THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,856) The Choir — “It’s Cold Outside”
Warning: If you are from Cleveland, read no further, ’cause I’d be just singin’ to the choir — it hit number one there! “With its energetic delivery, melodic harmonies, and chiming guitars, the song was an instant [’66] smash in Cleveland. Roulette Records picked up the single for national distribution, and it became a minor national hit [#68] in mid-’67.” (Mike Stax, liner notes to the CD comp Nuggets (Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968))
Richie Unterberger tells us:
“It’s Cold Outside” is one of the best-known, and from certain angles more successful, ’60s garage rock singles. . . . [T]he song (though not at all to its detriment) was poppier and more Beatlesque than the rawer, bluesier records that have come to be associated with garage rock. . . . [It] was something like Merseybeat on amphetamines . . . . what can now be recognized as a sort of antecedent to power pop. . . . [A]lthough the lyrics . . . are a somewhat sad recounting of a failed love affair, the[y] are . . . delivered with such unrelenting sunny cheer that the effect is one of joyousness rather than mourning. . . . [It] was a mammoth hit in Cleveland, topping the local charts for several consecutive weeks in 1967, but made only number 68 in the national listings. Perhaps it was just a little too late, sounding more suitable for the innocent times of 1964 than for the increasingly complicated culture and music scene of 1967.
Here is Unterberger on the Choir:
Stars in their Cleveland hometown . . . the Choir played an accomplished British Invasion-influenced pop/rock in the late ’60s. The group started off in 1964 under the name the Mods, then in 1966 changed their name . . . . [They] released two [further] singles . . . but neither charted[ and t]he Choir was dropped by [Roulette]. After disbanding for a short period in 1968, the band headed back to the studio, this time with . . . a sound that leaned in a more Baroque pop direction. They recorded enough songs for an album, but weren’t able to find a record label. After more personnel changes, they managed to release one more single, 1970’s “Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight,” before disbanding for good. . . . [Three] members of the band (guitarists Wally Bryson and Dave Smalley, as well as drummer Jim Bonfanti) were in the Raspberries . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-choir-mn0000060535#biography
Here is Stiv Bators (’79):
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