Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree covering the event described use of the tune as a protest song. Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" is a song by Tony Orlando and Dawn. It was written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown and produced by Hank Medress and Dave Appell, with Motown/Stax backing vocalist Telma Hopkins, Joyce Vincent Wilson and her sister Pamela Vincent on backing vocals. It was a worldwide hit for the group in 1973. The single reached the top 10 in ten countries, in eight of which it topped the charts.
Tony Orlando and Dawn similarly flavored top 40 hits "Who's In The Strawberry Patch With Sally" (the first single with recording credit "Tony Orlando & Dawn") (No. 27), "Steppin' Out (Gonna Boogie Tonight)" (No.7), and, with some disco influence, Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter's "Look in My Eyes Pretty Woman" (from the trio's 1974 album "Prime Time") (No.11), which Mike Kennedy recorded several years before. CBS gave the group a television variety show (entitled "Tony Orlando and Dawn") from the summer of 1974, after "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" ended its run, until December 1976. The show was in the same vein as