Today, we return once again to our 1967's Super Spectacular Singles Superstars mix and listen to a major hit from one of the most talented and underappreciated Los Angeles bands of the era, The Association.
Though the Association would score two monster hits in 1967 - the stunning, God Only Knows-calibre ballad Never My Love (#20 on Billboard's year-end Hot 100), featured on Nancy's Favorites, and the iconic pop song Windy (#4 on the year-end Hot 100), presented here - the AM success of these songs, coupled with that of earlier hits like Along Comes Mary and Cherish, would ultimately sew the seeds of the band's undoing.
An extremely talented and ambitious folk-rock sextet with a super-tight live attack, several prodigy-level multi-instrumentalists, and quite possibly the most sophisticated vocal harmonies of the era outside of The Beach Boys or The Byrds, the band was nonetheless never able to prove to the general listening public that they were more than just label manufactured, AM-staple soft-rockers, and as listening tastes quickly hardened in the late '60s, the band was quickly abandoned.
By 1969, just two years removed from their peak chart success and a blazing live stint opening the historic Monterey Pop Festival, the band was deemed a nostalgia act by the industry and would never effectively recover despite attempts to harden their sound. A sad finish for a band that, had things gone smoother for them, had the potential to reach almost the same critical stratosphere as other LA 1960s legends like The Beach Boys, The Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, and Love.
Here's a live performance of Windy at Chicagoland's Ravina from 1967.
Though the Association would score two monster hits in 1967 - the stunning, God Only Knows-calibre ballad Never My Love (#20 on Billboard's year-end Hot 100), featured on Nancy's Favorites, and the iconic pop song Windy (#4 on the year-end Hot 100), presented here - the AM success of these songs, coupled with that of earlier hits like Along Comes Mary and Cherish, would ultimately sew the seeds of the band's undoing.
An extremely talented and ambitious folk-rock sextet with a super-tight live attack, several prodigy-level multi-instrumentalists, and quite possibly the most sophisticated vocal harmonies of the era outside of The Beach Boys or The Byrds, the band was nonetheless never able to prove to the general listening public that they were more than just label manufactured, AM-staple soft-rockers, and as listening tastes quickly hardened in the late '60s, the band was quickly abandoned.
By 1969, just two years removed from their peak chart success and a blazing live stint opening the historic Monterey Pop Festival, the band was deemed a nostalgia act by the industry and would never effectively recover despite attempts to harden their sound. A sad finish for a band that, had things gone smoother for them, had the potential to reach almost the same critical stratosphere as other LA 1960s legends like The Beach Boys, The Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, and Love.
Here's a live performance of Windy at Chicagoland's Ravina from 1967.
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