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The Parade (60s): Smokey Roberds, Jerry Riopelle, Murray MacLeod. Liner Note Author: Steve Stanley. Arrangers: Smokey Roberds; Jerry Riopelle; Leon Russell; Murray MacLeod; Nick DeCaro. Although the Parade had planned to release an LP titled SUNSHINE GIRL in 1968, that record failed to appear when A&M shelved it. This 23-song 2009 CD compilation is a kind of belated substitute, including both sides of all six of the singles they issued in 1967 and 1968; a couple other tracks, "Lovers" and "Kinda Wasted Without You"; some demos and alternate/mono/45 mixes; and even a 1965 acetate by Connie Austin of a soul-pop song written by Paraders Murray MacLeod and Smokey Roberds. The crucial half of the disc are the dozen tracks from those 1967-68 singles, starting with the 1967 Top Twenty hit "Sunshine Girl," which is now regarded as one of the core anthems of the sunshine pop genre. While nothing else has the obvious hit singalong appeal of "Sunshine Girl," the other 45 tracks are well-crafted, cleanly produced exponents of late-'60s Southern Californian harmony pop-rock. While the non-45 tracks are not quite up to the level of the rest of the material, they're fine- complements to the main body of a CD that will please anyone interested in hearing what the Parade were up to beyond "Sunshine Girl."
