The Association`s music remains cherished because it reminds fans of their first close encounters with the opposite sex, says founding member Russ Giguere.
After all, how can people not respond to a song that accompanied their introduction to romance?
”It`s a pretty visceral thing that all of us have in common,” Giguere said.
The Association was one of the biggest soft-rock acts of the 1960s, thanks to consistently palatable vocal harmonies that extolled mostly romance and compatibility.
In addition to Giguere, the current six-member Association also includes original members Jules Alexander and Larry Ramos. It keeps busy singing
”Cherish,” ”Never My Love,” ”Windy,” ”Along Comes Mary” and other oldies at colleges, casinos, county fairs, music festivals, amusement parks, conventions and cruise ships.
Between concert dates, the Association is rehearsing material for a new album ”that`s a little more electric, a little more sophisticated,” Giguere said.
”We`re not recording yet, but we have a lot of great stuff. Some of it we try out on stage. That`s how we picked `Cherish.` It was an obvious hit from the top. People used to come up to me six months before we recorded the song and say, `When are you going to record that song?` ”
The Association formed in 1965 from the ashes of an 11-member electric folk group called the Men. Giguere left the group in 1972. ”By about `75 the group had melted,” he said.
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The ensemble returned for a what was supposed to be a one-time-only reunion on a cable TV music special in 1979. Six months later, the Association was formally reconstituted and ready to hit the road again.
”We got a big bank loan and did all the stuff that it takes to get a band back together again,” Giguere said. ”We`re having more fun this time than we ever had in the `60s and early `70s. And, believe me, we always have had a lot of fun.”
The difference now, Giguere said, is that the veteran members of the Association are working together as adults.
”When you`re a kid and you first start working, all your juices are flowing and guys are arguing. Now, you learn to appreciate the moment. To me, it`s like a feat of grace to be able to go on and sing an hour concert for 500 people, for 10,000 people, for 100,000 people.”
In its early days, the Association frequently encountered resistance as the first electric act to play such established venues as Hollywood`s Greek Theatre, the Coconut Grove and the Copacabana.
”Sometimes it was pretty scary, because people treated you really badly,” Giguere said. ”If you played rock and roll, it was somehow not part of pop music. They didn`t treat you with quite the respect.
”I can remember being in a club, and when you turned on your amplifiers, as soon as people saw those little red lights, they started freaking out. They just weren`t used to it. We used to cover the lights so they`d just listen to the music and stop thinking about it. They`d have all these preconceived notions if it was electric.
”I`ve gone to see a 17-piece brass band and sat 30 feet away; those guys are as loud as any rock-and-roll group I`ve ever heard.”