THE FIFTH ESTATE: STILL STANDING
In 1967, The Fifth Estate stormed the Top 40 with “Ding, Dong! The Witch Is Dead,” which peaked at No.11. Obscured by the fun, novelty-tinged cover of The Wizard of Oz classic was that the band were a versatile and powerful live act. Hailing from the Stamford, Connecticut area, the band played for months in the Northeast United States, before first landing on the television show Hullabaloo under their original name, The D-Men.
Today, the band are still recording, and they released Garunge Deluxe in 2020. Focusing on the band’s garage roots, the release also features recordings of the band onstage in 1967. Drummer Ken Evans fills us in on the band’s history and their biggest hit.
We were originally known as The Decadents, until we got involved with a record company, and they wanted us to change our name. It was just too decadent. No one had heard of The Kinks at that point, and they did OK with a name
