The Chordettes

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The Chordettes
After their arrival at Amsterdam Central Station, The Chordettes are greeted by a woman in traditional Volendam costume with bouquets of tulips (1959).
After their arrival at Amsterdam Central Station, The Chordettes are greeted by a woman in traditional Volendam costume with bouquets of tulips (1959).
General information
origin Sheboygan , United States
Genre (s) A cappella , barbershop , doo-wop , pop , vocal music
founding 1946
resolution 1961
Founding members
Janet Ertel
Alice Mae Buschmann Spielvogel (until 1947)
Dorothy Schwartz (until 1952)
Jinny Osborn (until 1953)

The Chordettes were an American female vocal quartet. The group recorded first (from 1950) for Columbia Records, then (from 1954) exclusively for Cadence Records, was mostly accompanied by the Archie Bleyer Orchestra and had eight top 20 hits in the US charts between 1954 and 1961. Her songs Mr. Sandman and Lollipop achieved lasting fame . In the phase of the transition from popular music to rock 'n' roll and in their intermediate position between traditional pop music and rock-oriented pop, the chordettes are considered the prototype for the numerous girl groups that will follow them.

Members

The vocal quartet "The Chordettes" was founded in 1946 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The original members of the group were Janet Ertel , née Buschmann ( alt , 1913–1988), Alice Mae Buschmann Spielvogel ( mezzo-soprano , 1925–1981), who were, however, already in 1947 by Carol Buschman, née Hagedorn (mezzo-soprano, later sister-in-law of Janet Ertel) , was replaced, Dorothy Schwartz (1927-2016), née Hummitzsch (lead singer, mezzo-soprano), and Jinny Osborn, née Jennifer Cole, who was married to Lockhart, later to Jennifer Janis ( soprano , 1927-2003).

In 1952 Dorothy married Hummitzsch, became pregnant and decided to leave the Chordettes, she was replaced by Lynn Evans (1924-2020), later married to Lynn Mand. After the Chordettes broke up, Lynn Mand worked as a teacher at a school in Brentwood (New York) from 1965 to 1990. In 1953, the pregnant Osborn was temporarily replaced by Margie Needham. In late 1953, Janet Ertel married Archie Bleyer , their daughter Jaqueline married Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers .

Nancy Overton, née Anne "Nancy" Swain (born February 6, 1926 in Port Washington, New York), joined the Chordettes shortly after the Lollipop recordings in the spring of 1958 and took over the bass part. She had previously been in the group "Heathertones “Sung and made records with Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey and was married to jazz pianist Hall Overton since 1946 . She died on April 8, 2009 in Hackettstown, New York.

Career

Beginnings

Initially, the Chordettes sang American folk music in the style of the Weavers , but then took the barbershop -Gesanges on. This change was in part suggested by Osborn's father: Jinny Osborn was born Virginia Cole in Seattle and was the daughter of OH "King" Cole, President of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA) , and Katherine Flack.

After a few appearances in Sheboygan, the Chordettes won a talent competition on Arthur Godfrey's radio program Talent Scouts in 1949 . They became regular guests there, appearing on almost all programs on Godfrey's TV show Arthur Godfrey Time from October 1952 to February 1953 , had repeated appearances on the evening TV show Arthur Godfrey And Friends, and made a number of recordings on Columbia Records .

Between 1950 and 1953 Columbia released six singles of the Chordettes and four LPs. With the first of their LPs Harmony Time (Columbia 6111), the group had a hit in the album charts, where the record reached number 3 and stayed in the charts for 18 weeks. All LPs were typical barbershop singing and mostly contained traditional song material. The Chordettes had a number of hits in 1950 and 1951 with singles they recorded with Arthur Godfrey: In 1950 Godfrey and the Chordettes with the title Candy And Cake (Columbia 38721) reached number 17 on the US charts, followed by I in 1951 Like The Wide Open Spaces (Columbia 39404) in 13th place, Dance Me Loose / Slow Poke (Columbia 39632) in 12th place.

Successes 1954–1961

In 1953 Godfrey's music director and orchestra leader Archie Bleyer founded the Cadence Records label . When he signed the star of the Godfrey shows, Julius LaRosa , for his new company, Godfrey publicly fired LaRosa - and Archie Bleyer, at the end of the October 19, 1953 television show. This took a number of Godfrey's regular artists under contract, including the Chordettes. The first single was released in April 1954 It's You, It's You I Love , the tenth Cadence released single at all, but it was unsuccessful. In October 1954, their next single, Mr. Sandman (Cadence 1247) was released. Pat Ballard's song was supposed to be her biggest hit ever. It entered the US hit parade on October 20, 1954 and reached number 1, while the single came to number 11 in Great Britain. On this and all other recordings, the Chordettes were accompanied by the "Archie Bleyer Orchestra".

After three less successful singles in 1955, the Chordettes covered the song Eddie My Love (Cadence 1284) composed by Aaron Collins, Maxwell Davis and Sam Ling , which was released as a single (RPM 453) by the black girl group "Teen Queens" had been brought. At the same time, a cover version of the white girl group " Fontane Sisters " appeared on "Dot Records" (Dot 15450), so that at the end of March 1956 three versions of the song were in the charts, and both white cover versions made it into the first twenty of the Top 100 charts : the "Fontane Sisters" at number 12, the Chordettes at number 18. In the course of 1956, the successful series continued with Born To Be With You (Cadence 1291), the single reached number 5, and Lay Down Your Arms , the Reached 16th place. The year 1957 brought a notable success to number 8 of the single Just Between You And Me (Cadence 1330).

In 1958 the Chordettes' most famous song, along with Mr. Sandman, was released: Lollipop , a catchy composition by Julius Dixon and Beverly “Ruby” Ross, which was written for the duo “Ronald and Ruby” (RCA 7174) and with which the duo unite Could occupy middle place in the Hot 100. The cover version of the Chordettes was much more successful: It reached number 2 in the USA, number 1 in Canada and number 6 in Great Britain. In the same year, Zorro (Cadence 1349) was another hit that reached number 17.

In 1959 the Chordettes had only two minor hits with No Other Arms, No Other Lips (Cadence 1361) and A Girl's Work Is Never Done (Cadence 1366). At the beginning of the year Archie Bleyer made a promotional tour through Europe with the stars of his label - the Chordettes, the Everly Brothers and Andy Williams - in order to make his stars better known through as many television appearances on the continent as possible. The single A Girl's Work Is Never Done in particular was heavily advertised: In addition to EPs with different versions that were pressed especially for disc jockeys, Bleyer had a film made about the song, which was offered to the television companies for broadcast free of charge and which he did within a Introduced to the public week after the single was released in Chicago, New York, London and Hamburg. Bleyer told Billboard that the single would sell two million copies.

In 1960 there was only one single All My Sorrows (Cadence 1382) that didn't make it into the Hot 100. According to Bleyer, there was no suitable song material for the Chordettes. The next single was not released until June 1961, the Chordettes' last hit: Never on Sunday , a cover version of the title song to the film of the same name with Melina Mercouri in the lead role, which was shown in Germany under the title “ Sonntags nie ”. One last time the Chordettes had a hit (13th place), a short time later the group broke up. After the group broke up, four more singles were released until 1963, but they no longer made it to the charts.

In terms of music history, the chordettes stand between traditional, pop-music-oriented group singing and the singing of new girl groups that are oriented towards rock and appeal to teenagers. The Chordettes were unsuitable as idols for the teenagers of the late 1950s. They were too old, married, some of them already had children and performed in evening dresses. However, they presented typical teen songs like Eddie My Love , Charlie Brown , Lollipop and others. In the song A Girl's Work Is Never Done it says in verse I, verse 3: "And now the kids are home from school" and in verse II, verse 1: " And now my father's home from work ". It remains unclear whether the singer is mother or daughter. The example is typical of the role of the chordettes in the transition phase between pop music and the emerging rock'n'roll.

The Chordettes were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.

The New Chordettes 1990-1995

After Lynn Evans left school in 1990, she re-formed the Chordettes with Nancy Overton and two other singers. The group made their debut in the Radio City Music Hall as part of a nostalgia show. From 1991 to 1995 the group made several tours through the USA together with Eddy Arnold .

Discography

Singles

Selection criterion: All singles released in the USA between 1954 and the group's dissolution in 1961.

All singles appeared on the “Cadence” label. The order numbers are given in brackets. e = publication date, # = highest position in the "Hot 100" charts.

  • 1954:
    • It's You, It's You I Love / True Love Goes on and On - (1239) - e April 1954
    • Mr. Sandman / I Don't Wanna See You Cry - (1247) - e October 1954 - # 1
  • 1955:
    • Lonely Lips / The Bagpipe Song - (1259) - e April 1955
    • I Told a Lie / Hummingbird - (1267) - e August 1955
    • The Wedding / I Don't Know, I Don't Care - (1273) - e December 1955 - # 91
  • 1956:
    • Eddie My Love / Whispering Willie - (1284) - e February 1956 - # 18
    • Born to Be with You / Love Never Changes - (1291) - e May 1956 - # 5
    • Lay Down Your Arms / Teenage Goodnight - (1299) - e September 1956 - A-side # 16, B-side # 45
  • 1957:
    • Come Home to My Arms / Walking the Poodie - (1307) - e January 1957
    • Echo of Love / Like a Baby - (1319) - e April 1957
    • Just Between You and Me / Soft Sands - (1330) - e August 1957 - A-Page # 8, B-Page # 73
    • Photographs / Baby of Mine - (1341) - e December 1957
  • 1958
    • Lollipop / Baby Come-A Back-A - (1345) - e February 1958 - # 2
    • Zorro / Love Is a Two-Way Street - (1349) - e May 1958 - # 17
  • 1959
    • No Other Arms, No Other Lips / We Should Be Together - (1361) - e March 1959 - # 27
    • A Girl's Work Is Never Done / No Wheels - (1366) - e August 1959 - # 89
  • 1960
    • All My Sorrows / A Broken Vow - (1382) - e June 1960
  • 1961
    • Never on Sunday / Faraway Star - (1402) - e June 1961 - A-side # 13, B-side # 90

LPs

Selection criterion: Only LPs released on the “Cadence” label up to 1962 will be listed. The song material of the Chordettes has been published on numerous samplers in a constantly changing compilation.

  • 1955: Close Harmony - (CLP-1002) - e January 1955 - 10 "LP
  • 1957: The Chordettes ("They're Riding High," Says Archie) - CLP-3001 - e 1957 - 12 "LP
  • 1962: Never on Sunday - CLP-3056 (mono) / CLP-25056 (stereo) - e 1962 - 12 "LP

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Chordettes - Born To Be With You. Retrieved October 3, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Don Tyler: Music Of The Postwar Era . Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008, p. 66.
  3. ^ Daniel E. Slotnik: Lynn Evans Mand, 95, Dies; a Voice on 'Mr. Sandman 'and' Lollipop ' . In: The New York Times . February 28, 2020, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed March 3, 2020]).
  4. ^ Gage Averill: Four Parts, No Waiting. A Social History Of American Barbershop Harmony . New York: Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 140.
  5. ^ Bob Fiato: Former Chordette Harmonized In The Classroom . In: New York Teacher , September 25, 2002 issue.
  6. ^ Obituary by Denny Hevesi: Nancy Overton, Singer For The Chordettes, Is Dead At 83 . In: New York Times , April 10, 2009 issue.
  7. ↑ on Godfrey see David A. Jasen: Tin Pan Alley. An Encyclopedia Of The Golden Age Of American Song . New York, NY: Routledge, 2003, p. 159.
  8. ^ Gage Averill: Four Parts, No Waiting. A Social History Of American Barbershop Harmony. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 141.
  9. ^ Frank Laufenberg / Ingrid Hake: Rock and Pop Lexicon. Vol. 1 . Düsseldorf, Vienna: Econ, 1994, p. 266.
  10. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top LPs 1945-1972 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, 1973, p. 31. Incidentally, it remained the only LP by the Chordettes that made it into the album charts.
  11. ↑ The LPs were Harmony Time (1950), Harmony Time, Volume 2 (1951), Harmony Encores (1952) and Your Requestes (1953). In 1954 another EP was released on Columbia under the title Listen (Columbia 9561). Susan Masino: Famous Wisconsin Musicians . Foreword by Les Paul. Oregon, Wisconsin: Badger Books Inc., p. 85.
  12. ^ Gage Averill: Four Parts, No Waiting. A Social History Of American Barbershop Harmony. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 141.
  13. ^ Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Records 1940–1955 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, 1973, p. 24.
  14. ^ Gage Averill: Four Parts, No Waiting. A Social History Of American Barbershop Harmony. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 142.
  15. ↑ See David A. Jasen: A Century Of American Popular Music. 1899-1999 . New York, NY: Routledge, 2002, p. 134.
  16. ^ Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Records 1940–1955 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, 1973, p. 13.
  17. ↑ In Great Britain, however, the cover version of Dickie Valentine (1929-1971) was considerably more successful. On January 22, 1955, four different versions of Mr. Sandman were in the top twenty on the UK charts. See: Dafydd Rees / Barry Lazell / Roger Osborne: 40 Years Of NME Charts . London: Boxtree Ltd., 1992, pp. 19-22.
  18. ↑ David Lonergan: Hit Records 1950-1975 . Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2005, p. 54.
  19. ↑ Stephen Nugent, Annie Fowler, Pete Fowler: Chart Log Of American / British Top 20 Hits 1955–1974 . In: Charlie Gillett, Simon Frith (eds.): Rock File 4 . Frogmore, St. Albans: Panther Books, 1976, pp. 113 and 167.
  20. ^ Text and music by Don Robertson. For the song see Maury Dean: Rock 'n' Roll Gold Rush. A Singles Un-cyclopedia . New York, NY: Algora Publishing, 2003, p. 140.
  21. ↑ For the song see Maury Dean: Rock 'n' Roll Gold Rush. A Singles Un-cyclopedia . New York, NY: Algora Publishing, 2003, p. 140.
  22. ↑ A British cover version of the song by the "Mudlarks" reached number 2 in Great Britain, cf. Stephen Nugent, Annie Fowler, Pete Fowler: Chart Log Of American / British Top 20 Hits 1955–1974 . In: Charlie Gillett, Simon Frith: Rock File 4 . Frogmore, St. Albans: Panther Books, 1976, pp. 113 and 253; see also: Stephen Nugent: Sources Of British Hit Songs: Writers, American Hits And Original Versions . In: Charlie Gillett, Simon Frith (eds.): Rock File 3 . Frogmore, St. Albans: Panther Books, 1975, p. 142.
  23. ↑ Stephen Nugent, Annie Fowler, Pete Fowler: Chart Log Of American / British Top 20 Hits 1955–1974 . In: Charlie Gillett, Simon Frith (eds.): Rock File 4 . Frogmore, St. Albans: Panther Books, 1976, p. 113.
  24. ^ “Billboard” characterized the promotion for the single as follows: One of the most energetic and expensive promotion campaigns ever launched ; see article Bleyer Hammers Singles Anvil in: Billboard , July 27, 1959 issue.
  25. ↑ See Chordette's Back On Singles in: Billboard , May 29, 1961 issue.
  26. ^ The Exodus Song , Cadence 1412, February 1962; Adios , Cadence 1417 April 1962; In the Deep Blue Sea , Cadence 1425, July 1962; True Love Goes on and On , Cadence 1442, September 1963.
  27. ↑ Charlotte Greig explains the social and socio-psychological aspects of this phase of transition to rock'n'roll using the example of the Chordettes, see: Charlotte Greig: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? Girl bands from the 50s to today . German translation by Markus Schröder. Reinbek near Hamburg, Rowohlt Verlag, 1991, pp. 30-35.
  28. ^ Susan Masino: Famous Wisconsin Musicians . Foreword by Les Paul. Oregon, Wisconsin: Badger Books Inc., p. 84.
  29. ^ Bob Fiato: Former Chordette Harmonized In The Classroom . In: New York Teacher , September 25, 2002 issue.
  30. ↑ The publication dates were taken from Jay Warner: American Singing Groups. A History From 1940 To Today . Milwaukee: Hal Leonhard Corp., 2006, pp. 114f.
  31. ↑ From 1955 cf. Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc., 1994, p. 112.
  32. ↑ For a more detailed LP discography, see Tilch: Rock LPs. Vol 1: A - E . 3rd ext. Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1990, pp. 292f.

Web links

Commons : The Chordettes  - Collection of Images