Johnny O'Neill and the Michael Sammes Singers provided backing vocals on the recording of "I Am the Walrus" by the Beatles in 1967, which required them to do "all sorts of swoops and phonetic noises" according to Paul McCartney: the score George Martin prepared for them included the chanting of phrases like "ho ho ho, he he he, ha ha ha", "oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper" and "everybody's got one".
Sammes also provided the distinctive basso backing vocals on Olivia Newton-John's early country crossover hits, including "Banks of the Ohio", "Let Me Be There" and "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)".
The Mike Sammes Singers's one entry in The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles is for "Somewhere My Love" in July 1967.
Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly contained whistling by John O'Neill.
[3] The main theme, also titled "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", was a hit in 1968 with the soundtrack album on the charts for more than a year,[4] reaching No.