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From: km2
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  • And Sammy Davis Jr. thought Jimmy Webb couldn't write upbeat songs???!!!!

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  • I love the way the kids yell - "YAAYYY!"

  • omg how cute was that!?!?!

  • I believe the finger-snapping, the groove. It is sufficient in and of itself. Feel good, don't try to sing the million-dollar song, just be mellow and sing a song.

  • Word is this was Nick Drake's favorite song?!!

  • Oh their clothes were so amazing. This is how a group should dress.

  • The good life

    Drink it up

    Drink it up

    Paper Cup

  • Uplifting, precious, zen tune to get high by! A unique, liberating sound experience. Jimmy Webb's best song.

  • the 60´s...ok,i am drunk,i can write in the computer,let me dream a little

    the sixties...i will open my eyes and be away from this talentless time

  • I can picture Ed Sullivan drooling at Marilyn, can you blame him?

  • @richiebear1969 Marilyn definitely is one beautiful woman. However, she almost looks awkward in these 'early' clips from 67-69. She is so damn tall and super-skinny. She filled in nicely later, though  :-)

  • Those lyrics are so depressing

  • @CockyDoody Well, Jimmy was depressed at the time he was writing the Magic Garden album. He was having "woman troubles".

  • What the media deems popular is not necessarily the best. There are other factors involved, such as payola and timing. When I was eighteen I missed the innocence of the 50's. So, I gravitated to songs like this.

  • 295 comments for this funny, little song! I love it! I sure loved this group. Jeez, that was a long time ago! I love it!

  •  a Chacon a son gout. Each to his own taste. You can't expect what is popular here is going to be a hit 7,000 miles away. As I recall, sometime in the 60's the BBC banned rock and roll music. Then, Britain had a 95% white population. Apparently in 1968 soul music had not yet caught on.

  • I am gutted and slightly ashamed that these guys are virtually unknown in the u.k,did they ever tour here,make t.v appearances,etc? I discovered them quite recently I must admit,by buying a bargain `best of `cd ,it`s the best purchase i`ve ever made, they are bloody marvelous ! I have loved my music for the best part of 40 years so yes I have missed out but what a joy to find them now,better late than never!!!

  • @633squadrongoodwin They had two big hits in the UK... "Aquarius" and "Wedding Bell Blues"... butr they were FAR more popular in the US and Canada, and Australia...

  • one of the most obscure, yet memorable 60's hit that I will never forget. Love the innocence. Everbody was talking about sex, drugs, and revolution in their music. This song was a pleasent retreat!

  • Super rare song, haven't heard in years thank you.....this was a treat.

  • fantastic

  • my favorite song since a child =) && carpet man! && Im 20, i thank my yaya from introducing them to me && alot of other music.

  • my favorite song since a child =) && carpet man!

  • For those who may not have it, I suggest you buy & listen to the ENTIRE Magic Garden album that this song comes from. The whole album basically tells the story of Jimmy Webb's love story with his girlfriend (soon to be wife) Susan. Paper Cup is basically telling the story of him being depressed because they'd broken up. He's basically drowning his sorrows. The 5th Dimension AND Bones Howe have accounted to this and that Bones would have to literally drag him out to finish writing the songs.

  • i saw upbeat on the buffalo channels..we got buffalo in Toronto.

  • @issurchaim Koo...also, Don Webster...the host is Canadian. :-)

  • Great song and peformance.I remember Beatles's "Getting better" with this song.

  • "The Sing Off" continues in the great harmonies-first tradition.

  • I saw them live in 1969. They were better in person than on recording. They put on a fantatic show.

  • @leahcimber I've heard they really would cut up...tear it up...and cut a rug at those live performances.

  • Coolest outfits ever!

  • Love their mod clothing, and of course, they always produced interesting music.

  • The 5th are some of the best singers of all time...no matter what they sang

  • This was from around 1967 or 1968 and this is what was popular. What I consider real music with real melodies that was real fun to dance to and sing along with. I will never apologize for liking it. The music of today is an evolution just as this was an evolution of what came bfore it. Music evolves and that's one of the things that is so wonderful about it. Musical expression is infinite.

  • yeah, it really is a dumb ass song... sorry...

  • yeah, it really is a dumb ass song... sorry...

  • What a dumb ass song!! Love the 5th but DAMN!!

  • I love The 5th Dimension but what the heck?!?!?!?! LOL

    Well, even Sinatra sang some pretty silly stuff...

  • Man, Dig the threads!

  • Why's the taller girl wearing a life-preserver ?

  • @Baskerville22 She doesn't want to drown in her paper cup. lol

  • @Baskerville22 LOL!!! Aww I like Marilyn's outfit. Tre' Chic and daring. Dig how she sets it all with matching her stockings (wearing one leg blue and one red) And besides...wearing the wide belts high up is back in style NOW.

  • love them too death but please no more dancin lol

  • @TSWilson6250..Agree..Did you see this year's nominees..Chic, Donna Summer, Neil Diamond, LL Cool J??

  • @joraider08 I actually don' thave a problem with this year's nominiees...HOWEVER...I DO have a problem with the RRHoF continuously overlooking trendsetter groups like the 5th Dimension.  From what I heard, it was the FANS that got CHIC nominated...so we'd better get busy.

  • I cannot understand why the Fifth Dimension has yet to be inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, they desereve to be there.

  • @TSWilson6250 I can't argue with the nominiees this year...not a bad list...HOWEVER I agree that the RRHoF keeps overllooking WELL DESERVING groups like the 5th Dimension...BUT IT"S ALL POLITICS...and it's gonna take the FANS to change it.

  • This is the best song about paper cups that I've ever heard!

  • @apk1215 I must admit it`s in my " paper cup songs " top 5 !!

  • You'll never find 5 voices so perfectly matched as the 5th Dimension. Haven't heard some of these songs since I was kid in the 1960's. What a trip down memory lane.

  • I was a teenager during this time but never saw this, especially in color. I haven't heard this song in over 40 years and remember when it was played on pop radio briefly as it didn't last too long on the charts. What a great song! I always loved this group. The vocal as well as the dancing arrangement for the performance is most original and unique as well and stamped with the great style of that era. I miss those years and thank you for bringing them back in such a beautiful way.

  • @singinjohnny Hi...this was taped here in Cleveland on a show called Upbeat...hosted by Don Webster (he was also the weatherman at WEWS-TV here.) From what I've researched, Upbeat was syndicated in other markets around the country. But maybe it was regional.

  • @MsTexas73 Thank you for the information, Isis. I hadn't seen "Upbeat" on the East coast. But I always enjoyed syndicated variety shows in different areas where I've lived in my life. Have a very happy New Year.

  • @singinjohnny You're welcome. There's another 5th Dimension video of them from Upbeat...they're singing Go Where You Wanna Go. It looked like one of their first TV appearances...quite different from even THIS appearance.

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  • Marilyn McCoo has to be the most under-rated singer/entertainer ever.

  • Class and style...all American

  • Such a beautiful rapport between the sexes! So natural. So kind. So innocent.

  • @voncello What a perfect observation. I couldn't have said it better in a dream.

  • Heard a less often than some of their other songs. I cannot say why because I think it is terrific song, so upbeat and soooo Fifth Dimension!!! Superb group!! Thank you for the post.

  • @gva0917 Nice to know you're checking out my lists, Gayle! I don't think I appreciated this enough when I made 5D's playlist, yet I seem to be enjoying it plenty NOW. Guess it took a friend . . . .;-)

  • When I met Jimmy Webb I told him The Fifth Dimension's Magic Garden album was my favorite thing he ever did.

  • @Lambert1386 What is your take on Earthbound, the last album by the Original 5th...and also a Jimmy Webb production.

  • @Lambert1386 I would tell him the same thing.

  • Wow, can't keep my eyes off of Marilyn. Florence is lovely and talented. But Marilyn is so beautiful, talented, and charismatic. Billy and Marilyn are still married after 40 years! God bless them. The Fifth Dimension's sound is so awesome, their voices meld into perfect harmony. Harken's back to a more simple time. Thanks for the memories.

  • @darinfan57 I agree 400 %

  • another fav

  • No booty smacking here.  Perfect!

  • about a lonely paper plate who couldn't find a paper mate....!!!!! what lyrics baby....yep, life is lookin' up!!!

  • Billy Davis sure is a lucky man. Marilyn McCoo still looks pretty good even in her 60s. Back in her heyday though she was really beautiful.

  • When I hear this song I want to go out and drink. I believe the song is about alcoholism. Everything is looking up inside of my cup. I feel no pain.

  • the women on the right is soooo HOOOT!!!!!!!

    LOL and im 22 years old

  • The French horn sounds lovely together with everything else!

  • They had so much talent, such a dynamic group..

  • Man, That Marilyn has some of the longest legs I've ever seen :-)

  • delightful music!!!

  • Oh my, That dance routine is to die for!

  • I was drinking bourbon from a paper cup at a football game one day and that song came to mind. Everything started to look up.

  • @harrymudd7 I had to giggle at this...U are not alone. Even if I'm just drinking punch...if it's in a paper cup this song comes to mind....but esp if it's booze.

  • Black people dancing like white people brings a tear to my eye.....

  • You would think that Florence LaRue was quite a nice-looking young lady if it weren't for Marilyn McCoo being on the same stage. Can't keep my eyes off her.

    Oh yeah. The Jimmy Webb song. Sly, deep and melodic.

  • I agree completely. Florence LaRue is very cute, but Mariliyn McCoo is stunning. What a great video!

  • One those great "feel good" songs. What a dynamic group. True legends and icons.

  • Where has this music gone : (

  • And what great harmony, especially near the end of the song.

  • This song barely skirted the top 40 and didn;t get a whole lot of airplay but it remains one of FD's most joyous and best arranged songs.

  • This is the correct way to dance.

  • They dance like white people.

  • @midiwife there is no correct way to dance.

  • @midiwife LOL!

  • 5th Dimension & ABBA.......BOTH worthy of the hall of fame award....the 2nd group like 5th D...by sheer volume of great songs. Check out ABBA

  • LOL

  • In 'my opinion', they should be enshrined in the 'Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! Late '60's and early to mid '70's, they were HUGE!

  • I am trying to get people together to petition the Committee...because they REALLY should be in there...and I spit nails when I saw ABBA got the nom this year.

  • That would be 'Groovy' (to borrow a 60's phrase, and part of a 5th Dim. song) Yeah, ABBA, nothing against them, but they do not compare to the talent and class that Marilyn, Billy etal had. Let me know if I can help.

  • I will keep y'all posted on the progress of getting it started. Suggestions are welcome.

  • exactly...while ABBA is a great group they are not even in the same league as the Fab 5th!

  • I miss these guys so much...I miss this music so much

  • Marilyn looks alot like a young Connie Sellecca in this vid.

  • The Magic Garden LP...check it out...

  • women looked so much better back then

  • @inbredagogo Yeah, they didn't have to take their clothes off to show they had talent.

  • No one knows where this was or what color their outfits were, because everyone involved was stoned.

  • Actually I do know where this was because I live in Cleveland and I know what show this is, and I have a picture of them with the host of this show from this very performance, and I have another picture of them wearing these very same outfits.

  • A joyful, happy song, puts a smile on my face every time...from the (daytime) Mike Douglas show? And doesn't Marilyn look like a total hottie? Yum!

  • Hi...this is actually from an old local program here in Cleveland called Upbeat *host was Don Webster*...it aired on our local ABC affiliate WEWS Ch. 5. from 1964-1971 but it was also nationally syndicated in many markets.

  • OK...so now I've got my students liking this tune  *gr 5 and 6*...my homeroom perks up when they hear it.

  • Too good for words....

  • cool video the late ron townson was a skinny guy back then.rip ron the rainmaker.

  • Ron died of kidney failure on 8-02-2001.

  • The 1960's were a trippy time and the 5th Dimension was one of the signature hot groups of that decade.

  • hehe,welcome to the land of cheese. lol

    but yeah the tall chick is pretty smokin

  • Doesn't this song take you back to around October of '67. Everytime I hear this song it launches me back to that exact month. Amazing what an obscure song like this can take you back to that particular month and year! Any other people out there get similar vibes as to what point in time that they first heard this song?

  • they don't wear orange like they used too.

  • Actually those outfis are red, white, and blue. I'm thinking because this is old footage, the color is distorted some. But if you check some of the other vids where you see pics of them wearing these outfits, you'll see it's red and not orange.

  • Listen to some Billy Davis Jr. solos on their albums and you will hear some serious R@B! But their Group sound on songs such as these was very unique at the time and still sounds as great today as when recorded in the sixties.

  • Sounds like a mini-opera!  5D certainly great harmonies, but hell why they did not sound more R&B oriented...?

  • I think it was a GOOD thing that tey didn't sound like everyone else at the time...it made them popular as a result.

    Also, even with their distinctively different sound...the 5D has SOO much soul about them. And like someone already said you can hear a distinctive R&B tone form esp Billy but even from Flo and Marilyn when they have solos.

    In the 70s their sound would become even more soulful.

  • @raponte1955 I know this is a few months since you asked, but why do black people have to be shoehorned into some sound just to please some stereotype you have? That's what's wrong with young people today, no originality or imagination.

  • @IrisMG I absolutely agree, I've tried listening to some of this stuff out today, I got through about 30 seonds of the latest Rihanna single, coudn't take more than that. Meaningless, monotonous, talentless all covered up with gratuitous sex. The fist time in the history of rock 'n' roll that there is no new creative generation, sad.

  • @floppybollox3 Indeed it is. Sadder still is the need to categorize. Dancing is "black" or "white" instead of just dancing. Music is "black" or "white" instead of "good". Kids today have no clue - everybody owns this music! You would think we'd be beyond this, 40 years after this video was made! Thank God for people like the 5th Dimension, Grace Bumbry, Andre Watts, Jimi Hendrix, Darius Rucker, Charley Pride, Robert Randolph and others who had the independent thought to reject boxes and limits!

  • @IrisMG your posts are thoughtful and ON POINT.

  • Marilyn McCoo.... WOW!

  • exceptional group flo is pretty also. marilyn beautiful with a perfect figure.

  • Paper cup? These lyrics are really weird. I'm diggin' the clothes and dancing though. Great group. They are fantastic singers. Who wrote this song, by the way?

  • champagnevoluptuous It is on the MAgic Garden lp...so I am going to assume it is a Jimmy Webb tune.

    If I'm not mistaken the song is about alcoholism...but it could mean something else...the l yrics are DEEP.

  • Yes, it's a Jimmy Webb song so I wouldn't dare to try to figure it out... He can go beyond beyond with his lyrics.

  • Right. Right.

  • Crank this up! What a neat song and has aged as well as wine!

    Thanks for posting this Jimmy Webb & 5th Dimension classic!

  • Love the share mission507 !!! Great song and video !!!

  • thanks to mission for this five star share!

  • What a Great Song & Video!!! 5*s Thanks freedomrider & km2...Anita

  • One of the groups that i remember as truly amazing. So very awesome and really very cool. This was a favorite as a kid.

  • the sixties EWF

  • great song, love the wardrobe and choreography. Marilyn was and is still a knockout. class act from a class group.

  • How they can make so a nice song, just singing of a.... paper cup. Brilliant!!

    Bit strange clothes though, well it were the sixties after all!

  • The song was about withdrawl, alienation and (as its been written) alcoholism, which of course make's the 5th's presentation a little off, but...!

  • How fitting the character my screenname represents...Sue Ellen Ewing during her drinking years.

  • What happened to good black bands?

  • We began to rap. The instrumentation of our music is really dying and it is sad.

  • They still exist, but the greedy corporations that produce today's music force crap on the public.

  • Damn right!!

  • @peabo12 So, true. 

  • @CookCountyDissident They got 'rapd' out a business!

  • starship paper cup

  • Such a great clip. Marilyn looks so beautiful here.

  • I really like the early days of this group before they learned that Marilyn taking on the role of lead singer was the key to number one hits. The equality emphasis of each member of the group really made it unique back then. I do love the Marilyn songs but this is a unique sound despite the strange lyrics

  • I wish I could find a nice, corny girl like Marilyn. I'm sick of trampy bitches.

  • Go to Thailand or the Philippines. But if you are black, youre basically screwed there. Try Africa. Ethiopian women are stunning.

  • Hey not sure about PhiIipines but I went to Thailand and I'm black and I wasn't screwed.

  • Amen brother!These 60's girls were lovely.They were fresh and decent.See if you can find me one too.Just don't tell my wife! lol

  • So corny, but I LOVE IT!

  • I really like this band

  • i have always loved this group, but i never notice those big feet before.....and i thought mine were huge.

  • as usual, Marilyn stole the show!

  • Marilyn is such a hottie....

  • I grew up in Chicago and have the privilege of great Oldies and Dusties Radio.I never heard this song before,I'm hooked and a fan, love the foot work. GREAT VOICES

  • a lonely paper plate who couldn't find a paper mate.......!!!! what lyrics....classic 60's....it is so great, baby!!!!

  • Great music from one of the great groups of the 60's. They were just a step or two behind the Beatles. Although the 5th Dimension had Marilyn who was a treat for any guys eyes.

    Nice wardrobe. Reminds me of the Star Trek episode where the people on a particular planet had half black and half white faces. (The discriminated ones were the minority who had the colors reversed!)

  • what a classic 60's gem! fuckin' awesome.

  • One of my absolute favorite videos!

  • Marilyn McCoo......Wow!!!!!

  • This music means so much to me.

  • I'll say it again-a definite Beatle influenced song-think "Help From My Friends and Mr.Kite"!

    Great work from a great vocal group!

  • The little instrumental break is nearly a clone of a like part on "Fixing A Hole". But everybody was, and is, influenced by the Beatles, of course. Whether they know it or not-

  • I noticed that too.

    It also reminds me of Penny Lane.

  • Strange, it immediately reminded me of Penny Lane as well, how weird?

  • I wish you could find that music like this on places other than YouTube. Thanks to Jimmy Webb for making music like this - and thanks to the five original members of the Fifth Dimension for their amazing performances.

  • LOL~!!!!!!!

  • i hope they saved those clothes!

  • I hated this song as a kid, you know the thing about 5th, they were Pop, but now I am older, I love this song, somewhat campy, but great vocals.

  • Rock fans and soul fans had problems with the 5th. Dimension. Too pop, as you said. But they always choose good songs and those voices blend just so.

  • I truly love this song...never knew that it was here!!!!

  • this sounds so sesame street...I feel like I'm six again. sweet.

  • Did that guy sing for School House Rock? His voice sounds very familiar.

  • song was about Webb drinkin away his troubles .. he was "in the cups" .. great performance on a very fun song

  • Marylin McCoo looks great!

  • You'd be hard pressed to find five other human beings with voices like that, that sounded THAT good singing together...