The Fun and Games were an American

sunshine pop Sunshine pop (originally known as soft pop) is a subgenre of pop music that originated in Southern California in the mid-1960s. Rooted in easy listening and advertising jingles, sunshine pop acts combined nostalgic or anxious moods with "an appre ...

group from

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States.

History

Bandmembers Rock Romano, Mike Cemo, Paul Guillet, and John Bonno were all members of a band while in high school in Houston, Texas. After adding Richard Bain, D. J. Greer, and Carson Graham, they took the name The Six Pents, and worked as the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

at La Maison in Houston.The Fun and Games
at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

They also recorded a single at local studio Andrus. After releasing the single, they changed their name to The Sixpentz, but after signing with

Mainstream Records Mainstream Records was an American record company and independent record label founded by producer Bob Shad in 1964. Mainstream's early releases were reissues from Commodore Records. Its catalogue grew to include Bob Brookmeyer, Maynard Ferguson, ...

, they discovered that the name Sixpence was already being used by another group, so they changed their name again to The Fun and Games Commission. They released another single under this name and then abridged it on further releases to The Fun and Games.

Gary Zekley Alan Gary Zekley (also known as Brandon Chase; January 4, 1943 – June 19, 1996) was an American West Coast record producer and songwriter associated with 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s bands and songs in the bubblegum, rock and roll, sunshine pop, and s ...

heard the group's music and got them signed to

UNI Records Uni Records (short for the label's legal name Universal City Records and rendered as UNI) was a record label owned by MCA Inc. The brand, which long featured a distinctive UNi logo, was established in 1966 in music, 1966 by MCA executive Ned Tanen ...

; around this time the lineup shuffled considerably, with Bonno and Greer departing and Joe Dugan and Joe Romano added to the lineup. Zekley produced their lone album, ''Elephant Candy'' (1968), and co-wrote several of the songs with Mitch Bottler. A single from the album, "The Grooviest Girl in the World", reached #78 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

in early 1969.

Joel Whitburn Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in Wau ...

, ''Top Pop Singles''. 12th edition, 2009, p. 377 The group broke up soon after; Rock Romano later played in the groups Doctor Rockit and the Sisters of Mercy, the Sheetrockers, and the band Duck Soup which Sam Irwin formed and sang lead for. A CD reissue of ''Elephant Candy'' with bonus tracks was released 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 ...

in 2005. Joe Romano (born on December 1, 1949, in Houston, Texas) died of cancer on August 4, 2017, at age 67.

Members

*Sam Irwin – Lead vocals * Rock Romano – rhythm guitar, vocals *Joe Romano – bass, vocals *Paul Guillet – guitar, vocals *Joe Dugan – keyboards, vocals *Carson Graham – drums

Discography

*''Elephant Candy'' (

, 1968)

References

External links

* Musical groups from Houston American pop music groups {{US-pop-band-stub