Is there a popular musical that spawned as many hits as “Hair”? The Fifth Dimension had the medley of “Aquarius” and “Let the Sunshine In.” The Cowsills had a top 10 hit with the title song. Three Dog Night literally started a decade of hits with “Easy to Be Hard.” A one-off singer named Oliver (William Oliver Swofford) went top 10 with “Good Morning Starshine.” This was all in 1969. The records are played on every oldies station to this day.
Galt McDermot wrote all those songs. The lyrics were by James Rado and Gerone Ragni. Reports from Canada are that McDermott has passed away at 89, one day before his 90th birthday. IN addition to “Hair,” McDermot wrote the music for the Tony Award winning musical of 1971, “Two Gentlemen of Verona.” That show, with a book co-written by John Guare, starred the late great Raul Julia and had Stockard Channing and Jeff Goldblum in the chorus.
Thank you, Galt McDermot! Rest in peace.
