2. Teen Idols Frankie Avalon
"If a Miss wants to be kissed instead of cuddled, And to this you are in doubt as what to say, When a girl changes from bobby sox to stockings, Then she's old enough to give her heart away."
Bobby Sox to Stockings 1959

3. Teen Idols - Prequel
Early rock and roll artists (Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and Fats Domino, etc.) had a hard R&B edge to their music. Vitality. They were all originals.
The white, traditional music establishment wasn't thrilled with this trend.
Fearful that their kids would be corrupted and that record sales would fall (or vice versa!), they started the practice of having more established artists "cover" or rerecord rock tunes.

4. Teen Idols Bobby Darin
“There was lollipop with-a Peggy Sue Good Golly, Miss Molly was-a even there, too! A-well-a, Splish Splash, I forgot about the bath I went and put my dancin' shoes on, yay….”
Splish Splash 1958

5. Teen Idols Covers “Cover” versions at first outsold the originals
Pat Boone's Ain't that a Shame sold more copies than Fats Domino's
Pat was wholesome, but it just wasn't Rock and Roll.
The teens wanted their music more cool, Daddy-O.

6. Teen Idols Fabian
Turn me loose, Turn me loose, I say. Gonna rock and roll As long as the band's gonna play." Turn Me Loose 1959

7. Enter the Teen Idols
Early rock and roll stars weren't exactly parent pleasers, not the kind of guys you would bring home to meet the folks. (“Daddy, this is Jerry Lee. Jerry Lee, Daddy.” Nooo, I don't think so.) The last thing parents wanted girls thinking about was a rebel.
An unspoken compromise between the teen desire for an energetic rock beat and the establishment's need for convention was achieved. Enter the Teen Idols. Primarily imitators, these fellows weren't on the cutting edge musically. There's a reason why Little Richard, and not Paul Anka, performed at the Closing Olympic Ceremony in Atlanta. Little Richard's originality is time honored.

8. Teen Idols Ricky Nelson
"Some people call me a Teenage Idol, Some people say they envy me. I guess they got no way of knowing How lonesome I can be." Teen Age Idol 1962

9. Teen Idols – Popularity
Teen idols were enormously popular. Attracting huge crowds wherever they went, their records proceeded to climb to the top of the Rock charts. Naturally, since armies of teenage girls wanted to touch them, legions of teenage boys tried to imitate them.

10. Teen Idols Paul Anka
"And they called it Puppy Love Just because we're seventeen. Tell them all, oh, please tell them It isn't fair to take away my only dream..." Puppy Love 1960

11. Payola
The Payola Scandal is mostly associated with the situation between record companies and disc jockeys in the 1950’s. However, payola was also popular in the 1920’s and 30’s during vaudeville and big band times. Yet, the first court case came in 1960.
"The cancer of payola cannot be pinned on rock and roll." ....Billboard Magazine. Billboard stated payola was rampant during vaudeville of the 20s, and the big band era of the 1930s and 1940s.
Payola means the paying of cash or gifts for radio play, and is a combination of the words “pay” and “Victrola” (record player). Payola has been around since the inception of the radio, disc jockeys and radio stations were offered money or gifts to play a particular song.
Getting radio play would allow the songs to reach its expected audience and help launch the artist’s career. This practice also helped small and independent labels break the stronghold of the music industry by major labels. To better understand what was behind the Payola scandal in the 1950’s, here is a little history about the radio industry.

12. Payola—ASCAP and BMI ASCAP Misses the Boat
In the 1930’s and 1940’s, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) thrived on the sales of sheet music and recordings of Tin Pan Alley songs, but the creation of radio in the 1940’s was geared toward recorded music and things started to change in the industry.
After a fierce battle between radio stations and ASCAP over royalty payments, stations decided to refuse to play any recordings registered with ASCAP. So, in 1940 radio stations created and began operating their own publishing company called Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI). ASCAP didn’t want to share any royalties with radio stations and they tended to ignore and refuse to play any music composed by Blacks and Hillbillies.

13. Payola BMI Hits It Big, ASCAP to the Hill
Remember, this was back in the 40’s and 50’s and this association was riddled with racism and ignorance at the time, to them black music or country music just wasn’t good enough and therefore, not accepted. This allowed BMI to have complete control over songs in these two areas because many record stations supplied these songs to regional areas mostly ignored by the major networks, in particular, the Midwest and the South. BMI strengthened and enlarged its control when rock and roll music, which was at first the music of Blacks and Hillbillies, began and hit it big.
So, by the time 1960 rolled around you can see how ASCAP most have felt when BMI was increasing and becoming more powerful each year. Rock and Roll and Rockabilly – a combination of rock and hillbilly music – skyrocketed in the 1950’s and the big boys, ASCAP, had to do something to stop it. It was not surprising at all, in 1959 when urged and backed by ASCAP, the House Legislative Committee started investigating corrupt broadcasting practices

14. Payola Get Rid of (BMI) Rock and Roll
The committee broadened its investigation, which had been focusing on the rigged TV game shows, to include the practice of payola in radio. ASCAP believed that once investigated it would show that songs copyrighted with BMI became hits dishonestly because of payola. As ridiculous and petty as this sounds, it was the way of thinking back in those days.
This type of thinking came from the fact that many felt rock and roll music was the music of the devil, it was corrupting teenagers morally, and that teenagers only were listening to it because they had been tricked by greedy DJs who pocketed money or gifts to play songs over and over again until the teenagers were basically brainwashed.
Also, many felt that rock and roll was a fad that would soon (hopefully) go away and the Payola hearings were an attempt to make sure this would happen. The committee went after several DJs but focused on, Alan Freed a very popular DJ who loved rock and roll music and helped many black artists thrive by promoting them and their music at various shows and concerts.

15. Payola Testimony
25 DJs and program directors were caught in the scandal. Among the more popular ones were Joe Niagara (WIBG,  Philadelphia), Tom Clay (WJBK, Detroit), Murray "The K" Kaufman (WINS, New York) and Stan Richards (WILD, Boston) The probe quickly focused in on the two top deejays in the country, Dick Clark and Alan Freed.  Freed's broadcast alliances quickly deserted  him; he was fired from both ABC-radio and WNEW-TV.
Clark, with more to lose, quickly gave up all his musical interests when ordered to do so by ABC-TV.  When asked to sign a statement denying involvement Freed refused and was promptly fired from his job with WINS.
When Clark appeared to testify he brought Bernard Goldsmith, a statistician. Goldsmith told the committee that Clark had a 27% interest in records played in the past 28 months and those records had a 23% popularity rating. The committee was stunned as they wondered what came first, the chicken or the egg.

16. Payola Clark Prevails; Freed Goes Down
Clark's testimony began with telling the committee he had given up all outside interests connected with the recording industry. He also said the only reason he had gotten involved with those businesses were for the tax advantages. Clark admitted a $125 investment in Jamie Records returned a profit of $11,900 and of the 163 songs he had rights to143. Jamie paid out $15,000 in payola, but Clark denied ever accepting any. The committee clearly didn't believe Clark, but he received just a slap on the wrist. In fact, the committee chairman called Clark "a fine young man."
Freed who refused to deny involvement wasn't so lucky. Though he would only receive a small fine and six months suspended sentence his career was in tatters. Freed would die penniless, a bitter broken man, Jan 20, 1965 in Palm Springs, California.. He was forty three.
Nevertheless, the Payola scandal didn’t serve ASCAP’s (and many others’) main purpose—to eliminate rock and roll. After this small victory and a 3 year period of dreadful pop music, rock and roll was here to stay with the mid-1960s British Invasion.

18. Brill Building Pop
The Brill Building (named after the Brill Brothers whose clothing store was first located in the street level corner and would later buy it), located at 1619 Broadway in the heart of New York's music district (between 49th & 53rd Streets), is synonymous with an approach to songwriting that changed the course of music.
After its completion in 1931, the owners were forced  by a deepening Depression to rent space to music publishers, since there were few other takers. The first three, Southern Music, Mills Music and Famous-Music were soon joined by others. By 1962 the Brill Building contained 165 music businesses.
The Brill Building in the early '60s was a classic model of vertical integration. You could:
Write a song there or make the rounds of publishers until someone bought it
Go to another floor and get a quick arrangement and lead sheet for $10
Get some copies made at the duplication office
Book an hour at a demo studio
Hire some of the musicians and singers that hung around
Finally cut a demo of the song.
Take the demo around the building to the record companies, publishers, artist's managers or even the artists themselves. If you made a deal there were radio promoters available to sell the record.

19. Carole King and Gerry Goffin
This young married couple, still in their teens, shared an instinct for classic pop song construction, but it was Carole's lifelong desire for a career in music that convinced Gerry to give it a try. High school friend Neil Sedaka got them an audition with Don Kirshner, and the rest was history.
Their songs were always impeccably structured. Their music was for teens and dealt with themes of  love, rejection, and jealously and teenagers dealing with them on their own terms. Carole's heart tugging melodies and Gerry's lyrics captured the tone and the vernacular of their audience's  inner experiences with uncanny accuracy.
Carole had a gift for arrangement, knowing how to build a song to the hook through subtle chord manipulation and instrumental counterpoint. To help sell her songs, she began low cost demos to demonstrate her ideas to the producers . These demos were so good that often the producer only had to copy them with the proper instrumentation to have a hit record.
With Sedaka busy with his singing career, Goffin & King were Aldon Music's only bankable asset until Mann & Weil came along in late A few months later Don Kirshner, head of Aldon Music, rewarded King with the  release of "It Might as Well Rain Until September" under her name, instead of it being given to Bobby Vee as planned. "It Might as Well Rain Until September" reached #22 on the charts.

20. Carole King and Gerry Goffin
Kirshner decided that Goffin & King were capable of running a record label and put the in charge of Dimension Records. For over a year it had a more consistent track record than any of its competition, including Phil Spector's Philles Records. The label was sold in mid-’63 as part of Kirshner's deal with Screen Gems and continued for another few years.. Goffin & King were assigned to bolster the careers of Screen Gems mediocre rooster while taking care of Kirshner's clients. By 1964 they had come up with another twenty three hits, but their best work was behind them and the British Invasion had begun.
However, Goffin & King were heroes to these English groups. The Beatles recorded "Chains" and McCartney was quoted as saying he wished he could write as well. On their first U.S. tour  meeting them was a priority. The Beatles were not the only British band that felt that way.
With Phil Spector, they wrote for the Righteous Brothers, and while continuing to write for other artists, with an increasing amount of the songs being rhythm and blues or soul. By 1965, their talents were becoming less important as groups like the Byrds, The Young Rascals, and the Beach Boys, set the tone for other upcoming artists who wrote their own material.
Kirshner responded to the changing times with a renewed faith in simple music, now targeted  the new generation to young to be smoking pot and protesting on campus. The Monkees were an instant sensation and Kirshner turned to Goffin & King who gave him "Pleasant Valley Sunday."  By 1967 Goffin & King’s marriage was crumbling due to creative disenchantment, internal pressures, and the times.  They were divorced with King moving to California where she started a group called The City and came into her own as a performer on Lou Adler's Ode label. Though they since had written together, when King found her solo niche, the Goffin & King team had ended.
Carole King and Gerry Goffin were inducted into the Rock and Hall of Fame in 1990.

21. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
Another of the brilliant professional songwriting teams employed at New York's Brill Building in the during '60, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil wrote dozens of hit songs for various acts. Besides Goffin/King, this was Don Kirshner's most productive and gifted team.
Barry Mann abandoned an architecture career to become a songwriter in Achieving his first hit in collaboration with Michael Anthony in early 1958 with "She Say (Oom Dooby Dom)," he was hired as a staff songwriter at Aldon Records. Teaming with a number of other writers in the early '60s, Mann co-wrote "Footsteps by Steve Lawrence, "I Love How You Love Me" by The Paris Sisters," and Patches" by Dicky Lee. In 1961 he recorded a solo album that yielded the hit "Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)" co-written by Gerry Goffin.
While on staff at Aldon, Mann met Cynthia Weil. In August 1961 they were married and writing songs together. It was a perfect marriage of talents, resulting in fifty hits in the next five years.
Their early hits included "Uptown" and "He's Sure the Boy I Love" by the Crystals in "My Dad" by Ray Peterson, "Blame It On the Bossa Nova" by Eydie Gorme, and “Only In America" by Jay and the Americans in 1963.

22. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
Of all their contemporaries, they were the most versatile, able to adapt convincingly to country, soul, MOR, punk or anything else. Mann  was able to write lyrics that were controversial or thought provoking, but still palatable to the commercial mainstream, such as "Uptown," "On Broadway," and "We Got To Get Out of This Place".
They were the only Brill team to write directly for Paul Revere and the Raiders, and their 1964 classic "You Lost That Lovin' Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers virtually redefined that scope and depth of pop songwriting. With Phil Spector they wrote some of the best Ronettes songs, like "You Baby" and "Walking In the Rain".
Other hits which they were associated through 1970 include Max Frost and The Troopers "The Shape of Things to Come," Cass Elliot's "It's Getting Better" and "Make Your Own Kind of Music," and B.J. Thomas' "I Just Can't Help Believing."
Mann had few roots in rock and roll. A fan of pop since the era of Frankie Laine and Jo Stafford, he later came to like vocal rhythm and blues, but didn't care much for Chuck Berry and Little Richard.   Of the early rockers, only the Everly Brothers made an impression. Cynthia was into show tunes, but knew little contemporary music until exposed to it by Mann.

23. Neil Sedaka
Coming from a doo wop background, yet classically trained, Neil Sedaka composed more than a 1,000 tunes, including a dozen major pop hits he corded between 1959 to 1963 that were co-authored with Howard Greenfield, his lyrist until 1972.
Neil Sedaka was born in Brighton Beach section Brooklyn, New York on March 13th Neil Sedaka began his interest in music at the age of four, by listening to the radio program, The Make - Believe Ballroom. At the age of 8, Neil began playing the piano for five hours a day. A year later, Neil’s music teacher at the Juilliard Prep School, encouraged Mac, a taxi cab driver and Eleanor, whose own mother was a concert pianist, to buy their son a piano. Neil had set his sights on being a Doctor of Classical Music. As a teenager, Sedaka was selected by Arthur Rubenstein to play on a show on New York's classical music station WQRX. By that time he had become strongly attracted popular music as well and had by age thirteen begun writing songs to lyrics by high school friend Howie Greenfield.

24. Neil Sedaka
In 1956, while at Lincoln High, Sedaka formed the Linc-Tones. After months of street corner harmony, the Linc-Tones auditioned for Morey Croft's Melba Records, with offices in the same Broadway block as the more famous Brill Building. Accepted as a vocal group, they were booked into the rehearsal hall to practice. At this time Sedaka was asked to help out on another group's session and played chimes on "Church Bells May Ring" by the Willows.
When it came the Linc-Tones time to record he sang lead on the ballad "While I Dream" with Hank Medress singing lead on the rocker, "I Love My Baby." Both songs were written by Sedaka/Greenfield. Upon issuance Melba changed the group's name to the Tokens. Crofts was able to get some airplay around New York, but the single failed to chart nationally. No other singles were issued and the disillusioned group broke up only to re-emerge years later with the hit "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."
In 1958, while playing at the Esther Manor near Monticello in New York state, Neil met 16 year old Leba Strassberg daughter of the owners, Esther and Irving. Neil knew he was going to marry Leba before he even spoke to her! Neil being ever true to his word did so at the Manor in This highly competent businesswoman has been Neil’s auxiliary driving force and his manager since the mid - 70s. Leba has said that, "Neil may not be the world’s greatest songwriter, singer or performer, but nobody can do all three better."

25. Neil Sedaka
While on a two year scholarship to Julliard School In New York, Sedaka sold his first song, "Stupid Cupid," a hit for Connie Francis in 1958, as was his "Where the Boys Are, (which Francis sang in the hit teen movie of the same name) in He also sold Sedaka-Greenfield songs to Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records who placed them with R&B singers LaVern Baker and Clyde McPhatter. On the advice of   Doc Pomus  Sedaka signed with Don Kirshner's Aldon Records. Kirshner liked Sedaka's voice and got him a recording contract with RCA Records. In 1959 he had two hits "The Diary" (#14) and "I Go Ape" (#42). More hits followed. "Oh! Carol" (#9) in 1959; "Stairway To Heaven" (#9) in 1960; "Calendar Girl" (#4), "Little Devil (#11) and "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" (#6) in 1961; "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (#1) and "Next Door to an Angel" (#5) in 1962.
Sedaka's career slowed down in However, through the Sixties and early Seventies he and Greenfield continued to write songs for others including the Fifth Dimension's "Working on a Groovy Thing" and Davy Jone's "Rainy Jane". Sedaka split with Greenfield in 1963 after he had begun a performing comeback in England. Sedaka made three albums in England. Elton John helped him get back on the U.S. charts by reissuing songs from the British albums on one U.S. album "Sedaka's Back" and then having him record for his Rocket label. Sedaka's Back (# ) and The Hungry Years (#16) 1975) both went gold. "Laughter in the Rain" was a #1 hit in 1974 and his "Love Will Keep Us Together (co-written with Greenfield) was a number #1 hit for the Captain and Tenille, winning a 1075 Grammy as the Record of the Year.

26. Leiber & Stoller
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller formed one of the best and most prolific songwriting teams of the 50's and 60's in addition to their work as record producers. Their formula was to take their love of R&B music and transform it into songs that appealed to a wide audience through their unforgettable melodies, well-conceived lyrics, and meticulous methods of producing records.
Jerry Leiber was born in Baltimore in 1933 and Mike Stoller was born less than three weeks later in Belle Harbor, New York. Following World War II the families of both moved to the West Coast. They met each other in Los Angeles in 1950 and soon found out that they had a lot in common. Both were serious fans of R&B music although both lived in predominantly white neighborhoods.
They began to write songs together, and their early efforts were recorded by artists such as Amos Milburn, Floyd "Skeet" Dixon, and Jimmy Witherspoon. Their first taste of national recognition came with a song that they wrote titled Hard Times which was recorded by Charles Brown. They were not yet out of their teens.
They formed an alliance with Johnny Otis, a Los Angeles based R&B artist/songwriter/promoter who, among other things, would have a top ten pop song of his own with Willie And The Hand Jive later in the 50's. Otis promoted a number of R&B acts including Big Mama Thornton, and through this connection Leiber & Stoller wrote something for her that would become a legendary song, Hound Dog. Thornton's recording of the song topped the R&B charts for seven weeks in 1953.

27. Leiber and Stoller
Leiber and Stoller formed the Spark label that year along with West Coast music promoter Lester Sill. They continued to write songs, with Stoller preferring more serious music and Leiber more inclined toward writing sometimes humorous lyrics. They developed a style of telling stories in their songs using these humorous lyrics, which they termed "playlets." Otis had promoted singer Little Esther who was backed on many of her R&B records by a group known as the Robins. Leiber and Stoller turned to this group to record some of the songs they had written for their label, resulting in such hits as Smoky Joe's Cafe, Riot In Cell Block 9, and Framed. As a result of this success early in their careers, their label was purchased by Atlantic, and this led to the Robins being renamed the Coasters [because they were from the West Coast] and Leiber and Stoller being hired by Atlantic to serve as independent producers, a practice that was uncommon in the record business at that time. Leiber and Stoller would go on to write nearly all of the Coasters hit songs, including Searchin', Yakety Yak, Charlie Brown, Poison Ivy, Along Came Jones, and Little Egypt [Ying-Yang]. One thing led to another, and the songwriting team found themselves working with the likes of established performers such as Joe Turner, LaVern Baker, and Ruth Brown. Leiber and Stoller moved to New York City and set up an office in what was known as the Brill Building, which was actually a group of buildings along Broadway that served as the epicenter of the pop music business in the 50's and 60's.
Their earlier composition of Hound Dog was recorded by Elvis Presley and released along with Don't Be Cruel on its flip side. It was a megahit and helped to establish Presley as a star, remaining at number one on the pop charts for an incredible eleven weeks in No record has held the number one spot for that length of time since then. Money began to pour in and Johhny Otis filed suit, claiming that he was entitled to some of the profits as co-writer of Hound Dog; the court ruling went against Otis.

28. Leiber and Stoller
The reputation of Leiber and Stoller as hit makers was by this time well established. They continued to produce records in the Brill Building studios. Each production was conceived and planned with careful attention to detail, with recording sessions sometimes resulting in 50 or more takes. New concepts in pop music production were introduced, such as the use of strings and Latin rhythms. The results were edited and re-edited until the desired effect had been achieved. Around this time their former partner, Lester Sill, sent a young record producer with whom he had begun working on the West Coast to New York and put him in touch with Leiber and Stoller. His name was Phil Spector, and when he arrived initially he moved into their office and slept on a couch there at night. Spector studied their meticulous production techniques diligently and would later adjust them to suit his own preferences; he went on to a career that would one day land him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Leiber and Stoller soon grew tired of Spector and it was not long before he struck out on his own.
Atlantic Records had another group, the Drifters, and Leiber and Stoller began to produce songs for them using the same formula that had worked so well for the Coasters. They had at their disposal in the Brill Building some of the finest artists, musicians, songwriters and recording engineers in the entire music business. The result was hits such as Save The Last Dance For Me, On Broadway, and Up On The Roof.
Elvis Presley was looking for good material and his agent, Colonel Tom Parker, negotiated with the prolific songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. One song that they had written, Love Me, was interpreted in an entirely different way than the songwriters had intended when Presley recorded it. They were astonished at how well he had done with it. They wrote the score for Presley's feature films Love Me Tender and Jailhouse Rock.

29. Leiber and Stoller
Doc Pomus and Mort Schuman formed another pair of prolific Brill Building songwriters, with such hits as Elvis' Little Sister, Dion and the Belmonts' A Teenager In Love and Fabian's Turn Me Loose. The two duos collaborated on some projects. Through some combination of Schuman, Pomus, Leiber, and Stoller, there resulted such gems as the Coasters' Young Blood, some of the songs done by Ben E. King after he left the Drifters, and some of Elvis' hits such as She's Not You.
Leiber and Stoller eventually ended their association with Atlantic and formed their own label in 1964, naming it Red Bird. One of the first hits for Red Bird came when singer/producer Joe Jones drove three girls to the Brill Building from their home in New Orleans. [Joe Jones had been a pianist and valet to B.B. King, and had his own top ten hit with You Talk Too Much on the Roulette label in 1960.] Through a rather circuitous series of events, the girls recorded a song that had been written by another veteran Brill Building songwriting team, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, and it was released just before Phil Spector could record the same song with his group the Ronettes. The result was the number one song Chapel Of Love for the girls, who were named the Dixie Cups. Later that year Red Bird would release Remember [Walkin' In The Sand] by a group of girls from Andrew Jackson High School in Queens, the Shangri-Las. This group went on to have a number of hits, including the number one Leader Of The Pack, all of them on Leiber and Stoller's Red Bird label. In 1966 Jerry and Mike sold their interest in Red Bird to their partner, George Goldner. Leiber and Stoller once again began working with the Coasters, but with little success.
They were doing less and less songwriting but continued to work as freelance record producers in the 70's, promoting such acts as Peggy Lee, Stealers Wheel, Procol Harum, and T-Bone Walker. Many of their songs were still being recorded by other artists.
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller left a lasting impression on the pop music business through their work in the 50's and 60's. In 1988 their early composition that had been such a huge success, Hound Dog, earned a Grammy Hall Of Fame Award. In the 90's a Broadway musical that is based on their work, Smoky Joe's Cafe, is touring the country. Jerry and Mike are still around and occasionally appear in the mainstream media.
Leiber and Stoller, who claimed that "we don't write songs, we write records," were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987.

31. Chantels
Top Arlene Smith and bottom l to r: Sonia Goring, Jackie Landary and Renee Minus)
Considered by many to have been the best of the girl groups, the Chantels were one of the first female R&B vocal groups to have nationwide success.
Arlene Smith (lead), Lois Harris (first tenor), Sonia Goring (second tenor), Jackie Landry (second alto), and Rene Minus began their musical journey in their preteens while attending choir practice at St. Anthony of Padua school in the Bronx. By 1957, they had been singing together for more than seven years. A staple of their diet was Gregorian chants taught to such perfection that changing notes and parts were second nature.
Unlike their male counterparts, girls weren't able to "hangout" on street corners at all hours practicing. So in 1957 much of their practice took place in the girl's lockeroom at St. Anthony's. Arlene Smith was a member of the girl's basketball team and, win or lose, the group would sing after every game.
Smith who had been trained as a classical singer had performed solo at Carnegie Hall when she was twelve. All the girls had sung in the choir where classical music was interspersed with Latin hymns. Their ages ranged between thirteen and sixteen.
The Chantels began doing talent shows with the Sequins and the Crows at the P.S. 60 Community Center and St. Augustine's church.  That same year their school team played St. Francis de Chantelle. One of the girls suggested that they end their seach for a group name by calling themselves the Chantelles. It soon became the Chantels.

32. Chantels
The strength of the group apart from its vocal presence was the writing ability of lead singer Arlene Smith. There weren't many girl groups in the mid-50s and even less that wrote their own material. Arlene contributed both words and music, and the combination of her classical and gospel background with simple yet poignant lyrics made her more successful at sixteen then she could have possibly imagined. Her first song "He's Gone" was written about a boyfriend  while she was practicing piano.
Legend has it the Chantels were on the second floor of the Broadway Building on Broadway and 53rd when the Valentines passed underneath the window. The girls recognized them from an Alan Freed performance and went down to ask for their autographs. During the conversation it was mentioned that the girls were a singing group. Producer /writer/ arranger and Valentines' lead Richard  Barrett asked them to sing right there under the Broadway Theatre marquee. Floored  at the sound of the girls singing a hymn, and with his leaning to rhythm and blues, perhaps he wondered  how they would sound singing that music. He took their phone number.
The girls were thrilled at Barett's interest as they knew that he was George Goldner's , owner of Gee and Roulette Records, right hand man. Ironically, they had tried to sing for Goldner only a few weeks before, but he hadn't been in when they showed up to audition at Gee Records 42nd street office.
Several weeks passed without a call from Barett. Not being timid, Jackie Landry told a friend of hers in the Teen Chords of their encounter and he gave her Barrett's address. The Chantels dropped by to see Barrett and reminded him of their meeting. Barrett wasted no time in setting up a rehearsal, meeting the group's mothers, and arranging the Chantel's first two songs, the Arlene Smith compositions "The Plea" and "He's Gone.“
By early summer of 1957 the Chantels were signed to Goldner's End label which he had just formed after selling Roulette/Rama/Gee. In fact, the Chantels' first single was the second release on the label that was to be the future home of Little Anthony and the Imperials, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and The Bobbettes.

33. Chantels
The Chantels' first single "He's Gone," was released in August From the four part a capella chime harmony intro topped by Arlene's floating falsetto to its duplicate ending, "He's Gone" instantly set a new standard of quality for female group recording. By September 30, the record was on the Billboard national Top 100 charts but inexplicably stopped at number 71. This record charted only seven weeks after Bobbettes hit the top 100 with their first release "Mr. Lee." Ironically, these two trend setting groups of the 50s only lived a few mile apart.
The Chantels first live performance was at a Jocko show at the Apollo Theatre (Jocko was a legendary New York disc jockey at the time) in which the group was not even on the bill. Richard Barrett brought them on stage and waited for Jocko to present them. The Chantels wowed the audience with "He's Gone."
The next recording session, on October 16, 1957 was scheduled not at a regular recording studio, but a refurbished church in midtown Manhattan, apparently for its acoustics. Barrett played the piano along with the supportive bass and drums for the Chantels recording of Arlene Smith's  "Maybe." Released in December; by January 20, 1958, it was climbing the pop charts and a week later the rhythm and blues charts. "Maybe" reached number 15 Pop and number two R&B by late winter. Interestingly, though not unusual for the time, the original records writer credit s read Casey and Goldner. Later issues and reissues had Arlene Smith and Goldner. As recently as 1987 a Chantels compilation on a  Murray Hill three LP set with "Maybe" listed as being written by R. Barrett.
Two days after "Maybe" hit the pop charts the group was recording again. Barrett was devoting his attention to the Chantels, even dropping his own group the Valentines by the summer of On January 22, 1958 a recording session was held that generated five sides, all eventually released on singles or EPS.

34. Chantels
The Chantels' third single for End was " Every Night (I Pray)," another gem that sounded like Arlene's writing style, although it showed Goldner's name on the record. "Every Night" hit the pop charts on March 31, 1958, and reached number 39 pop and number 16 R&B.
That spring the Chantels became the first female rhythm and blues group to release an EP: it included, "Sure of Love," "Prayee," "I Love You So," and "How Could You Call It Off." The later two became the Chantels' fourth single in April "I Love You So" became the first non-Arlene Smith composition to be released as an A side. It was written by Watkins and Davis, the latter a member of the Crows.
"I Love You So" was another perfect Chantels confection (#42 pop, #14 R&B), but it would turn out to be their last hit on End. After "I Love You So" End released a second EP, an unprecedented move for an act that had only released four singles. This honor was usually reserved  for acts like the Clovers and Coasters that had been having hits for years. Three singles followed and failed.
The success of Little Anthony and the Imperials kept End Records preoccupied in late 1958 and 1959, the result being less promotional support for the Chantels. End stood to earn more from a touring group of male vocalists than five high school girls still tied to their parents. Although the Chantels were one of the first female vocal groups of the rock era to have an album released under their own name, they were dropped by End in April 1959.

35. Chantels
Arlene Smith now decided to go solo while Lois Harris went to college to pursue a nursing career. Chantel records continued being released with Richard Barrett on lead and by Gone Records an affiliate of End. In May 1959 "Come Softly to Me" was released and quickly failed. In July of 1959 "Summer's Love" was released and read Richard Barrett and the Chantels.    Recorded in late 1958, the ballad had all the makings of a hit, but only went to #93 pop (#29 R&B). Over the years it would show up on three different labels with three distinctively different background vocal arrangements.
In 1960 Barrett started his own label and recorded a new girl group similar to the Chantels called the Veneers. Their release "I" went unnoticed, but helped him solve his Chantel problem by matching the Venners' lead singer Annette Smith with the three remaining Chantels. In April 1960 trying to capitalize on the name End released "Whoever You Are". It had all of the original Chantel magic, but lacked the full commitment of the label.
In the Summer of  1961 Barrett took the Chantels to Carlton Records.Their first release on Carlton "Look in My Eyes" went all the way to #14 on the pop charts (#6 R&B). The ballad was reminiscent of the Chantels early records and only the most discerning ear could tell that Anette had replaced Arlene.
With the Chantels on the rise End released an album of canned tracks. By 1962 Carlton released their own album called The Chantels on Tour. The album contained their second Carlton single "Well I Told You, an answer to Ray Charles' number one record "Hit the Road Jack". The song was the Chantels' first up-tempo single an reached #29 Pop by December 1961.
This was the Chantels last big record. One more single for Carlton "Summertime" and they moved to Ludix Records.

36. Chantels
The Chantels' first Ludix release was "Eternally" and was produced by Richard Barrett. This was the third time in six years that their initial release on a label had charted. Still there were more records coming out and failing then succeeding. The moved to a number labels before they disbanded in The public had become oblivious to fine harmonies and melodic ballads, now favoring records with a harder edge.
In 1973 Arlene Smith reformed the Chantels with newcomers Barbara Murray and Pauline Moore for some oldies shows. By the early 80s Sonia Goring, Lois Harris, Rene Minus, and Jackie Landry were all married and living in the New York area. Arlene became a elementary school teacher in the Bronx. She is presently highly involved in her work in the black community, both as as a singer and teacher.

37. Shirelles
One of the first of the late Fifties and early Sixties girl groups and among the few to write their own hits, the Shirelles were also one of the longest lasting The Shirelles, a group of 16 and 17 year olds, were all friends from Passaic High School in Passaic, New Jersey, that began singing together in Fans of the Flamingos, Chantels, and Little Anthony and the Imperials as well as the Bobbettes, The Shirelles received a large part of their musical education by listening to New York's premier R&B station at the time, WWRL.
Originally they called themselves the Poquellos (meaning birds).

38. Shirelles
The Shirelles consisted of Shirley Owens (born June 10, 1941), Addie Micki" Harris (born January 22, 1940), Beverly Lee Born August 3, 1942) and Doris Coley (born August 2, 1941)  With a strong distinctive voice, Owens was the natural leader.. Their harmonizing in the school gym resulted in a teacher suggesting that they direct their talents toward the school's talent show. The Shirelles then set about to writing an original show and they wrote one about young love called "I Met Him On A Sunday." The girls sang the song a cappella in the show and were immediate sensations. Their friend Mary Jane Greenberg wanted to introduce them to her mother Florence Greenberg, who owned Tiara Records, but the girls weren't interested and turned her down. After Mary Jane's repeated request, the Poquellos finally auditioned in Florence's living room with "I Met Him on a Sunday."  On February 7, 1958 they found themselves in a recording studio doing "I Met Him On A Sunday" and "I Want You To Be My Boyfriend."  Deciding that they needed a more commercial name, so Florence took Shirley's name, and combined it with the Chantels and came up with the Shirelles. Promotional copies were distributed in New York in les than a week after the audition..
The single came out in March and created enough activity for Decca to buy the masters. On April 21, "I Met Him On A Sunday reached the Billboard charts, rising to #49. The single became a staple on radio stations until July. The Shirelles were booked to play the Apollo Theater in March and appeared on Dick Clark's ABC-TV Saturday show in April.
The Shirelles then began performing on the chitlin' circuit, but their mothers insisted that the teens be chaperoned. Two of the tour's older performers, Etta James and Ruth Brown became the designated den mothers.
Decca issued two more singles "My Love Is A Charm" and "Lonely Nights" both which failed to chart. The Shirelles were dropped by Decca by the end of 1958.

39. Shirelles
In June 1959, the Shirelles began their comeback. They were booked into the Howard Theater in Washington, DC, followed by the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York Greenberg   who had started  Sceptor Records in the spring of 1959 and brought in producer/writer Luther Dixon to work with the girls. The Shirelles' first Sceptor record was a remake of the 5 Royales' 1957 single "Dedicated To The One I Love" with Doris Coley on lead, reached #83 in July. To promote the record a long tour of one-nighters headlined by Dee Clark.
The next two singles "Doin' the Ronde" and "Please Be My Boyfriend" went nowhere. Then the group recorded a Owens/Dixon composition, "Tonight's the Night," which was released in April, Featuring Owens, it charted on September 12 and reached #39 Pop and #14 R&B.
In late summer of 1960, songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin brought Dixon a song called "Tomorrow." The girls didn't like it, feeling it was to white,  and had to be pressured by Dixon to record it. By the time it was released in the fall of 1960, it had become "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," an up-tempo pop song with an exciting string arrangement and lyrics that were ahead of their time in subject matter.
On November 21, 1960 "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" charted Pop and in two weeks reached the top spot, the first record by a black female group to hit the top spot. Its success put life back into "Dedicated To the One I Love" and "Tonight's the Night" and all three were certified gold in The Shirelles ended the year by appearing at the Brooklyn Paramount's Chiristmas Show were Brenda Lee, Bobby Rydell and Ray Charles headlined.

40. Shirelles
The follow up was a reissue of "Dedicated To the One I Love," and it climbed the Hot 100 so fast that "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" was still at number #3 when it entered the Top 10.
The Shirelles then began touring with all the hitmakers of the day from Dion, Chubby Checker, Ray Charles, Neil Sedaka, and the Coasters, to Fats Domino, the Drifters, and Bo Diddley. They also did the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars.
Owen's distinctively innocent sound was now fully developed and the girl's harmonies were polished and smoothly commercially. As a result the Shirelles charted more times Pop (26) than R&B (20) in their career.
"Mama Said" reached #4 Pop and #2 R&B in the spring of The Shirelles were doing so well that Decca re-issued "I Met Him On A Sunday" in early 1961.
Doing one of Alan Freed's infrequent West Coast tours and on June 25, 1961, played the Hollywood Bowl with Jerry Lee Lewis, Brenda Lee, and Bobby Vee.
In early 1962 writers, Hal David, Burt Bacharach and Barney Williams gave Dixon a rock ballad called "I'll Cherish You' which became "Baby It's You." "Baby It's You" charted at #8 Pop and #3 R&B. Despite the Shirelles' enormous popularity TV shows like Ed Sullivan were off limits to black girls in 1962.
In 1962 Dixon and Florence Greenberg wrote a country styled tune called "Soldier Boy" which became the group's second number one record.
By now every every publisher and writer was trying to get a song recorded by the Shirelles. Two songs that were passed on were "The Shoop Shoop Song, a #6 hit for Betty Everett in 1964, and "He's a Rebel, which the Crystals took to #1 in 1962.

41. Shirelles
The Shirelles continued to appear on the charts in 1962 with "Welcome Home Baby" (#22 Pop, #20 R&B), "Stop the Music (#36 Pop), and "Everybody Loves a Lover" (#19 Pop, #15 R&B), but in 1963 Dixon left to work at Capitol and Stan Green took over production. He had a strong entry with "Foolish Little Girl" (#4 Pop, #9 R&B), but subsequent songs were weaker. Still the Shirelles stayed in demand recording several songs for the film comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad,World and touring England with Little Richard and Duane Eddy.
During this time Shirley got married becoming Shirley Owens-Alston, and Doris became Doris Coley-Kenner. A new comer Dionne Warwick substituted at performances for these newlyweds and at the same time building her own career at Sceptor.
In 1964, the Shirelles were told there was no money in the trust fund by Greenberg to protect their earnings. They attempted to leave Sceptter, but were blocked by an injunction as lawsuits went through the courts. Scepter continued to release previously recorded material, but without commercial success.
After the legal problems were settled, the Sirelles remained with Sceptor for another four years. Sceptor continued to issue Shirelle records through 1968, but after "Foolish Little Girl' the closest they came to the Top 20 out of twenty-three singles was "Don't Say Good Night and Mean Goodbye (#26) in the summer of One song that had a good shot was "Sha La La (early 1964), whiched charted. However as it was starting to gain momentum Manfred Mann covered it at the beginning of the British invasion and disc jockeys opted to play the foreign version.
The Shirelles' last charting single was "Last Minute Miracle" (#99 Pop, #41 R&B), but there wasn't any.
The Shirelles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

42. Chiffons
Throughout rock and roll history, vocal groups have spent entire careers in search of hit bound melodies and captivating lyrics. In the reverse of that equation, the Chiffons garnered their greatest success because a hit song was in search of a group.
In 1960, the Chiffons formed at James Monroe High School in the Bronx, New York. The lead singer was 14 year old Judy Craig (born August 6,1946), and she sang along with Patricia Bennett (born April 7, 1947) and Barbara Lee (born February 6, 1944). It was at the after school center that they met writer/manager/entrepreneur Ronnie Mack. Mack's claim to fame at that time was as a local Philadelphia hit by Little Jimmy and the Tops called "Puppy Love." Though partial to his own songs, Mack got wind of a new Luther Dixon-Shirley Owens composition in the summer of Owns was lead singer of the Shirelles, so it was only nature that they record the song "Tonight's the Night." Mack decided that the one way to get publicity would be have the unknown Chiffons cover "Tonight's the Night" and to fight it out on the charts with the more established Shirelles.

43. Chiffons
The girls than chose the name Chiffons out of the hat. Mack than signed the trio to Big Deal Records. They then recorded "Tonight's the Night," and both versions hit the charts on September 12th. The Shirelles, having a stronger lead vocalist and fuller harmonies climbed to #39 while the Chiffons' first release managed to reach #76.
It would be two and a half years before the Chiffons would again make the national charts. During this time Mack talked them into taking on c-lead singer, Sylvia Peterson (born September 30, 1946) She too was a student at James Monroe High and had sung with Little Jimmy and the Tops.
In the fall of 1962, Mack took some his songs to a new production team in New York City.  The company Bright Tunes and the producers were Phil and Mitch Margo, Jay Siegel, and Hank Medress a.k.a. The Tokens. They liked one of the songs called "He's So Fine" and asked if he had a group to sing it.   Fearing a negative response would end their interest he said that he had a terrific group. The Tokens said "Great. Bring them in tomorrow." Mack knew he had  no such group, but he also knew that the Chiffons had heard and even sung the song around school.
It was several months before the Chiffons were called in to record the single. The Tokens not only produced it, but played all the instruments too. Finally in December 1962, it was released on Laurie Records. By March 20th "He's So Fine" was the #1 record on both the Pop and R&B charts.

44. Chiffons
The next single. "Lucky Me" was as much a flop as "He's So Fine" was a hit. In order to not lose momentum, the Tokens immediately produced a third single "One Fine Day." "One Fine Day" proved to have the same simple appeal as "He's So Fine," and the Carole King-Gerry Goffin composition rocketed up the charts to #5 Pop in June and #6 R&B.
The Tokens then decided to create a dual personality for the group, so at the same time that: One Fine Day" was being released, they recorded the Chiffons on Laurie's Rust subsidiary as the Four Pennies. The Pennies' first single was "My Block" and it reached the charts three weeks after "One Fine Day. It was a cha-cha rhythmed song with a sound reminiscent of Phil Spector's productions.  However, it only went #67 Pop. In September the Chiffons had their third Top 40 hit in four tries with "A Love So Fine." Back as the Four Pennies their September release of "When the Boy's Happy" reached #95 Pop in November.
The Chiffons were now in great demand  and began appearing on TV's American Bandstand, Hullabaloo, Shindig, as well as Murray the K's Brooklyn Fox live show, and singing commercials for Great Shakes drinks.
Because of their age and sex, the Chiffons didn't tour much. They did the annual Brooklyn Paramount Theater week end shows around Labor Day and Christmas. In 1963, they joined Dion's rock and roll show at the Pittsburgh Civic Center that also featured the Shirelles, Freddy Cannon, Little Peggy March, the Impressions and Dione Warwick. In November, they were with James Brown at the Apollo theater in Harlem, New York.

45. Chiffons
In the fall of 1963 the Chiffons released "I Have a Boyfriend." considered to be their best recording. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and the Tokens, the rhythm ballad was a Ronettes styled mix of the early '60s rhythm and blues and doo wop. It reached #36 on the Billboard's Best Seller list in November, but was gone ten weeks later.
After "One Fine Day," their sales dropped dramatically. One reason might have beenthe eight singles they recorded in their first year with Laurie. Not to mention the backing work they did with Andrea Carroll and their own two albums.
On February 11, 1964, the Chiffons were among the opening acts on the Beatles first U.S. concert at Washington Memorial Coliseum. In June, 1964 they opened for the Rolling Stones on their first U.S. tour.
Several strong Chiffons recordings followed ("Tonight I Met an Angel," "Sailor Boy," and "What Am I Gonna Do With You"), but the charts were now moving to the British sound. However, a good song is a good song, and in the spring of 1966 the Chiffons had a Top Ten Record in June with "Sweet Talkin' Guy."

46. Chiffons
In 1968 the Tokens moved the group from Laurie to its own label B.T Puppy for one single called "My Secret Love" which remained a secret to the public as it received little air play.
In 1969 Judy craig called it quits.
By 1970 the Chiffons were on the Buddah label singing the Tymes hit "So Much in Love, while George Harrison was unintentionally plagiarizing "He's So Fine" while he was writing his first solo hit "My Sweet Lord." In 1971, he was sued by Ronnie Mack's estate and Bright Tunes. Harrison lost the case in 1976 and was ordered to $587,000 in composer's royalties.
In 1975 To capitalize on the publicity of the lawsuit the Chiffons recorded their version of "My Sweet Lord."
In March 1972, six years after their last chart record, the British London Records issued the original recording of "Sweet Talkin Guy" on the U.K. label Stateside. The record went to #4 in the U.K. This was while the Chiffons were working small clubs and didn't even have a U.S. record deal.
In 1976, Laurie issued the last Chiffon single. "Dream, Dream, Dream." By the 1970s Judy Craig had left the act, Patricia Bennett and Barbara Lee had married. The Chiffons continue to perform today.

47. Marvelettes
(l to r: Gladys Horton, Wanda Rogers, Georgeanna Tilman and Katherine Anderson)
Despite twenty-one R&B chart hits, twenty-three Pop hits, and Motown's first number one single, the Marvelettes were never the darlings of Motown that they aspired to be.
"They never really respected us. Berry Gordy lost the Marvelette name in a gambling game once, that's how much they cared about us. We were just nothing to them.".....Gladys Horton

48. Marvelletes
Starting out 1961 as a quintet in rural Inkster, Michigan, the Marvelettes were leads Gladys Horton and Georgia Dobbins with Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart, and Katherine Anderson. Not confident in their singing abilities they called themselves the Casinyets which stood for can't sing yet.
While attending Inkster High, the five seventeen year olds entered the school's talent show where the first three prizes were auditions at Detroit's Motown Records. The girls then called the Marvels finished fourth ( though in a 1980 interview Horton said they came in first), but their teacher, Mrs. Shirley Sharpley, convinced the principal Anita Cox to let them go on the audition. It was Sharpley that prevailed upon Jon O'Den (Berry Gordy‘s driver and bodyguard) to listen to the Casinyets.
The Marvelettes' early influences were the Chantels and the Shirelles, so it was no surprise when they auditioned with "He's Gone" and "I Met Him On A Sunday." The girls passed their April 1961 audition for Brian Holland and Robert Bateman with flying colors, but  sent them home  telling them they had to come up with an original song. Having never written anything, Dobbins asked William Garnett, a songwriting friend, if he had anything.  He showed her a blues song entitled "Please Mr. Postman." In turn for writing credit she then rewrote it keeping the title and theme. She then gave it to Horton to learn and then dropped out of the group to take care of her sick mother. The group then added Wanda Young, an Inkster graduate, and went back to Motown.

49. Marvelettes
"Anyway we won first prize, but until we got to Motown, it still hadn't reached my mind how important it was. We met Berry Gordy and the Miracles, and it was then I realized the potential of this meeting. We began to picture ourselves like the Supremes, who were the company's girl group" Gladys Horton
Gordy renamed them the Marvelettes and "Please Mr. Postman" on the Tamla label was released in the summer of 1961, around four months after the first single by Motown's other girl group, The Supremes.
On September fourth the song entered the Billboard charts and the R&B charts one week later. Slowly moving up the charts "Please Mr. Postman" it took fourteen weeks for it to finally reach the top spot.
"The first number one came to easy for us. We weren't pretty city girls from the projects like Motown's other girl group, the Supremes. We had no experience of life at all. We were naive little country girls, and we didn't know how to handle the situation. We had no idea how to behave, we didn't know what to wear. we didn't even know how to put make up. We learnt as we went along, of course, but it was very hard at first."   Gladys Horton
An immediate rivalry arose between the Supremes and the country girls from Inkster.

50. Marvelettes
The Marvelettes' next song "Twistin' Mr. Postman had an heavily accented blues beat. It would ultimately reach number thirty-four Pop and number thirteen R&B. The group was becoming popular on tour, but underlying tensions and internal competition was taking their toll. The Marvelettes' next record "Playboy" was a hit reaching number seven Pop and number three R&B on June 23. The Supremes were still three weeks away with their first Pop charter "Your Heart Belongs To Me."
Next what was to become their most phone number in the country, Beachwood in the summer of 1962 (#17 Pop, #7 R&B). Then "Strange I know" reached number forty-one Pop and number ten R&B in early 1963., but the rest of the year was a disappointment with "Locking Up My Heart" doing the best (#44 Pop, #25 R&B).
By 1965 the group was having hits again with "Too Many Fish In the Sea (#25 Pop, #15 R&B), "I'll Keep Holding On" (#34 Pop, #11 R&B), and "Don't Mess With Bill" (#7 Pop, #3 R&B), written by Smokey Robinson and with Wanda on lead.
The Marvelettes than made what turned out to be a major mistake by passing on a song brought to them in 1964 by Holland-Dozier-Holland. The writers then took "Baby Love" to the Supremes, giving them their second number one record in a row.

51. Marvelettes
In 1965 Juanita left the group reportedly following a nervous breakdown. When Georgeanna fell ill with leukemia and lupus soon after and had to leave the touring, the group continued as a trio.
"There was pressure on the group. Juanita had a nervous breakdown and had to leave. She had made a silly remark on Dick Clark's show and everyone in the company was constantly teasing her about it. She really took it to heart and became very depressed. she was only 16. Georgeanna had to leave due to ill health. She was always very tired; there was something wrong with her and the doctor advised her to get off the road." Gladys Horton
In 1967 The Marvelettes had three hits in a row with "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" (#13 pop, #2 R&B), "When Your Young and in Love" (#23 Pop, #9 R&B), and "My Baby Must Be a Magician" (#17 Pop, #8 R&B).
Horton then left the group to get married and Anne Bogan joined.
Their last chart record came in late 1968 with "Destination: Anywhere (#63 Pop, # 28 R&B).

52. Marvelettes
The Marvelettes had shot to fame with their first record and were a good live act; so why hadn't Berry Gordy promoted them? In retrospect it, it seems that Gordy had found the Marvelettes  alittle to rough and ready, a little to ordinary, toreally push their beyond that of a touring group with the occassional hit. The Marvelettes had an earthy, mature way of singing, which mixed with their youthful romanticism, gave the group an unique appeal. Yet though  the group's appeal has proved to be more durable than many of their contemporaries, one can see why for the upwardly mobile Berry Gordy of the '60s, the Marvelettes weren't quite "uptown enough. The mixture was was not quite right; there was too much Detroit R&B in there, and not enough New York pop.
"On top of that, we weren't getting support from the company. In fact they hated us, made fun of us, we were some kind of joke to them. They really looked down on country people lick us because we didn't have there slick city ways. Also, we couldn't sing as good as the Supremes; they had been practicing their harmonies for three or four years we had only started. But the real reason they were mad at us, I guess, was that we got a hit before the Supremes. We got Motown their first straight hit with a girl group and it was with a song we had written ourselves. Can you imagine? Motown had been grooming the Supremes for years and the Supremes had done nothing. They had writers like Smokey Robinson and each one had been trying to get a hit on the Supremes. But all of a sudden here were these little nobodies, with their own song that they wrote at number one on the charts."  Gladys Horton

53. Angels
(left to right Peggy Santiglia,Barbara Allbut, and Phyliss Allbut)
The Angels were the most successful of the early Sixties girl groups. The Angels were formed in Orange, New Jersey in 1961.
Originally sisters Barbara and Phyliss "Jiggs" Allbut, as a lark, went to a stret corner record your voice outlet and sang a few songs they had written. Overheard by another songwriter, they were asked to sing on his demos. Soon they added friends, Linda Malzone and Bernadette Carroll and called themselves the Starlets.
Originally called the Starlets, Barbara and Phyllis "Jiggs" Allbut were two sisters that sang together in high school. They recorded "P.S. I Love You" for Astro Records, a tiny New Jersey jazz label. They received airplay in the New Jersey-New York area and Canadian-American Records did the distribution. They also did "Better Tell Him No" for Pam Records. Neither which went anywhere. By mid-1961 Bernadette left for a solo career and was replaced  Linda Jansen in doing vocal back-up work in New York.

54. Angels
The Canadian-American connection led to a deal with Caprice, a small New York City label, by gerry Granahan. Their first Caprice release in the summer of 1961 the girls was "Till," a Top 30 hit five years earlier for Roger Williams. After signing with Caprice Records, Jiggs dropped out of college and Barbara ended her studies at the Julliard School of Music. Shortly before the release of their first record "Till," to choose a name, each girl placed a name on a piece of paper in a hat. The name Blue Angels was drawn with Blue later being dropped. "Till" hit the charts in October 1961, rising to #14.
It was after their second release "Cry Baby Cry" (#38) that Linda Jansen left the group and was replaced by  Peggy Santiglia, who had sung commercials and appeared on Broadway in Do Re Mi. Poor material haunted the Angels for the next year and in the spring of 1963 they found themselves without a contract. Then two things happened: they signed with Mercury Records and they came up with a song written by Jerry Goldstein, Rich Gottehrer, and Bobby Feldman. Already familiar with the Angels having produced producing the B side of their last Caprice single, Goldstein, Gottehrer, and Feldman convinced Mercury to let them produce the Angels on a song they had written. By late summer "My Boyfriends Back" was number one nationally on Mercury's Smash affiliate. It even reached number two on the R&B charts.
Their next release "I Adore Him" went to number twenty-five and the B side "Thank You and Good Night" became the sign-off theme on the Murray the K's WINS radio show in New York.
The Angels then went on tour in both America and Europe in 1964, performing with acts like Gerry and the Pacemakers. They also provided back up vocals for other singers, including Jackie Wilson and Lou Christie, continued to record, and did commercials until they signed with RCA in They broke up in 1969, then reformed in the early Seventies for rock and roll revival shows.

55. Shangri-Las
The Shangri-Las were the most broadly appealing of all the '60s girl groups.  What they sang about had a lot to do with it. The "hip" look combined with a measure of innocence also helped convince the kids of the sincerity of the Shangri-Las message.
The group consisted of four sisters Mary (lead) and Liz (Betty) Weiss and identical twins Marge and Mary Ann Ganser. All were 15 and 16 when they began singing at Andrew Jackson High School In the Cambria Heights section of Queens, New York Influenced by Little Anthony and the Imperials and the Four Seasons, they began playing school shows, talent shows and teen hops. The girls came to the attention of Artie Ripp, who arranged the groups first record deals with Smash, where they recorded "Simon Says" and with Spokane for "Wishing Well."
"Wishing Well" gave a taste of the future with it's talking intro over a capella harmony.

56. Shangri-Las
An unproven self-professed songwriter George “Shadow” Morton bluffed his way into a meeting with Brill Building songwriter Jeff Barry through Jeff's wife Ellie Greenwich, whom Morton knew from Long Island. Without even a song, when he met with Barry, who in turn challenged him to bring him a hit. Morton then put together a few musicians and went to see the Shangri-Las, whom he knew from some of their Queens appearances.
With all the pieces in place Morton drove to the demo session. He claimed that the only thing he forgot was to write the song, so he pulled to the side of the road and penned "Remember (Walking In the Sand)."
The demo done (with a young Billy Joel on the piano), Morton rushed to Greenwich's and Barry's offices. Stunned that Morton had a strong record, they called in Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller from their offices next store where they ran Red Bird Records with George Goldner.
"Remember" was released July 20, 1964 and shot up the charts to reach number five on September 26th. It also reached the British charts by fall, rising to number fourteen

57. Shangri-Las
To keep the momentum going Barry and Greenwich worked with Morton to write and produce their next record, "Leader of the Pack."
Mary's tortured vocal lead and girl's spine tingling harmonies, worked in concert with screeching tires, car crashes, and the eventual death of one biker. (Engineer Joe Veneri even brought his motorcycle into the studio's echo chamber and recorded as he revved his engine.) With it's memorable talk into ("Is she really going out with him?...."), "Leader of the Pack" quickly became just that, reaching number one on November 28th. It reached number one in Australia and number 11 in England, where it recharted in 1972 (#3) and 1976 (#7). It became the only American vocal group to ever hit the upper reaches of the British Charts three times.
Following their number chart-topper , they became a fixture on Murray the K's tours, even performing with the Beatles.
The Shangri-Las' next big hit was "Given Him A Great Big Kiss," which reached number 18.
The group appeared on TV's Hullabaloo, Shindig, and Hollywood a Go Go, and shows hosted by Steve Allen. Soupy Sales, Bruce Morrow, Clay Cole, and Dick Clark.

58. Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore (born May 2, 1946 in New York City as Lesley Sue Goldstein) is an American singer-songwriter of the "girl group era". She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit, "It's My Party," which she recorded at the age of 16. Following the hit, she became one of the most recognized teen pop singers of
Gore was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey in a Jewish family. She was a junior at the Dwight School for Girls in nearby Englewood when "It's My Party" became a #1 hit.[2]
Her first hit was followed by many others, including "Judy's Turn to Cry" (the sequel to "It's My Party"), "She's a Fool", the proto-feminist "You Don't Own Me", "That's The Way Boys Are", "Maybe I Know", "The Look Of Love" and "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows". Her record producer was Quincy Jones, who would later become one of the most famous producers in American music.

59. Lesley Gore
Instead of accepting the television and movie contracts that came her way, Gore chose to attend Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. This limited her public career to weekends and summer vacations, and undoubtedly hurt her career. Nevertheless, throughout the mid-1960s, Gore continued to be one of the most popular female singers in the United States and Canada.
Gore was given first shot at recording "A Groovy Kind of Love", but her then-producer Shelby Singleton refused to let her record a song with the word "groovy" in it; The Mindbenders went on to record the song, and it went to #2 on the Billboard charts.[3] Gore also released "Wedding Bell Blues" as a single in 1969, but her version flopped, while the Fifth Dimension's spent three weeks at #1.
By the late 1960s, her popularity had decreased with the advent of harder-edged psychedelic music. Her last major hit was the Bob Crewe-produced "California Nights", which she performed on the January 19, 1967, episode of the Batman TV series, in which she guest-starred as Pink Pussycat, one of Catwoman's minions.[3] Afterwards, she maintained a lower profile in the music industry, performing at concerts and in cabarets. She also kept busy writing songs, including composing songs for the soundtrack of the 1980 film, Fame, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for "Out Here on My Own," written with her brother Michael.[4] The song was a Top 20 hit for Irene Cara.[