Harper's bizarre
Harpers Bizarre was an American beat band from the 1960s, best known for their hit singles Feelin 'Groovy and Anything Goes .
Band history
The group was founded in San Francisco in late 1966 and benefited from the emerging flower power movement. Drummer John Peterson had previously drummed with the Beau Brummels , the other members had previously celebrated local successes in Santa Cruz as The Tikis . The music of Harper's Bizarre sounded Californian “sunny, cheerful and dreamy” and represented the wet dream of a record company of commercial exploitation of the hippie subculture. With choir and orchestral bombast from the pens of talented arrangers like Leon Russell or Van Dyke Parks it became an easy one Listening soup that had little to do with the actual underground sound of the Bay Area . In the absence of their own compositions, they liked to fall back on already successful titles, including Broadway hits from the Great American Songbook by Glenn Miller or Cole Porter, or had something written by the former Tikis pianist Randy Newman or Harry Nilsson . The first single - admitted as The Tikis , published under the new band name Harpers Bizarre - was a successful cover of Simon and Garfunkel -title 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin 'Groovy) . The second single Come to the Sunshine , composed by Van Dyke Parks, also made it to the charts.
The group's success faded in the late 1960s as harder rock music slowly took hold. Ted Templeman became a Warner house producer in the 1970s . Under his direction a. a. successful albums from the Doobie Brothers , Little Feat , Carly Simon and Van Halen .
Members
- Theodore (Ted) Templeman (vocals, trumpet, drums) (born November 22, 1944 )
- Richard (Dick) Scoppettone (guitar) (born July 5, 1945 )
- Edward James (guitar)
- Richard (Dick) Yount (guitar, bass )
- John Louis Peterson (born January 8, 1942 in Rudyard , Michigan , USA; † November 11, 2007 in San Francisco ), drums
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1967 | Feelin 'Groovy | - |
US108 (7 weeks) US |
|
| Anything Goes | - |
US76 (13 weeks) US |
||
More albums
- 1968: Secret Life
- 1969: Harper's Bizarre 4
- 1976: As Time Goes By
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1967 | The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin 'Groovy) Feelin' Groovy |
UK34 (7 weeks) UK |
US13 (11 weeks) US |
|
| Come To The Sunshine Feelin 'Groovy |
- |
US37 (7 weeks) US |
||
| Anything Goes Anything Goes |
UK33 (6 weeks) UK |
US43 (8 weeks) US |
||
| Chattanooga Choo Choo Anything Goes |
- |
US45 (7 weeks) US |
||
| 1968 | Battle Of New Orleans Secret Life |
- |
US95 (2 weeks) US |
|