Originating as “soft pop” in the mid-1960s, this largely West Coast (USA) phenomenon was influenced by Easy Listening, Jingles, and Psychedelia.
The songs were technically ambitious and compositionally complex and usually featured prominent vocal harmonies and unusual musical instruments such as harpsichord, glockenspiel, and flute.
While many artists from the late 60s and early 70s dabbled in Sunshine Pop, prime examples of the genre include the Mamas and the Papas‘ California Dreamin’, Will You Be Staying After Sunday? by The Peppermint Rainbow, Over You by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, the Fifth Dimension‘s California Soul, the Young Rascals‘ Groovin‘, Everything That Touches You by The Association and The Carpenters‘ Hurting Each Other.
Sunshine Pop Artists
- The Arbors
- The Association
- The Bobby Fuller Four
- The Buckinghams
- The Carpenters
- The Cyrkle
- Eternity’s Children
- The 5th DImension
- The Flower Pot Men
- The Free Design
- Gary Lewis & the Playboys
- Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
- The Grass Roots
- Harmony Grass
- Harpers Bizarre
- The Hobbits
- The Left Banke
- The Mamas & the Papas
- The Merry-Go-Round
- The Millennium
- The Monkees
- Roger Nichols & the Small Circle of Friends
- Paul Revere & the Raiders
- Peppermint Rainbow
- Peppermint Trolley Company
- Pic-Nic
- Sagittarius
- Spanky and Our Gang
- The Strawberry Alarm Clock
- The Turtles
- Twinn Connexion
- Warm Sounds
- Young Rascals
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