Edison Lighthouse originated in England as an outgrowth of the successful UK group, The Flying Machine which had a US top 5 hit in November 1969 with “Smile A Little Smile For Me” featuring Les Fradkin on vocals, mellotron, organ and guitar. The producer of that smash hit assembled a new group for a new song called “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)”.
Edison Lighthouse was the alias of songwriters and producers Tony McCaulay and Barry Mason, with session vocalist Tony Burrows’ vocals on the hit ‘Love Grows’, although members of the group Greenfield Hammer were eventually brought in to perpetuate the image of a real working band. |After the success of “Love Grows,”|Les Fradkin returned from New York City to join this newly formed British group as an original member of Edison Lighthouse. The recording of “Love Grows” proved to be a worldwide success reaching the # 5 chart position in the USA on the Billboard singles hot 100 chart in February 1970 and became a # 1 hit the world over selling a total of 8 million copies. In fact, for the entire year of 1970, it was the #2 selling pop record in the U.K.| |
