The Yellow Balloon (band)

The cover of The Yellow Balloon's 1967 self-titled album.

The Yellow Balloon was an American sunshine pop band, produced by Gary Zekley after his early sixties solo career. The group is notable for featuring Don Grady (sometimes billed as "Luke R. Yoo")[1] of Mouseketeers and My Three Sons fame. Other band members hailed from Oregon and Arizona. They were led by Alex Valdez (lead singer), and included Frosty Green (keyboards), Don Braucht (bass guitar), and Paul Canella (lead guitar).[2] The band at one time also included Daryl Dragon, later the male half of Captain & Tennille.[3]

The Yellow Balloon released multiple singles, including their hit "Yellow Balloon" which peaked at #25 on the Billboard 100 Chart and "Good Feelin' Time"[4] both taken from the group's debut album.

The band's 1967 self-titled LP was released through Canterbury Records and besides featuring the hit single "Yellow Balloon", also included two songs co-written by former The Mamas & the Papas singer Jill Gibson. The album was later re-released in 1998 as a CD by Sundazed Music, including all eleven songs from the original album, a few songs Grady released as singles, a demo, and a Zekley recorded interview[3] conducted by the music historian Domenic Priore.

The group would disband soon after further success eluded them. Band members felt they had nothing new to produce with the band so the breakup was mutual.

Discography

1967: The Yellow Balloon
No. Title Length
1. "How Can I Be Down"   2:14
2. "Stained Glass Window"   2:03
3. "Baby Baby It's You"   1:57
4. "Panama Red"   1:39
5. "I've Got a Feeling for Love"   2:18
6. "Yellow Balloon"   2:16
7. "Good Feelin' Time"   2:12
8. "Follow the Sunshine"   2:35
9. "Springtime Girl"   2:06
10. "Can't Get Enough of Your Love"   2:16
11. "Junk Maker Shoppe"   2:37

References

  1. "Gary Zekley at Spectropop". spectropop. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
  2. "Yellow Balloon". answers.com. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Yellow Balloon Biography". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
  4. "Pacific Northwest Bands". pnwbands.com. Retrieved 2007-07-19.

External links