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After two years of battling for a breakthrough, the
summer of 1968 came with a flurry of activity that brought them an escalator to
success.
It was the height of the Vietnam War, and Richard,
heavily draftable, had been granted a student deferment, which meant he could
stay at the university at Long Beach. There he heard of a new national TV
program, ‘Your All American College Show,’ for which talent scouts auditioned
acts on campuses. Those selected went to Hollywood to tape the show before a
celebrity judging panel. Broadcast nationally, the much-vaunted show was
sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive and produced by the prominent radio and
commercial announcer Wendell Niles. If they succeeded in getting on that show,
the publicity value would be enormous.
With Karen at the drums, Richard at the piano, and a
talented bassist, Bill Sissyoev, recruited specially, they auditioned at CSULB
in spring 1968 with a short medley of Dancing in the Street and The
Shadow of Your Smile. Featuring technically difficult piano solos
interjected by Richard to show off his ability, along with Karen’s singing
talent and drum solo, they easily outstripped the other acts. They were accepted
by “Your All American College Show,” appearing as the trio three times that
year. In all, the trio won $3,500; Richard also won $3,500 for his subsequent
solo performances, and the public exposure was a valuable fillip.
Another triumph followed quickly. What was at that
time still the subculture of rock and pop music was beginning to be projected in
television commercials. Richard was phoned by John Bahler, who, with his brother
Tom, had a group called Love Generation. The Bahler brothers, hired by the
advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, had seen Karen and Richard on “Your All
American College Show”. That firm’s client, Ford Motor Company, wanted to
augment the Bahler brothers’ group (by now called The Going Thing after the
current Ford campaign) to help generate interest in Ford and also to promote an
upcoming new car, the Maverick.
Auditioning about two hundred acts in New York and
another two hundred at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, the Bahlers were impressed
with the energy and musicality of Richard and Karen – and in early 1969 they
were signed to a contract worth initially a gigantic fifty thousand dollars each
annually plus a special Mustang car each.
Richard and Karen were elated at the prospect of
this windfall. At last, it seemed, their worth was being recognized.
Still, a record deal eluded them, and for all their
talent and activity, the only real recognition as popular artists would come
from seeing and hearing their music tearing up the best-selling record charts.
That was the only real yardstick of success.
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