One Hit Wonder: Mercy

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Bill Price, and in this Rock and Roll Flashback episode of One Hit Wonders, I will review the history of the group known as Mercy, and the story behind the their hit, which reached #2 in the US.

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott.  The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John.  It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then. 
Multiple promo videos and photos for Rock and Roll Flashback Podcasts are available on the following social media sites:

https://www.youtube.com/@RockandRollFlashback

https://www.facebook.com/rockandrollflashbackpodcast

https://www.instagram.com/jumpinjohnmcdermott/

Bill and John welcome your feedback and comments, and they can be emailed to rockandrollflashback@outlook.com.
Thank you for listening to Rock and Roll Flashback Podcasts!
Until next time...
Rock On!

Transcript

In this Rock and Roll Flashback episode of One Hit Wonders, I will review the history of the group known as Mercy, and the story behind the their hit, which reached number two in the US.

Mercy was a folk / pop band that was formed by Jack Sigler during his junior year at Brandon High School located in Florida. Original members included Jack, Ann Smith, John Hudson, Roy Shultz, Brenda McNish, Debbie Lewis, Ronnie Caudill, Lou Facenda, and Deni Hawley. In 1966 Jack wrote a song for his girl friend Ann Smith, who would later become his wife. The song’s title was “Love (Can Make You Happy)”. Jack’s father was an acquaintance of a movie producer who was planning on shooting a low budget drama in Tampa, Florida titled “Fireball Jungle”. The producer told Jack’s father that if Mercy had a record, he might be able to feature the band performing in the film. Mercy was made an offer by radio station WALT disc jockey and producer Gil Cabot. For $300 he would take the band to the H&H studio in Tampa and record the song. The offer also included the pressing of 1,000 45-RPM records, marketing, and promotion.

Jack Sigler, who was just 16 years old, got his father to pay the $300, however, a percentage of the publishing was given to Cabot. Unfortunately, the offer of marketing and promotion never materialized. After the song was recorded, the single was released on a small record label called Sundi. Jack and his cousin, Ronnie Tuttle, drove across Florida to personally deliver the single to radio station disc jockeys and by the fall of 1968, the single began to get radio airplay in a few Florida radio stations. In the film, Mercy appeared in a club scene, where they lip synced  “Love (Can Make You Happy)”.  When the film was screened, it did not receive a positive review and consequently was never released.

After the single “Love (Can Make You Happy)” was released, Jack was drafted into the Navy. Then surprisingly the single gained popularity in the US, reaching the number two position in 1969.  While at boot camp in Illinois, he was laying in bed when the song came on the radio, realizing that it was his song. As a result of the single climbing up the charts Cabot, who owned the record but not the band’s name, decided to quickly cash in by recording an album titled “Love (Can Make You Happy)”. The album contained the original Sundi release and covers of other songs.  In order to record the album, Cabot put together a vocal trio that included his wife, secretary, and a studio singer plus a Tampa backing band called The Mighty Manfred and the Wonder Dogs. On the album’s cover were three models that had nothing to do with the album’s music.  The group’s name appeared on the album as The Mercy. Although the names were in fact different, the public was led to believe The Mercy and Mercy were the same group. 

When Jack Sigler became aware of the Cabot album, he was furious. Jack then made a deal with producer Henry Stone, to produce an album by Mercy and have it released on Warner Brothers Records. Since Jack was leave from the Navy, the recording sessions had to be completed quickly before he had to report back for duty. The song “Love (Can Make You Happy)” was re-recorded along with cover versions of recent hits by artists such as Simon and Garfunkel, The Fifth Dimension, and The Association. The album titled  “Love (Can Make You Happy)”, was released and reached the number thirty-eight position on the Billboard 200 chart. The album also produced Mercy’s only other single, a cover of the 1960 hit by the Little Dippers titled  “Forever”. Mercy’s cover version managed to reach the number seventy-nine position on the Billboard Hot 100. Since Jack had already left to return to the Navy, he missed the photo shoot for the album, so he does not appear in the group photo on the album’s back cover.  Eventually, Jack filed a successful lawsuit against Gil Cabot and The Mercy album was discontinued.

The single “Love (Can Make You Happy)” went on to sell over one million copies, earning a gold record from the RIAA. Surprisingly, the group did not receive the award unit until forty years later in October 2009. Two albums were released, one in 1968 on the Sundie records label and one in 1969 on the Warner Brothers Record label. In 1969 four singles were released with the original version on the Sundie label and three other singles on the Warner Bothers label.   As of 2023 Jack Sigler and Mercy was still performing on tour with Suzanne Sigler, Butch Darby, and Kevin Dennis.

Here is the original number two hit version of “Love (Can Make You Happy)”

This has been a review of the One Hit Wonder group known as Mercy and the story behind their number two hit from 1969,  “Love (Can Make You Happy)”. And until next time, I’m your host Bill Price.