THE FANTASTIC BAGGYS (US)

The band was formed by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri. Sloan (Philip Gary “Flip” Sloan but born Philip Gary Schlein) was a song writer who would see success writing for acts such as The Searchers, Jan and Dean, Johnny Rivers and The Turtles. Probably one of the most well known hits he penned was Barry McGuire’s ‘Eve Of Destruction’. Barri (born Steven Barry Lipkin) was also primarily a songwriter, some of which he wrote with Sloan. Apart from writing hits for Jan and Dean, they also provided backing vocals for them. The Fantastic Baggys’ career was short and sweet, releasing 3 albums in 4 years. They never made the charts in either the US or the UK but did prove popular in South Africa. After their first album, the South African record company that released their material were keen to get more material from the band, but none was forthcoming, so they got a local band called The Falling Leaves to record an album of material using the name The Fantastic Baggys. This was done with the permission of Dunhill records, the US record label that the band were signed to. The second hit mentioned below was by the South African version of the band. One could classify this as a separate act, but as it was done ‘under licence’ so to speak, I have counted this as 1 act.

Date of entry	Song	Peak (weeks at 1)	Weeks
26-Aug-1966	Tell ‘Em I’m Surfin’	2	10
25-Nov-1966	Pa Pa Doo Ron Ron	10	10
		Total hits	2
		Total weeks	20

Biggest climber awards	1
Star rater climbs	2
Biggest fallers	0
Weeks with oldest in the charts	0
Longest run in the charts (weeks)	10
Weeks with more than 1 in the charts	0
Biggest gap between hits (weeks)	3
Top 30 points ranking	=414
Top 20 points ranking	=420
Top 30 points	405
Top 20 points	205

Hits written by Sloan and Barri:

Song	Act	Peak (weeks at 1)	Weeks
A Must To Avoid	Herman’s Hermits	14	7
Where Were You When I Needed You	Grass Roots	13	5
I’ve Got No More To Say	Thomas Group	20	1
		Total hits	3
		Total weeks	13

The duo also penned their hit ‘Tell ‘Em I’m Surfin’

Hits written by P.F. Sloan:

Song	Act	Peak (weeks at 1)	Weeks
Let Me Be	Turtles	6	11
		Total hits	1
		Total weeks	11

Apart from ‘Where Were You When I Needed You’ and ‘I’ve Got No More To Say’ mentioned above, Sloan and Barri also produced the following:

Song	Act	Peak (weeks at 1)	Weeks
Let’s Live For Today	Grass Roots	1 (2)	12
		Total hits	1
		Total weeks	12

P.F. Sloan produced both the Fantastic Baggys’ hits while Steve Barri additionally produced:

Song	Act	Peak (weeks at 1)	Weeks
Midnight Confessions	Grass Roots	9	7
		Total hits	1
		Total weeks	7

P.F. Sloan would play on the following Mamas & Papas track:

Date Of Entry	Song	Peak (Weeks at 1)	Weeks
17-Jun-1966	Monday Monday	1 (1)	12
		Total hits	1
		Total weeks	12

Total involvement by the group and its members:

Number of hits	9
Weeks	65
Number 1’s	2
Weeks at 1	3