The song featured on the stereo is “Red Rubber Ball” by The Cyrkle.
The Cyrkle had humble beginnings as a “frat rock” band named The Rhondells. That all changed on Labor Day, 1965, when superstar music attorney Nat Weiss heard them play in Atlantic City, NJ. Weiss called his partner, Beatles manager Brian Epstein, who decided to manage the group and change its name (John Lennon provided the unique spelling.) During the summer of 1966, The Cyrcke opened on fourteen concerts for the Beatles’ U.S. Tour.
“Red Rubber Ball” was written by Paul Simon (of Simon and Garfunkel) and Bruce Woodley (of The Seekers). In a recent interview on The Colbert Report, Paul Simon said he wrote “Red Rubber Ball” while living in England to get a £100 advance from The Seekers. Later Simon offered the song to The Cyrkle while they were opening for Simon and Garfunkel on a 1965 tour.
Featuring a rich two-part harmony, a calliope-like electric organ, and haunting, eccentric lyrics, “Red Rubber Ball,” went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was #1 in Canada in 1966. Selling more than one million copies, it was certified as an RIAA Gold Record.
Members of The Cyrkle for “Red Rubber Ball” were Don Dannemann (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Tom Dawes (lead vocals, lead guitar, bass), Earl Pickens (keyboards), and Marty Fried (drums). Dawes and sometimes Fried often do not appear in photographs.