- Olympics Trivia: The original Olympics were high school buddies Walter Ward (lead singer), Eddie Lewis (tenor and Ward’s cousin), Charles Fizer (baritone),...
- ... and Walter Hammond (baritone) from Los Angeles, California.
- Olympics Trivia: They originally called themselves The Challengers, releasing their first record, "I Can Tell", on Melatone Records in 1958. .....
- ... but changed the name when they found out another group already had that one.
- Olympics Trivia: They recorded their golden oldie “Western Movies” in the summer of 1958, and the record was a hit, going to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the R&B chart.
- Olympics Trivia: The Olympics’ song “(Baby) Hully Gully” was a minor hit in 1960 and started the hully gully dance craze.
- Olympics Trivia: The Olympics preferred to issue inner-city generated dance ditties, including the Smith/Goldsmith-penned "(Baby) Hully Gully," " "The Philly Dog," "The Slop," and "The Duck".
- Olympics Trivia: The group only occasionally performed ballads, like the doo-wop inspired "Stay Where You Are," and a few rockers like "Shimmy Like Kate" and "Dance by the Light of the Moon."
- Olympics Trivia: Rather, the Olympics attempted to duplicate their hit status with novelty songs along the lines of "Western Movies."
- Olympics Trivia: Several members of the Olympics also recorded a cover of the Marathons' hit "Peanut Butter".
- Olympics Trivia: "Big Boy Pete," which the group released in 1960, served as inspiration for The Kingsmen's "Jolly Green Giant."
- Olympics Trivia: Sometimes considered a Coasters clone, because of their emphasis on novelty recordings, the group transcended ethnic boundaries & ended up whith more pop charters (14) than R&B (5).
- Olympics Trivia: Charles Fizer was killed during the Los Angeles Watts riots and Walter Hammond retired.
- Olympics Trivia: For more than twenty years the Olympics performed on revival tours with two original members, Walter Ward and Eddie Lewis.
- Olympics Trivia: On December 11, 2006, Walter Ward, the lead singer of the Olympics, died at age 66.
- Olympics Trivia: Eddie Lewis, tenor singer and last original member of the Olympics, died on May 31, 2017.
