On The Marquee: Friend And Lover

I sometimes look at things from an strange angle. Case in point, I was listening to the music of the 1960s — specifically a singing duo that carried the unusual name Friend and Lover — and I visualized a guy working on putting up the signs outside a club where they were opening. He would be scratching his head, looking at his paperwork and thinking, ‘I get it that they’re a couple — but what names am I supposed to put up?’

Their names were Jim Post and Cathy Conn, and they were definitely a couple — in fact, they were married at the time of the greatest success in performing and recording. They’d met at a state fair, when Post was singing with a Canadian group called the Rum Runners and Conn was part of a dancing show. When the pair teamed up in marriage, it wasn’t long before they extended the partnership to the musical stage too. Post was a decent vocalist, and although his new wife lacked singing experience, with a few lessons from him she did bring energy to the performances.

Working their way up in clubs, they eventually got a record deal but their initial efforts didn’t impress too many people. However, they were gaining enough recognition to work regularly as backups for better-known groups, and they finally hit pay dirt when they cut a record of Post’s own “Reach Out of the Darkness.” (Trivia — it’s been reported that country music star Ray Stevens sat in with the studio band.)

The song fit perfectly into the anti-war sentiment of the era and it soon rose into the Top Ten, creating enough of a splash for the twosome that they were able to make enough additional recordings to fill an album. Unfortunately, it was to be the high point for the duo — both professionally and personally. They tried to continue their musical success, even performing for a while as Jim And Cathy, but eventually the act — and the marriage — broke up.

Jim Post has continued with a musical career in the years since, sometimes appearing solo or with various groups. He’s also done some stage work. At last report, his former partner Cathy Conn was happily retired, with children and grandchildren.