The Fifth Estate, formerly known as The D-Men, is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band formed in 1963 in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

Early years (as The D-Men)

The band began in

, in 1963, as ''The D-Men''. Early on, as The D-Men, the band played many small shows and local clubs but soon gravitated to

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 ...

and larger clubs where they often played six nights a week for long stretches. Guitarist Carl Sabatini also played a role in the band's earliest conception. They released three singles, two on Veep/United Artists and one on the Kapp labels, which along with much of their later material have become collectors' items and established them as a central part of the

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

movement. Boston Skyline released a 28-song collection of their music in 1993 and published a 41-page booklet of their story. The band made a number of appearances on television, including several on

the Clay Cole Show ''The Clay Cole Show'' (1959–1967) was a rock music television show based in New York City, hosted by Clay Cole. History First broadcast on WNTA-TV (now WNET) in September 1959 as ''Rate the Records'', within two months the format was changed, ...

, with one featuring

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

’ first American East Coast TV appearance, and '' Hullabaloo'', on which the D-Men performed "I Just Don't Care". The program was at that time co-hosted by

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...

, who expressed an interest in signing them. They later won a

Murray the K Murray Kaufman (February 14, 1922 – February 21, 1982), professionally known as Murray the K, was an influential New York City rock and roll impresario and disc jockey of the 1950s, '60s and '70s. During the early days of Beatlemania, he frequ ...

call-in contest for best new release over

The Dave Clark Five The Dave Clark Five, also known as the DC5, were an English rock and roll band formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark served as the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. In January 1964 they had their first UK top ten sin ...

and

The Animals The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...

in 1965. In 1966 they changed their name to "The Fifth Estate".

The Fifth Estate

The Fifth Estate released the single "Love Is All A Game" on the Red Bird label, which became a regional hit. Following a successful string of club performances, they had an international hit in 1967 with a sunshine pop version of "

Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" is a song in the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz''. It is the centrepiece of several individual songs in an extended set-piece performed by the Munchkins, Glinda (Billie Burke) and Dorothy Gale. Highlighted by the Lol ...

", which reached No. 11 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 i ...

. The song was recorded and released around the world in five different languages (Japanese, Italian, French, German and English), and incorporated parts of "La Bouree" in the instrumental break and coda from ''

Terpsichore In Greek mythology, Terpsichore (; grc-gre, Τερψιχόρη, "delight in dancing") is one of the nine Muses and goddess of dance and chorus. She lends her name to the word "terpsichorean" which means "of or relating to dance". Appearance ...

'' by 17th-century composer

Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms ba ...

. According to '' Cashbox,'' the track is in the Top 100 record releases of 1967 and achieved the highest American chart position of any Harold Arlen or ''Wizard of Oz'' song. That same year, the group recorded their version of " Heigh Ho!", another film theme, this time from

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's first feature length film,

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Febr ...

's ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as Ta ...

''. Although it made the top 40 on the Canadian

CHUM Chum may refer to: Broadcasting * CHUM Limited, a defunct Canadian media company * CHUM Radio, now Bell Media Radio, a Canadian radio broadcasting company * CHUM (AM), a Toronto radio station * CHUM-FM, a Toronto radio station * CHUM Chart, a C ...

chart, sales for both "Heigh Ho!" and their next single, "Do Drop Inn", proved disappointing in the US. "Heigh Ho!" failed to chart and "Do Drop Inn" skimmed the bottom of the American charts. Although not making an impact in America, in 1968 "Morning Morning", an original song that incorporated the band's core

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six string instrument, strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or Plucked string instrument, plucking the strings with the dominant hand, w ...

and

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

driven sound, was a hit in Australia on the Stateside label. The original five members performed together for six years during which they recorded about 100 songs, and released 13 singles and one album.

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The ...

joined them on stage and sang "Soul Man" with them at one of their theater shows, while one of the Vandellas sang and recorded one of their tunes, "How Can I Find A Way," with them as her next release. They also appeared in a 1967 TV episode of ''

Malibu U ''Malibu U'' is an American variety show that aired in the summer of 1967 on ABC. The series starred Ricky Nelson, and aired on Friday evenings from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. Overview In the series, Nelson starred as the "Dean of the Drop-Ins" of ...

''. In 1968, on "The Frodis Caper", the last of their 58 television show episodes,

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

covered The Fifth Estate's version of "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead". The Fifth Estate toured with acts such as

Count Five Count Five was an American garage rock band, formed in San Jose, California in 1964, known for their hit single " Psychotic Reaction". Background The band was founded in 1964 by lead guitarist John "Mouse" Michalski (born 1948, Cleveland, Ohio) ...

The Electric Prunes The Electric Prunes are an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. Much of the band's music was, as music historian Richie Unterberger described it, possessed of "an eerie and sometimes anguished ambiance." T ...

The Music Explosion The Music Explosion was an American garage rock band from Mansfield, Ohio, United States, discovered and signed by record producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz. The quintet is best known for their number two hit, " Little Bit O' Soul", tha ...

The Buckinghams The Buckinghams are an American sunshine pop band from Chicago. They formed in 1966 and went on to become one of the top-selling acts of 1967, charting their only five top 40 hits in the U.S. that year. The band dissolved in 1970, but re-formed ...

The Ronettes The Ronettes were an American girl group from Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. T ...

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is an American rock band popular during the mid- to late-1960s. Founded in New York City in 1965 by lead singer/songwriter John Sebastian and guitarist Zal Yanovsky, the band is widely known for a number of hits, including " ...

The Turtles ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining th ...

The Easybeats The Easybeats were an Australian Rock music, rock band that formed in Sydney in late 1964. They enjoyed a level of success that in Australia rivalled The Beatles. They became the first Australian rock act to score an international hit, with th ...

. They also appeared on '' Upbeat'' with another Greenwich Village band,

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLis ...

. In 1970, group members went off on different projects. Bill Shute released two albums with Lisa Null, ''The Feathered Maiden and Other Ballads'' (1977) and ''American Primitive'' (1980), and multiple albums with other collaborators. The band has since reformed and continue to perform and record. Their album ''Time Tunnel'' was recorded in 2010/11 and released on January 2, 2012. It was produced with the assistance of and mixed by

Shel Talmy Sheldon Talmy (born August 11, 1937) is an American record producer, songwriter and arranger, best known for his work in the UK in the 1960s with the Who, the Kinks and many others. Talmy arranged and produced hits such as "You Really Got Me" ...

. On September 19, 2012, ''The Fifth Estate - Anthology 1'' was released by Fuel 2000/Universal Music Group. A double CD with a 20-page booklet and 40 songs, more than half the tracks were previously unreleased. In May, 2014, the German label Break-A-Way Records released a 14-song vinyl album of the band's early 1964 - 1966 material called ''I Wanna Shout!'' On August 12, 2014, following the continued success of the 2012 ''Anthology 1'' release, Fuel 2000 released a 14-song CD of new material, ''Take The Fifth.'' This album was also mixed and executive-produced by Shel Talmy.

Members

* Rick Engler - guitar, fuzz bass, lead vocals, harmonica * Ken 'Furvus' Evans - drums, vocals * Doug 'Duke' Ferrara - bass, lead harmony vocals * Wayne 'Wads' Wadhams (died 19 August 2008) - harpsichord, piano, organ, lead vocals * Bill Shute - guitar, shugro 8, vocals * Chuck LeGros - vocals, harmonica (1966) * Bob 'Bobby Lee' Klein - lead vocals, keyboards, guitar (1969 + 2006-)

Discography

Singles

;as The D-Men * "Don't You Know" b/w "No Hope For Me" (

Veep ''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci as an adaptation of his sitcom ''The Thick of It''. The protagonist of ''Veep'' ...

/United Artists 1206 / July 1964) * "I Just Don't Care" b/w "Messin Around" (Veep/United Artists 1209 / March 1965) * "So Little Time" b/w "Every Minute of Every Day" ( Kapp 691 / May 1965) ;as The Fifth Estate * "Love Is All a Game" b/w "Like I Love You" (

Red Bird Red Bird (–16 February 1828) was a leader of the Winnebago (or Ho-Chunk) Native American tribe. He was a leader in the Winnebago War of 1827 against Americans in the United States making intrusions into tribal lands for mining. He was fo ...

RB 10-064 / May 1966) * " Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead" b/w "Rub-a-Dub" (

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

45-5573 / May 1967) * "The Goofin Song" b/w "Lost Generation" (Jubilee 5588 / July 1967) * "

Heigh-Ho "Heigh-Ho" is a song from Walt Disney's 1937 animated film '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', written by Frank Churchill (music) and Larry Morey (lyrics). It is sung by the group of Seven Dwarfs as they work at a mine with diamonds and rubies ...

" b/w "It's Waiting There for You" (Jubilee 5595 / October 1967) * "Morning, Morning" b/w "Tomorrow Is My Turn" (Jubilee 5607 / November 1967) * "Do Drop Inn" b/w "That's Love" (Jubilee 5617 / February 1968) * "Coney Island Sally" b/w "Tomorrow Is My Turn" (Jubilee 5627 / July 1968) * "Night on Fire" b/w "I've Never Been So High" (3 members as Medicine Mike) (

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

1011 / August 1969) In 1969, two singles by studio musicians were released under the band's name without their permission or participation: * "The Mickey Mouse Club March" b/w "I Knew You Before I Met You" (Jubilee 5655 / April 1969) * "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" b/w "I Knew You Before I Met You" (Jubilee 5683 / November 1969)

Albums

* ''Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead'' (Jubilee Records JGS 8005 / 1967) * ''Ding Dong! The Witch Is Back: 1964-1969'' (Boston Skyline BSD 116/1992) * ''Time Tunnel'' (Roxon Records LLC RR1001 / 2011) * ''The Fifth Estate - Anthology 1 1964-1969'' (Fuel 2000 / Universal Music Group, 2012) * ''I Wanna Shout!'' (Break-A-Way Records 039 / 2014) * ''Take The Fifth'' (Fuel 2000 Records 302 062 017 2 / 2014) * ''Surf, Rocks & Fuzz'' (Roxon Records LLC RR1002 / 2016) - 1963 & 1964 recordings * ''I Wanna Shout!'' (Roxon Records LLC RR1003 / 2016) - digital and vinyl, 1965 recordings * ''On The Road'' (Roxon Records LLC RR1004 / 2016) - 1966 recordings * ''The Best Of - The Fifth Estate'' (Roxon Records LLC RR1005 / 20016) - 1964 to 1970 recordings * ''Higher Density'' (Roxon Records LLC RR1006 / 2016) - 1968 recordings * ''Live, Loud & Lo-Fi'' (Roxon Records LLC RR1007 / 2016) - 1964 to 2012 live recordings * ''Garunge Deluxe'' (Roxon Records LC RR1008 / 2020) - more garage and RnR material

References

*Roxon, Lillian: ''Lilian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia'', (Grosset and Dunlop, Universal Library Edition, 1972), p. 182,

External links

The Fifth Estate Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fifth Estate, The Rock music groups from Connecticut American garage rock groups American folk rock groups Musical groups established in 1963 1963 establishments in Connecticut Jubilee Records artists