The Ron Hicklin Singers

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The Ron Hicklin Singers were a group of Los Angeles studio singers contracted and organized by Ron Hicklin. They are mostly known as the real singers behind the background vocals on The Partridge Family recordings.

In Los Angeles studio circles in the 1960s through 1980s, they were the vocal equivalent of (and often worked with) The Wrecking Crew, performing backup vocals on thousands of songs, TV and movie themes, and as lead (while remaining anonymous) singers on thousands of radio and television commercials.

Cast[]

The core group usually consisted of:

• Ron Hicklin, lead tenor
• Tom Bahler, tenor
• John Bahler, tenor
• Jackie Ward, alto
• Sally Stevens, soprano
• , bass

However, this core group was often augmented with other specialist vocalists such as:

• Thurl Ravenscroft, bass (voice of Kellogg's Tony the Tiger of Frosted Flakes cereal for 50 years, and the vocalist for "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"!)
• Jim Haas
• Andra Willis
• Linda Dangcil

Often they were not credited, or else were credited under other names. For example, when singing the TV theme of Love, American Style, they were credited as The Charles Fox Singers.

Motion pictures, television and radio work[]

The group performed themes for major motion pictures in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s:

• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, "South American Getaway" written by Burt Bacharach^[1]
• Death Game, "Dear Old Dad" written by Jimmie Haskell with lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart^[2]
• The Mosquito Coast, "Saviour, Like a Shepherd Lead Us" written by William Batchelder Bradbury
• Rosemary's Baby^[3]

The group also sang the themes for major hit-TV shows of the period:

• Love, American Style, with lead vocalist John Bahler (opening theme)^[4]
• Batman
• Flipper
• That Girl, season 5 opening^[5]
• Happy Days, for which Hicklin himself sang lead (opening theme)^[6]
• Laverne & Shirley, along with lead vocalist Cyndi Grecco (opening theme)^[7]
• Wonder Woman, with John Bahler singing lead (season2 opening)^[8]
• Angie, along with lead vocalist Maureen McGovern (opening theme)^[9]

In addition, they sang many commercial vocals, including campaigns for:

• Kawasaki ("Kawasaki, let the good times roll")^[10]
• Datsun ("Drive a Datsun, then Decide")
• McDonald's ("You Deserve a Break Today"), written by Kenny Karen^[11]

Radio and television station-ID jingle companies throughout the last four decades of the 20th century used the group in their productions, including:

• The ^[12]
• JAM Creative Productions
• TM Productions (now known as TM Studios, a division of Dial Global Media) on syndicated-radio ID jingle packages including:
  • Hot Hits
  • Fusion^[13]
  • The "You" campaign
  • Good Feelings

Noteworthy recording work[]

The group also sang on recordings credited to:^[14]

• The Brady Kids
• Cher ("Dark Lady")
• Climax featuring Sonny Geraci
• Ray Conniff Singers
• Percy Faith Orchestra and Chorus
• Anita Kerr Singers [Jackie Ward sang alto on the group's Dot Records recordings]
• Gary Lewis & the Playboys
• Mark Lindsay ("Arizona")
• Henry Mancini Orchestra and Chorus
• The Partridge Family
• Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
• Paul Revere & the Raiders
• Ringo Starr ("Oh My My")
• Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps (1959 Crazy Times album)
• That Girl season 5 theme song

Works of selected members[]

The Bahler Brothers can be heard performing tenor harmonies on:

• Hugo Montenegro's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly theme
• "MacArthur Park"
• "Suicide Is Painless", Johnny Mandel's theme to the 1970 film M*A*S*H, along with Ian Freebairn-Smith

Member Jackie Ward also had a hit on her own as Robin Ward with the 1963 hit "Wonderful Summer".

Where are they now?[]

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John Bahler lives in Branson, MO and conducts the "new" Lawrence Welk orchestra as well as running Portraits By Bahler.^[15]

Bahler's wife, Janet Lennon-Bahler of the Lennon Sisters, still tours in casinos and resorts around the country as part of an extensive nostalgia circuit, bringing music of the 1940s and 1950s to a new audience.

Tom Bahler, a long-time close associate of composer Quincy Jones as well as being associate producer and arranger of "We Are the World", lives in California's Santa Ynez Valley north of Los Angeles and continues to occasionally produce as well as record. He is also a songwriter of renown, having penned the Bobby Sherman hit "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" and Michael Jackson's "She's Out of My Life".

Ron Hicklin himself retired from the business in the mid-2000s, and lives in Palm Desert with his wife, Trudi.

References[]

External links[]

• An interview with Tom Bahler
• An interview with Jackie Ward
• 1974 Demonstration Reel
• Mazda 1976 Sales Presentation Music
• KFI Los Angeles "Big Town New Sound"