October 22, 2016 Oh My!

Dawn, Candida, Bell 6052, 1970

It’s pretty amazing that one of the most successful recording acts of the 1970s began this way.  Technically they began with the title track to this record, a #3 hit in the fall of 1970, but that success spawned this album.  It was very common at the time for producers to come up with a hot record, and then hire an anonymous singer or “group” to be the “artist” who released it.  Tony Orlando was a failed teen idol still signed to Columbia when, of all people, The Tokens approached him with the idea to record Candida.  They were looking for a Latin(o) style male singer to add a new ethnicity to a pop record.  No one  had any idea it would be so successfu

So much so that they used the same basic lay out for both side of the album cover!  I get why there’s no picture of the group, mainly because there was no group, but sheesh, couldn’t they have come up with a different stock photo?

The success of this album and the follow up single, Knock Three Times, combined with the lack of anyone claiming to actually be Dawn, led to several Faux Dawn groups making “personal appearances” around the country.  That essentially forced the producers to get Tony Orlando out of his CBS contract and hire two background singers to become the group.  The rest was Oak Tree history and millions of records sold.  But this was, ahem, their Dawn.

Today’s Summary:
Cost $2, $696 Remaining