The Ron Hicklin Singers were a group of Los Angeles studio singers contracted and organized by Ron Hicklin. They are most famously known as the real singers behind the background vocals on The Partridge Family recordings.
In Los Angeles studio circles in the 1960s through 1980s, they were the vocal equivalent of (and often worked with) The Wrecking Crew, performing backup vocals on thousands of songs, TV and movie themes, and as lead – yet anonymous – singers on thousands of radio and television commercials.
The core group usually consisted of:
However, this core group was often augmented with other specialist vocalists such as:
Often they were not credited, or else were credited under other names. For example, when singing the TV theme of Love, American Style, they were credited as The Charles Fox Singers.
The group also sang the themes for major hit-TV shows of the period:
In addition, they sang many commercial vocals, including campaigns for:
Radio and television station-ID jingle companies throughout the last four decades of the 20th century used the group in their productions, including:
The group also sang on recordings credited to:
The Bahler Brothers can be heard performing tenor harmonies on:
Member Jackie Ward also had a hit on her own as Robin Ward with the 1963 hit "Wonderful Summer".
John Bahler lives in Branson, MO and conducts the "new" Lawrence Welk orchestra as well as running Portraits By Bahler.
Bahler's wife, Janet Lennon-Bahler of the Lennon Sisters, still tours in casinos and resorts around the country as part of an extensive nostalgia circuit, bringing music of the '40s and '50s to a new audience.
Tom Bahler, a long-time close associate of composer Quincy Jones as well as being associate producer and arranger of "We Are the World", lives in California's Santa Ynez Valley north of Los Angeles and continues to occasionally produce as well as record. He is also a songwriter of renown, having penned the Bobby Sherman hit "Julie, Do You Love Me" and Michael Jackson's "She's Out of My Life".