I still can’t quite believe it, but on this week’s show I got to interview Gretchen Christopher — singer and songwriter of the iconic 1950s group The Fleetwoods.
For decades I’ve known her name and face from record covers, documentaries and music history books, and this week I actually got to talk with her.
Not only did Gretchen sing on all the Fleetwoods’ songs, she also wrote many of them — including Come Softly to Me, their first #1 hit.
I think most people know (and love) The Fleetwoods — they just don’t necessarily realize it.
You’ve almost certainly heard Mr. Blue or Come Softly to Me in a movie or on TV somewhere. That soft, dreamy late-’50s sound works great on the big screen, and their songs seem to pop up all the time (Marty Supreme, Ted Lasso, Watchmen, Stand by Me, The Wonder Years, and lots more).
I first heard Mr. Blue in National Lampoon’s Vacation in that scene when Clark falls asleep at the wheel somewhere outside St. Louis. Ha!
Gretchen and I dig into writing and recording those early hits, the sudden leap to national TV with Dick Clark and Ed Sullivan, hanging out with Sam Cooke, Frankie Avalon, and a very young Randy Newman (who wrote a number of Fleetwoods’ songs) — and lots more.
The Fleetwoods even pop up in the recent modern masterpiece Marty Supreme — their a capella version of Unchained Melody is on the soundtrack —though I was honestly so distracted by how good the movie was that I didn’t notice it when it came on.
(I’ll take any excuse to talk about Marty Supreme if you haven’t noticed..)
And, yes, Gretchen and I even get into Bob Dylan covering The Fleetwoods in the ’60s and again in 2024.
Enjoy the episode and go pump up the Fleetwoods after you listen, it’s good for you!
-walt
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