Saturday, September 24, 2011

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Vogues

Artist:The Vogues
Song:Five O'Clock World
Album:Greatest Hits





The vocal group The Vogues had a pretty good run in the 60s. Their earlier songs like Five O'Clock World are better but the group was hampered by being on a small label and also did well when they moved to a major label. They are from the Pittsburgh suburb of Turtle Creek, PA. and were known as The Val-Airs in high school. The members are Bill Burkette, Don Miller, Hugh Geyer and Chuck Blasko. They recorded one single as The Val-Airs which their manager sold to Coral Records. They changed their name to The Vogues after a local club. The Val-Airs name was a little dated. Then they signed with a local label Co & Ce Records owned by Herb Cohen and Nick Cenci. Cenci produced The Vogues recordings. Their first single was a cover of Petula Clark's You're The One and it reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Five O'Clock World was the second single and it also reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Five O'Clock World was written by veteran Nashville producer Allen Reynolds. He is best known for producing Garth Brooks. He produced the backing track for Five O'Clock World in Nashville and the vocals were recorded in Pittsburgh. Reynolds also produced Hal Ketchum's cover of Five O'Clock World which was a top 20 country music hit in 1991. The Vogues started fading because they were on a small label. They signed with Reprise Records in 1968 and had top ten hits with Turn Around, Look At Me and My Special Angel. I don't think their Reprise recordings hold up as well as their early recordings. You can get all their hits from both labels on this Rhino budget comp. The Vogues faded and left Reprise in 1970. They also recorded for Bell and 20th Century. There are two versions of The Vogues touring the oldies circuit. Lead singer Bill Burkette and Hugh Geyer lead The Vogues and Chuck Blasko leads Chuck Blasko & The Vogues. I understand the first group owns the group name. Here are The Vogues performing Five O'Clock World on Shindig 1965.

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