Thinking back on how it happened, I am not surprised anymore that the arrival of Up Up And Away in 1967 created such an explosion. Just think of how things were. The world of music then was steeped in psychedelic rock and hippie folk sounds. Those who want something else were indulging in Motown soul. Then along came the sleek pop harmonies of the Fifth Dimension and everything started sparkling.
The song went: “Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon/ would you like to glide in my beautiful balloon/ we could flow among the stars/ together you and I/ for we can fly/ Up up and away in my beautiful balloon/ the world’s a nicer place in my beautiful balloon/ it wears a nicer face in my beautiful balloon/ we could sing a song and sail across a silver sky….” No wonder everybody was transfixed with the song. It was so different. It was pure enchantment. They just had to listen.
Up Up And Away was composed by the then future songwriting legend Jimmy Webb. He would go on to write the likes of MacArthur Park, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Didn’t We, Wichita Lineman, The Worst That Could Happen and others. Providing the vocals was also a new group named Fifth Dimension. The members then were Billy Davis Jr., Florence La Rue, Marilyn McCoo, LaMonte McLemore and the late Ron Townson.
Formerly called The Versatiles, they got a new, more modern name when they signed up with Soul City Records. Fifth Dimension proved to be very lucky for them as the big seller and later Grammy winner for Record and Song of the Year Up Up And Away became the first of many hits. Go Where You Wanna Go, Stoned Cold Picnic, Sweet Blindness, Wedding Bell Blues, Last Night I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All, One Less Bell To Answer, The Worst That Could Happen, If I Could Reach You, Ashes To Ashes and that medley of two songs from the musical Hair that also won Grammys and went to No. 1 in the charts, Aquarius and Let The Sunshine In.
This recording is now considered a landmark of the psychedelic era. Copyright laws being very relaxed at that time, I am sure many of you still remember how this medley was used hundreds of times in local films and TV shows. To this day when music editors want to set a scene in the ’70s, they bring on the Fifth Dimension with “This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius, Aquarius, Aquarius… let the sunshine, let the sunshine, let the sunshine in…” The recordings of Aquarius/ Let The Sunshine In and Up Up And Away by the Fifth Dimension are now enthroned in the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Davis and McCoo, who have been married to each other since 1969, went on to more success as singers, actors and presentors after they left Fifth Dimension. They had a No. 1 hit with You Don’t Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show). Townson died in 2001. McLemore has retired from performing. He has written a book about his years as founding member of the 5th D. LaRue continues to perform and she is the reason for this flood of Fifth Dimension memories.
LaRue is now on tour with the new Fifth Dimension to celebrate the group’s 50th anniversary. Today’s members are Willie Williams, Leonard Tucker, Patrice Morris and Floyd Smith. They will be performing at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on May 24. Mind you, they honor the memories well, singing the hit songs like in the old days in their entirety and sounding just like the 5th D of 50 years ago. That sounds like such a long way off but I am sure you can still find that fringe and those beads from the old days for an authentic sing along at the Big Dome. “Let the sunshine…”
To prepare for the event you might want to check out the two-disc set The Essential Fifth Dimension. It has all the big hits and many more like Another Day Another Heartache, California My Way, Learn How To Fly, Carpet Man, The Girl’s Song, Orange Air, Paper Cup, California Soul, Blowing Away, Workin’ On A Groovy Thing, Puppet Man, Save The Country, On The Beach, Time And Love, Love’s Lines, Angles And Rhythm, Light Sings, Never My Love, Together Let’s Find Love, Black Patch, Living Together Growing Together, Everything’s Been Changed, Flashback, No Love In The Room and others.