Also known as The Rhondells Labels Columbia Genres Pop music, Rock music | Years active 1961–1968 Active until 1968 | |
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Past members Don Dannemann
Tom Dawes
Earl Pickens
Marty Fried
Michael Losekamp Origin Easton, Pennsylvania, United States (1961) Albums Red Rubber Ball (A Collection), Red Rubber Ball Members Don Dannemann, Tom Dawes, Marty Fried , Earle Pickens, Michael Losekamp, Jon Alexander Similar Bruce Woodley, Bobby Hebb, Paul Revere & the Raiders, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Seekers | ||
The cyrkle band reunites
The Cyrkle was a short-lived American rock and roll band active in the mid-1960s. The group charted two Top 40 hits, "Red Rubber Ball," and "Turn-Down Day". They still receive significant airplay on oldies radio stations across the United States.
Contents
Career
The band was formed by guitarists and lead singers Don Dannemann and Tom Dawes (who also played bass guitar), who met while studying at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Dannemann enlisted in the US Coast Guard in 1966. The other members were Earle Pickens on keyboards and Marty Fried on drums. They were originally a "frat rock" band called The Rhondells but were later discovered and managed by Brian Epstein, who was best known as manager of The Beatles. Epstein found out about this band when his business partner, New York attorney Nathan Weiss, heard them in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Labor Day of 1965. Epstein became their manager and renamed them. John Lennon provided the unique spelling of their new name, which is a reference to the circular roundabout known as Centre Square, located in downtown Easton. They were produced by John Simon.
In the summer of 1966, they opened on fourteen dates for the Beatles during their U.S. tour. On August 28, they headed the opening acts performing prior to The Beatles at Dodger Stadium. The other artists who appeared were Bobby Hebb, The Ronettes, and The Remains. Before touring with The Beatles, The Cyrkle had a successful engagement at the Downtown Discothèque in New York City. They were also on the bill for the final Beatles concert at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966.
The Cyrkle is best known for their 1966 song "Red Rubber Ball," which went to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It was co-written by Paul Simon of Simon and Garfunkel and Bruce Woodley of The Seekers. It was released on the Columbia record label. The band had one more Top 20 hit, "Turn-Down Day", later in 1966. After the release of their debut album, Red Rubber Ball, they recorded a second album, Neon, in late 1966, and a movie soundtrack, The Minx, in 1967. They followed that with various singles and then disbanded in late 1967.
Both Dawes and Danneman became professional jingle writers after The Cyrkle disbanded. Dawes later wrote the famous "plop plop fizz fizz" jingle for Alka-Seltzer. Danneman wrote jingles for Continental Airlines and Swanson Foods. He penned the original 7Up Uncola song. Dawes produced two albums for the band Foghat, Rock & Roll (1973) and Energized (1974), also co-writing the song "Wild Cherry" on the latter. Marty Fried left the music business to attend law school and graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1972, and now works as a bankruptcy attorney in suburban Detroit. Earle Pickens is a surgeon in Gainesville, Florida.
Reissue single
Compact disc re-issues
Members
Songs
Red Rubber BallThe Graduate: Music from the Broadway Comedy · 2002
Turn-Down Day1966
I Wish You Could Be HereNeon · 1967