The Neon Philharmonic

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The Neon Philiharmonic
Origin U.S.
Genre(s) Sunshine pop
Baroque pop
Psychedelic pop
Progressive rock
Symphonic rock
Years active 1967 to 1975
Label(s) Warner Bros.
Sundazed
Former 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 a psychedelic pop band led by songwriter and keyboardist 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 number 19 in May of that year. 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 says "Borges Forever!", the group's concertmaster really is named 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.[1]

The bulk of the groups' output was released by Warner Bros./Seven Arts Records. In 1972, they moved to MCA and produced another single, "Annie Poor"/"Love Will Find a Way", after which Gant and Saussy left the group, not working on the additional singles released by MCA or London Records. At least one Saussy song, "Making Out the Best I Can" was made by the reformed group, produced by David Kastle and still 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.

Shaun Cassidy, David's younger brother, did a cover version of "Morning Girl, Revisted" (simply titled "Morning, Girl") in 1976, which did not chart in the U.S., but did well in the Low Countries.[citation needed] 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 simliar style in the mid-1980s.

Contents

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

[edit] Warner Bros.

  • Morning Girl/Brilliant Colors (Mono single versions) #7621 (1/69)
  • No One Is Going to Hurt You/You Lied (Mono single versions) #7311 (7/69)
  • Clouds/Snow #7355 (11/69)
  • Heighdy-Ho Princess/Don't Know My Way Around My Soul #7380 (3/70)
  • Flowers for Your Pillow/To Be Continued #7419 (7/70)
  • Something to Believe In/A Little Love #7457 (1/71)
  • Got a Feelin' in My Bones/Keep the Faith in Me #7497 (5/71)

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

[edit] TRX

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • Annie Poor/Love Will Find a Way (TRX T-5039, 1972)

[edit] MCA

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • So Glad You're a Woman/Making Out the Best I Can (MCA-40158 (MC 4810), 1975)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Andy Zax. "A Conversation with Tupper Saussy." Liner Notes, Brilliant Colors: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings, p. 11



This article on a U.S.-based pop music group is a stub. You can help by expanding it.