Apollo 100

Apollo 100
Apollo 100
	Bandleader Tom Parker in 1972 on AVRO's TopPop.
Background information
Genres	Instrumental rock, progressive pop, baroque pop
Years active	1971–1973
Past members	Tom Parker; Clem Cattini; Vic Flick; Zed Jenkins; Jim Lawless; Brian Odgers
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Apollo 100 was a British instrumental group that had a U.S. Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit with the Bach–inspired single "Joy" in 1972.^[1]

History

Apollo 100 was founded by arranger and multi-instrumentalist Tom Parker, who was known for his arrangements from the Young Blood catalogue, such as the Top 20 American hit "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" and a number of Don Fardon's recordings. Parker had played keyboards, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone and a number of other instruments from an early age, and entered the music industry as a session musician by the 1960s.^[2] In the intervening time, he associated with a number of groups, including The Mark Leeman 5, Jimmy James and the Vagabonds and Eric Burdon with the New Animals.^[3]^[1]

Parker formed Apollo 100 in the latter part of 1971 with fellow session musicians drummer Clem Cattini, guitarist Vic Flick, guitarist Zed Jenkins, percussionist Jim Lawless, and bassist Brian Odgers.^[1] In December 1971, they released their first single, "Joy", an electrified arrangement by Clive Scott of Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring".^[1]^[4] The single rose to number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. None of their subsequent efforts was as successful, and they broke up in 1973.^[1]

Parker went on to form the New London Chorale.

Soundtrack appearances

"Joy" has been featured on the soundtracks of the films Boogie Nights,^[5] One Day in September^[4] and The 40-Year-Old Virgin,^[6] as well as the television series The Man Who Fell to Earth.^[7] While not featured on the Battle of the Sexes soundtrack, the song is heard during a scene in the film and is cited in the end credits.^[8]

Charting discography

Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
Title	Album details	AUS ^[9]	US ^[10]
Joy	Released: March 1972^[11] Label: Mega M31-1010	-	47
Master Pieces	Released: April 1973 Label: Mega M51-5005	62	-

Compilation albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
Title	Album details	AUS ^[9]
Reach for the Sky	Released: 1979 Label: Endeavour Records (END-002)	37

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions
Year	Title	Peak chart positions
Year	Title	AUS^[9]	CAN	RSA	US 100^[12]
1971	"Joy"	3	24	18	6
1972	"Mendelssohn's 4th (Second Movement)"	-	-	-	94

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Larkin, Colin (1992). Colin Larkin (ed.). Encyclopedia of popular music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
^ Jancik, Wayne (1998). The Billboard book of one-hit wonders. Billboard Books. p. 306. ISBN 0823076229.
^ Castello, Dionisio (1991). Good Times: The Ultimate Eric Burdon Audio - Videography, 1963-1991. Fondi.
^ ^a ^b Jenkins, Mark (8 December 2000). "Anarchy in the U.K." Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2021. One Day in September tells such a compelling story that miscalculations like the banal narration (read by Michael Douglas) and the sometimes incongruous soundtrack [...] of Philip Glass [...] and Apollo 100's electro-Bach "Joy" are not fatally distracting.
^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Boogie Nights, Vol. 2 Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
^ Phares, Heather. "The 40 Year-Old Virgin Review". AllMusic.
^ Arabian, Alex (8 August 2022). "'The Man Who Fell To Earth' – Alex Kurtzman's Love Letter To David Bowie". Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
^ Valerie Faris & Jonathan Dayton (co-directors) (September 2017). Battle of the Sexes (Motion picture). Fox Searchlight Pictures.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 19. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top LPs, 1955–1996. Record Research. p. 12. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
^ Billboard, Billboard Productions, Inc., New York, March 18, 1972, p. 48
^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - IS=BN 0-89820-089-X

[LarkinGE-1] Larkin, Colin (1992). Colin Larkin (ed.). Encyclopedia of popular music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.

[2] Jancik, Wayne (1998). The Billboard book of one-hit wonders. Billboard Books. p. 306. ISBN 0823076229.

[3] Castello, Dionisio (1991). Good Times: The Ultimate Eric Burdon Audio - Videography, 1963-1991. Fondi.

[OneDay-4] Jenkins, Mark (8 December 2000). "Anarchy in the U.K." Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2021. One Day in September tells such a compelling story that miscalculations like the banal narration (read by Michael Douglas) and the sometimes incongruous soundtrack [...] of Philip Glass [...] and Apollo 100's electro-Bach "Joy" are not fatally distracting.

[5] Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Boogie Nights, Vol. 2 Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 November 2021.

[6] Phares, Heather. "The 40 Year-Old Virgin Review". AllMusic.

[7] Arabian, Alex (8 August 2022). "'The Man Who Fell To Earth' – Alex Kurtzman's Love Letter To David Bowie". Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2023.

[8] Valerie Faris & Jonathan Dayton (co-directors) (September 2017). Battle of the Sexes (Motion picture). Fox Searchlight Pictures.

[aus-9] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 19. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[Whitburn-10] Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top LPs, 1955–1996. Record Research. p. 12. Retrieved 10 July 2025.

[auto-11] Billboard, Billboard Productions, Inc., New York, March 18, 1972, p. 48

[12] Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - IS=BN 0-89820-089-X

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