The Birdwatchers - I'm Gonna Love You Anyway (1966)

Coming from Tampa, Florida but starting their career in Palm Beach, Florida, this band was formed around 1964 as The Apollos. Originally consisting of Dave Chiodo (guitar), Bobby Puccetti (keyboard), Jim Tolliver (bass), and Eddie Martinez (drums), the band changed their name to The Birdwatchers just after The Beatles swept the nation and the British Invasion took over. “Bird,” in British slang meant “girl,” hence they were really “the girl watchers.” They were initially managed by the ‘50s pop sensation Gary Stites who would sometimes sing lead on their songs and release them under the name Gary Stites & The Birdwatchers; but, in 1966, the band decided to move to the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area, about ninety minutes south of where they were, and personnel began to change dramatically. Dave Chiodo and Jim Tolliver left the band and were replaced by Joey Murcia (guitar) and Jerry Schils (bass). Also, Sammy Hall joined the band and replaced Stites as the lead vocalist. Their biggest hit soon followed, heard below, and another regional hit, “Girl I Got News for You,” was a local smash in Miami in April 1966. Although the band tried to capitalize on these successes by appearing on the television show Where the Action Is, in the movie Wild Rebels, and all over the city of Miami, they failed to achieve a national following.

Written by the band’s new guitarist, Joey Murcia, this song was the band’s biggest hit, released just after “Girl I Got News For You.” Locally, it reached number two and number three on the local AM stations in August 1966. Nationally, it reached #125 on the charts in September 1966. You can hear that it was inspired by The McCoys' "Hang on Sloopy," as it has a very similar hook. The flip-side of the song was “A Little Bit of Lovin’,” which had been partially written by Hall when he was still with his previous band The Mor-Loks (who also happened to be managed by Gary Stites).



The Birdwatchers - I'm Gonna Love You Anyway (1966)

Loading the ABLYAM player...(Might not work on mobile devices)

Lyrics:

Hey, I’m gonna love you anyway
I don’t care what they say, now
I’m gonna love you anyway

Girl, the only girl I’m thinkin’ of
The only girl I ever loved
I’m gonna love you now

They say this feeling is just puppy love
And that we don’t know what love is
But I say our- our love is true
I’m gonna love you (Gonna love you)
What are they gonna do?

Hey, I’m gonna love you anyway
I don’t care what they say, now
I’m gonna love you now

They say this feeling is just puppy love
And that we don’t know what love is
But I say our- our love is true
I’m gonna love you (Gonna love you)
What are they gonna do?

Hey, I’m gonna love you anyway
I don’t care what they say now
Gonna love you anyway

Babe, I’m gonna love you anyway
Gonna love you anyway…