THE GROOVIEST WEEK EVER ...
continues now in FORGOTTEN HITS!!!
The Fifth Dimension were definitely "Workin' On A Groovy Thing" when they took this Neil Sedaka composition into The National Top 20 back in 1969.
Coming off their #1 Smash "Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In" (in fact, "Workin' On A Groovy Thing" was sandwiched between TWO #1 Hits ... "Wedding Bell Blues" would be their follow-up release!), the soulful pop quintet from L.A. were riding a wave of hits that would carry them into the following decade.
The music of The Fifth Dimension has ALWAYS received a very positive response here in Forgotten Hits. In all, they placed 21 songs in The National Top 40 between 1967 and 1973, including the Top Ten Smashes "Up, Up And Away" from 1967, "Stoned Soul Picnic" from 1968, "One Less Bell To Answer" from 1970 and, from 1972, "Last Night I Didn't Get To Sleep At All" (now THERE'S a GREAT Forgotten Hit for you!) and "If I Could Reach You".
Husband and wife Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., would hit the top spot one more time in 1977 with "You Don't Have To Be A Star".
DIDJAKNOW?: "Workin' On A Groovy Thing" was a minor hit the year before The Fifth Dimension recorded it. Patti Drew, former lead vocalist of The Drew-Vels, cut a solo version of this song that reached #62 on The National Charts in the late summer of 1968. In fact, HER version went all the way to #17 here in Chicago, so we were already very familiar with this tune when The Fifth Dimension version was released a year later! (The same thing happened with "Save The Country", a hit here in Chicago for Thelma Houston six months before The Fifth Dimension released their version. They weren't quite as lucky with their version of "Love Hangover", however ... their version debuted on the pop charts the same day that Diana Ross' version did ... in this case, Ross COMPLETELY trumped the Fifth Dimension ... her version went on to top the charts while The Fifth Dimension arrangement stopped at #80 and then disappeared without a trace forever!)
Today, we're giving you BOTH versions of "Workin' On A Groovy Thing" ... which I guess makes today's "Two For Tuesday" feature TWICE As GROOVY!!!
