Could it have been a better summer? Not to many sweltering hot days. Just enough rain to keep the grass green. The summer of 2014 was as perfect weatherwise as you can get. So, on this last day of the season, this tune popped into my head -
Robin Ward (Jaqueline "Jackie" McDonell Ward) was born in 1941. After she and her two sisters won a talent contest, the family moved to Los Angeles to find work in the music business. When Jackie was 13 she became a regular singer for KTLA radio. After leaving KTLA, she recorded demo records for songwriters and did session singing for recording studios.
In 1963, she made a demo of "Wonderful Summer" for Perry Botkin. Botkin decided to experiment with the sound by speeding it up. The result sounded like a teenage singer rather than a 21 year old married lady who had a baby daughter. Botkin decided to release the demo as a 45 rpm single. Jackie's daughter's name appeared on the record label since the name Robin sounded more youthful. "Wonderful Summer" went to #14 on the charts.
Jackie Ward went back to session singing after her one hit wonder. She was a vocalist on The Danny Kaye Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, and The Partridge Family. She sang theme songs for Flipper, Love American Style, and other TV shows. She also sang jingles for commercials, the Rice-a-Roni theme song probably being the most well known. She was also a ghost singer in the movies.
If you want to know more about Jackie Ward, here's a link to an interview she did in 2000 -
http://www.cmongethappy.com/interviews/jw/
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