Liz Damon's Orient Express

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Liz Damon's Orient Express was a 1970s band from Hawaii, featuring lead singer Liz Damon, two female backup singers and a rotating backup band. The name apparently derived from the original backup band being entirely Asian. Their only song to make the Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 was "1900 Yesterday", which made it to #33 on the U.S. and #16 on the Canadian charts in early 1971.

The band was the house band at the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Garden Bar for 18 months and recorded its first album, At the Garden Bar, Hilton Hawaiian Village in 1970. Originally released on Makaha Records, it was then picked up by White Whale Records, who released it as an eponymous album and also released "1900 Yesterday" as a single.

Damon's backup singers on this album were her sister Edda Damon and Sydette Sakauye. In the early 1970s, Sakauye left and was replaced by Meri Pherson. While the Damon sisters and Pherson appeared to be constants, their backup band appeared to undergo numerous personnel changes.

The group released three more albums during the 1970s consisting mostly of covers. In 1979, the group released a comedy album. During the late 1970s, the band moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where they performed until their breakup in the mid 1980s.

Only Liz Damon's Orient Express is available in print today, although "1900 Yesterday" appears on some compilations of 1970s mellow music.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Liz Damon's Orient Express (1970) (also At the Garden Bar, Hilton Hawaiian Village)
Try a Little Tenderness (1970)
Me Japanese Boy (I Love You) (1973)
Heaven in My Heart (1978)
Warning: This Album Could be Hazardous to Your Ego! (1979)