55) Joe Bataan, “Uptown”
Richard Pierson says that “[n]o recording artist has more impeccable street credentials” than Bataan, who “grew up in Spanish Harlem, where he ran with Puerto Rican gangs and absorbed R&B, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Rican musical influences.” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-bataan-mn0000117990/biography)
56) It’s a Beautiful Day, “White Bird”
This San Francisco psychedelic folk-rock band was led by violinist David LaFlamme (who had earlier been a member of the Utah Symphony). “White Bird” did well on FM radio and hit #58 in the UK in May ’70.
57) The Mike Curb Congregation, “Sweet Gingerbread Man”
Jason Ankeny says that the Congregation was a “harmony pop chorale” formed in 1969 “around the time Curb became president of MGM Records” and that, apparently, his “tenure with the label included a controversial roster shake-up that favored family singing acts like the Osmonds and the Cowsills over bands like the Velvet Underground . . . and what he had termed ‘hard drug groups'”. (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-mike-curb-congregation-mn0000477163/biography). Well, say what you will, but the Congregation turned this horrible Bobby Sherman song into a wonderful confection.
Bobby Sherman’s version:
Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! / Off the Charts: 60s Rock Revelations 