Sunday, November 16, 2008

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Ohio Express

Artist:Ohio Express
Song:Yummy, Yummy, Yummy
Album:Golden Classics




I'm sure many of you fondly remember this 1968 top ten hit. But who were the Ohio Express? Remember the 1910 Fruitgum Co.? Those two groups had a lot in common. Both were the creation of producers Jerry Kasenetz & Jeff Katz AKA Super K Productions. They met while attending the University Of Arizona and started out managing bands in New York City. They produced some singles for Cameo-Parkway in 1965 and then moved to Laurie Records and produced the 1967 top ten hit Little Bit O' Soul by Music Explosion. Former Cameo-Parkway exec Neil Bogart was starting Buddah Records and they joined the label. The Ohio Express came out of a group called The Rare Breed. They had released a single called Beg, Borrow & Steal in 1966. They had a dispute with Kasenetz-Katz and Buddah rereleased the song under the Ohio Express name and it was a top 40 hit. They recruited a group from Mansfield, OH called Sir Timothy & The Royals and renamed them Ohio Express and sent them out on tour. But the Ohio Express albums were actually recorded by studio musicians. The lead singer and songwriter of Yummy, Yummy, Yummy was Joey Levine. He was also lead singer of 1910 Fruitgum Co. But he never toured with the band. That's how Super K Productions worked. They coined the term "bubblegum music" and used the same studio musicians on all their records. Joey Levine left Super K over money and started a jingle production company. He still does that today. Ohio Express attempted to continue and so did Super K but neither had much success after Levine left. This comp on Collectables is definitive but Yummy, Yummy, Yummy is one of those songs you might want to get on a various artists comp. Yes, Ohio Express was a studio creation but here's a clip of them lip syncing Yummy, Yummy, Yummy.

No comments:

Post a Comment