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((Short description|American R&B group))
((Distinguish|Olympic (band)))
((Use mdy dates|date=January 2020))
((More citations needed|date=October 2019))
((Infobox musical artist
| name            = The Olympics
| image           = 
| image_size      = 
| image_upright   = 
| landscape       = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| alt             = 
| caption         = 
| background      = group_or_band
| alias           = 
| origin          = Los Angeles, California, United States
| genre           = [[Doo-wop]]
| years_active    = ((start date|1957))–present
| label           = 
| associated_acts = 
| website         = <!-- ((URL|www.example.com))  -->
| past_members    = *[[Walter Ward (singer)|Walter Ward]]
*Eddie Lewis
*Charles Fizer
*Walter Hammond
*Melvin King
))

'''The Olympics''' are an American [[doo-wop]] group, formed in 1957 by lead singer [[Walter Ward (singer)|Walter Ward]] (August 28, 1940 – December 11, 2006). The group also included Eddie Lewis ([[tenor]], Ward's cousin), Charles Fizer (tenor), Walter Hammond ([[baritone]]), and Melvin King ([[bass (voice)|bass]]). With the exception of Lewis, all were friends in a Los Angeles, California, high school.<ref name="Larkin">((cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=919))</ref>

==History and influence==
Their first [[gramophone record|record]] was credited to Walter Ward and the Challengers ("I Can Tell" on Melatone Records). After the name change, they recorded "[[Western Movies]]" (Demon Records) in the summer of 1958.<ref name="Larkin"/> [[Songwriter|Co-written]] by [[Fred Sledge Smith|Fred Smith]] and Cliff Goldsmith,<ref name="Larkin"/> "Western Movies" made it to No. 8 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] [[record chart|chart]]. The song reflected the nation's preoccupation with [[western (genre)|western]] themed movies and television programs. It told the story of a man who lost his girl to TV westerns, and it included doo-wop [[harmonies]] as well as background [[gunshot]]s and [[ricochet]] [[sound effect]]s.

In 1959, the group [[sound recording and reproduction|recorded]] "(Baby) Hully Gully" (Arvee Records), which initiated the [[Hully Gully]] dance craze. "Big Boy Pete," which the group released in 1960,<ref name="Larkin"/> served as inspiration for [[The Kingsmen]]'s "[[The Jolly Green Giant]]". Over the next ten years The Olympics recorded upbeat [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] songs, often about dances popular at the time.

In 1965, The Olympics were one of the first to record "[[Good Lovin']]", penned by [[Rudy Clark]] and Arthur Resnick.
In 1966, [[The Rascals|The Young Rascals]] version rose to No. 1 on the US Hot 100. Since then, many recorded versions have been made by prominent artists, including [[Mary Wells]], [[The Ventures]], [[The Who]], [[The Grateful Dead]], [[Bobby McFerrin]] and [[The Bobs]].

Fizer was shot and killed during the [[Watts riots]] in 1965.<ref name="Larkin"/> Shortly thereafter, King left the group after his sister died in an accidental shooting.((citation needed|date=April 2016)) A revamped group continued to record into the early 1970s but were unable to attain popular chart success after the mid-1960s. The Olympics continued to perform on the oldies circuit in the United States and other countries.<ref name="Larkin"/>

In 1984, [[Rhino Records]] issued an album titled ''The Official Record Album of The Olympics'', containing recordings from the group from the 1950s and 1960s.  The [[Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee]] sued Rhino, claiming that Rhino's record could be confused with the album [[1984 Summer Olympics#Music|''The Official Music of the XXIII Olympiad—Los Angeles 1984'']].  Rhino won the lawsuit.<ref>((cite book |last1=Marsh |first1=Dave |last2=Bernard |first2=James |title=The New Book of Rock Lists |date=1994 |publisher=Fireside |location=New York |isbn=0-671-78700-4 |page=505))</ref>

Walter Ward's song "Well (Baby Please Don't Go)" (the B-side to "Western Movies") was recorded twice by [[John Lennon]] in 1971: the February 1971 studio recording was not issued until the 1998 ''[[John Lennon Anthology]]'', then again on ''[[Wonsaponatime]]''. A June 1971 live recording with [[Frank Zappa]] and the Mothers of Invention was issued on 1972's ''[[Some Time in New York City]]'', and on Zappa's 1992's ''[[Playground Psychotics]]''.

Eddie Lewis, tenor singer and last original member of the Olympics, died on May 31, 2017.((citation needed|date=August 2017)) Current and remaining members of The Olympics are Vel Omarr, Alphonso Boyd, and Samuel E. Caesar.((citation needed|date=August 2017))

==Discography==
===Albums===
*''Doin' the Hully Gully'' (1960) Arvee A-423
*''Dance by the Light of the Moon'' (1961) Arvee A-424
*''Party Time'' (1961) Arvee A-429
*''Do the Bounce'' (1963) Tri-Disc 1001
*''Something Old, Something New'' (1966) Mirwood<ref>Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records 1948–1991 Martin Popoff – 2010 p871 The Olympics 1981 10.00 MIRWOOD MS-7003 [S] Something Old, Something New 1966 50.00 MW-7003 [M] Something Old, Something New 1966.</ref>
*''The Official Record Album of The Olympics'' (1984) Rhino 207

===Singles===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Title
! colspan="4"| Chart positions
|-
! width="45"|<small>[[Billboard Hot 100|US]]</small><br><ref name="Awards">((cite web|title=The Olympics - Awards|website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-olympics-mn0000472440/awards|access-date=14 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524060124/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-olympics-mn0000472440/awards|archive-date=May 24, 2015))</ref>
! width="45"|<small>[[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|US R&B]]</small><br><ref name="Awards"/>
! width="45"|<small>[[UK Singles Chart|UK]]</small><br><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">((cite book|first= David|last= Roberts|year=2006|title= British Hit Singles & Albums|edition=19th|publisher=Guinness World Records Limited|location=London|isbn=1-904994-10-5|page=164))</ref>
! width="45"|<small>[[Kent Music Report|AUS]]</small><br>
|-
| 1956
|"I Can Tell" <small>(as Walter Ward and the Challengers)</small>
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
|-
| rowspan="2"|1958
|"[[Western Movies]]"
| align="center"| 8
| align="center"| 7
| align="center"| 12
| align="center"| 12
|-
|"I Wanna Dance with the Teacher"
| align="center"| 71
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
|-
| 1959
|"Private Eye"
| align="center"| 95
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| 42
|-
| rowspan="4"| 1960
|"[[Hully Gully (song)|(Baby) Hully Gully]]"
| align="center"| 72
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
|-
|"Big Boy Pete"
| align="center"| 50
| align="center"| 10
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| 77
|-
|"Shimmy Like Kate"
| align="center"| 42
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
|-
|"Dance by the Light of the Moon"
| align="center"| 47
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1961
|"[[I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate]]"
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| 40
| align="center"| —
|-
|"Little Pedro"
| align="center"| 76
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
|-
|"Dooley"
| align="center"| 94
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1963
|"The Bounce"
| align="center"| 40
| align="center"| 22
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
|-
|"Dancin' Holiday"
| align="center"| 86
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
|-
| 1965
|"[[Good Lovin']]"
| align="center"| 81
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1966
|"Mine Exclusively"
| align="center"| 99
| align="center"| 25
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
|-
|"Baby, Do the Philly Dog"
| align="center"| 63
| align="center"| 20
| align="center"| —
| align="center"| —
|-
| colspan="7" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.
|}

==References==
((Reflist))

==External links==
*[http://www.thesoulguy.com/olympics Olympics Interview]
*[http://www.musicweb-international.com/encyclopaedia/o/O25.HTM Music Web]
*[http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/olympics.htm The Olympics]
*[http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-ward16dec16,1,7749649.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california Walter Ward's obituary in the Los Angeles Times]
*[http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/the+olympics/dance+by+the+light+of+the+moon_10230524.html Lyrics Freak]
*((Discogs artist|The Olympics|The Olympics))

((Authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:Olympics))
[[Category:African-American musical groups]]
[[Category:American rhythm and blues musical groups]]
[[Category:American vocal groups]]
[[Category:Doo-wop groups]]
[[Category:Jay Boy artists]]
[[Category:Loma Records artists]]
[[Category:MGM Records artists]]
[[Category:Mirwood Records artists]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1957]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Los Angeles]]

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