Rant #2,084: Let the Sunshine In

Yesterday was a better day than I thought it was going to be.

Valentine's Day went fine, pretty much, from top to bottom, from the beginning to the end.

One problem my family and I have, which I have not gone into great detail here about, should be taken care of by early next month.

No, it is not my job situation, which still is absolutely horrid, at best, but another problem that we were presented with should be over and done with in about two weeks.

My family gave out our Valentine's Day cards to each other, and my wife got a surprise. She opened her card and it was one of those electronic ones, and it blurted out, "I Love You!" so loudly that she nearly jumped out of her shoes.

We all had a good laugh--which is what we need right now--and that was that.

Which somehow leads me to the 5th Dimension ... you know, the vocal group that was super popular in the late 1960s to about the mid 1970s, and who are still around in one form or another, led by one of their original lead singers, Florence LaRue.

In times of distress, I kind of gravitate toward things that make me comfortable, so during this current time of distress, I went for the comfort music, and if there was ever comfort music, it is the canon of the 5th Dimension, a five-member act that literally burst on the scene, seemingly out of nowhere, in 1967 with "Go Where You Wanna Go," the Mamas and Papas soundalike that hit No. 16 on the charts literally 51 years ago.

It was the first of 30 Hot 100 hits they would have through 1976, and LaRue, along with eventual marrieds Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo, and Ron Townson and Lamont McLemore, were among the most popular vocal groups of their time, seemingly an overnight sensation.

But like most overnight sensations, they really weren't, and had toiled as a Los Angeles-based act known as the Versatiles for a few years before that group split into two--the 5th Dimension and what became the Friends of Distinction, an act that had their own cadre of big hits during this period.

Using a formula that had been cemented by the Monkees and later used by Three Dog Night, the 5th Dimension mined the talents of the top songwriters of the day--including Jimmy Webb, Laura Nyro and Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson--for one great song after another, eventually leading to two No. 1 hits, "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In/The Flesh Failures" and "Wedding Bell Blues," both in 1969, and a virtual stockload of other hits, including "One Less Bell to Answer" (No. 2 in 1970), "Stoned Soul Picnic" (No. 3 in 1968), and "Up-Up and Away" (No. 7 in 1967).

Not only were their vocals cool and crisp, but their visuals were arresting in the most positive way.

The five-some was certainly led by the two ladies, two of the most beautiful women on the music scene at that time. Both LaRue and McCoo had been Miss Bronze winners--sort of a precursor for the Miss Black America contest before the Miss America contest was integrated--and both had talent to back up their looks.

Not only that, but with some of the most colorful and creative costuming ever seen at the time--kind of tapping into the psychedelic craze, mixed with Afro-centric touches--the group was visually stunning, and were perfect for the new emphasis on color on TV.

They found sort of a permanent home on the TV variety shows of that time, and became ubiquitous staples on the boob tube, appearing on everything from "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "Hollywood Palace," and nary a week seemed to go by where they weren't on a TV variety show, pushing their latest record.

They even had their own TV specials, and during their seven-year period of hits, they might have been the most televised act in pop music.

McCoo and Davis married in 1969, and later went on to a career separate from their 5th Dimension mates, having a few hits on their own, including "You Don't Have To Be a Star (To Be In My Show)" (No. 1 in 1976) and "Your Love" (No. 15 in 1977), but the two have always been inextricably linked with the 5th Dimension.

The hits ran dry around the time that McCoo and Davis pursued their career away from the 5th Dimension, and the act pretty much left the hits behind them in 1976, putting the original "Love Hangover" on the charts in 1976 (No. 80), failing to compete with the Diana Ross version.

For the past 40 years, the 5th Dimension have performed all over the world with different players, except for LaRue, the one constant. Davis and McCoo have also forged their own careers away from the group, and McCoo was the host of TV's "Solid Gold" hit showcase for a few seasons. McLemore and Townson have passed on to the great beyond, but on oldies radio, the 5th Dimension continue to be part of any playlist.

Yes, they were knocked during their hit period for sounding too "white," and they didn't write most of their material, leaving that part to the professional songwriters, and no, they didn't play any musical instruments as part of their act, but the 5th Dimension circumvented all of that by being visually and vocally incredible in their own special way.

Can anyone who was around during their hit-making period claim that they didn't like them?

I have never heard anyone claim that, and more than 50 years after the fact, I don't think that I will ever hear anyone utter that opinion.

Their music was radio ready, their visuals stunning, and what else could you ask for?

Comfort music for the ears, for sure.

Speak to you again tomorrow.