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Producer and composer
Curt Boettcher was among the principal architects of the sunshine pop sound of the mid-'60s, his harmony laden, melody rich approach gracing the Top Ten hits of
the Association as well as his own projects, including
Sagittarius and
the Millennium. Born and raised in Wisconsin, he began his career as a folksinger, co-founding
the GoldeBriars in 1962; the group's self-titled debut album appeared on Epic two years later. Although
the GoldeBriars' complex harmonies anticipated the style of
Boettcher's subsequent work, the foursome dissolved after a second LP,
Straight Ahead; he then turned to studio work, in 1966 arranging
the Association's breakthrough hit "Along Comes Mary." The chart-topping "Cherish" followed and
Boettcher also produced the band's debut album
And Then, Along Comes the Association; however, the collaboration soon ended and in between producing material for
Tommy Roe,
Boettcher turned his focus to his own group the Ballroom, recording a long-unreleased LP which finally saw release three decades later on Rev-Ola under the title Preparing for the Millennium.
Boettcher then signed on with producer
Gary Usher's studio supergroup
Sagittarius; 1967's Present Tense also featured contributions from
the Beach Boys'
Bruce Johnston and
Glen Campbell, the latter assuming lead vocals on the classic "My World Fell Down." While recording Present Tense,
Boettcher formed
the Millennium, which issued its sole album
Begin -- the product of what was then the most costly recording session in the history of Columbia Records -- in 1968. After the record's commercial failure, he returned to studio work, but in 1973 issued a solo album,
There's an Innocent Face. In the process of contributing production and session vocals to a handful of late-'70s
Beach Boys releases,
Boettcher changed his name to the more phonetic
Becher; he died in 1987. ~ Jason Ankeny