The Choir

The Choir started as a Mentor, OH pop/rock band playing in the greater Cleveland area, from the mid-1960s into the early 1970s. Originally called The Mods, their largest commercial success came with the release of their first single "It's Cold Outside" in December 1966, originally on Canadian-American, then on Roulette. It went to Number 1 on the charts of Cleveland radio stations WKYC and WIXY in May of 1967. The song, considered to be a classic of the garage rock era, was featured on Pebbles, Volume 2, one of the earlier garage rock compilation LPs (issued in 1979). The flipside, "I'm Going Home" was included as a bonus track when the Pebbles album was reissued as a CD, and it can also be found on a garage rock compilation LP on Ohio bands, Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 9. The Choir is well known for containing three of the four original members of Raspberries, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti - (all except lead singer Eric Carmen).