The Charades is a doo-wop, r&b group which was mostly active in California in the early to mid-1960s and has released a number of singles on various labels.
[7] Note: There was a group from Nashville bearing the same name that released a politically motivated single in 1966, "Hammers and Sickles" / "Left Wing Bird" - Monument 921.
[8][9] They are also not connected with the surf group The Charades who released the singles "North west of Broken Hill" and "The lonely beach".
[15] In February 1964, Mickey Wallach of MGM-Verve informed Cashbox that the song, plus "Mondo Cane #2" by Kai Winding along with some others, was getting a strong response.
[16] Also that year, a song they recorded, "Delano Soul Beat", appeared on the KPOI's Battle Of The Surfing Bands!
[19][22] In 1973 Ray Baradat went to Los Angeles to try to find Tony Hilder, who had produced for the group.
[25] In 2009, Ray Baradat had recently retired from the Tulare Joint Union High School District, which he had a career for the past 33 years.
As of July that year, the group consisted of Ray Baradat, Syl Grigsby, Sally Hamilton, Bob Dennison, Gary Defoe, John Keith, Joe Luis and Hunt Graves.
[26] In its review of the 2012 compilation, Surf-Age Nuggets: Trash & Twang Instrumentals 1959-1966, Reverb Central gave "Sophia" a five star rating, mentioning the big surf tone and the marvelous progressional riff, also mentioning the perfect tone and composition.
[27][28] In the Fall of 2017 they played their 2017 World Tour, One Night Only concert for the Class of 1962 reunion for Porterville High School.
[29] The Charades, with original members Ray Baradat and Syl Grigsby, continue to perform and record.
Kenny Vance recorded "Please Be My Love Tonight" which appears on his Acapella album, released in 2013.