Active until 1975 | Years active 1967 to 1975 Genre Psychedelic pop | |
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Labels Warner Bros.TRXMCA RecordsLondon RecordsSundazedRhino Records Past members Kenneth A. ButtreyJerry CarriganChip YoungDon GantDennis GoodRufus LongPierre MenardNorbert PutnamTupper SaussyDon SheffieldChuck Wyatt Origin United States of America (1967) Albums The Moth Confesses, Brilliant Colors: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings, The Neon Philharmonic Similar Don Gant, The Peppermint Rainbow, The J's with Jamie, Lana Cantrell, Harpers Bizarre | ||
The Neon Philharmonic (formed 1967) was an American psychedelic pop band led by songwriter and conductor Tupper Saussy and singer Don Gant. They released their only two albums (The Moth Confesses and the eponymous The Neon Philharmonic) in 1969, and they scored a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Morning Girl", which featured the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, when it hit the Top 40 in May of that year and rose to number 17 on Billboard and number 15 on the Cash Box chart. The band hit the charts again with "Heighdy-Ho Princess" in 1970. The group was produced by Saussy, Gant, and Bob McCluskey, and engineered by Ronald Gant, Don's brother. The group disbanded in 1975 after releasing numerous non-album singles. Although the first album stated Borges Forever!, the group's concertmaster, is really Pierre Menard, and it is not a reference to the Jorge Luis Borges story Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote,, Saussy was not conscious of the connection.
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The bulk of the group's output was released by Warner Bros./Seven Arts Records. In 1972, they moved to TRX and produced another single, "Annie Poor" / "Love Will Find a Way", after which the group disbanded. The Neon Philharmonic name was sold to producer David Kastle, who put out additional singles released by MCA Records and London Records. At least one Saussy song, "Making Out the Best I Can", was recorded by this group and engineered by Ronald Gant. Along with its flipside recording, "So Glad You're a Woman", written by Ray Williams and Ron Demmans (MCA-40158 (MC 4810), 1975), the instrumentation was limited to synthesizers, guitar and drums. These later singles have no other connection to the original group.
Shaun Cassidy, David's younger brother, did a cover version of "Morning Girl, Later" (simply titled "Morning Girl") in 1976, which did not chart in the U.S., but did well in the Low Countries and Germany. The song was also covered by The Lettermen.
The group is not to be confused with the German group The Neon Philharmonic Orchestra, which arranged many classical pieces in medleys in a similar style in the 1980s and 90s and covered Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven".
The neon philharmonic morning girl 1969 hq
Albums
Warner Bros.
Three additional songs, "Better Times," "Jody," and "Letters Crossing" were recorded around the fall of 1970 and remained unreleased until the 2003 collection.
TRX
MCA
London
Songs
Morning GirlThe Moth Confesses · 1969
Morning Girl - LaterThe Moth Confesses · 1969
Brilliant ColorsThe Moth Confesses · 1969