21-420: The Spiral Starecase was an American pop band, best known for its 1969 single " More Today Than Yesterday ". Hailing from Sacramento, California , United States, the band was recognizable for its horns and lead singer/guitarist Pat Upton 's voice. Beginning life under the name The Fydallions , the group first formed in 1964, changing their name to Spiral Starecase several years later. In addition to Upton
42-419: A history with lead choir singer Lisa Knowles; Tracey Ullman as Ally's unconventional therapist; and Vonda Shepard as a musical performer at the bar where the lawyers used to hang out every night after finishing their daily jobs. Shepard performed in every episode of the entire season, and was upped to series regular status in the upcoming season. Renée Elise Goldsberry , Vatrena King and Sy Smith appeared at
63-409: A job after being sexually harassed by her boss, only to end up employed by her friend from college, Richard Fish, to work in the firm he created with his friend John Cage, named "Cage & Fish". The entire season aired Mondays at 9 pm. It was released on DVD as a six disc boxed set under the title of Ally McBeal: Season One on October 7, 2002. Due to music rights issues, several episodes of
84-455: A stern judge with little sense of humor and a general dislike of the Cage and Fish law firm; Jennifer Holliday as Lisa Knowles, the lead choir singer at the local church who had a history with the reverend; Phil Leeds as Happy Boyle, a very old judge who was obsessed with dental hygiene ; Jesse L. Martin as Ally's date, Dr. Greg Butters; Harrison Page as the reverend at the local church, who had
105-405: A well endowed male nude model. Ally is assigned the case of a 19-year-old charged with assault after punching the ex-boyfriend of his date when he verbally abused her. Ally is disturbed that she finds herself attracted to her client despite his young age. Billy takes on a case of a woman charged with murdering her husband. Georgia represents a man fired from his job for being heterosexual . Renee
126-558: The 50th Primetime Emmy Awards , the show won its first Emmy in the category of Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special for the episode "Boy to the World", and was nominated in nine other categories. On the 55th Golden Globe Awards , the show won in two categories, one for the Best Series, and one for the Best Actress, for Calista Flockhart 's portrayal of Ally. The season
147-578: The U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Cash Box Top 100 . It is ranked as the 50th biggest U.S. hit of 1969. In Canada, it reached number six and is ranked as the 63rd biggest hit of the year. The group soon released their debut album, titled after the song along with a few more singles including the follow-up, "She's Ready", and "No One for Me to Turn To" after signing with Columbia . The group recorded many songs for Columbia Records including several singles. None of those however could match
168-692: The band in the mid 1970s. That line-up also featured Mike Caschera ( a.k.a. Michael Anthony) (lead vocals), Al Sebay (guitar), Gene Austin (electric bass), and Mark Barrett (drums). The band toured extensively and played every major venue in the United States, Canada, and Mexico for the remainder of the 1970s through the mid-1980s often with a full horn section to replicate the sound of their biggest hits. Raymond died in 1984. Kaye died on August 17, 2008 at age 69. Upton died on July 27, 2016, aged 75. "More Today Than Yesterday" has been covered by, among others, Sonny and Cher , Diana Ross , and Goldfinger , and
189-565: The band included Harvey Kaye (organ), Dick Lopes (saxophone), Bobby Raymond (bass guitar), Gene Austin (bass guitar), Vinny Parello (drums), Mark Barrett (drums), Al Sebay (electric guitar), and Mike Caschera. The group evolved from a four-piece instrumental group called the Fydallions, which formed in 1964 in Sacramento, California , for an Air Force talent contest. After leaving the Air Force,
210-572: The band went on the road, playing five-hour lounge jobs on the Las Vegas circuit. The Fydallions, by then a quintet consisting of Dick Lopes (saxophone), Bobby Raymond (bass guitar), Harvey Kaye (keyboards), Vinnie Parello (drums), and Pat Upton (guitar and lead vocals), were noticed by the A&;R representative for Columbia Records , Gary Usher , while they were working in El Monte, California . Columbia signed
231-442: The band, but insisted that they change their name. The band was renamed after the movie The Spiral Staircase , but with a deliberate misspelling. Their first two singles, produced by Gary Usher and released in 1968, were regional successes in markets like Phoenix, Arizona . Although they were not featured on an album, these two songs, along with a third single released that same year, "Baby What I Mean", would later be featured on
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#1732876409780252-666: The bar as the Ikettes, the backup singers for Vonda and other performers. The first season also included a crossover episode from another David E. Kelley show, The Practice . The second part of the crossover was the episode titled "Axe Murderer" which began on the Ally McBeal episode titled "The Inmates", which aired April 27, 1998, and has several characters from The Practice . Calista Flockhart and Gil Bellows , in return, guest starred on The Practice episode "Axe Murderer". Ally, Renee, and Georgia take an art class and are all drawn to
273-477: The co-executive producer. The first season had seven major roles receive star billing . Calista Flockhart portrayed protagonist Ally McBeal , a lawyer employed by her friend Richard Fish, who was played by Greg Germann . Fish opened a firm with John Cage, played by Peter MacNicol , who was billed as a guest star during the first eleven episodes and promoted to series regular status in episode number 12. Jane Krakowski played Ally's secretary Elaine Vassal, while
294-605: The compilation The Very Best of the Spiral Starecase . At this point, Sonny Knight was brought in to produce their first album. Usher had encouraged Upton to write original material for the group, and Upton had written "More Today Than Yesterday," while the band was working the Flamingo Sky Room in Las Vegas . "More Today Than Yesterday" peaked at number 1 on the KHJ Boss Radio 30 on April 23, 1969, at number 12 on
315-451: The first season of Ally McBeal were only available in the United States. The first season had an average rating of 11.4 million viewers in the United States and was ranked #59 on the complete ranking sheet of all the year's shows. A month after the conclusion of the first season, a debate sparked by the show was the cover story of Time magazine, which juxtaposed McBeal with three pioneering feminists and asked "Is Feminism Dead?". On
336-417: The role of Ally's friend Renée Raddick was played by Lisa Nicole Carson . Ally's love from childhood, Billy Thomas, was played by Gil Bellows , while Courtney Thorne-Smith played his wife Georgia, who works with her husband at the same law firm. Various supporting characters included Dyan Cannon as Whipper Cone, a judge who had a relationship with Richard Fish for a while; Albert Hall as Seymore Walsh,
357-623: The song was made famous at the turn of the 20th century in a poem by Rosemonde Gérard , the wife of the poet and playwright Edmond Rostand ( Cyrano de Bergerac ). It reached No. 1 on the KHJ Boss Radio survey, No. 6 in Canada , No. 7 on the Cashbox Top 100 , and No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. It was also released in the United Kingdom as a single, but did not chart. The song
378-407: The success of "More Today Than Yesterday", and the group disbanded approximately 18 months after the chart topping song was released. Poor management, squabbles over finances and a lawsuit also contributed to the original line-ups decision to call it quits. Upton went back to Los Angeles to work as a session musician , eventually working with Ricky Nelson . Kaye returned to Las Vegas and reformed
399-420: Was featured in the 1991 film My Girl , on the soundtrack of The Waterboy in 1998, and in an episode of Ally McBeal entitled " Silver Bells ". More Today Than Yesterday " More Today Than Yesterday " is a song written by Pat Upton and performed by Spiral Starecase , of which Upton was the lead vocalist. The song was produced by Sonny Knight and arranged by Al Capps . The principal idea of
420-425: Was featured on their 1969 album, More Today Than Yesterday . It ranked No. 50 on Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1969 . The Dirty Joke The first season of the television series Ally McBeal began airing in the United States on September 8, 1997, concluded on May 18, 1998, and consisted of 23 episodes. It tells the story of Ally McBeal , a young lawyer who found herself without
441-429: Was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and David E. Kelley Productions. The sole executive producer was the creator David E. Kelley , who also wrote all 23 episodes, with the exception of co-writing with Nicole Yorkin and Dawn Prestwich on the episode "Body Language" and with Jeff Pinkner on the episode "Once in a Lifetime". Jonathan Pontell served as the supervising producer, while Jeffrey Kramer served as
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