Artists

The Dawn of Correction

Michelle

II Love How You Love Me

A Brief History

In the Mid '60s, John formed a group called The Spokesmen with partner Dave White and local

D.J. Ray Gilmore. They released "The Dawn of Correction," an answer song to the enormous

hit "Eve of Destruction" by Barry Mcguire. The "Eve of Destruction" was a protest song that

portrayed a bleak look at the future, understandable with all of the unrest going on in America

at the time. "The Dawn of Correction" showed a more positive side and became very contro-

versial, with Time Magazine doing a comparison of both songs' lyrics. In some cases the

group was not permitted to sing their song on the air and had to replace it with other, less

controversial songs. Nevertheless, the song was a huge success and reached the Top 20 on

the charts.

John's Memories

We didn’t have anyone to record "The Dawn of Correction," so we decided to do it ourselves. I

sang the lead and Dave and Ray backed me up. We called ourselves The Spokesmen.

Soon after, I was at EMI Studios on Abby Road, in Studio Two, where Paul McCartney was

doing a vocal overdub for George Martin for the Beatles' song, "Maxwell Hammer." I was

really interested in seeing how Ringo's drums were set up and how they were miked. I was

introduced to Paul by the studio manager in the hallway on Paul's way back from the "loo," and

I mentioned that The Spokesmen had had a hit with his song, "Michelle." Paul looked at me

kind of funny and said something like "Well, our version did quite well, too," and immediately

split. Later I was asked by the Studio Manager to stop hanging around. I thought that was a

pretty funny story.

I also had the opportunity to meet George Harrison during one of his sessions for his own label,

and when I mentioned to him that The Spokesmen had had success with "Michelle," he was very

complimentary. "That's really cool" were his words. That made me feel pretty good.

What Happened Next?

The Spokesmen went on to have several other successes with the Beatles' "Michelle" and

"I Love How You Love Me." An album followed and got great reviews.

The group performed on "American Bandstand" and "The Lloyd Thaxton Show." It dissolved

soon after due to the fact that John and Dave were both having success with their writing and

producing, and that was really where they wanted to concentrate their efforts.