Originally Posted by
BobbyC
The 5th Dimension recorded Aquarius after seeing the show live in late 1968--they never heard it recorded. They were told by their producer that it wasn't a good idea since several people had recorded it already and none of those versions charted. It was Bones Howe's idea to combine Aquarius with Sunshine In. Nobody had done that before, so calling the 5th's version a cover is a stretch, at least to my mind. Eventually, over time, the Hair musical started doing the two songs as a medley, just like the 5th did. By 1969, the 5th had the hit that brought this medley to the public at large and the rest is history. Did you guys know that the group [[5th) brought a tape of some of their early demos to Berry Gordy, before they were known? Berry turned them down, but later after Up Up and Away hit big, Berry saw LaMonte at Motown. Berry asked him if "that balloon song" was on the demo tape LaMonte brought him a year earlier. Berry was obviously a little nervous that maybe he passed on a huge, career making hit. LaMonte said Up Up and Away was not on the tape, and it wasn't.
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