Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree turned up archival versions of the story that had been collected before "Going Home" had been written. Levine and Brown first offered the song to Ringo Starr, but Al Steckler of Apple Records told them that they should be ashamed of the song and described it as "ridiculous". In April 1973, the recording by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando reached No. 1 in the "Billboard" Hot 100 (chart date 21 April 1973) in the US, and stayed at No. 1 for four weeks. "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" sold 3 million records in the US in three weeks. It also reached No.
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