“Lady Willpower” (Gary Puckett & the Union Gap)

Your classic song by a Gary, Gerry, or Jerry of the day is “Lady Willpower” by Gary Puckett & the Union Gap. This track, released in May of 1968, went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Cash Box Top 100. It was ranked #34 on Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 Singles list for all of 1968, sold more than a million copies, and was certified Gold by the RIAA.

“Lady Willpower,” like most of the Union Gap’s hits, was about a guy trying to get into a young girl’s pants. Honestly, that’s pretty much all Mr. Puckett sang about. The song, like most of the group’s songs, was written and produced by Jerry Fuller, who also wrote and/or produced tracks for Ricky Nelson (“Travelin’ Man”), the Knickerbockers (“Lies”), O.C. Smith (“Little Green Apples”), and Mark Lindsay (“Silver Bird”). He is credited with discovering Gary Puckett & the Union Gap and helped push them to the top of the charts.

Gary Puckett was born in Hibbing, Minnesota (home also of a harmonica player named Robert Zimmerman) but grew up in Yakima, Washington, near the town of Union Gap. He went to college in San Diego but dropped out to play rock ‘n’ roll music, joining a local band called the Outcasts. When that group broke up, Mr. Puckett formed a new group called Gary and the Remarkables. They weren’t terribly remarkable, however, so they renamed themselves the Union Gap in early 1967, recorded a demo that was heard by Jerry Fuller, and were subsequently signed by Mr. Fuller to Columbia Records. Mr. Fuller did his magic and made them stars.

Most of the Union Gap’s biggest hits—”Young Girl” (#2 in 1968), “Lady Willpower” (#2 in 1968), and “Over You” (#7 in 1968)—were all written or co-written by Jerry Fuller. The exceptions were their first hit, “Woman, Woman” (#4 in 1967), written by Jim Glaser and Jimmy Payne, and their last hit, “This Girl is a Woman Now” (#9 in 1969), penned by Victor Millrose and Alan Bernstein. That last one was after the group parted ways with Mr. Fuller.

Most of the group’s hits were appealing power ballads but, if you listened hard enough, a little creepy, typically about older guys wanting to get it on with either younger (much younger) girls or married women. Don’t believe me? Take a look at these lyrics from “Lady Willpower”:

Did no one ever tell you the facts of life
Well there’s so much you have to learn
And I would gladly teach you
If I could only reach you
And get your lovin’ in return

Lady Willpower, it’s now or never
Give your love to me and I’ll shower
Your heart with tenderness endlessly

Yeah, it’s a little creepy, especially if you apply today’s sensibilities. Still, it provided the group with a sound and an identity beyond the totally irrelevant Civil War Union uniforms they wore.

Gary and the boys got tired of those creepy power ballads, however, and eventually separated from Jerry Fuller, the guy that made them a big deal. The result was only one more hit (the aforementioned “This Girl is a Woman Now,” which was still in the creepy older guy/younger girl vein) before they disappeared from the charts completely.

The Union Gap broke up in 1971 and Gary Puckett pursued a largely unsuccessful solo career, leaving the music business entirely by 1973. He had a bit of a comeback in the early ’80s and since then has become a regular on the oldies circuit. He’s still performing today at 80 years of age.

Just for kicks, here’s the band lip synching to “Lady Willpower,” wearing oddly pastel green Union uniforms, on The Ed Sullivan Show on May 12, 1968.