Once
upon a time, the 45 rpm hit single was king. In that long ago day,
Edison Lighthouse was one of the most phenomenally successful
groups of the 1970's selling over 15 million records worldwide.
Edison Lighthouse originated in England as an outgrowth of the
successful group, The Flying Machine which had a US top 5 hit in
November 1969 with "Smile A Little Smile For Me"
featuring Les Fradkin on vocals, mellotron, organ and guitar. The
producer of that smash hit assembled a new group for a new song
called "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary
Goes)".
Les Fradkin returned from New York City to join this newly formed
British group as an original member of Edison Lighthouse. The
recording of "Love Grows"
proved to be a worldwide success reaching the # 5 chart position
in the USA on the Billboard singles hot 100 chart in February 1970
and became a # 1 hit the world over selling a total of 8 million
copies. In fact, for the entire year of 1970, it was the #2
selling pop record in the U.K.
The formula "feel-good music" hit sound created with
that smash proved to be so successful that the Edison crew
recorded other material under other group names which duplicated
the sensation of their first hit together.
As White Plains, their single of "My
Baby Loves Lovin'" reached # 13 in the US and # 9 in
the UK. Under the moniker of "The Brotherhood Of Man",
their "United We Stand"
reached #13 in the US and # 1 in Enland in 1970. In fact, all
these records ("Love Grows", "My Baby Loves Lovin'"
and "United We Stand") charted between January and May
of 1970 prompting a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records
for most singles charted simultaneously under different group
names containing the same artists.
In addition to these lasting accomplishments, the group also
recorded two other hits "She Works In A
Woman's Way" and "It's Up
To You Petula" which both charted top 5 in Japan and
top 60 the US in 1971 under the Edison Lighthouse name.
Les' exciting Edison Lighthouse show features 20 "one-hit
wonder" hits that Les has performed on including "Love
Grows", "My Baby Loves Lovin'" and "Smile A
Little Smile", plus new material from the brand new Edison
Lighthouse CD "The Soundtrack Of Your Youth".
