It was the first record I bought.
The band was called The Cyrkle. That was the name given them by John Lennon … well sources are a bit conflicted, actually. It appears that the name came from Nathan Weiss, who managed them … and he was the partner of Brian Epstein, who managed The Beatles. Weiss had signed the band when they were working the club circuit as The Rhondells. Weiss decided their new name would be The Circle, and it was John Lennon, apparently, who came up with the idea to change from The Circle into the infinitely more interesting name, The Cyrkle.
The Players
- Don Danneman, guitar & vocals
- Tom Dawes, bass guitar & vocals
- Earl Pickens, keyboards
- Marty Fried, drums
Chronology
September 6, 1965, discovered playing in Atlantic City on Labor Day
1966, opening act on 14 dates of The Beatles tour, including the August 28 date at Dodger Stadium
1968, the band broke up
The Hits … not quite a one hit wonder
1966, “Red Rubber Ball,” # 2 Billboard … written by Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley (of The Seekers)
1966, “Turn Down Day,” # 16 Billboard
The Albums
1966, Red Rubber Ball
1967, Neon
1969, The Minx (movie soundtrack)
After The Music Stopped
Well, it really didn’t stop. Dawes and Danneman both wrote advertising jingles.
Dawes wrote one of the most famous jingles of all time: Alka-Seltzer’s “Plop plop fizz fizz.”
More
Cool bit of music history, Henry.
Marty is my cousin. His drumming inspired my music career at a very young age (which continues to this day, though I soon switched to guitar). Very gratifying to hear their songs again on Sirius and to see them written about- thanks so much for posting!