McCoys, The

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The McCoys were a rock group formed in Union City, Indiana, in 1962. They are best known for their 1965 hit "Hang on Sloopy".

The original members were all from Union City; however, the Zehringer boys were initially from Fort Recovery, Ohio. The band members were guitarist and lead singer Richard Zehringer (later known as Rick Derringer), his brother Randy (later known as Randy Z) on drums, and bassist Dennis Kelly. This first line-up was known as "The Rick Z Combo", and later known as "Rick and the Raiders". When Kelly left for college, the Zehringers were joined by bassist Randy Jo Hobbs, saxophonist Sean Michaels, and keyboardist Ronnie Brandon.  This was the line-up that took the name of "The McCoys". Brandon left the group in 1965 and was replaced by Bobby Peterson on keyboards.

One of their best-known songs is "Hang On Sloopy", which was #1 in the United States in the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October 1965 and is the official rock song of the state of Ohio. It also is the unofficial fight song of The Ohio State University Buckeyes and can be heard being played at many Ohio State athletic events by the OSU bands. American sales alone were over one million copies.[1] Other hits include a Top 10 cover of "Fever" (Billboard #7), and a Top 40 cover of Ritchie Valens's "Come On Let's Go" (Billboard #21).

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoZ5JL3gmHo

Hang On Sloopy" is a 1964 song by Wes Farrell and Bert Berns, originally titled "My Girl Sloopy". It peaked at number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 5 on the UK Singles Chart.

In early 1965, The Strangeloves, a New York City rock band, wanted to make the song the follow-up to their hit single "I Want Candy" and began performing the song in concert. However, the Dave Clark Five, with whom they were touring, told the Strangeloves that they were going to record their own version of the song when they returned to England, copying the Strangeloves' crowd-pleasing arrangement. The Strangeloves realized that the Dave Clark Five's version would probably outsell their own, but they weren't ready to release a new single yet because they were still enjoying the success of "I Want Candy" from a few months earlier. The answer presented itself when a young rock group named Rick and the Raiders opened for (and provided backing for) The Strangeloves in July in Dayton, Ohio.[8] The Strangeloves — who were, in reality, three successful writer/producers from Brooklyn, New York — recruited Rick and The Raiders to release the song under their name. Their 16-year-old leader, Rick Zehringer, was flown to New York to record his lead vocal over The Strangeloves' already-recorded backing tracks. It was decided to change the name of Rick's group to The McCoys to avoid confusion with another popular band of the era, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and Rick himself began using the stage name Rick Derringer. The single was released on Bang Records and entered the chart on August 14, 1965, effectively beating the Dave Clark Five to the charts. The single went on to hit number one on October 2.

Originally written and recorded with three verses, the newly retitled "Hang On Sloopy" was edited down to two verses for the single and resulting Hang On Sloopy album. The unedited three-verse version first appeared on the 1970 Bang various artists compilation Bang & Shout Super Hits (BLPS-220), then again on the 1991 Rhino Records various artists compilation Grandson of Frat Rock! Vol. 3 and the 1995 Legacy Recordings compilation Hang On Sloopy: The Best of the McCoys.