Knock Three Times by lazarus57

lazarus57 - Knock Three Times

lazarus57

Jul 08, 2025 10:25am

MUSICAL BINGO 2 - ROUND 1<img src="https://singsnap-cdn.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/message-board/threads/WW2H/ead31df7d5_XU05_media.gif">CARD C - 70's "Knock Three Times" is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_song" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">popular song</a> credited simply to "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Orlando_and_Dawn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Dawn</a>", obscuring the actual performers. The song was released as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_(music)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">single</a> which hit No. 1 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Billboard Hot 100</a> in January 1971 and eventually sold six million copies. It reached No. 2 on 'Billboard's "Easy Listening" survey.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Three_Times#cite_note-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[1]</a> Outside the US, "Knock Three Times" also claimed the No. 1 spot on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Singles_Chart" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">UK Singles Chart</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Three_Times#cite_note-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[2]</a>Background"Knock Three Times" has roots in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tokens" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">the Tokens</a>. The first Dawn song "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida_(song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Candida</a>" was produced by Tokens member <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Medress" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Hank Medress</a> and his business partner <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Appell" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Dave Appell</a> in May 1970 with session musicians and some Tokens members. Medress did not like the sound of the lead singer and replaced him with his friend <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Orlando" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Tony Orlando</a> who had already enjoyed limited success singing "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bless_You_(Tony_Orlando_song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Bless You</a>" and "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halfway_to_Paradise" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Halfway to Paradise</a>" in 1961. By 1970, Orlando had abandoned his singing career and was working as an executive at April-Blackwood Music, a subsidiary of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Columbia Records</a>, where he was hoping for a promotion. He worried about the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_of_interest" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">conflict of interest</a> inherent in his recording vocals for a competitor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Bell Records</a>, so he only agreed to sing anonymously. "Candida" turned out to be a hit song, and Bell asked Orlando to sing another tune anonymously. Dawn was not an actual musical group at the time; the name was chosen because Bell Records executive Steve Wax had a daughter named Lisa Dawn Wax.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Three_Times#cite_note-Warner2006-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[3]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Three_Times#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[4]</a>Recording and release"Candida" co-writer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_Levine" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Irwin Levine</a> joined with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Russell_Brown" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Larry Brown</a> to write "Knock Three Times". As "Candida" was peaking on the US pop chart in October 1970, Medress brought Orlando back to the studio with backing singers Jay Siegel of the Tokens, Robin Grean, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Wine" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Toni Wine</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Three_Times#cite_note-Warner2006-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[3]</a> Wine remembers <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_November" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Linda November</a> singing on this session.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Three_Times#cite_note-Podolsky2012-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[5]</a> The singers were veterans of the "Candida" recording session, and Wine was co-writer of "Candida" with Levine. They recorded "Knock Three Times" together.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Three_Times#cite_note-Warner2006-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[3]</a> This was the first time Orlando met any of the musicians involved with "Candida".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Three_Times#cite_note-Podolsky2012-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[5]</a>"Knock Three Times" hit No. 1 in January 1971. Bell Records promised Orlando royalties from the song, and he confessed his outside involvement to his employer, who told him it was fine as long as he did not tour, and instructed him to put some April-Blackwood Music songs on the associated album, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida_(album)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Candida</a>. Orlando agreed at first, but soon quit his job to begin touring. To promote the song, a touring version of Dawn was needed. Producer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Camillo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Tony Camillo</a> recommended the duo of cousins <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telma_Hopkins" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Telma Hopkins</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Vincent_Wilson" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Joyce Vincent</a>, who expected only a short employment contract as Dawn. The women liked working with Orlando, and after the tour was finished, the three recorded more hit songs as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Orlando_and_Dawn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Tony Orlando and Dawn</a>, starting with 1973's "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tie_a_Yellow_Ribbon_Round_the_Ole_Oak_Tree" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree</a>".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Three_Times#cite_note-Warner2006-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[3]</a> <img src="https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2de25daeab1ab5a4b8b57eb69deaf820.jpg" alt="EVERY UK NUMBER ONE SONG: ‘Knock Three Times’ – Tony Orlando and Dawn ..."> <img src="https://www.bookofthrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tony-Orlando-DawnKnock-Three-Times-early-rare-music-video_thumb2.jpg" alt="Tony Orlando and Dawn Knock Three Times-early rare music video – The ...">