Falladions - Spiral Starecase

The Fylladions (sometimes spelled Falladions)

The Fylladions formed in Sacremento, California with Dick Lopes as sax player; Bobby Raymond on the bass; Harvey Kaye on organ; Vinnie Parello on drums and Pat Upton as lead guitarist and vocalist, who was from Alabama. 

The group auditioned for Columbia Records, who hated their name, but loved the group's music.  Dick Lopes scooped up the name "Spiral Starecase" from a movie with a slight variation in spelling, and they secured their contract.  Assigned to producer Gary Usher, their first two singles were released to regional successes in markets like Phoenix. At this time, Sonny Knight (himself a one-hit wonder with "Confidential" on Dot) was brought in as producer. Upton, encouraged by Usher to write original material for the group, had brought in "More Today Than Yesterday," which became the next single and their breakthrough hit. Considering the long-lasting impact of the song on oldies radio, it seems inconceivable that the tune charted no higher than number 12 nationally. The Starecase released one album and a couple more singles before poor management and squabbles over finances caused the group to splinter by 1969. Harvey Kaye led an ersatz version of the group for a brief period, while Upton fled to session work, eventually joining up with Rick Nelson as a backup vocalist. In the mid-'80s, after Nelson's death, Upton became a staple on the oldies
round robin cirucit. 

Kaye returned to Las Vegas where he re-formed the band. That line-up featured Mike Caschera (aka. Michael Anthony) (lead vocals), Al Sebay (guitar), Gene Austin (electric bass) , Mark Barrett (drums), and Tim McRoberts (backup drummer and vocals). The band toured extensively and played every major venue in the United States, Canada, and Mexico in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s with a full horn section and two backup girl singers to replicate the trademark sound of their biggest hits.  Kaye headed a management company in Las Vegas with his wife Candy. He died on August 17, 2008. Candy still owns SMASH Productions and holds the trademark for "Spiral Starecase". Parello is retired in Southern California but Upton still performs various times throughout the year. Raymond died in 1984.

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While the Spiral Starecase may be a one-hit wonder group, their songs actually deserved better showings; it just appears they got lost in the black-hole in the music world and never recovered.  However, their legacy song - Love You More Today Than Yesterday is still a much played song on the oldies stations, and a song everyone identifies with, but never seems to place the group's name.  Thus the black hole robbed a obviously fantastic group of greater fame and fortune.  So let's try to rectify that by giving them some much deserved recognition here and on air.  (Tune in http://www.partycentralradio.com/ - where White Rose will be playing their tunes).  (Tues/Thurs nites 9-the bewitching hour).............

The band is known for their hits "More Today Than Yesterday" (U.S. #12), released in January 1969, and the follow-up "She's Ready".   In 1969, "More Today Than Yesterday" charted #12 in the Billboard Hot 100, (in Cash Box, it reached #7) but sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.  "More Today Than Yesterday" has been widely covered by, among others, Diana Ross and the band Goldfinger, and was featured in the 1991 film My Girl, on the soundtrack of The Waterboy in 1998, and in an episode of Ally McBeal entitled Silver Bells.

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Discography:   http://www.45cat.com/artist/the-spiral-staircase

Don't forget to tune in White Rose -- Tues/Thursday Nites - http://www.partycentralradio.com/  and check out http://whiterose.us/ 

Til next time .... Keep the Music rolling...........