Wisconsin's Underground Sunshine perform their "one hit", a cover of the Beatles' 'Birthday', on...well, you know the show. The Underground Sunshine consisted of Bert Kohl, Frank Kohl, Jane Little and Chris Connors.
Thanks for posting this! I see the keyboardist, Jane Little every week at church. She plays the piano every other week and is a fantastic player. She also teaches piano and has recitals for her students once a year. She is married and raised a son and two beautiful daughters. The girls are very talented singers and have recorded an album and used to perform quite a bit. One plays flute and the other plays violin. They are both married and have children of their own now. This song does nothing to show how good a keyboardist that Jane is.
No, the Beatles had nothing to worry about. But this is still really cool, think about it, a garage band who took the time and effort to record this, and then have minor hit with it, and then end up performing the song on one of the biggest shows ever (American Bandstand) and in some small way is immortalized by this footage. Heh heh you gotta love it! Long Live the Underground Sunshine!!
Last time I heard this song I was laying in the hospital really busted up.(1971) Got drunk and piled up my Vette. Always liked this version by the Underground Sunshine. IMO underrated like Polly Brown's Puff of Smoke. Neither song got the play they deserved...Uh, then I grew up,I quit drinking and owned several more Vettes that I managed to keep in one piece.
I am from Montello and have known the Koelbl boys ever since they came from Germany and with the proper manager and guidance the group would still be in the business. I saw them perform on bandstand years ago and they were great. To bad the group went their separate ways.
The Wisconsin Beatles. Far out They also did a killer cover of Mr. Soul They relaesed Jesus Is Just Alright in 1970. The Doobie Brothers released theirs in 73
Hi! I'm Berty Kohl of U.S. I loved doing this show. I have a new Single out on CDBABY.Com It's called "SILLY REASONS" and you can download it now. My complete CD will come out soon. Love you all that still remember. Take care EGBERT SEBASTIAN (Berty Kohl)
Ebby's right. That unison like is bungled awfully. It mixed and shipped like that? lol But it's cool. It's a great knock off. I actually preferred it to the original single at one time until I heard the White Album version.
Well this was done in color, but this a kinescope as opposed to videotape. And anyway, most folks still had b&w sets that color TV’s in ‘69. It wasn’t until like 1972 when color sets outsold black & white.
Heck yes I am jealous! You know, just because I don't like it doesn't mean it isn't something that you should not be proud to have done. If we all liked the same songs, what a drag that would be. How many people can say they performed on Bandstand? One hit song and it is like you will live forever. Yes, I am very jealous. And I apologize if I offended you. Really it is not such a bad performance.
Wow. I don't know if this is the worst thing I've ever heard from the '60s, but it's close. Since the version otherwise is such a copy, is the "wrong" unison line at 1:53 just a case of them not having a good enough ear to figure out the original notes?
Gee! maybe they just wanted to put their own little twist to the song by doing it with a little harmony screaming. Duh!!!! Any other brilliant jealous comments you'd like to make. Get a life and record your own wondrous hit, since you must be such a fabulous musician with a mouth as big as your ear.
It's 2020 and I'm just now hearing & seeing this. If this had come out in say... 1966 or 1967, I would have thought.... hum, OK.... not bad. But this is really a joke. I can't believe Dick Clark had them on.... and especially playing this Beatles song. The regular scheduled act obviously didn't show, and Clark was desperate.🎸
Ben, No foul made. For a number of years I agreed with you, but then I realized that there are very few that have made it on this show and I'm big enough to accept the fact that there's always somebody better...always! Give a listen to "SILLY REASONS" at CDBABY.Com. You might like this one.
I assure you that Paul, Ringo, George and John appreciated it since they made a lot of money and didn't have to put their rep on the line for people like you. EbbyWebby has a serious jealousy problem. How about you??
I agree with EbbyWebby. This has got to be the worst performance I've ever seen on Bandstand. The song was bad enough when the Beatles did it, but a cover version?
