The Olympics

The Olympics were among the great L.A.-centered acts who were able to score local hits for the Western Coast by balancing upbeat and frequently funny novelty R&B tunes with those on the subject of well-known dances of your day (a number of the additional Western Coast groups who in shape this description were the Jay Hawks, the Cadets/Jacks, the Marathons, as well as the DooTones). They’re perhaps best appreciated because of their Coasters-derived “Traditional western Films,” but their various other L.A.-region hits are the popular dance amount “Baby Hully Gully,” “Big Guy Pete” (which stalled away at amount 50 pop, but visited amount 10 R&B), and “Mine Exclusively.” The Olympics’ primary lineup — raspy baritone Walter Ward (who sang business lead), Eddie Lewis (tenor), Charles Fizer (baritone), and Walter Hammond (baritone) — began as Walter Ward & the Challengers, waxing “I COULD Inform” in 1958. All three baritone network marketing leads seldom exploited their low range, preferring to sing in shrill high shades. They transformed their name towards the Olympics quickly thereafter, starting up using the songwriting group of Fred Smith and Cliff Goldsmith, who composed and created the act’s initial strike in 1958 for Si Aronson’s Hollywood-based Demon Information. “Western Films,” a Coasters-type novelty amount, captured on quickly, correct around once that of America was preoccupied with Western-themed films and Television shows. The one climbed to amount eight pop and amount seven R&B in 1958. The Olympics after that transferred — alongside Smith and Goldsmith — to the Arvee label in 1959. Because of their many A-sides (for many brands), the Olympics chosen to concern inner-city produced dance ditties, like the Smith/Goldsmith-penned “(Baby) Hully Gully,” ” “The Philly Pet,” “The Slop,” and “The Duck” (an area strike for Jackie Lee [aka Earl “Chip” Nelson]). The group just sometimes performed ballads, just like the doo-wop motivated “Stay WHAT YOUR LOCATION IS,” and some rockers like “Shimmy Like Kate” and “Dance from the Light of the Moon.” Mainly, the Olympics attemptedto duplicate their strike position with novelty tracks such as “Western Films.” Their biggest achievement within the novelty world was their remake of “Big Boy Pete,” created and first documented by Don & Dewey for Niche. Other local strikes included “Small Pedro,” “Small Dooley,” and “Big Main Small Feet” (which presented “battle whoops”). Others, just like the funny “Dodge Town” and “(I Wanna) Dance Using the Teacher” appear to be teenage West Coastline Americana at its most innocent (though at that time, extremist church organizations saw nothing at all innocent concerning this type of materials and frequently complained that their lyrics had been the work from the devil). Many members from the Olympics also documented a cover from the Marathons’ strike “Peanut Butter,” which have been a hit for his or her maker H.B. Barnum in 1961, waxed for the Checker label. The music was essentially a rewrite from the Olympics’ “(Baby) Hully Gully.” Arvee sued and obtained the “Peanut Butter” get better at through contract-infringement litigation. Then they rounded up even more performers (including several Olympics) to record “Peanut”‘s successor and record tracks. Why is this more complicated was the actual fact which the Marathons acquired some, otherwise total, workers overlap using the Vibrations on Checker (who acquired in 1956 been referred to as the Jayhawks, who documented “Stranded within the Jungle” for Display Records). Exactly the same group also performed on-stage because the Marathons. This originally has caused dilemma as to if the two group’s distributed exactly the same lineup and who do which melody and who was simply where group at what period. Altogether, Arvee released three albums with the Olympics — Doin’ the Hully Gully (1960), Dance with the Light of the Moon (1961), and Party Period (also 1961). Following the Olympics still left Arvee, they have scored several strikes in 1963 for the L.A.-structured Tri-Disc label: the rollicking dance ditty “The Bounce” and “Dancin’ Holiday,” both made by Fred Smith. In 1965, they shifted to the Loma label and documented “Great Lovin’,” which didn’t connect, but a season later it had been remade right into a large strike with the Little Rascals for Atlantic. In 1966, the Olympics agreed upon with Mirwood, the label operate by ex-Vee-Jay professional Randy Timber (rather than the Randy Timber from Dot Information). They documented two strikes: “(Baby) Perform the Philly Pet” as well as the gospel-drenched East-side spirit solitary “Mine Specifically,” which inched into Billboard’s Warm 100 chart, achieving quantity 99 in-may 1966. Sensing a resurgence appealing within the group, Solid wood decided to released an album from the Olympics, but since he previously only two small strikes, he opted to keep these things re-record their aged strikes from Demon, Arvee, and Tri- Disk for an recording called Something Aged, Something New. (These re-recorded variations have frequently been contained in a vast most the reissues and different artist albums where in fact the Olympics show up, much towards the annoyance of enthusiasts.) On the staying years, the Olympics spawned a bunch of similar organizations (the Curves, the Five Dutones, Bull & the Matadors), though they continue steadily to perform at oldies revival displays and around the united states. The quartet includes two original people, Walter Ward and Eddie Lewis. Charles Fizer passed on in 1963 and Walter Hammond retired. Their substitutes William DeVase and Kenneth Sinclair have already been together for over twenty years. After dealing with the Olympics, Fred Smith caused Small Caesar & the Romans, and he and Goldsmith later on formed Keyman Information. Goldsmith passed away June 14, 1991, in Burbank, CA.