Daddy Dewdrop

Monda's family moved from Ohio to California in the mid–1940s. He and his sister performed in vaudeville and shows around Hollywood. As a child, Monda appeared in the films The Glass Wall and Go for Broke! At 13, he was chosen to play Eddie Cantor as a boy in the film The Eddie Cantor Story, in which he performed six songs, including dance routines. At 16, he had a featured role in The Midnight Story. He began songwriting as a young man and received a degree in mathematics. His first production with Moonglow Records was "Don't Do It Some More", by The Cindermen, credited under the pen name Daddy Dewdrop. After Moonglow, he signed with Four Star Music publishing company where he stayed for seven years. He made most of his recordings during this period. He was signed to Verve Records as an artist and recorded his first album, Truth, Lies, Magic and Faith. Over the next two years, he produced music for the Saturday morning cartoon series Groovie Goolies (1970), then released the song "Chick-A-Boom", originally written for the show. Monda put together a backing band of studio musicians, including Tom Hensley, who later became the musical director for Neil Diamond, and Butch Rillera, who became a member of the group Redbone and recorded a version of the song, retitled "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)". The tune, which was distributed by Sunflower Records, became a top 10 hit in the United States, peaking on the Billboard Hot 100 at #9 in 1971 and at #3 on Cashbox. Other charted records include "Fox Huntin' on the Weekend" and "Chantilly Lace", and after a change of labels to Inphasion Records, he had another chart record, "Nanu, Nanu, (I Wanna Get Funky Wich You)" and "The Real Thing". He appeared in several underground films, including The Michael Girard directed Troma films, Oversexed Rug Suckers from Mars, Body Parts and the indie film The Artichokes. He recorded an album called Or Durvs under the alias "Lu Janis".

As Dick Monda • Year — Album — Record label • 1969 — Truth, Lies, Magic, and Faith — Verve Records • 1977 — Love is an Open Hand — Album World (Sorrentino) As Daddy Dewdrop • Year — Album — Record label • 1971 — Daddy Dewdrop — Sunflower Records • 1979 — Meet the Beat — Inphasion Records

As Dick Monda • Year — Title — Peak chart positions — Record Label — B-side — Album • US — AUS • 1965 — "It Brings on the Pain" — — — — — Moonglow Records — "Days of Pleasure" • 1967 — "Blues in the Night" — — — — — "Then I'll Go Peacefully" • 1969 — "River's End" — — — — — Verve Records — "The Bible Salesman" — Truth, Lies, Magic, and Faith • "The Bible Salesman" — — — — — "A Wandering Carpenter" As Daddy Dewdrop • Year — Title — Peak chart positions — Record Label — B-side — Album • US — CAN — AUS • 1966 — "She Didn't Have to Tell Me" — — — — — — — Moonglow Records — "If You Treasure My Heart" • 1968 — "Here Come the Judge" — — — — — — — Indigo Records — "Collection of Hearts" • 1971 — "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)" — 9 — 2 — 10 — Sunflower Records — "John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith" — Daddy Dewdrop • "Fox Huntin' (On the Weekend)" — — — — — — — "The March of the White Corpuscles" • 1975 — "Goddaughter" — — — — — — — Capitol Records — "Dynamite Dyna" • 1978 — "Nanu, Nanu, (I Wanna Get Funky Wich You)" — — — 15 — — — Inphasion Records — "The Real Thing" (Dance #62) — Meet the Beat