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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 millions of records worldwide. Edison Lighthouse originated in England as a studio group. It was a new project begun by Producer Tony Macaulay who had written and produced 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 mellotron and vocals. The producer of that smash hit assembled a new studio group for a new song called "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)".
The recording of "Love Grows" (featuring session star Tony Burrows as lead vocalist) 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 millions of 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 session 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 England 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.
Individual current group member tidbits:
Les Fradkin (Vocals, Ztar, Mellotron) was a solo artist for the MGM/Sunflower label and produced for Laurie Records for 14 years. He has played as a session musician on over 75 Top 40 hits from 1969 through 1974. He produced The Left Banke from 1972 and 1973 and by 1976, became an original member of "Beatlemania" (portraying George Harrison) which developed into one of the most successful shows in New York City Broadway history. He now has his own Indie label (RRO Entertainment), a successful solo career on the Internet and has developed a revolutionary playing technique on the Starr Labs Ztar MIDI Guitar Controller which graces his latest recordings and is featured in the Edison Lighthouse stage show. Les was also an original members of the pop harmony group California which was a Laurie Records group in the 1970's and 1980's, most notable for "Summer Fun Medley", a 10 song hit medley of Beach Boys songs back in 1981.
Jim Dessey (Vocals, Guitar) has worked as a guitarist / vocalist with Les in the 1980's Power Pop group "The Allies" and is featured as a solo artist on the "Timeless Flyte" Byrds tribute series released on RRO Entertainment with his pop interpretation of the David Crosby Byrds tune "Why".
Owen Yost (Vocals, Bass) has been busy recording in NYC, touring nationally with Tommy James (currently supporting his new release "Hold the Fire"), and substituting on Broadway for the NY production, and the national tour for the Billy Joel / Twyla Tharpe Broadway show "Movin' Out".
Michael Bellusci (Vocals, Drums) is most notable for performing as drummer in the role of "Ringo" with the Broadway cast of Beatlemania. He and Les Fradkin performed together throughout the early 1990's.
Edison Lighthouse and Les Fradkin both appear in feature chapters in the book "Bubblegum Music-The Naked Truth" by David Smay and Kim Cooper.
The new 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", legacy Edison Lighthouse favorites plus new material from the brand new Edison Lighthouse CD. Edison Lighthouse has appeared on BBC's Top Of The Pops and has toured since 2001 in the US as both a headliner and with The Box Tops, Ron Dante & The Archies, Sonny Geraci & The Outsiders, Pat Upton (Spiral Staircase), The Brooklyn Bridge, Kathy Young and Gary Puckett.