Mike Flowers sources: Orpheus
I don't know if Mike Flowers ever heard Orpheus, but they have the original sound that Flowers emulates with his Pops (a sound which I now know is categorized as "sunshine pop"). Their biggest hit, "Can't Find the Time," still pops up on oldies shows and movie soundtracks (Hootie and the Blowfish covered it for Me, Myself, and Irene). Orpheus' delicate melodies were supplemented with grand arrangements by Alan Lorber. I've selected "Lesley's World" from the first Orpheus album (1968):
As another aside, I mentioned earlier that it was common practice in the '50's and '60's (at least) to put several groups on the road, touring separately under a common name, to exploit the popularity of a group or record. Obviously you couldn't do that with superstars that everyone knew, but with minor groups where the members were more anonymous, it was done all the time (almost always without the knowledge or consent of the original group). Remember that this was before music videos became ubiquitous. You could never get away with it today. Also, remember, that the practice was at least "quasi-legal," since the original groups would have been required to sign away the rights to their names. One of the Boston groups was called Chamaeleon Church; this was a Lorber group, and included as its most famous alumnus a keyboardist named Chevy Chase (I'm sure you've heard of him!). In a published interview a few years ago, he mentioned that this group had done a tour of "small Southern colleges" as - you guessed it - Orpheus. He said that people would shout "You guys aren't Orpheus!" but, then, they'd play "Can't Find the Time" and "Congress Alley," and the hecklers would shut up.
Orpheus member Eric Gulliksen provides a history of the band on the Orpheus Reborn website. The page includes this strange preamble:
Note: One of the founding members of Orpheus has requested that his name, likeness, and any audio clips of performances including his voice or his instrumental work, or of songs that he has written, be removed from this page. As a courtesy to this individual, we have replaced his name with (name deleted), despite the fact that it was a part of the original text. Similarly and also as a courtesy, we have obscured his likeness to make it unrecognizable except in group pictures, the copyrights for which reside with Iris Properties, Inc. These photographs are used with permission.
We have not removed the audio clips below, because:
(1) our posting of these short clips constitutes "fair use;"
(2) similar clips of these performances are widely available on dozens, if not hundreds of web sites; and
(3) rights to these songs and / or performances reside with Iris Properties, Inc., not with the aforesaid
individual, and we have posted these clips with the permission of the copyright holder.
That founding member is songwriter and lead guitarist Bruce Arnold, who now lives in California and makes collectible scale replicas of Cadillacs, of course. The original line-up of Orpheus--Bruce Arnold, Eric Gulliksen, Jack McKennes, and Harry Sandler--broke up in December 1969, nine months after the release of their third album, Joyful. Bruce Arnold put together a new band and released one more album as Orpheus on the Bell label in 1971. The other three members still play together around Boston, with three more musicians, as Orpheus Reborn.
Finally, here is a vintage clip of Orpheus "performing" their big hit, "Can't Find the Time:"
