first reaches newsstands. The weekly tracking period for sales is currently Friday–Thursday, after being changed in July 2015. It was initially Monday–Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991. This tracking period also applies to compiling online streaming data. Radio airplay is readily available on a real-time basis, unlike sales figures and streaming, but is also tracked on the same Friday–Thursday cycle, effective with the chart dated July 17, 2021. Previously, radio was tracked Monday–Sunday and, before Ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " contemporary hit radio" is also a radio format. History According to producer Richard Fatherley, Todd Storz was the inventor of the format, at his radio station KOWH in Omaha, Nebraska. Storz invented the format in the early 1950s, using the number of times a record was played on jukeboxes to compose a weekly list for broadcast. The format was commercially successful, and Storz and his father Robert, under the name of the Storz Broadcasting Company, subsequently acquired other stations to use the new Top 40 format. In 1989, Todd Storz was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. The term "Top 40", describing a radio format, appeared in 1960. The Top 40, whether surveyed by a radio station or a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800 when the national capital was moved from Philadelphia. "The White House" is also used as a metonymy, metonym to refer to the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The residence was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical style. Hoban modeled the building on Leinster House in Dublin, a building which today houses the Oireachtas, the Irish legislature. Constructed between 1792 and 1800, its exterior walls are Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he and architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe added low colonnades on each wing to conceal what then were stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
