The McCoys
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Biography:
This Indiana group was still in high school when they were tapped by the Strangeloves production team of Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer as a vehicle for their material in 1965. Their first effort, amp;"Hang on Sloopy," was a monster number one smash, built around a riff and chorus that ranks with amp;"Louie Louie" and amp;"La Bamba" as a garage band perennial with its compelling, elemental simplicity. Featuring the lead vocals and lead guitar of a young Rick Derringer, they went on to cut a lot of similar chunky, innocuous pop/rock over the next couple years with fair success. The amp;"Hang on Sloopy" sound-alike amp;"Fever" was their only other Top Ten entry, and the Ritchie Valens cover amp;"C'Mon Let's Go" their only other Top 40 hit.
The McCoys recorded very little original material during their early years at Bang Records; most of it was supplied by the Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer production team, much of which consisted of unexceptional derivations of the amp;"Hang on Sloopy" prototype. Notable exceptions were the folky amp;"Sorrow," covered for a Top Ten hit by the Merseys in Great Britain (and covered by David Bowie on Pin Ups a decade later), and the adventurous Middle Eastern-tinged garage psychedelia of amp;"Don't Worry Mother," their best cut besides amp;"Hang on Sloopy." The McCoys proved unusually durable after their career as a teen pop band; in the late '60s, they broke from their Bang producers to record psychedelic and progressive rock for Mercury. Most of the group joined Johnny Winter's backup band in the early '70s, and in 1973 Rick Derringer joined the Edgar Winter group as lead guitarist and vocalist, after which he had a successful hard rock solo career. Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
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Group Members: Robert Peterson Ronnie Brandon Dennis Kelly Randy Jo Hobbs Bobby Peterson More >> Similar Artists: Merseys The Strangeloves More >> |
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