The Girl Group Chronicles: The Murmaids

The Girl Group era had many artists which fell into the "One-Hit Wonder." Most of these artists made many wonderful records, but for various reasons the record buying public was either not exposed to these records, or was just not prone to buy them. One such group to which is often referred are the Los Angeles Murmaids.

Consisting of Sally Gordon and the Fischer sisters, Carol and Terry, the group was raised in a very musical family. The Fischer father was a musical arranger, and the sisters' mother soon decided to bring her girls to Cattahoochee Records. The owner, Ruth Conte and producer Kim Foley soon brought the gals into the studio to record a light, breathy number called "Popsicles and Icicles," written by Dave Gates. gates had written a few girl group hits in the early sixties.

The result of this powerful combination was a Top Ten hit in late 1965. The hit was so big that Cattahoochee called the girls back from college to record a couple more follow-ups. These records didn't sell as well, and the Original Murmaids returned to their schooling. Meanwhile, Cathy Brasher and Yvonne Vaughn among several other session singers were called in to keep pumping out the songs.

In 1968, a two sided folkish record with "Go Away" and "Paper Sun" were a good combination, but alas, this did not bring the girls back to the public's attention. It is not known if the Murmaids have ever reformed after that last recording.