The Flying Machine--Smile A Little Smile For Me (1969)

     In the late 60's there were two groups called, "The Flying Machine" that became footnotes in the history of rock/pop music. One of them was a group that James Taylor was a member of before going solo, and made mention of in one of his biggest hits, "Fire and Rain" ("sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground"). The second one isn't known either other than it's one and only hit here in the US.
     The group was from Britain, but none of the members were of note before or after this song save for the bass player Stuart Colman who became a session musician and later a BBC Radio DJ. The song itself was written by award winning songwriter Tony Macaulay ("Baby, Now That I Found You", "Build Me Up Buttercup") and reached number 5 here in the states, but didn't even dent the charts in their home country. A follow up single, "Baby, Make It Soon", broke in the top 100, but by 1971 the group had packed it in.