* En anglais uniquement
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. ~ Jason Ankeny