I've gathered some info for you on the band known as The Balloon Farm
(sometimes spelled 'The Baloon Farm').
"THE BALLOON FARM:
Personnel: Mike Appel
Don Henny
Jay Saks
Ed Schnug
They were from New York City.
45s: Question Of Temperature/Hurtin'(Laurie 3405) 1967 #37 (Billboard)
Farmer Brown/Hurry Up Sundown (Laurie 3445) 1968"
Bomp List: Balloon Farm
http://bomplist.xnet2.com/9910/msg00102.html
"Out of the four members of The Balloon Farm (itself a name taken from
the New York City nightclub christened by some wiseass remark Bob
Dylan once made) only the name Mike Appel may be immediately
recognised: not only for his later, notorious dealings as
Springsteen?s manager but as co-producer, co-writer and co-arranger on
Sir Lord Baltimore?s 'Kingdom Come' album... As for the rest of the
group (Don Henny, Jay Saks and Ed Schnug) they continued on here and
there and then promptly sputtered off into oblivion, but they recorded
the electronically inclined punker, 'A Question Of Temperature'... The
Balloon Farm issued only two singles before they split up, and this
one was their first and best."
Head Heritage: The Balloon Farm
http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/thebookofseth/658
"[WRITTEN BY] THE BALLOON FARM
Sunshine Rides On A Trolley Car
(Mike Appel - Don Henny - Ed Schnug)
USA
This is clearly the source of Robbie Snowden's 1967 Australian release
Sunshine Rides On A Trolley.
Three members of New York band The Balloon Farm wrote Sunshine Rides
On A Trolley Car, the same three who wrote The Balloon Farm's
psych-pop classic A Question of Temperature (1968, #37 USA)...
Members of The Balloon Farm wrote a number of songs together... They
began as Adam (a 45rpm, Eve, late 1966), with all of the members using
'Adam' as their first name! Then they became Balloon Farm, from a
Dylan comment, followed by a name switch yet again to Huck Finn (one
single on Kapp).
The Balloon Farm was also the name of a New York club: more details
from Phil X Milstein and Deena C in the same Spectropop thread.
Mike Appel of The Balloon Farm is now better known as an early but
notable producer, writer and manager for Bruce Springsteen...
Adam, Balloon Farm, Huck Finn singles discography.
Adam
1966, MALA 547: Eve (Adam Mintzer) - Where Has My Little Girl Gone (Mintzer)
Balloon Farm
1967, Laurie 3405: A Question of Temperature (Mike Appel-Don Henny-Ed
Schnug ) - Hurtin' For Your Love (Appel-Henny-Schnug-Jay Saks)
Balloon Farm
1968, Laurie 3445: Hurry Up Sundown (Henny-Appel) - Farmer Brown (Appel)
Huck Finn
1968, Kapp 958: Two Of A Kind (Henny-Appel) - We'll Catch The Sun (Appel)"
Pop Archives: Where Did They Get That Song?
http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=1443
The other members of The Balloon Farm seem to have faded into
obscurity, but, as mentioned above, Mike Appel went on to become Bruce
Springsteen's manager/producer:
"Appel actually started in music in the late '50s as a performer,
playing guitar on little-known records by the groups the Humbugs and
the Camelots, in addition to backing other artists. By the mid-'60s he
was involved in the business on several levels, writing songs for
publishers, producing Michael St. Shaw, and playing with Tex and the
Chex, an interracial New York group that also included Alan Gordon
(who would record with the group the Magicians, and become half of the
successful Gordon-Bonner songwriting team, most famous for the
Turtles' 'Happy Together'). He was also part of the Balloon Farm and
co-wrote their 1967 Top 40 bubblegum-garage-psychedelic hit 'A
Question of Temperature.' In the late '60s and the early '70s, he
continued to work as a songwriter and producer, producing and
co-writing for the hard rock band Sir Lord Baltimore...
[Bruce] Springsteen, label-less and unknown, was at this time
desperate for inroads into the record business. Appel auditioned
Springsteen in late 1971 and told him to come back when he had more
songs. When Springsteen did come back with more songs in early 1972,
Appel, to his credit, recognized blooming talent and enthusiastically
entered into a management/production deal with the performer...
Appel produced Springsteen's first two albums, and stuck with the
artist through the first couple of years of his recording career, when
his records weren't selling well and there was some doubt as to
whether Columbia would keep him on its roster. One thing he did to
help get Springsteen airplay was to give an advance tape of the 'Born
to Run' song to key FM radio DJs in a few markets that were especially
supportive of the singer."
AllMusic: Mike Appel
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE57F1AD24CA97120C8853E5CC8BA72D20ED342F38250234558C0A63451800263F340ADC6CCB6E577B479A9B32AAE5E0BD9CEED469CA1&sql=11:ae3zefukhgfj~T1
"The Balloon Farm are known solely for their bubblegum-garage single
'A Question of Temperature,' which inched into the Top Forty in early
1968. Far from folk-rock, but its producer, Peter Schekeryk, would
shortly go on to produce and marry Melanie. And in order to produce
Melanie, he had to pry her from the contractual clutches of the
production team (and Roulette Records executives) Hugo Peretti and
Luigi Creatore. He bought her freedom by trading his financial
interest in 'A Question of Temperature' to Hugo & Luigi."
Richie Unterberger: GREAT MOMENTS IN FOLK-ROCK
http://www.richieunterberger.com/turnlists.html
"A Question of Temperature" is on Disc 3 of a Rhino Records CD box
set, and original 45 rpm copies are fairly plentiful:
Wikipedia: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuggets:_Original_Artyfacts_from_the_First_Psychedelic_Era%2C_1965-1968
Amazon: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/samples/B00000AFWZ/ref=dp_tracks_all_1/104-1272418-8314345?ie=UTF8#disc_3
Gemm: Balloon Farm, Question of Temperature
http://www.gemm.com/search/artist/BALLOON-FARM/BALLOON--FARM/QUESTION--OF--TEMPERATURE/45RPM/
I hope this is helpful. If anything is unclear or incomplete, or if a
link doesn't work for you, please request clarification; I'll be glad
to offer further assistance before you rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
