The Yellow Balloon was 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 ...

band, formed in Los Angeles in 1967 by songwriter and producer

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 ...

. The group is notable for featuring

Don Grady Don Louis Agrati (June 8, 1944 – June 27, 2012), also known as Don Grady, was an American actor, composer, and musician. He was known foremost as one of the Mickey Mouse Mouseketeers and as Robbie Douglas on the long-running ABC CBS tele ...

(sometimes billed as "Luke R. Yoo") of ''

The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised fo ...

'' and ''

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'' fame. Other band members hailed from

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. They were led by Alex Valdez (

lead singer The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

), and included Frosty Green (

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

), Don Braucht (

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 ...

), and Paul Canella (

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

). The band at one time also included

Daryl Dragon Daryl Frank Dragon (August 27, 1942 – January 2, 2019) was an American musician, known as Captain from the pop musical duo Captain & Tennille with his then-wife, Toni Tennille. Career Born into a musical family, Dragon was the son of El ...

, later the male half of

Captain & Tennille Captain & Tennille were American recording artists whose primary success occurred in the 1970s. The husband-and-wife team were "Captain" Daryl Dragon (1942–2019) and Toni Tennille (born 1940). They have five albums certified gold or platinu ...

. The Yellow Balloon released multiple

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

s, including their hit "

Yellow Balloon "Yellow Balloon" was a Top 30 hit single in the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 by The Yellow Balloon, included on the group's 1967 self-titled album. It was classified as being in the sunshine pop genre. Music and lyrics In late 1966, when Dean Tor ...

" which peaked at #25 on the Billboard 100 Chart and "Good Feelin' Time," which peaked at #1 on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

extension chart. Both are taken from the group's debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

. The band's 1967 self-titled LP was released through Canterbury Records and besides featuring the hit single "

", also included two songs co-written by former

The Mamas & 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 Am ...

singer

Jill Gibson Jill Gibson (born June 18, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, photographer, painter and sculptor. She is mostly known for her collaboration work with Jan & Dean and for having briefly been a member of the successful 1960s rock group the Mam ...

. The album was 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 conducted by the music historian

Domenic Priore Domenic Priore (born January 15th 1960) is an American author, historian and television producer whose focus is on popular music and its attendant youth culture. Biography He has written extensively about The Beach Boys' ''Smile'' album, includin ...

. The group disbanded soon after their first release, when further success eluded them. Band members felt they had nothing new to produce, so the breakup was amicable.

Discography

References

External links

Unofficial Fan Website

Canterbury Records

Sundazed Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yellow Balloon, The American pop music groups Musical groups established in 1967 Musical groups from Los Angeles Sunshine pop