“Liar, Liar” was written by Jim Donna on a napkin in his parents’ house, drummer Dennis Craswell and Donna’s sister Joanne helped Donna write it. It was completed in 2 hours. Donna and Craswell took it to the other members of The Castaways and they liked it. The song was recorded on March 2, 1965. The song was shown off to Soma Records founder and President Amos Heilicher, who liked it and signed The Castaways to a contract.
“Liar, Liar” was the first and only hit single by the Castaways. The record peaked at no. 12 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1965 during a then-lengthy 14-week chart run. It reached the Top Ten in markets in every month between June and December 1965, including number one positions in Minneapolis/St. Paul, San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. The producer for the track was Timothy D. Kehr. Guitarist Robert Folschow contributed the distinctive falsetto vocal on “Liar, Liar,” while Dick Roby did the scream on the song.
The Castaways performed “Liar, Liar” in the 1967 beach party film It’s a Bikini World. The song also appears on the 1972 compilation album Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968. It also appeared in the movies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Good Morning Vietnam.