Liz Damon's Orient Express was a 1970s soft rock band from Hawaii, USA, featuring lead singer Liz Damon, two female

backup singers A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

and a rotating backup band. The name apparently derived from the original backup band being entirely

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. Their only song to make the

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was " 1900 Yesterday", which made it to No. 33 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and No. 15 on the Canadian

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in early 1971. Most impressively, it peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's Easy Listening survey.

Members

Damon's backup singers on the 1970 album ''At the Garden Bar, Hilton Hawaiian Village'' were her sister Edda Damon and Sydette Sakauye. In the early 1970s, Sakauye left and was replaced by Meri McPherson. While the Damon sisters and McPherson were constants, their backup band underwent numerous personnel changes. The band was the house band at the Garden Bar at the

Hilton Hawaiian Village The Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort is a resort hotel on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. The resort first opened in 1955, and since has grown to become the largest in the Hilton chain of hotels, and one of largest hotels in t ...

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 White Whale Records was an American independent record label, founded in 1965 by Ted Feigin and Lee Lasseff in Los Angeles, California, and probably best known as the record label of The Turtles and a handful of one-hit wonder bands. White Whale, i ...

, who released it as an eponymous album and also released "1900 Yesterday" as a single. White Whale Records was under financial distress at the time (embroiled in a years-long dispute with their marquee band,

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, and unable to develop any further acts other than a few one-hit wonders) and folded shortly after "1900 Yesterday" became a hit. Liz Damon's Orient Express released Burt Bacharach's "Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets" for the Anthem label in late 1971, and it became their second and last US chart single. The song was originally recorded by Allison Durbin in 1969, and was subsequently recorded by Dionne Warwick in 1970. English alternative rocker Morrissey covered the song in 2019. 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

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, Nevada where they performed until their breakup in the mid-1980s. Only ''Liz Damon's Orient Express'' is available in print today, having been reissued on CD in 2003 by

Rev-Ola Records Rev-Ola Records is a British independent record label formed in 1990 that specializes in reissues, as well as select new releases. The label is headed by Joe Foster, a former child actor and musician/producer. He, along with Alan McGee and ...

, with liner notes by Steve Stanley. "1900 Yesterday" appears on some compilations of 1970s mellow music.

Discography

Albums

* ''Liz Damon's Orient Express'' (1970) (also ''At the Garden Bar, Hilton Hawaiian Village'') * ''Try a Little Tenderness'' (1970) (aka ''Liz Damon's Orient Express II'', Anthem Records) * ''Me Japanese Boy (I Love You)'', Delilah Records (1973) * ''Heaven in My Heart'' (1978) (also released as '' Cartan Tours Presents Liz Damon's Orient Express'' as an advertising record for Cartan's packaged Hawaiian tours.) * ''Warning: This Album Could be Hazardous to Your Ego!'' (1979)

Singles

* " 1900 Yesterday" (1970) from ''Liz Damon's Orient Express'' * "But For Love" (1971) from ''Liz Damon's Orient Express'' * "Loneliness Remembers" (1971) from ''Liz Damon's Orient Express II'' * "All in All" (1971) from ''Liz Damon's Orient Express II''

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Hawaii American soft rock music groups Ballad music groups White Whale Records artists