The Neon Philharmonic

The Neon Philharmonic
Origin United States
Genres Psychedelic pop
Years active 1967 to 1975
Labels Warner Bros.
TRX
MCA Records
London Records
Sundazed
Rhino Records
Past members Kenneth A. Buttrey
Jerry Carrigan
Chip Young
Don Gant
Dennis Good
Rufus Long
Pierre Menard
Norbert Putnam
Tupper Saussy
Don Sheffield
Chuck Wyatt

The Neon Philharmonic (formed 1967) was an American psychedelic pop band led by songwriter and conductor Tupper Saussy and singer Don Gant. They released their only two albums (The Moth Confesses and the eponymous The Neon Philharmonic) in 1969, and they scored a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Morning Girl", when it hit the Top 40 in May of that year and rose to number 17 on Billboard and number 15 on the Cash Box chart.[1] The band hit the charts again with "Heighdy-Ho Princess" in 1970. The group was produced by Saussy, Gant, and Bob McCluskey, and engineered by Ronald Gant, Don's brother. The group disbanded in 1975 after releasing numerous non-album singles. Although the first album stated Borges Forever!, the group's concertmaster is really Pierre Menard, and it is not a reference to the Jorge Luis Borges story Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote - Saussy was not conscious of the connection.[2]

The bulk of the groups' output was released by Warner Bros./Seven Arts Records. In 1972, they moved to TRX and produced another single, "Annie Poor" / "Love Will Find a Way", after which the group disbanded. The Neon Philharmonic name was sold to producer David Kastle, who put out additional singles released by MCA Records and London Records. At least one Saussy song, "Making Out the Best I Can" was recorded by this group, and engineered by Ronald Gant. Along with its flipside recording, "So Glad You're a Woman", written by Ray Williams and Ron Demmans (MCA-40158 (MC 4810), 1975), the instrumentation was limited to synthesizers, guitar and drums. These later singles have no other connection to the original group.

Shaun Cassidy, David's younger brother, did a cover version of "Morning Girl, Later" (simply titled "Morning Girl") in 1976, which did not chart in the U.S., but did well in the Low Countries and Germany.[3] The song was also covered by The Lettermen.

The group is not to be confused with The Neon Philharmonic Orchestra, which covered Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven" and arranged many classical pieces in a similar style in the mid-1980s.[4]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Warner Bros.

Three additional songs, "Better Times," "Jody," and "Letters Crossing" were recorded around the fall of 1970 and remained unreleased until the 2003 collection.

TRX

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MCA

London

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

  1. ↑ Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, p. 330 (Billboard Books, 1992).
  2. ↑ Andy Zax. "A Conversation with Tupper Saussy." Liner Notes, Brilliant Colors: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings, p. 11
  3. ↑ http://ki.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/~topsi/deu1976/deu_251176.html
  4. ↑ "The Neon Philharmonic - Everything on The Neon Philharmonic (information, latest news, articles,...)". Spiritus-temporis.com. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
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