Euphoria was a short-lived band from 1968 to 1969, consisting of

Roger Penney Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ...

on electric

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

, Wendy Penney on

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, Tom Pacheco on Acoustic Guitar, and Sharon Alexander. Roger and Wendy were a folk duo performing in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, using the names Roger Becket and Wendy Becket. Euphoria is generally regarded as a sunshine pop group.

History

Initially, Roger and Wendy were approached by Tom and Sharon to form a band with the express purpose of procuring a recording deal. Roger and Wendy were to front the band as lead vocalists in the

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

group, with

on electric

and keyboards, Wendy on bass guitar, Tom on guitar, and Sharon on percussion. They signed with Jerry Ross's Heritage Records, which was affiliated with

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

as distributor and promoter, and recorded one album entitled ''Euphoria''. in Sunshine Pop music style, not unlike other music groups such as

The Mamas And The Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of A ...

or Spanky And Our Gang did in those days. Arranged by

Joe Renzetti Joe Renzetti (born January 4, 1941) is an American film composer and session musician. He scores for films and television, and composes works for orchestra, chamber groups, and solo artists. Career Born in Philadelphia, Renzetti began his career ...

it was released in 1969, but without promotional support. A single ''You Must Forget'' was released, with Roger singing lead. Another single ''Calm Down'' was also released on

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

. The album and the group's live performances were subjects of printed articles in ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' magazine, ''Go'' magazine, ''Cashbox Magazine'', and ''Variety''. Euphoria performed live with musician

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

and the

1910 Fruitgum Company The 1910 Fruitgum Company is an American bubblegum pop band of the 1960s. The group's ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits were "Simon Says", "May I Take a Giant Step", " 1, 2, 3, Red Light", "Goody Goody Gumdrops", "Indian Giver", "Special Delivery", an ...

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

's Felt Forum as well as with Sly and the Family Stone and Iron Butterfly. They appeared on the Bozo the Clown television show at

WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by Fox Te ...

from New York City, and were slated for a performance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson but disbanded before appearing. Roger and Wendy went on to form the

Bermuda Triangle Band Bermuda Triangle Band's wild psychedelic and delicately nuanced electric autoharp and transcendental vocals grew out of the late 1960s folk rock scene. With an independent attitude, eccentric style and highly unusual instrument lineup, the group w ...

. Tom Pacheco and Sharon Alexander continued their collaboration, releasing one album called ''Pacheco & Alexander'' in 1971. The album featured a folk/country sound and several prominent musicians including

Denny Seiwell Denny Seiwell (born July 10, 1943) is an American drummer and a founding member of Wings. He also drummed for Billy Joel and Liza Minnelli and played in the scores for the films ''Waterworld'', '' Grease II'', and ''Vertical Limit''. His drum ...

John Hall John Hall may refer to: Academics * John Hall (NYU President) (fl. c. 1890), American academic * John A. Hall (born 1949), sociology professor at McGill University, Montreal * John F. Hall (born 1951), professor of classics at Brigham Young Unive ...

, Richard Bell and Harvey Brooks. Pacheco later co-wrote ''All Fly Away'' with

Paul Kantner Paul Lorin Kantner (March 17, 1941 – January 28, 2016) was an American rock musician. He is best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and vocalist of Jefferson Airplane, a leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture era. He cont ...

for

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio albu ...

's first album ''

Dragon Fly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threaten ...

'' in 1974. The album has been reissued as a CD and a mini LP on the Heritage/Beatball label.HYANG MUSIC Çâ¹ÂÁ÷
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Discography

* ''Euphoria'' Heritage/MGM Records (1969) * ''Euphoria'' reissue Heritage/Beatball Records (2007) * ''Euphoria'' Single on Polydor Records No. 59368 * "Euphoria" (You Must Forget) single on Heritage/MGM Records

References

{{Authority control American folk rock groups American pop music groups Sunshine pop