5 The 5th Dimension
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The Fifth Dimension began in Los Angeles in 1965 as the Versatiles. 
Lamonte McLemore, Ron Townson, and Billy Davis, Jr. all grew up in St. 
Louis, and moved to Los Angeles independently of one another. Marilyn 
McCoo and Florence LaRue, who were attending college in LA, completed 
the quintet. Johnny Rivers, who'd just set up his own label, Soul 
City, signed the group in 1966 on the condition that they update their 
name and image, and thus the 5th Dimension was born. Their first Soul 
City single, "I'll Be Lovin' You Forever," was a flop, but a cover of 
the Mamas & the Papas' "Go Where You Wanna Go," made it to #16 on the 
Pop chart in 1967.

They appealed more to mainstream listeners than to a hip, hardcore R&B 
audiences, but they had a definite ear for contemporary trends. Their 
selection of material helped kick start the notable songwriting 
careers of Jimmy Webb and Laura Nyro, and their biggest hit was a 
medley from the hippie musical Hair, "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In." 

Their breakthrough hit, 1967's "Up, Up and Away," was an ode to the 
pleasures of flying in a beautiful balloon, the song became the 
group's first Top Ten hit, peaking at #7, and went on to sweep the 
Grammy Awards, taking home five total (including Record of the Year 
and Song of the Year). Its success pushed the 5th Dimension's first 
album, also titled Up, Up and Away, to gold sales status. 

The group stuck with Webb for its second album, The Magic Garden, 
which featured only one non-Webb composition and only moderate sales. 

Their third LP was more diverse, featuring several compositions by 
another up-and-coming songwriter, Laura Nyro. The title cut, Nyro's 
"Stoned Soul Picnic," went all the way to #3 in the spring of 1968, 
selling over a million copies and putting Nyro on the map. The 
Nyro-penned follow-up single, "Sweet Blindness," also reached the Top 20.

In 1969 when their LP The Age of Aquarius went gold and nearly hit #1, 
and "Wedding Bell Blues," another Laura Nyro song, followed its 
predecessor to #1 as well. The song was something of a mirror of real 
life. Billy Davis and Marilyn McCoo were married that year, and 
Florence LaRue also married group manager Marc Gordon.

Johnny Rivers sold Soul City to the Bell label in 1970, and the first 
Fifth Dimension LP on Bell was that year's Portrait, which spawned 
several minor hits and the Top Five smash "One Less Bell to Answer," a 
Burt Bacharach composition. 

The Bell recordings became more soft pop and less R&B and the their 
album sales began to taper off, also their vocal arrangements now 
tended to spotlight soloists rather than unified harmonies. McCoo 
emerged as a focal point, singing lead on the 1972 Top Ten hits "(Last 
Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep at All" and "If I Could Reach You." These 
two songs proved to be the group's last major successes. 

In 1973 Soul & Inspiration marked the end of their relationship with 
producer Bones Howe. 

1975's Earthbound was another full-length collaboration with Jimmy 
Webb, and much like The Magic Garden, its thematic unity failed to 
produce a significant hit single. It was also the last album by the 
original lineup. McCoo and Davis left the group to form a duo, and 
scored a big hit in 1976 with "You Don't Have to Be a Star."

The remaining trio carried on with new members, and nearly had a hit 
in 1976 with the LaRue-sung "Love Hangover," unfortunately, Motown 
issued Diana Ross' own version shortly after the 5th Dimension's hit 
the charts, and hers proved far more popular. 

Strangely enough, the 5th Dimension signed with Motown not long after, 
releasing two albums in 1978. Townson briefly left the group to try a 
solo career, but soon returned, as the group resigned itself to the 
nostalgia circuit. Meanwhile, McCoo served a stint as the host of the 
TV show, Solid Gold. 

Phyllis Battle joined in the mid-'80s, and the original quintet 
reunited in 1990 for a tour. In 1995, the quintet of LaRue, Townson, 
McLemore, Battle, and Greg Walker recorded a new album, In the House, 
for Click Records. In 1998, Willie Williams replaced Townson, who 
passed away in 2001 due to kidney failure. Battle departed in 2002, to 
be replaced by Van Jewel. 

History of Personnel:

Original Members:
Marilyn McCoo (born 30 September 1943, Jersey City, New Jersey) 
Florence LaRue (born 4 February 1944, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 
Billy Davis, Jr. (born 26 June 1940, St. Louis, Missouri) 
Lamonte McLemore (born 17 September 1939, St. Louis, Missouri 1 ) 
Ronald L. "Ron" Townson (born 20 January 1933, St. Louis, Missouri - 
died 2 August 2001, of kidney failure, Las Vegas, Nevada) 

Other members have included:
Eloise Laws (Marilyn replacement) 1975-1975, 
Danny Beard (Billy replacement) 1975-1978, 
Marjorie Barnes (Marilyn replacement) 1976-1977, 
Terri Bryant (Marilyn replacement) 1978-1979, 
Mic Bell (Ron replacement) 1978-1979, 
Lou Courtney (Billy replacement) 1978-1979, 
Pat Bass (Marilyn replacement) 1979, 
Tanya Boyd (Marilyn replacement) 1979, 
Joyce Wright Pierce (Marilyn replacement) 1979-1986 and 1987, 
Michael Procter (Billy replacement) 1979-1988, 
Estrelita (Marilyn replacement) 1986, 
Phyllis Battle (Marilyn replacement) 1988-2001, 
Eugene Barry-Hill (Billy replacement) 1989-1992, 
Greg Walker (Billy replacement) 1993-2006, 
Willie Williams (Ron replacement) 1998-present, 
Van Jewell (Marilyn replacement) 2002,2005, 
Julie Delgado (Marilyn replacement) 2002-2005, 
Jamila Ajibade (Marilyn replacement) 2005-2006 and 2007-2008 
Leonard Tucker (Billy replacement) 2006-present, 
Valerie Davis (Marilyn replacement) 2006-2007, 
Jennifer Leigh Warren (Marilyn replacement) 2007, 
Gwyn Foxx (Marilyn replacement) December 2007, 
Michael Mishaw (Lamonte replacement) 2006-2008, 
Patrice Morris (Marilyn replacement) 2008-present, 
Floyd Smith (Lamonte replacement) 2009-present