Jay & the Techniques

Last updated

Jay & the Techniques
Jay & the Techniques soul band 1968.jpg
Background information
OriginAllentown, Pennsylvania
Genres Pop, Soul
Years activemid-1960s
Labels Smash, Mercury
Past membersJay Proctor
George "Lucky" Lloyd
Dante Dancho
Chuck Crowl
Karl Landis (Lippowitsch)
Ronnie Goosley
Jon Walsh

Jay & the Techniques was an American pop group formed in Allentown, Pennsylvania during the mid-1960s. Their song "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie", released in 1967 on the Smash label, reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. [1]

Contents

Career

The band was best known for their debut single, "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie", which was released in 1967 and reached No. 6 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The track was arranged by Joe Renzetti, and written by Maurice Irby, Jr. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. [2] Although this song served as the band's primary hit, the group also captured various chart positions with "Keep the Ball Rollin'" (No. 14) and "Strawberry Shortcake". [3] "Keep the Ball Rollin'" also notched up sales in excess of a million copies, to secure a second gold disc for this group. [2] However, its position on the 1960s pop charts declined after "Baby Make Your Own Sweet Music" was released. They made their final effort with the R&B hit, "Number Onederful", but after that, the group disbanded. [3]

"Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie" and "Baby Make Your Own Sweet Music" (the latter a cover of a single first released in 1967 by Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon) were both released in the UK by Mercury Records and, whilst neither song charted in the UK, in the early 1970s both songs became dance favourites of the British Northern soul music scene.

In 1996, Mercury Records released a compilation album of the band's hits entitled The Best of Jay & The Techniques.

Original band members

Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson and Melba Moore often served as backing vocalists.[ citation needed ]

The band was multiracial, Proctor and George (Lucky) Lloyd being the only African-Americans in the group.

Discography

Albums

YearAlbum Billboard 200 Record Label
1968Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie129 Smash Records
Love, Lost & Found
1995The Best of Jay and the Techniques Mercury Records
2009Baby Make Your Own Sweet Music: The Very Best of Jay & the Techniques RPM Records

Singles

YearTitlePeak chart positionsRecord Label B-side Album
US US
R&B
US
Dance
AU CAN CAN
R&B
1967"Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie"6830616 Smash Records "Stronger Than Dirt"Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie
"Keep the Ball Rollin'"1471"Here We Go Again"
1968"Strawberry Shortcake"3927"Still (In Love With You)"Love, Lost & Found
"Baby Make Your Own Sweet Music"6453"Help Yourself to All My Lovin'"
"The Singles Game"116"Baby How Easy Your Heart Forgets Me"
"Hey Diddle Diddle""If I Should Lose You"Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie
1969"Are You Ready for This""Change Your Mind" (No. 107 BB)
"Dancin' Mood""If I Should Lose You"
1972"Robot Man" Gordy Records "I'll Be Here"
1974"I Feel Love Coming On"6Silver Blue Records"This World of Mine"
1976"Number Onederful"9411Event Records"Don't Ask Me to Forget"

See also

References

  1. Biography by Ron Wynn, AllMusic
  2. 1 2 Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p.  224. ISBN   0-214-20512-6.
  3. 1 2 3 Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 252/3. ISBN   0-7535-0149-X.