Today’s classic song of the day is a one-hit wonder from a group called the Rose Garden. The song is “Next Plane to London” and, when released in October of 1967, it peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100.
I always thought that the Rose Garden was a British group, probably because of the word “London” in this song’s title. Turns out the group is thoroughly American, from Los Angeles, with Diana De Rose on lead vocals, John Noreen on 12-string guitar, James Groshong on vocals and guitar, William Fleming on bass, and Bruce Bowdin on drums. They formed in 1964 as The Blokes (also sounds English to me) but by 1967 had changed their name to the Rose Garden and signed with Atco Records. They released one album (The Rose Garden) early in 1968 but broke up later that year when two of the guys were drafted. (Check out more about their group at this unofficial fan page.)
“Next Plane to London” was written by Kenny Gist, Jr., a pro songwriter who later wrote the Grammy-winning “Behind Closed Doors” for Charlie Rich. The voice of the airport announcer (inserted to cover the lack of an intended guitar solo, which John Noreen couldn’t quite master in their limited time in the studio), the producers recruited Don Elliot, a voiceover artist and program director for KBLA radio in L.A. He purportedly recorded his bit on a Neumann microphone hung in the studio’s tiled men’s restroom, as the studio’s reverb unit was on the fritz at the time.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, Diana De Rose and the Rose Garden lip synching “Next Plane to London” on the December 30, 1967, episode of American Bandstand. Does this qualify as sunshine pop? Maybe…
