Daddy Dewdrop is a pseudonym for the American songwriter Richard "Dick" Monda (born 1940,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, United States). He is best known for his 1971 hit "

Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It) "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)" is a song written by Janice Lee Gwin and Linda Martin and performed by Daddy Dewdrop. It was featured on his 1971 album, ''Daddy Dewdrop''. The lyrics in the verses are spoken, rather than sung. "Chick-A-B ...

Biography

Monda's family moved from Ohio to California in the mid–1940s. He and his sister performed in vaudeville and shows around Hollywood. As a child, Monda appeared in the films ''

The Glass Wall ''The Glass Wall'' is a 1953 American drama film noir directed by Maxwell Shane and starring Vittorio Gassman and Gloria Grahame. The black-and-white film was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The title refers to a design feature o ...

'' and '' Go for Broke!'' At 13, he was chosen to play Eddie Cantor as a boy in the film ''The Eddie Cantor Story'', in which he performed six songs, including dance routines. At 16, he had a featured role in ''The Midnight Story''. He began songwriting as a young man and received a degree in mathematics. His first production with

Moonglow Records Moonglow Records was a small record label in the 1960s. They were famous for signing The Righteous Brothers before they were signed by Phil Spector for his Philles Records. The label was initially independently distributed, but they became an At ...

was "Don't Do It Some More", by The Cindermen, credited under the pen name Daddy Dewdrop. After Moonglow, he signed with Four Star Music publishing company where he stayed for seven years. He made most of his recordings during this period. He was signed to Verve Records as an artist and recorded his first album, ''Truth, Lies, Magic and Faith''. Two years later, after producing music for the Saturday morning cartoon series ''

Groovie Goolies ''Groovie Goolies'' is an American animated television show that had its original run Saturday mornings on CBS between 1970 and 1971. It was rebroadcast the following season on Sunday mornings. Set at a decrepit castle, the show focused on its mo ...

'', he released the song "Chick-A-Boom", originally written for the show. Monda put together a backing band of studio musicians, including Tom Hensley, who later became the musical director for Neil Diamond, and Butch Rillera, who became a member of the group Redbone and recorded a version of the song, retitled "

". The tune, which was distributed by Sunflower Records, became a top 10 hit in the United States, peaking on the '' Billboard'' Pop Singles chart at #9 in 1971 Joel Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000 and at #3 on Cashbox. Other charted records include "Fox Huntin' on the Weekend" and "Chantilly Lace", and after a change of labels to Inphasion Records, he had another chart record, "Nanu, Nanu, (I Wanna Get Funky Wich You)" and "The Real Thing". He appeared in several underground films, including ''The Michael Girard'' directed Troma films, ''Oversexed Rug Suckers from Mars'', ''Body Parts'' and the indie film ''The Artichokes''. He recorded an album called ''Or Durv'' under the alias "Lu Janis".

Discography

Albums

As Dick Monda As Daddy Dewdrop

Singles

As Dick Monda As Daddy Dewdrop

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dewdrop, Daddy 1940 births Living people Songwriters from Ohio Musicians from Cleveland