The Murmaids were a U.S. all-girl vocal trio in the 1960s.The trio was made up of sisters Carol and Terry Fischer and their neighbour and friend Sally Gordon, from Los Angeles, California. The Fischer sisters were fifteen and seventeen years old in 1963, and Gordon was also seventeen.
The Fischers' father was Carl Fischer, composer of standards such as Billie Holiday's "You've Changed" and "We'll Be Together Again". He was also musical director and arranger for Fankie Laine for twelve years.
Their mother, Terry Fischer, sang with the big bands of the day, ultimately becoming the first girl singer with the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Their grandmother and her three sisters played the vaudeville circuit as the Locus Sisters.
The three girls made their first recordings singing on demos produced by Mike Post. A schoolfriend of Terry Fischer's, Post would occasionally have the Fischer sisters and Sally Gordon provide backing vocals on sessions at Gold Star Studios; it was there that Kim Fowley - then in-house record producer at Chattahoochee Records - heard the trio and offered to record them on their own single.
Billed as the Murmaids, they recorded five tracks for Fowley: "Popsicles and Icicles" (written by David Gates, the future founder and front man of the band Bread), "Blue Dress", "Bunny Stomp", "Comedy and Tragedy", and "Huntington Flats"; each of the last four served as a B-side for one of the pressings of "Popsicles and Icicles".
"Popsicles and Icicles" began receiving airplay in Los Angeles in October 1963, breaking nationally in November to reach number three in Billboard and Cash Box on their charts dated the 11th January 1964.
The Record World chart ranked "Popsicles and Icicles" at number one for the week of the 18th January; as Record World's next number one was "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles, "Popsicles and Icicles" is sometimes cited as the last number one of the pre-British Invasion rock and roll genre.
In the U.K., "Popsicles and Icicles" was released on Stateside Records, with "Comedy and Tragedy" as the B-side. The tune did not chart, however. However, "Popsicles and Icicles" did afford the Murmaids a hit in Australia, via a W&G Records release (backed by "Comedy and Tragedy") which reached number twelve in February 1964.
There was an album, from which two further singles were released: "Heartbreak Ahead" and "Wild and Wonderful". Chattahoochee Records later used the name "The Murmaids" for at least two singles which did not feature any of the three "Popsicles and Icicles" singers.
The vocalists on these latterday Murmaids singles have been identified as Cathy Brasher - a solo act on the Chattahoochee roster - and Yvonne Young.In 1968 Liberty Records used The Murmaids name for the release of a single version of the Traffic song "Paper Sun".
That was the last Murmaids single release.
