The Parade - Frog Prince (1967)
The group featured Jerry Riopelle, who played keyboards on several Phil Spector-produced records; Murray MacLeod, an actor who appeared on Hawaii Five-O and Kung Fu; and Allen "Smokey" Roberds, another actor. They wrote a song called "Sunshine Girl" which was picked up by A&M Records, and in 1967 the tune hit #20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart.[1] Among the session musicians on this recording were drummer Hal Blaine, bassist Carol Kaye, and saxophonist Steve Douglas. Their second single was "She's Got the Magic", for which another actor, Stuart Margolin (later appearing on The Rockford Files) was included, but both this and the third single, "Frog Prince", failed to chart.
The 1968 "Radio Song" bubbled under the Hot 100 at #127, and the group broke up after two further singles - "She Sleeps Alone" and "Hallelujah Rocket" - were unsuccessful.[2] Riopelle then signed to Capitol Records as a solo artist, and Macleod and Roberds signed with Epic Records as the duo Ian & Murray. Roberds also later performed under the name Freddie Allen, and under this name recorded the tune "We've Only Just Begun", which soon afterward became a hit for The Carpenters.
In March 2008, Now Sounds/Cherry Red Records released a 23 song best-of compilation album, Sunshine Girl: The Complete Recordings featuring singles, demos and alternate mixes, as well as a rare Roger Nichols Trio song "Montage Mirror", for which Murray MacLeod was also lead singer, along with his sister Melinda.
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