Curt Boettcher

Producer and composer Curt Boettcher was among the principal architects of the sunshine pop sound of the mid-'60s, his harmony laden, melody rich approach gracing the Top Ten hits of <a href="spotify:artist:2kuNswDC82PL9xRbfaZJaS">the Association</a> as well as his own projects, including <a href="spotify:artist:2G0qagNyJSe7wZLJCKdfFA">Sagittarius</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2C49JSiNeHN0xwLQCohpyY">the Millennium</a>. Born and raised in Wisconsin, he began his career as a folksinger, co-founding <a href="spotify:artist:2AvTFaVpbDDqCyRtyUZBjs">the GoldeBriars</a> in 1962; the group's self-titled debut album appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a> two years later. Although <a href="spotify:artist:2AvTFaVpbDDqCyRtyUZBjs">the GoldeBriars</a>' complex harmonies anticipated the style of Boettcher's subsequent work, the foursome dissolved after a second LP, Straight Ahead; he then turned to studio work, in 1966 arranging <a href="spotify:artist:2kuNswDC82PL9xRbfaZJaS">the Association</a>'s breakthrough hit "Along Comes Mary." The chart-topping "Cherish" followed and Boettcher also produced the band's debut album And Then, Along Comes the Association; however, the collaboration soon ended and in between producing material for <a href="spotify:artist:7t4XHvWfj0XtEB8SNFeALw">Tommy Roe</a>, Boettcher turned his focus to his own group the Ballroom, recording a long-unreleased LP which finally saw release three decades later on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rev-Ola%22">Rev-Ola</a> under the title Preparing for the Millennium.

Boettcher then signed on with producer <a href="spotify:artist:4hvks1MBaJwnMtJYHqA5fh">Gary Usher</a>'s studio supergroup <a href="spotify:artist:2G0qagNyJSe7wZLJCKdfFA">Sagittarius</a>; 1967's Present Tense also featured contributions from <a href="spotify:artist:3oDbviiivRWhXwIE8hxkVV">the Beach Boys</a>' <a href="spotify:artist:0yiSGGu3grpaH56F9znIeU">Bruce Johnston</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:59hLmB5DrdihCYtNeFeW1U">Glen Campbell</a>, the latter assuming lead vocals on the classic "My World Fell Down." While recording Present Tense, Boettcher formed <a href="spotify:artist:2C49JSiNeHN0xwLQCohpyY">the Millennium</a>, which issued its sole album Begin -- the product of what was then the most costly recording session in the history of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia+Records%22">Columbia Records</a> -- in 1968. After the record's commercial failure, he returned to studio work, but in 1973 issued a solo album, There's an Innocent Face. In the process of contributing production and session vocals to a handful of late-'70s <a href="spotify:artist:3oDbviiivRWhXwIE8hxkVV">Beach Boys</a> releases, Boettcher changed his name to the more phonetic Becher; he died in 1987. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi