Where the Action Is or (WTAI) was a music-based television variety show

Variety show

A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 from 1965–67. It was carried by the ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 network and aired each weekday afternoon. Created by Dick Clark

Dick Clark (entertainer)

Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark is an American businessman; game-show host; and radio and television personality. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of Dick Clark Productions, which he has sold part of in recent years...

 as a spin-off of American Bandstand

American Bandstand

American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...

, Where the Action Is premiered on June 27, 1965.

The show's theme song, "Action", became a hit single for Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon

Freddy Cannon

Frederick Anthony Picariello Jr. , known as Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans", and "Palisades Park".-Biography:...

, peaking on the charts (#13) in September 1965. Most of the telecasts, all of which were produced in black-and-white, were taped at various locales in Southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

. The theme song was written by Steve Venet and Tommy Boyce who would later write songs for The Monkees

The Monkees

The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...

.

The program had its own stable of performers, most notably Paul Revere & the Raiders

Paul Revere & the Raiders

Paul Revere & the Raiders is an American rock band that saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s with hits such as "Kicks" , "Hungry" , "Him Or Me - What's It Gonna Be?" and the 1971 No...

, who served as the de facto house band. When the group departed the show in 1966, they were replaced by The Robbs

The Robbs

The Robbs were an American 1960s pop/rock band from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. They are best known for being the house band on Dick Clark's mid-1960s show Where The Action Is...

. Other regular performers on Action included the dance troupe Pete Manifee and the Action Kids. Individual episodes featured a wide range of guest performers, as detailed below.

The weekday program was cancelled on March 31, 1967, with the network giving its local affiliates the time slot. However, members of the program's mainstay band Paul Revere and the Raiders (with lead vocalist Mark Lindsay) hosted very similar follow-up shows; both Revere and Lindsay hosted Happening '68, a Saturday afternoon follow-up to American Bandstand, and a weekday version of the same show, It's Happening, from 1968 to 1969. Both shows were produced by Dick Clark's production company for ABC.

Regulars

• Dick Clark
• Paul Revere and The Raiders (1965–1966)
• The Robbs
  The Robbs
  The Robbs were an American 1960s pop/rock band from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. They are best known for being the house band on Dick Clark's mid-1960s show Where The Action Is...
  
   (1966–1967)
• Keith Allison
• Steve Alaimo
  Steve Alaimo
  Steve Alaimo was an American teen idol pop singer in the early 1960s who later became record producer and label owner, but he is perhaps best known for hosting and co-producing Dick Clark's Where the Action Is in the late 1960s...
  
  
• Tina Mason
• Linda Scott
  Linda Scott
  Linda Scott is a former pop singer who was active in the early to mid 1960s. Her biggest hit was the 1961 million-selling single, "I've Told Every Little Star"...
  
  
• Pete Manifee & The Action Kids

Guest performers

• The Strawberry Alarm Clock
  The Strawberry Alarm Clock
  The Strawberry Alarm Clock is a PPI award winning breakfast programme on FM104, an Independent Local Radio station in Dublin. It broadcasts weekday mornings from 6-10am, with "Best Of The Strawberry Alarm Clock" Saturdays from 9am-12pm...
  
  
• The Music Machine
  The Music Machine
  The Music Machine was an American garage rock and psychedelic band from the late 1960s, headed by singer-songwriter Sean Bonniwell and based in Los Angeles. The band sound was often defined by fuzzy guitars and a Farfisa organ...
  
  
• Johnny Rivers
  Johnny Rivers
  Johnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...
  
  
• The Supremes
  The Supremes
  The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
  
  
• Jan & Dean
• Frankie Valli
  Frankie Valli
  Frankie Valli is an American musician, most famous as frontman of The Four Seasons. He is well-known for his unusually powerful falsetto singing voice...
  
   & The Four Seasons
  The Four Seasons (group)
  The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before The Beatles...
  
  
• Chad & Jeremy
• Paul Revere & The Raiders
  Paul Revere & the Raiders
  Paul Revere & the Raiders is an American rock band that saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s with hits such as "Kicks" , "Hungry" , "Him Or Me - What's It Gonna Be?" and the 1971 No...
  
  
• Bobby Freeman
  Bobby Freeman
  Bobby Freeman is an African-American soul singer, songwriter, and record producer who recorded for the Autumn Records label in San Francisco, California. He is best known for his 1958 hit "Do You Want To Dance?" and his 1964 Top Ten hit "C'mon and Swim"...
  
  
• Dick and Dee Dee
• Bobby Rydell
  Bobby Rydell
  Bobby Rydell is an American professional singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a so-called "teen idol"...
  
  
• Frankie Avalon
  Frankie Avalon
  Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
  
  
• Dee Dee Sharp
  Dee Dee Sharp
  Dee Dee Sharp is an American R&B singer, who began her career recording as a backing vocalist in 1961.-Career:...
  
  
• The Zombies
  The Zombies
  The Zombies are an English rock band, formed in 1961 in St Albans and led by Rod Argent, on piano and keyboards, and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group scored a UK and US hit in 1964 with "She's Not There"...
  
  
• Jimmy Clanton
  Jimmy Clanton
  Jimmy Clanton is an American singer who became known as the "swamp pop R&B teenage idol". His band recorded a hit song "Just A Dream" which Clanton had written in 1958 for the Ace Records label. It reached number four on the Billboard chart and sold a million copies...
  
  
• Steve Alaimo
  Steve Alaimo
  Steve Alaimo was an American teen idol pop singer in the early 1960s who later became record producer and label owner, but he is perhaps best known for hosting and co-producing Dick Clark's Where the Action Is in the late 1960s...
  
  
• Linda Scott
  Linda Scott
  Linda Scott is a former pop singer who was active in the early to mid 1960s. Her biggest hit was the 1961 million-selling single, "I've Told Every Little Star"...
  
  
• Jackie DeShannon
  Jackie DeShannon
  Jackie DeShannon is an American singer-songwriter with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards. She was one of the first female singer-songwriters of the rock 'n' roll period.- Life and early career :...
  
  
• Eddie Hodges
  Eddie Hodges
  Eddie Hodges is a United States former child actor and recording artist who left show business as an adult.-Early life and career:Hodges was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, U.S. Hodges traveled to New York City with his family in 1952...
  
  
• The Velvelettes
  The Velvelettes
  The Velvelettes was an American singing girl group, signed to Motown in the 1960s.-Early years and establishment:The group was founded in 1961 by Bertha Barbee McNeal and Mildred Gill Arbor, students at Western Michigan University. Mildred recruited her younger sister Carolyn , who was in 9th...
  
  
• The Shangri-Las
  The Shangri-Las
  The Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 they charted with often heartbreaking teen melodramas, and remain best known for "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember ".- Early career :...
  
  
• The Detergents
  The Detergents
  The Detergents were an American music group consisting of Ronnie Dante, Danny Jordan, and Tommy Wynn. The group's speciality was parody songs, as with their first and best-known hit record, "Leader of the Laundromat", written and produced by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss...
  
  
• James Brown
  James Brown
  James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
  
   & The Famous Flames
  The Famous Flames
  The Famous Flames was an R&B vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd that recorded and performed with James Brown during the early years of his career...
  
  
• Jody Miller
  Jody Miller
  Jody Brooks is an American country music singer. Born as Myrna Joy Miller, she was born in Phoenix, Arizona and raised in Oklahoma.-Career:...
  
  
• Tommy Roe
  Tommy Roe
  Tommy Roe is an American pop music singer-songwriter.Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" and "Dizzy" , critic Bill Dahl wrote that Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late 1960s, but Roe cut some pretty decent rockers along the way, especially early in his...
  
  
• Nino Tempo
  Nino Tempo
  Nino Tempo is an American musician, singer, and actor.A musical prodigy, Nino Tempo learned to play the clarinet and the tenor saxophone as a child. He was a talent show winner at four years of age and appeared on television with Benny Goodman at seven...
  
   and April Stevens
  April Stevens
  April Stevens is an American singer.She has recorded since she was 15 years old. Her most popular solo recording was her RCA Victor recording of "I'm in Love Again" . Accompanied by an orchestra arranged and conducted by Henri René, Stevens' recording peaked at No...
  
  
• The Byrds
  The Byrds
  The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
  
  
• Sonny & Cher
  Sonny & Cher
  Sonny & Cher were an American pop music duo, actors, singers and entertainers made up of husband-and-wife team Sonny and Cher Bono in the 1960s and 1970s. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector....
  
  
• Del Shannon
  Del Shannon
  Del Shannon was an American rock and roll singer-songwriter who had a No. 1 hit, "Runaway", in 1961.- Biography :...
  
  
• The Drifters
  The Drifters
  The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
  
  
• Brian Hyland
  Brian Hyland
  Brian Hyland is an American pop recording artist who was particularly successful during the early 1960s. He continued recording into the 1970s...
  
  
• Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
• Herman's Hermits
  Herman's Hermits
  Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
  
  
• Lenny Welch
  Lenny Welch
  Lenny Welch , is an American MOR/pop singer.He was born in New York City on May 31, 1938 . He was raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey. His biggest hit, a cover version of the big band standard "Since I Fell for You," reached number 4 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1963...
  
  
• Sir Douglas Quintet
  Sir Douglas Quintet
  Sir Douglas Quintet was a rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Despite their British sounding name, they came out of San Antonio, Texas. Their career was established when they began working with Texas record-producer Huey P. Meaux, after which the band relocated to the West Coast...
  
  
• The Crystals
  The Crystals
  The Crystals are an American vocal group based in New York, considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era of the first half of the 1960s. Their 1961–1964 chart hits, including "Uptown", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron " and "Then He Kissed Me", featured three successive female lead...
  
  
• The Newbeats
  The Newbeats
  The Newbeats were a popular music vocal trio, best known for their 1964 hit, "Bread and Butter", which was released on the Hickory Records label.-Members:The group's members were:*Larry Henley...
  
  
• Jackie Wilson
  Jackie Wilson
  Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
  
  
• Jr. Walker & the All Stars
  Jr. Walker & the All Stars
  Junior Walker & the All Stars were signed to the Motown label in the 1960s, and became one of the label's signature acts.-Biography:...
  
  
• The Kinks
  The Kinks
  The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
  
  
• Jimmy Velvet
  Jimmy Velvet
  Jimmy Velvet was an early American soft rock and roll vocalist, during the 1960s. His most popular singles were "It's Almost Tomorrow" and "We Belong Together".- History :...
  
  
• Freddy Cannon
  Freddy Cannon
  Frederick Anthony Picariello Jr. , known as Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans", and "Palisades Park".-Biography:...
  
  
• Aretha Franklin
  Aretha Franklin
  Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
  
  
• The Vibrations
  The Vibrations
  The Vibrations were an African-American soul vocal group from Los Angeles, California, active from the mid-1950s to 1976. Most notable among the group's hit singles were "My Girl Sloopy" and "Love in Them Thar Hills"...
  
  
• Cher
  Cher
  Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
  
  
• Joe Tex
  Joe Tex
  Joseph Arrington, Jr. , better known as "Joe Tex", was an American Southern soul singer-songwriter, most popular during the 1960s and 1970s...
  
  
• The Dixie Cups
  The Dixie Cups
  The Dixie Cups are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for their 1964 million selling disc, "Chapel of Love".-Career:...
  
  
• The Hondells
  The Hondells
  The Hondells were an American surf rock band who hit the Top 10 with the 1964 single "Little Honda"."Little Honda", written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love of The Beach Boys, was inspired by the popularity of Honda motor bikes in Southern California during the early 1960s. The band recorded the song...
  
  
• Major Lance
  Major Lance
  Major Lance was an American R&B singer. After a number of US hits in the 1960s, including "The Monkey Time" and "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um", he became an iconic figure in Britain in the 1970s among followers of Northern soul.-Life:Major Lance was born in Winterville, Mississippi...
  
  
• Rosey Grier
  Rosey Grier
  Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier is an American actor, singer, Christian minister, and former professional American football player. He was a notable college football player for Pennsylvania State University who earned a retrospective place in the National Collegiate Athletic Association 100th anniversary...
  
  
• Ray Peterson
  Ray Peterson
  Ray Peterson was an American pop music singer who was best remembered for singing "Tell Laura I Love Her" and "Corrine, Corrina" in the 1960s.-Career:...
  
  
• The Turtles
  The Turtles
  The Turtles are an American rock group led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The band became notable for several Top 40 hits beginning with its cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" in 1965...
  
  
• Paul Petersen
  Paul Petersen
  William Paul Petersen is an American movie actor, singer, novelist, and activist. Primarily known for his character-type roles in the 1960s and 1970s, as an adult Petersen established the organization A Minor Consideration to support child stars and other child laborers through legislation,...
  
  
• Gary U.S. Bonds
  Gary U.S. Bonds
  Gary U.S. Bonds is an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer. He is also a prolific songwriter.-Career:...
  
  
• The Impressions
  The Impressions (American band)
  The Impressions are an American music group from Chicago, originally formed in 1958. Their repertoire includes doo-wop, gospel, soul, and R&B....
  
  
• Duane Eddy
  Duane Eddy
  Duane Eddy is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young"...
  
  
• We Five
  We Five
  We Five was a 1960s folk rock musical group based in San Francisco, California. Their best-known hit was their 1965 remake of Ian and Sylvia's "You Were on My Mind", which reached #1 on the Cashbox chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart...
  
  
• Barbara Lewis
  Barbara Lewis
  Barbara Lewis , is an American singer and songwriter whose smooth style influenced rhythm and blues.-Career:Lewis was born in Salem, near Ann Arbor, Michigan...
  
  
• Bobby Goldsboro
  Bobby Goldsboro
  Bobby Goldsboro is an American country and pop singer-songwriter. He had a string of Pop and Country hits during the 1960s and 1970s, including his signature #1 classic "Honey," which sold well over one million copies in the United States.-Early life:Goldsboro was born in Marianna, Florida...
  
  
• Donovan
  Donovan
  Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
  
  
• The Lovin' Spoonful
  The Lovin' Spoonful
  The Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry," prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name...
  
  
• Danny Hutton
  Danny Hutton
  Daniel Anthony Hutton , is an Irish-American singer, best known as one of the three lead vocalists in the band, Three Dog Night. Hutton was the head of Hanna Barbera Records from 1965-1966...
  
  
• Ketty Lester
  Ketty Lester
  Ketty Lester is an American singer and actress, who is best known for her 1962 hit single, "Love Letters", which reached the Top 5 of the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom.-Life and career:...
  
  
• Ike
  Ike Turner
  Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
  
   & Tina Turner
  Tina Turner
  Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
  
  
• The Everly Brothers
  The Everly Brothers
  The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
  
  
• Jo Ann Campbell
  Jo Ann Campbell
  Jo Ann Campbell is an American pop singer.Campbell began attending music school at the age of four, and won many honors as a drum majorette at Fletcher High School...
  
  
• The McCoys
  The McCoys
  The McCoys were a rock group that started in Union City, Indiana, in 1962.-Career:The original members, all from Union City, were guitarist Richard Zehringer , his brother Randy on drums, and bassist Dennis Kelly. This first line-up was known as The Rick Z Combo, and later known as Rick and the...
  
  
• Vic Dana
  Vic Dana
  Vic Dana is an American dancer and singer.Discovered by Sammy Davis, Jr., Dana was an excellent dancer , and was encouraged by Davis to move to Los Angeles to further his career. With the decline of dancing as a form of entertainment Dana initiated a singing career. He is best known for his 1965...
  
  
• Billy Joe Royal
  Billy Joe Royal
  Billy Joe Royal is an American singer.-Biography:Born in Valdosta and raised in Marietta in 1942, Royal became a local star at Savannah, Georgia's Bamboo Ranch in the 1950s and 1960s...
  
  
• Neil Sedaka
  Neil Sedaka
  Neil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...
  
  
• Peter & Gordon
  Peter & Gordon
  Peter and Gordon were a British Invasion-era duo and formed by Peter Asher and Gordon Waller, who achieved fame in 1964 with "A World Without Love", and had several subsequent hits in that era.-History:...
  
  
• The Castaways
  The Castaways
  The Castaways are an American garage rock band from the Twin Cities in Minnesota.Their first and only hit single was "Liar, Liar". Written by band leader James Donna and Denny Craswell, produced by Timothy D. Kehr and released by Soma Records, it reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in...
  
  
• Brenda Holloway
  Brenda Holloway
  Brenda Holloway is an American singer and songwriter, a recording artist for the Motown label during the 1960s...
  
  
• Mary Wells
  Mary Wells
  Mary Esther Wells was an American singer who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s...
  
  
• Roy Head
  Roy Head
  Roy Head is an American singer, best known for his hit "Treat Her Right."-Career:Head achieved fame as a member of a musical group out from San Marcos, Texas known as The Traits. The group's sponsor landed their first recording contract in 1958 with TNT Music in San Antonio, Texas while they were...
  
  
• Charlie Rich
  Charlie Rich
  Charles Rich was an American country music singer and musician. A Grammy Award winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, and gospel genres.In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver...
  
  
• Little Anthony & The Imperials
  Little Anthony & The Imperials
  Little Anthony and the Imperials is a rhythm and blues/soul/doo-wop vocal group from New York, first active in the 1950s. Lead singer Jerome Anthony "Little Anthony" Gourdine was noted for his high-pitched falsetto voice, influenced by Jimmy Scott...
  
  
• Edwin Starr
  Edwin Starr
  Edwin Starr was an American soul music singer. Starr is most famous for his Norman Whitfield produced singles of the 1970s, most notably the number one hit "War".-Biography:...
  
  
• Barbara Mason
  Barbara Mason
  Barbara Mason is an American R&B/soul singer best known for her 1965 hit song, "Yes, I'm Ready".-Career:A soul singer, Mason initially focused on songwriting when she entered the music industry in her teens...
  
  
• The Animals
  The Animals
  The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
  
  
• The Beau Brummels
  The Beau Brummels
  The Beau Brummels were an American rock band. Formed in San Francisco in 1964, the band's original lineup included Sal Valentino , Ron Elliott , Ron Meagher , Declan Mulligan , and John Petersen...
  
  
• Dionne Warwick
  Dionne Warwick
  Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
  
  
• The Sunrays
  The Sunrays
  The Sunrays were an American band from Pacific Palisades, California.-Career:Their first job as the Renegades was at the Seaside Session at Palisades Park in Pacific Palisade...
  
  
• Johnny Tillotson
  Johnny Tillotson
  Johnny Tillotson is an American singer and songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored 9 top-ten hits on the pop, country and adult contemporary billboard charts including "Poetry In Motion" and the self-penned "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'"...
  
  
• The Toys
  The Toys
  The Toys were an American pop girl group from Jamaica, New York, which was formed in 1961 and disbanded in 1968.-Members:The trio consisted of:* Barbara Harris sang lead most of the time....
  
  
• Little Richard
  Little Richard
  Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
  
  
• The Mojo Men
  The Mojo Men
  The Mojo Men were a rock music band, inspired by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, who recorded for the Autumn Records label in San Francisco, California....
  
  
• The Strangeloves
  The Strangeloves
  The Strangeloves were the creation of an American songwriting/production team in the 1960s who were from New York, but pretended to be from Australia. Their biggest hits were "I Want Candy," "Cara-Lin" and "Night Time"....
  
  
• Glen Campbell
  Glen Campbell
  Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
  
  
• Dusty Springfield
  Dusty Springfield
  Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
  
  
• Len Barry
  Len Barry
  Len Barry is a retired American vocalist, songwriter and record producer.-Career:...
  
  
• Bobby Vee
  Bobby Vee
  Robert Thomas Velline , known as Bobby Vee, is an American pop music singer. According to Billboard magazine, Vee has had 38 Hot 100 chart hits, 10 of which hit the Top 20.-Career:...
  
  
• Gloria Jones
  Gloria Jones
  Gloria Richetta Jones is an American singer and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She recorded the 1964 northern soul song, "Tainted Love", later a hit for the British synth-pop duo, Soft Cell. She was the girlfriend of glam rock artist Marc Bolan of the band T...
  
  
• Smokey Robinson
  Smokey Robinson
  William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
  
   & The Miracles
  The Miracles
  The Miracles are an American rhythm and blues group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Record Corporation . Their single "Shop Around" was Motown's first million-selling hit record, and the group went on to become one of Motown's signature...
  
  
• Gale Garnett
• Davy Jones
  Davy Jones (actor)
  David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
  
  
• Tommy Sands
  Tommy Sands
  Tommy Adrian Sands is an American pop music singer and actor.-Early life:Born into a musical family in Chicago, Illinois, Sands' father was a pianist and his mother a big-band singer. While still young, he moved with his family to Shreveport, Louisiana...
  
  
• Freddie & the Dreamers
• Otis Redding
  Otis Redding
  Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
  
  
• Marvin Gaye
  Marvin Gaye
  Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
  
  
• The Vogues
  The Vogues
  The Vogues are an American vocal group from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The original group consisted of Bill Burkette , Don Miller , Hugh Geyer and Chuck Blasko .-Career:...
  
  
• Lou Christie
  Lou Christie
  Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco , known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American singer-songwriter best known for three separate strings of pop hits in the 1960s , including his 1966 smash, "Lightnin' Strikes" and his incredible 3 octave vocal range.-Biography:Sacco was born in Glenwillard,...
  
  
• Ben E. King
  Ben E. King
  Benjamin Earl King , better known as Ben E. King, is an American soul singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me", a U.S...
  
  
• The Statler Brothers
• Jackie Lee
  Jackie Lee
  Jackie Lee is an Irish popular music singer, who has recorded under various names.-Career:Lee was a musical child prodigy. She won a scholarship and trained as a soprano for four years...
  
  
• The Kingston Trio
  The Kingston Trio
  The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...
  
  
• The Dillards
  The Dillards
  The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of Douglas Flint "Doug" Dillard The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of Douglas Flint "Doug" Dillard The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of...
  
  
• The Kingsmen
  The Kingsmen
  The Kingsmen is a 1960s garage rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the #2 spot on the Billboard charts for six weeks...
  
  
• Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles
  Labelle
  Labelle is an American all female singing group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the Philadelphia/Trenton areas, the Ordettes and the Del-Capris, forming as a new version of the former group, later changing...
  
  
• James Darren
  James Darren
  James William Ercolani , known by his stage name James Darren, is an American television and film actor, television director, and singer.-Career:...
  
  
• Five Americans
  Five Americans
  Five Americans was a 1960s American band, most famous for the song "Western Union", which reached #5 in the U.S. Billboard chart and was their only single to chart in the Top 20...
  
  
• Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels
• Diane Renay
  Diane Renay
  Diane Renay , born Renee Diane Kushner, is an American pop singer, best known for her 1964 hit song, "Navy Blue".-Career:...
  
  
• The Knickerbockers
  The Knickerbockers
  The Knickerbockers were an American pop/rock music group, best remembered for their 1965 Beatles sound alike hit single, "Lies."-Formation:The band was formed in 1962 in Bergenfield, New Jersey by brothers Beau Charles and John Charles with fluctuating personnel until 1964, when they met...
  
  
• Shirley Ellis
  Shirley Ellis
  Shirley Ellis is an American soul music singer and songwriter of West Indian origin. She is best known for her novelty hits "The Nitty Gritty" , "The Name Game" and "The Clapping Song"...
  
  
• Jimmie Rodgers
  Jimmie Rodgers (pop singer)
  James Frederick "Jimmie" Rodgers is an American singer. He is not related to the country singer of the same name.-Career:...
  
  
• Brook Benton
  Brook Benton
  Brook Benton was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he scored hits such as "It's Just A Matter Of Time" and "Endlessly", many of which he co-wrote.He made a comeback in 1970...
  
  
• Al Martino
  Al Martino
  Al Martino was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid 1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners", and also became well known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in The...
  
  
• Bob Lind
  Bob Lind
  Bob Lind is an American folk music singer-songwriter who reached the height of his success during the 1960s...
  
  
• The Rose Garden
  The Rose Garden (band)
  The Rose Garden was an American folk rock musical group from Los Angeles, California which was active in 1967 and 1968.The members were Diana DeRose on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, John Noreen on 12-string guitar and backup vocal, James Groshong on lead vocal and guitar, William Fleming on bass...
  
  
• The Mamas & the Papas
  The Mamas & the Papas
  The Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
  
  
• Chris Montez
  Chris Montez
  Chris Montez , is an American singer.-Early life:Montez grew up in Hawthorne, California, influenced by the Latino-flavored music of his community and the success of Ritchie Valens....
  
  
• Bobby Fuller Four
• Gary Lewis & the Playboys
  Gary Lewis & the Playboys
  Gary Lewis & the Playboys were a 1960s rock group fronted by Gary Lewis, son of comedian Jerry Lewis. They are best known for their 1965 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "This Diamond Ring."-Original members:* Gary Lewis - Drums and vocals...
  
  
• Roy Clark
  Roy Clark
  Roy Linwood Clark is an American country music musician and performer. He is best known for hosting Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969–1992. Clark has been an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre...
  
  
• Buck Owens
  Buck Owens
  Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...
  
  
• Stevie Wonder
  Stevie Wonder
  Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
  
  
• The Ventures
  The Ventures
  The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
  
  
• The Temptations
  The Temptations
  The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
  
  
• B.J. Thomas
• The Righteous Brothers
  The Righteous Brothers
  The Righteous Brothers were the musical duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. They recorded from 1963 through 1975, and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003...
  
  
• Martha and the Vandellas
  Martha and the Vandellas
  Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...
  
  
• The Yardbirds
  The Yardbirds
  - Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
  
  
• Chet Baker
  Chet Baker
  Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
  
  
• Mickey Rooney, Jr.
  Mickey Rooney, Jr.
  Mickey Rooney, Jr. is a retired American actor and the eldest son of the actor Mickey Rooney. He operates the Rooney Entertainment Group, a movie and TV production company.-Early life:...
  
  
• Toni Basil
  Toni Basil
  Antonia Christina Basilotta , better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, filmmaker, film director, choreographer, and dancer, best known for her multi-million-selling worldwide #1 hit "Mickey" from 1982.-Early life:Basil was born Antonia Christina...
  
  
• Maxine Brown
  Maxine Brown (soul singer)
  Maxine Ella Brown is an American soul and R&B singer.-Background and career:Maxine Brown began singing as a child, performing with two New York based gospel groups called the Angelairs and the Royaltones when she was a teenager...
  
  
• The Nashville Teens
  The Nashville Teens
  The Nashville Teens are a British pop band formed in Weybridge, Surrey in Summer 1962.-History:Arthur Sharp began his career in music as the manager of Aerco Records in Woking, Surrey...
  
  
• Eddie Holman
  Eddie Holman
  Eddie Holman is an American singer and recording artist. He is best known for his 1970 hit song "Hey There Lonely Girl".-Biography:...
  
  
• Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders
  The Mindbenders
  The Mindbenders was a 1960s beat group from Manchester, England. They were part of the mid 1960s British Invasion with their chart-toppers "Game of Love" and "A Groovy Kind of Love"....
  
  
• Billy Preston
  Billy Preston
  William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
  
  
• Them
  Them (band)
  Them were a Northern Irish band formed in Belfast in April 1964, most prominently known for the garage rock standard "Gloria" and launching singer Van Morrison's musical career...
  
  
• The Spencer Davis Group
• Pamela Miller
  Pamela Des Barres
  Pamela Des Barres aka Miss Pamela is a former rock 'n' roll groupie, author, and magazine writer.- Early life :...
  
  
• Doris Troy
  Doris Troy
  Doris Troy was an American R&B singer, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul".She was born as Doris Higginson in The Bronx, the daughter of a Barbadian Pentecostal minister. Her parents disapproved of "subversive" forms of music like rhythm & blues, so she cut her teeth singing in her father's choir...
  
  
• Marianne Faithfull
  Marianne Faithfull
  Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
  
  
• Don Grady
  Don Grady
  Donald Michael Agrati , better known as Don Grady, is an American composer, musician and actor. He is remembered both as one of Mickey Mouse's original Mouseketeers, and as Robbie Douglas, from My Three Sons. His sister was also an actress, billed as Lani O'Grady...
  
  
• Shadows of Knight
  Shadows of Knight
  The Shadows of Knight are an American rock band from the Chicago suburbs, formed in the 1960s, who play a form of British blues mixed with influences from their native city. At the time they first started recording, the band's self-description was as follows: "The Stones, Animals and Yardbirds...
  
  
• The Who
  The Who
  The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
  
  
• Gene Pitney
  Gene Pitney
  Eugene Francis Alan Pitney, known as Gene Pitney , was an American singer-songwriter, musician and sound engineer. Through the mid-1960s, he enjoyed success as a recording artist on both sides of the Atlantic and was among the group of early 1960s American acts who continued to enjoy hits after the...
  
  
• The Outsiders
  The Outsiders (American band)
  The Outsiders was an American rock and roll band from Cleveland, Ohio, that was founded and led by guitarist Tom King. The band is best known for its Top 5 hit "Time Won't Let Me" in early 1966, which peaked at #5 in the US, but the band had three other hit singles in 1966 and released a total of...
  
  
• Sam and Dave
• Petula Clark
  Petula Clark
  Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
  
  
• The Tokens
  The Tokens
  The Tokens are an American male doo-wop-style vocal group from Brooklyn, New York. They are known best for their chart-scoring 1961 single, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" .-Career:...
  
  
• Love
  Love (band)
  Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer/songwriter Arthur Lee and lead guitarist Johnny Echols...
  
  
• The Association
  The Association
  The Association is a pop music band from California in the folk rock or soft rock genre. During the 1960s, they had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts and were the lead-off band at 1967's Monterey Pop Festival...
  
  
• The Moody Blues
  The Moody Blues
  The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
  
  
• Roy Orbison
  Roy Orbison
  Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
  
  
• The Fortunes
  The Fortunes
  The Fortunes are an English harmony beat group. Formed in Birmingham, The Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the US and UK Top 10s...
  
  
• The Small Faces
  The Small Faces
  The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band from East London, heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's...
  
  
• Unit 4 + 2
  Unit 4 + 2
  Unit 4 + 2 were a British pop band, who had a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1965 with the song "Concrete and Clay". The track topped the UK chart for one week.-Early days:...
  
  
• Barry McGuire
  Barry McGuire
  Barry McGuire is an American singer-songwriter best known for the hit song "Eve of Destruction", and later as a pioneering singer and songwriter of Contemporary Christian Music.-Early life:...
  
  
• Brenda Lee
  Brenda Lee
  Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
  
  
• Ray Stevens
  Ray Stevens
  Ray Stevens is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.-Early career:...
  
  
• The Swingin' Medallions
  The Swingin' Medallions
  The Swingin' Medallions are an American beach music group from Greenwood, South Carolina.-History:The band was formed as The Medallions in 1962 adding the "Swingin'" in 1965; possibly as a tribute to the Swingin' Travelers, an R&B group popular in South Carolina in the late 1950s and early 1960s...
  
  
• Percy Sledge
  Percy Sledge
  Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
  
  
• Captain Beefheart
  Captain Beefheart
  Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
  
  
• The Grass Roots
  The Grass Roots
  The Grass Roots is an American rock band that charted between 1966 and 1975 as the brainchild of songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri.In their career, The Grass Roots achieved two gold albums, one gold single and charted singles a total of 21 times. Among their charting singles, they...
  
  
• The Spinners
  The Spinners (U.S. band)
  The Spinners is a soul music vocal group, active for over 50 years, and with a long run of pop and R&B hits especially during the 1970s. The group, originating from Detroit, still tours regularly ....
  
  
• The Cyrkle
  The Cyrkle
  The Cyrkle was a short-lived American rock and roll band active in the mid-1960s. The group charted two Top 40 hits, "Red Rubber Ball," and "Turn Down Day"...
  
  
• Terry Knight and the Pack
  Terry Knight and the Pack
  Terry Knight and the Pack was, between 1965 and 1967, an American rock band from Flint, Michigan. The band was signed to the Lucky Eleven label throughout its short recording career.-Career:...
  
  
• Blues Magoos
  Blues Magoos
  The Blues Magoos was a rock music group from the The Bronx, New York. They were at the forefront of the psychedelic music trend, beginning as early as 1966.-1964 - 1971:The band was formed in 1964 as "The Trenchcoats"...
  
  
• Question Mark & the Mysterians
• The Left Banke
  The Left Banke
  The Left Banke is an American baroque pop band that formed in New York City in 1965 and disbanded in 1969. They are best remembered for their two U.S. hit singles, "Walk Away Renée" and "Pretty Ballerina"...
  
  
• Buffalo Springfield
  Buffalo Springfield
  Buffalo Springfield is a North American folk rock band renown both for its music and as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Among the first wave of North American bands to become popular in the wake of the British invasion, the group combined...
  
  
• The Palace Guard