The group was formed in
Toronto by lead singer, songwriter and pianist Peter Mann (October 9, 1940 – December 7, 2021). Born in
New York City, he grew up in
Miami, Florida, before working as an
arranger and relocating to Canada in 1965. There, he met
University of Toronto School of Music student and singer Laurie Hood, and singers Lee Harris and
Victor Garber, an actor and singer who was also studying in Toronto as well as singing in the city's clubs. The follow-up, "The Attitude", was less successful, reaching no.77. However, the group won a recording deal with
Capitol Records in
Los Angeles, and recorded an album,
The Sugar Shoppe, released in 1968. It was
produced by
Al De Lory and arranged by
Mort Garson, with
session musicians including "
The Wrecking Crew" of
Hal Blaine,
Carol Kaye,
Larry Knechtel,
Earl Palmer,
Mike Deasy, and
Plas Johnson. Tracks included versions of
Donovan's "Skip-a-Long Sam", which was also released as a single, reaching no. 73 on the Canadian chart;
Bobbie Gentry's "Papa, Won’t You Let Me Go to Town";
Mike Leander's theme song for the movie
Privilege (#93); and a re-recorded version of "The Attitude". However, despite appearances on both
Ed Sullivan's and
Johnny Carson's television shows, the group's commercial success was limited. with some similarity to a later version used by
The 5th Dimension. However, it was not a commercial success. The group continued to perform, mainly in Canada, before Mann and Harris left in 1970. Garber and Hood then formed
The Shoppe with Sandy Crawley. They recorded the soundtrack for a television series based on
Greek mythology in 1971, and recorded several tracks issued on anthologies. By 1973, the group had finally disbanded. Harris developed
multiple sclerosis, leading to her death in the 1990s.
The Sugar Shoppe was reissued on CD with bonus tracks by Now Sounds/
Cherry Red Records in April 2013. == Members ==