One Hit Wonders: ? and the Mysterians and Millie Small

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Bill Price, and in this episode of One Hit Wonders, I will look at the careers of two Rock and Roll artists from the mid-1960's, Question Mark and the Mysterians and Millie Small!

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Transcript

In this episode of One Hit Wonders, I will look at the careers of two Rock and Roll artists from the mid-1960's, Question Mark and the Mysterians and Millie Small.

? and the Mysterians was a band whose roots were in Bay City and Saginaw, Michigan. Early musical influences were derived from surf bands and Rock instrumentalists like Link Wray and Duane Eddy, which prompted them to form a band in 1962. Initially the group consisted of three members, Larry Borjas, Robert Martinez and Bobby Balderrama. The band performed locally with this lineup up until the start of the British Invasion.

Rudy Martinez who was Robert’s brother was known for his dancing talent and was invited to join the band. Rudy used Question Mark as his stage name. The band’s name was inspired by a 1957 science fiction movie titled “The Mysterians”. Keyboardist Frank Rodriguez was added to the band’s lineup and was instrumental in establishing the band’s unique sound.

In 1966 the band recorded two demos titled “Are You For Real?” and “I’ll Be Back”, for an independent record label, which interestingly were not released until the 1999 album titled “More Action”. Then Larry and Robert received their military draft notices and chose to enlist hoping to avoid deployment to Vietnam. The remaining band members then added Eddie Serrato and Frank Lugo to the lineup. Keyboardist Frank Rodriguez had begun to develop an organ riff and along with ?, came up with a composition titled “96 Tears”. “96 Tears”, and“Midnight Hour” were recorded for the small Pa-Go-Go record label. When the single was released in April 1966, “Midnight Hour” had been intended to be the A-side of the record. Then ? began encouraging Michigan radio stations to play “96 Tears” instead of the A-side. When Canadian radio station CKLW in Windsor, Ontario Canada started playing the song extensively, it became a regional number one hit. As a result, it caught the attention of Neil Bogart, who was the president of Cameo-
Parkway Records. Neil purchased the song’s rights and distributed the single nation wide. He also promoted the band through television appearances on American Bandstand and Where the Action Is. By October 29th 1966, the single had climbed to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It remained at number one for a week before being replaced at the top spot by The Monkees’ “Last Train to Clarksville”. “96 Tears” sold more than one million copies and earned a Gold Disc.

The next two follow up releases were “ “I Need Somebody” and “Can’t Get Enough of You Baby”. In spite of entering the charts at numbers 22 and 56, they were not as successful as “96 Tears”. Then the band went through a lineup change when original members left the band. In the 1970s the band reformed with new members, but this time without keyboards. In 1984 a reunion concert was held in Dallas, Texas with the original members. Unfortunately the concert did not result in the band’s revival. During the following decades, there were more personnel changes that resulted in several forms of the band. In 2006 original members of the band were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.

Here is the number one hit from 1966, “96 Tears”.

Millicent Dolly May Small was born on October 6th, 1947 in Clarendon, Jamaica. At the age of thirteen, she began her career in music like other Jamaican singers, by winning the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour talent contest. She later moved to Kingston to live with relatives. In Kingston, she auditioned for Coxsone Dodd who was a record producer for Studio One. He noticed the similarity in Millie’s voice to that of Shirley Goodman of the US duo Shirley and Lee. Dodd then had Millie and singer Owen Gray record several singles, which included the local hit titled “Sugar Plum”. When Gray continued with his solo career, Millie then recorded with an other singer Samuel “Roy” Panton. Under the direction of producer Roy Robinson, Millie and Samuel recorded several local hits as the duo Roy and Millie. As her popularity increased, it caught the attention of entrepreneur Chris Blackwell, who was sure of her international potential. He then became her manager and legal guardian. In the latter part of 1963 he took Millie to London, where she received
training in dance and diction.

In late 1963, the first release in London on the Fontana label made minimal impact.
However for the next recording, Blackwell hired arranger Ernest Ranglin to conduct the recording session. The result was a new arrangement of a 1956 song originally released in the US by the teenage singer Barbie Gaye titled “My Boy Lollipop”. Millie’s version was released in March 1964 and became an immediate massive hit. She appeared on British TV programs, which included Top of the Pops. The single climbed to number two in the UK, US and Canada. In Australia it also topped the chart. Initially “My Boy Lollipop” sold more than 600,000 copies in the UK and eventually sold over seven million copies worldwide, making seventeen-year-old Millie Small an international star. In New York she received a gold disc.

The next single titled “Sweet William” only managed to make it to number 30 in the UK, number 40 in the US and number 22 in Canada. In 1964 she appeared on the Beatles TV special “Around the Beatles”. The following year she also appeared on a “Ready Steady Go!” TV special titled “ Millie in Jamaica” and then began a world tour. In 1965 she recorded duets with Jackie Edwards as well as solo recordings. However sales were disappointing. Her last single, released in late 1965 was titled “ Bloodshot Eyes”, that only managed to reach the number 48 position in the UK. Although she continued touring, her popularity started to decline. By 1969 she terminated her recording career. Millie Small passed away in London on May 5th, 2020 at the age of 72.

We’ll conclude with Millie Small’s number two hit “My Boy Lollipop”.

This has been a look back at ? and the Mysterians and Millie Small on One Hit Wonders. Until next time I’m your host Bill Price.