The midi you should be hearing (if you decided to wait around long enough and not hit 'stop' heehee) is "Hair" by the Cowsills..
The Cowsills
"Happy, happy, happy.. flowers in her hair.. flowers everywhere...."
-The Cowsills, "The Rain, the Park and Other Things", 1967
Again, you may ask why I started this page out with that quote.. Well, actually, this time, I'm not doing it cos I believe in it.. Just cos I like that song heehee. ;-)
These beautiful people are the Cowsills. They are my very favorite group (well, along with the Monkees) and I love them alot.. Now, many of you may be thinking "Who they heck are they??" or if you think the name sounds familiar, you may be thinking "I remember them!! But what did they sing again??" or you just might be going "Hey, that guy in the blue shirt's pretty cute" heehee. Well, I'll tell you who they are for those of you who have never heard of them. They are a group. Well *duh* :-) No, really.. Okay, these cute cute CUTE people are a family called the Cowsills from the town of Newport, Rhode Island. Yes, that's right, a family.. (author's note: no, they are not copies of the Partridge Family, they are the inspiration for the Partridge Family.. in fact, they themselves were supposed to play the characters in the show. but the producers didn't want to use the real mom, they wanted Shirley Jones.. whereupon the children said "Forget it!!").. the group started out as a little thing between the two older sons, Bill (b. Jan. 9, 1948) and Bob (and twin brother Rich b. August 26, 1949) after their father Bud brought them home a couple guitars after being away at sea.. Then when the next son, Barry (b. Sept. 14, 1954) , (tho he wasn't the next oldest) was recruited on drums, it became a threesome. I believe Barry was about seven at this time..
..then, a couple years later, littler brother Johnny (b. March 2, 1956), age seven, joined in on the drums, thereupon making Barry the new bass player (and let me tell you he was a FANTASTIC one!!).. So here we have it, four boys, (brothers, no less) in a group together, two of them not even out of elementary school yet. They played the local club circuit, churches, school dances, and a teenage local nightclub called Dorian's, playing Beatles tunes for three hours a night. Bob was quoted as saying "Bill could do a great Connie Francis cos our voices hadn't changed yet" :-)
.. they made their worldwide debut in late 1967 with their groubreaking hit, "The Rain the Park and Other Things", which can be found on the album "The Cowsills" (Boy, they were creative with a name, huh??). This album is my favorite CD!! Anyway, on this album, the original lineup (Bill, Bob, Barry and John) appears.. with one slight change.. Barbara (b. July 12, 1928). The mother was recruited to sing on the single "The Rain, the Park" by Lenny Stogel, the groups manager, and the man who had them signed to MGM. This is the earliest nationally recognized version of the group (although the foursome Cowsills had released a short series of unsuccessful singles on a local record label way back when). With a hit single ("The Rain the Park and Other Things" hit #2 in November of 1967 and stayed there for a month and a half) and a top 40 album under its belt, the group decided to go for another addition, little sister Susan (b. May 20, 1959), who was eight at the time. With this new lineup, the group released a second album and single, both entitled "We Can Fly", and a newer single in summer of 1968 called "Indian Lake" which hit the top ten. Soon after the gold record of "Indian Lake" was issued, the group made another and final addition to the group, third oldest brother, Paul (b. Nov. 11, 1951). This was the start of the hoopla. The Cowsills had a string of hits, and made the scene, bursting across the splashy pages of teen magazines (Barry and John most of the time-- hence my nick BarrysChic) and appearing coast to coast on such notable showcase TV shows as "It's Happening" and "Operation Entertainment" and "Kraft Music Hall". In fact, in 1969, they were MGM's biggest-selling act of the year. They were smooth sailing for a while. They did some milk endorsements (this was before "Got milk?".. this was "It's the big lift that lasts") they did the theme song for the TV show "Love American Style" and they rolled right along on the charts with their biggest selling hit and album "Hair", peaking at #2, (remember this one??) and "In Concert", peaking at #16, respectively. In 1970, the group's leader, Bill, the oldest brother, left the group to pursue his solo career, and the group kept on for two more albums until disbanding in 1971.
The Cowsills have grown up and gone their seperate ways, but the 'core four' (Bob, Paul, susan and John) reunited for a time in the early nineties to do some reminiscing. :-) Bill lives in Canada, most recently involved in country music, Bob lives in California with his wife, Rich (Bob's twin, who unfortunately never appeared with the group) lives with his wife Susan, Barry is living with his wife and their two children. Unfortunately, we do not know much about where Barry goes these days. He's still performing music, but he roams a little. :-) We do know, however, that he has two adorable children (he said so himself!) and is married to Debbie Scott-Cowsill. Susan lives with her husband Peter Holsapple and their five year old daughter Miranda in New Orleans, LA, and Paul is living in Mexico, and also has a son who's playing college baseball. (I think) And little Johnny is living in California with his wife Val and their children.
"...her love showed me the way to find a sunny day..."
This page dedicated to the memory of Barbara and Bud Cowsill, who, though they are no longer with us, provided us Cowsills fans with the greatest gift we could ask for.
Pictures: all photos (except for the first picture) obtained from The Cowsills Web Page. Picture at the top is credited to People Online Daily. Photos Two and Three taken from Fan Magazines and Photo number Four is from the collection of B Presley. See the Cowsills Web Page for photo credits, more info, tons of other great pictures, and just an all around terrific web page!! Love you lots Vicky! Thanks for making such an incredible web site and helping me get even more obsessed with the Cowsills than is humanly possible. Ü and for teaching me how to do that smiley man. heehee
