The Murmaids
Encyclopedia
The Murmaids were a one-hit wonder
all-female
vocal trio composed of sisters Carol and Terry Fischer; and Sally Gordon from Los Angeles, California
who, in January 1964 reached #3 with "Popsicles and Icicles".
. Carl Fischer was also musical director and arranger for Laine for twelve years. Their mother, Terry Sr., sang with the big bands of the day, ultimately becoming the first girl singer with the Stan Kenton
Orchestra. Their grandmother and her three sisters played the vaudeville
circuit as the Locus Sisters.
Carol and Terry Fischer and Sally Gordon made their first recordings singing on demos produced by Mike Post
. A schoolfriend of Terry Fischer's, Post would occasionally have the Fischer sisters and Sally Gordon provide back-up vocals on sessions at Gold Star Studios
; it was there Kim Fowley
- then in-house record producer
at Chattahoochee Records - heard the trio and offered to record them on their own single.
, the future founder and front man of the band Bread
), and four other tracks - "Blue Dress", "Bunny Stomp", "Comedy and Tragedy", and "Huntington Flats" - each of which served as B-side for one of "Popsicles and Icicles"' pressings. According to lead vocalist Terry Fischer the Murmaids completed the tracks for an album release "a couple of weeks after we recorded the single." The vocal arrangements for the Murmaids sessions were by Skip Battin
.
"Popsicles and Icicles" began receiving airplay in Los Angeles in October 1963, breaking nationally in November to reached its #3 peak in Billboard
and Cash Box on their charts dated 11 January 1964. The Record World
chart ranked "Popsicles and Icicles" at #1 for the week of 18 January; as Record World's next #1 was "I Want to Hold Your Hand
" by the Beatles
, "Popsicles and Icicles" is sometimes cited as the last #1 of the pre-British Invasion
rock and roll
genre.
In the UK "Popsicles and Icicles" was released on Stateside Records
- with "Comedy and Tragedy" as the B-side. The tune did not chart, however, possibly due to the Brits' unfamiliarity with the term Popsicle
s, which in Britain are called "ice lollies".
Terry Fischer would recall that from the time the Murmaids met Kim Fowley "within...three months we had recorded the single, recorded an album and...had risen to #3...the downside is it lasted about 6 months and then it was finished."
"When ["Popsicles and Icicles"] was a hit, we had calls from every major record company and mother said "No, [Chattahoochee Records owner Ruth Conti] took a chance on us and we're gonna stick with her."
(The Murmaids' mothers acted as the group's managers; Carl Fischer was deceased.) "I guess we did about two television shows and a local concert here [in LA]. And that's all we did. At that time, we got a statement from the record company charging us an exorbitant amount of money against royalties...Everyone else got paid. Kim Fowley got paid. The musicians got paid. We were paid nothing.
There was an album. Terry: "A couple of weeks after we recorded the single, we went in and recorded an album which we never heard until about five years ago. We never heard it at that time and that was over forty years ago." In fact Chattahoochee released two further singles off The Murmaids album: "Heartbreak Ahead" and "Wild and Wonderful" and subsequently used the Murmaids name for at least two singles which did not feature any of the three "Popsicles and Icicles" singers. The vocalists on these latterday Murmaids singles have been identified as Cathy Brasher - a solo act on the Chattahoochee roster - and Yvonne Young.
Kim Fowley has said the Murmaids joined with Jackie DeShannon
to form the Chattahoochee act the Lady-Bugs, whose cover of "How Do You Do It", the Gerry and the Pacemakers'63 UK #1, lost out to the US re-release of the original in the summer of 1964.
However, Terry Fischer does not mention any involvement of any of the original Murmaids in that recording.
In 1968 Liberty Records
used the Murmaids name for the release of a single version of the Traffic
song "Paper Sun
". That was the last Murmaids single release.
In 1969 Terry Fischer recorded as a member of The Carnival whose self-titled album on Liberty was produced by Bones Howe
; the Carnival also featured Janis Hansen
and Jose Suares both former members of Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66
. Subsequently Terry Fischer had a prolific career as a background vocalist with television appearances on Kraft Music Hall
, The Merv Griffin Show
, the Jerry Lewis Telethon
and The Tonight Show
starring Johnny Carson
, and live work with Steve Lawrence
and Eydie Gormé
, Don Rickles
, Sonny and Cher and Tina Turner
. Terry Fischer's career highlight came in 1977: while working as a percussionist and vocalist supporting Fabian
in Lake Tahoe
she was spotted by sax player Sam Butera
and invited to sing with Sam Butera and the Witnesses on their gig opening Frank Sinatra
's Ol' Blue Eyes is Back Tour.
Carol Fischer married John Morell, a prolific session guitarist. The couple have two sons Justin and Christopher, both musicians.
In 1995, Collectables Records issued a Golden Classics remastered CD of "Popsicles and Icicles" featuring the original trio.
In 1998, the Fischer sisters reformed the Murmaids with a third singer, Cynthia Perry (replaced by Petra Rowell, replaced herself by Suzi Robertson), debuting the new act at a 'Legends of Rock 'n Roll' show in Los Angeles in October of that year. They subsequently released a CD called The Murmaids Splash Back.
The Fischers have recently discovered 42 unpublished songs by their father, and are currently at work recording them for an album tentatively titled, Songs Our Father Wrote.
One-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...
all-female
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
vocal trio composed of sisters Carol and Terry Fischer; and Sally Gordon from Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
who, in January 1964 reached #3 with "Popsicles and Icicles".
Background
The Fischer sisters were 15 and 17 years old in 1963; Sally Gordon, also 17, was a friend and neighbor. The Fischers' father was Carl Fischer, composer of standards such as Billie Holliday's "You've Changed" and "We'll Be Together Again," sung by Frankie LaineFrankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
. Carl Fischer was also musical director and arranger for Laine for twelve years. Their mother, Terry Sr., sang with the big bands of the day, ultimately becoming the first girl singer with the Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
Orchestra. Their grandmother and her three sisters played the vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
circuit as the Locus Sisters.
Carol and Terry Fischer and Sally Gordon made their first recordings singing on demos produced by Mike Post
Mike Post
Mike Post is an American multi-Grammy and Emmy Award winning composer best known for scoring some of the most popular TV theme songs in the United States, for primetime series such as Law & Order, NYPD Blue, The Rockford Files, LA Law, Quantum Leap, Magnum, P.I., Hill Street Blues, among numerous...
. A schoolfriend of Terry Fischer's, Post would occasionally have the Fischer sisters and Sally Gordon provide back-up vocals on sessions at Gold Star Studios
Gold Star Studios
Gold Star Studios was a major independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, United States. For more than thirty years, from 1950 to 1984, Gold Star was one of the most influential and successful commercial recording studios in the world....
; it was there Kim Fowley
Kim Fowley
Kim Vincent Fowley is an American record producer, impresario, songwriter, musician, film maker, and radio actor. He is best known for his role behind a string of novelty and cult rock pop singles in the 1960s, and for managing The Runaways in the 1970s...
- then in-house record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
at Chattahoochee Records - heard the trio and offered to record them on their own single.
"Popsicles and Icicles"
Billed as the Murmaids, the Fischer sisters and Sally Gordon recorded five tracks for Fowley: "Popsicles and Icicles" (written by David GatesDavid Gates
David Gates is an American singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the group Bread, which reached the tops of the musical charts in Europe and North America on several occasions in the 1970s. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame...
, the future founder and front man of the band Bread
Bread (band)
Bread was a rock band from Los Angeles, California. They placed 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1970 and 1977 and were a prime example of what later was labeled soft rock....
), and four other tracks - "Blue Dress", "Bunny Stomp", "Comedy and Tragedy", and "Huntington Flats" - each of which served as B-side for one of "Popsicles and Icicles"' pressings. According to lead vocalist Terry Fischer the Murmaids completed the tracks for an album release "a couple of weeks after we recorded the single." The vocal arrangements for the Murmaids sessions were by Skip Battin
Skip Battin
Clyde "Skip" Battin was an American singer–songwriter, performer and recording artist. He is best remembered as a member of The Byrds, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and the Flying Burrito Brothers...
.
"Popsicles and Icicles" began receiving airplay in Los Angeles in October 1963, breaking nationally in November to reached its #3 peak in Billboard
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and Cash Box on their charts dated 11 January 1964. The Record World
Record World
Record World magazine was one of the three main music industry trade publications in the United States, along with Billboard and Cash Box magazines. It was founded in 1946 under the name Music Vendor, but since 1964 changed it to Record World, under the ownership of Sid Parnes and Bob Austin, both...
chart ranked "Popsicles and Icicles" at #1 for the week of 18 January; as Record World's next #1 was "I Want to Hold Your Hand
I Want to Hold Your Hand
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment....
" by the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, "Popsicles and Icicles" is sometimes cited as the last #1 of the pre-British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
genre.
In the UK "Popsicles and Icicles" was released on Stateside Records
Stateside Records
Stateside Records is a British record label which initially released licenced American recordings and is now a reissue label....
- with "Comedy and Tragedy" as the B-side. The tune did not chart, however, possibly due to the Brits' unfamiliarity with the term Popsicle
Popsicle
Popsicle is the most popular brand of ice pop in the United States and Canada. The first ice pop was created by accident in 1905 when 11-year-old Frank Epperson left a cup of soda on his porch in cold weather overnight. The next morning he went to go get the soda and it was frozen, so he put two...
s, which in Britain are called "ice lollies".
Aftermath
We never got an accounting.... Now, we're meeting people all over the country who say "Oh my God! I love that song." We're just amazed at how many people knew that song. We had no idea.
– Terry Fischer
Terry Fischer would recall that from the time the Murmaids met Kim Fowley "within...three months we had recorded the single, recorded an album and...had risen to #3...the downside is it lasted about 6 months and then it was finished."
"When ["Popsicles and Icicles"] was a hit, we had calls from every major record company and mother said "No, [Chattahoochee Records owner Ruth Conti] took a chance on us and we're gonna stick with her."
(The Murmaids' mothers acted as the group's managers; Carl Fischer was deceased.) "I guess we did about two television shows and a local concert here [in LA]. And that's all we did. At that time, we got a statement from the record company charging us an exorbitant amount of money against royalties...Everyone else got paid. Kim Fowley got paid. The musicians got paid. We were paid nothing.
There was an album. Terry: "A couple of weeks after we recorded the single, we went in and recorded an album which we never heard until about five years ago. We never heard it at that time and that was over forty years ago." In fact Chattahoochee released two further singles off The Murmaids album: "Heartbreak Ahead" and "Wild and Wonderful" and subsequently used the Murmaids name for at least two singles which did not feature any of the three "Popsicles and Icicles" singers. The vocalists on these latterday Murmaids singles have been identified as Cathy Brasher - a solo act on the Chattahoochee roster - and Yvonne Young.
Kim Fowley has said the Murmaids joined with Jackie DeShannon
Jackie DeShannon
Jackie DeShannon is an American singer-songwriter with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards. She was one of the first female singer-songwriters of the rock 'n' roll period.- Life and early career :...
to form the Chattahoochee act the Lady-Bugs, whose cover of "How Do You Do It", the Gerry and the Pacemakers'63 UK #1, lost out to the US re-release of the original in the summer of 1964.
However, Terry Fischer does not mention any involvement of any of the original Murmaids in that recording.
In 1968 Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
used the Murmaids name for the release of a single version of the Traffic
Traffic (band)
Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
song "Paper Sun
Paper Sun
"Paper Sun" was the British band Traffic's debut single, released in May 1967. It was a number 5 hit in the United Kingdom. It is famous for its time-typical sitar riff, played by Dave Mason, and its soulful vocals by composer Steve Winwood....
". That was the last Murmaids single release.
Later history of Carol and Terry Fischer and Sally Gordon
After "Popsicles and Icicles" completed its chart run, Terry Fischer and Sally Gordon went off to college - Gordon going to Oregon - while Carol Fischer continued with high school.In 1969 Terry Fischer recorded as a member of The Carnival whose self-titled album on Liberty was produced by Bones Howe
Bones Howe
Dayton Burr "Bones" Howe is a Grammy-award-winning record producer and recording engineer associated with 1960s and 1970s hits, mostly of the sunshine pop genre, including most of the hits of The 5th Dimension and The Association, as well as music supervision of several films...
; the Carnival also featured Janis Hansen
Janis Hansen (singer)
Janis S. Hansen is an American singer, producer and writer.-Early career:Hansen joined Lani Hall as one of the singers in the group Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66...
and Jose Suares both former members of Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66
Sergio Mendes
Sérgio Santos Mendes is a Brazilian musician. He has released over thirty-five albums, and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk....
. Subsequently Terry Fischer had a prolific career as a background vocalist with television appearances on Kraft Music Hall
Kraft Music Hall
The Kraft Music Hall was a popular variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired on NBC radio and television from 1933 to 1971....
, The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...
, the Jerry Lewis Telethon
Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon
The MDA Labor Day Telethon is an annual telethon in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association . The first MDA telethon was during the Thanksgiving Day weekend of 1952 and titled Party for MDA. It has been held annually since 1966...
and The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
starring Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
, and live work with Steve Lawrence
Steve Lawrence
Steve Lawrence is an American singer and actor, perhaps best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as "Steve and Eydie"...
and Eydie Gormé
Eydie Gormé
Eydie Gormé is an American singer, specializing, with her husband, Steve Lawrence, in traditional pop music, in the form of ballads and breezy swing. She has earned numerous awards, including the Grammy and the Emmy...
, Don Rickles
Don Rickles
Donald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....
, Sonny and Cher and Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
. Terry Fischer's career highlight came in 1977: while working as a percussionist and vocalist supporting Fabian
Fabian
-People:*Fabian Månsson, , Swedish socialist*Fabian , , 1950s American teen idol and singer*Fabian Bachrach, an American photographer*Fabian Cancellara, , Swiss professional road cyclist...
in Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
she was spotted by sax player Sam Butera
Sam Butera
Sam Butera was a tenor saxophone player best noted for his collaborations with Louis Prima and Keely Smith. Butera is frequently regarded as a crossover artist who performed with equal ease in both R & B and the post-big band pop style of jazz that permeated the early Vegas nightclub...
and invited to sing with Sam Butera and the Witnesses on their gig opening Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
's Ol' Blue Eyes is Back Tour.
Carol Fischer married John Morell, a prolific session guitarist. The couple have two sons Justin and Christopher, both musicians.
In 1995, Collectables Records issued a Golden Classics remastered CD of "Popsicles and Icicles" featuring the original trio.
In 1998, the Fischer sisters reformed the Murmaids with a third singer, Cynthia Perry (replaced by Petra Rowell, replaced herself by Suzi Robertson), debuting the new act at a 'Legends of Rock 'n Roll' show in Los Angeles in October of that year. They subsequently released a CD called The Murmaids Splash Back.
The Fischers have recently discovered 42 unpublished songs by their father, and are currently at work recording them for an album tentatively titled, Songs Our Father Wrote.
Singles
- 1963 "Popsicles and Icicles" (backed with one of four different tracks: "Bunny Stomp", "Huntington Flats", "Comedy and Tragedy", "Blue Dress"; all Chattahoochee 628)
- 1964 "Heartbreak Ahead" / "He's Good To Me" - Chattahoochee 636
- 1964 "Wild And Wonderful" / "Bull Talk" - Chattahoochee 641
- 1965 "Stuffed Animals" / "Little White Lies" - Chattahoochee 668 (also released as The Half-Sisters)
- 1966 "Go Away" / "Little Boys" - Chattahoochee 711
- 1968 "Paper Sun" / "Song Through Perception" - Liberty 56078
Albums
- 1980 LP The Murmaids Resurface - Chattahoochee CHLP 628
- 1995 CD Popsicles and Icicles - Collectables
- 2002 CD Murmaids Splash Back! - The Orchard
Compilation tracks
- "Popsicles, Icicles" on CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
1964 Classic Rock: The Beat Goes On - Time-Life