The Swinging Medallions

The Swingin' Medallions
Origin	Greenwood, South Carolina
Genres	Beach, rock, pop
Years active	1962–present
Labels	Smash
Associated acts	The Tassles, Pieces of Eight
Website	www.medallions.com

The Swingin' Medallions are an American beach music group from Greenwood, South Carolina.

The band was formed as The Medallions in 1962 adding the "Swingin'" in 1965; possibly as a tribute to the Swingin' Travelers, an R&B group popular in South Carolina in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1967, Brent Fortson and Steve Caldwell left the band and with six members of The Tassles out of North Carolina formed the Pieces of Eight. Johnny Cox and Hack Bartley replaced the two at saxophones.

Their first single, "I Wanna Be Your Guy", was inadvertently released under the name, "Swinging Medallions" instead of "Swingin' Medallions. It did not chart, but the second, "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)", written by Don Smith & Cyril Vetter and originally recorded by Dick Holler & the Holidays, reached #17 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1966, and propelled their full-length album to #88 on the Billboard 200. It was recorded at the Arthur Smith Studios in Charlotte, North Carolina. WIST radio jock Tom Gauger was called in to re-mix for release on Smash. The follow-up single "She Drives Me Out of My Mind", hit #71, but the fourth single, "Hey Baby", did not chart. The band continued to be popular in the American South.

In the mid 1960s they frequently played at the Oporto Armory in Birmingham, Alabama. In Birmingham most of their songs got airplay on WSGN (AM 610) and WVOK (AM 690), including, "I Found A Rainbow", "M.T.Y.L.T.T", "You Gotta Have Faith" as well as the songs mentioned above. The band was also a popular attraction in Panama City Beach, Florida and Auburn University.

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