- The Hillside Singers
The Hillside Singers were an American folk group. The ensemble was assembled by
advertising agencyMcCann Erickson for the purposes of singing in atelevision commercial . McCann Erickson had written thejingle "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" forCoca-Cola , and had sought to haveThe New Seekers sing it, but The New Seekers could not fit the project into their schedule and turned it down. McCann Erickson then got in touch with producerAl Ham , who then put together a group ofsinger s for the project (including his wife, Mary Mayo, and their daughter Lori). The commercial began airing late in 1971 and was extremely popular, convincing Ham to rewrite the song as "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing " and to record a fullalbum and aChristmas record; the single hit #13 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart and #5 on theAdult Contemporary chart , which convinced The New Seekers to issue it as a single as well.Ham went on to create a syndicated radio music format called "The
Music of Your Life ", but he died in 2001. Lori Ham (now known as Lori Hafer) continues to work as a professional singer and is also an on-air personality on the Music of Your Life network.Members
*Lori Ham
*Mary Mayo
*Joelle Marino
*Bill Marino
*Frank Marino
*Laura Marino
*Rick Shaw
*Ron Shaw
*Susan WiedinmanDiscography
*"The Hillside Singers" (
Metromedia Records , 1972) U.S. #71
*"Merry Christmas From the Hillside Singers"References
* [http://wm02.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3pfexqr5ldje~T1 Hillside Singers] at Allmusic.com
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.