Apollo 100 – Wikipedia

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British musical group

Apollo 100 was a short-lived British instrumental group, that had a U.S. Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit with the Johann Sebastian Bach–inspired single “Joy” in 1972.[1]

History[edit]

Apollo 100 was founded by arranger and multi-instrumentalist Tom Parker, who was known for his arrangements from the Young Blood catalogue, such as the Top 20 American hit “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” and a number of Don Fardon’s recordings. Parker had played keyboards, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and a number of other instruments from an early age, and entered the music industry as a session musician by the 1960s.[2] In the intervening time, he associated with a number of groups, including The Mark Leeman 5, Jimmy James and the Vagabonds, and Eric Burdon with the New Animals.[3][1]

Parker formed Apollo 100 in the latter part of 1971 with fellow session musicians drummer Clem Cattini, guitarist Vic Flick, guitarist Zed Jenkins, percussionist Jim Lawless, and bassist Brian Odgers.[1] In December 1971, they released their first single, “Joy”, an electrified arrangement by Clive Scott of Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”.[1][4] The single rose to number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. None of their subsequent efforts were as successful, and they broke up in 1973.[1]

Parker went on to form the New London Chorale.

Soundtrack appearances[edit]

Apollo 100’s first single “Joy”, released from their premiere album Joy, has subsequently been featured in the soundtracks of the films Boogie Nights,[5]One Day in September,[4] and The 40-Year-Old Virgin,[6] as well as the television series The Man Who Fell to Earth.[7] While not featured in the Battle of the Sexes soundtrack, the song was played during a scene in the movie and was cited in the end credits.[8]
The song Mendelssohn’s 4th appears in Gaslit S1E4 as the backing track of a montage.

Charting discography[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

Compilation albums[edit]

Singles[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Larkin, Colin (1992). Colin Larkin (ed.). Encyclopedia of popular music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  2. ^ Jancik, Wayne (1998). The Billboard book of one-hit wonders. Billboard Books. p. 306. ISBN 0823076229.
  3. ^ Castello, Dionisio (1991). Good Times: The Ultimate Eric Burdon Audio – Videography, 1963-1991. Fondi.
  4. ^ a b Jenkins, Mark (8 December 2000). “Anarchy in the U.K.” Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2021. One Day in September tells such a compelling story that miscalculations like the banal narration (read by Michael Douglas) and the sometimes incongruous soundtrack […] of Philip Glass […] and Apollo 100’s electro-Bach “Joy” are not fatally distracting.
  5. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. “Boogie Nights, Vol. 2 Review”. AllMusic. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  6. ^ Phares, Heather. “The 40 Year-Old Virgin Review”. AllMusic.
  7. ^ Arabian, Alex (8 August 2022). “‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’ – Alex Kurtzman’s Love Letter To David Bowie”. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  8. ^ Valerie Faris & Jonathan Dayton (co-directors) (September 2017). Battle of the Sexes (Motion picture). Fox Searchlight Pictures.
  9. ^ a b c Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 19. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ Billboard, Billboard Productions, Inc., New York, March 18, 1972, p. 48
  11. ^ Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 – IS=BN 0-89820-089-X