Thursday, May 30, 2002 7:29:18 AM
Rock 'n' Roll Artists A-Z...Re: The Chordettes
The Chordettes was a barbershop-style quartet of female singers from Wisconsin. From 1954 to 1961, they placed thirteen songs in the top one hundred and were a very popular singing group.
The group was formed in the late 40's in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and originally was folk-oriented along the lines of another popular group at the time, the Weavers. The original members were Janet Ertel, her sister-in-law Carol Bushman, Dorothy Schwartz and Jinny Osborn. In 1952 Schwartz was replaced by Lynn Evans, and the following year Osborn was replaced by Margie Needham. Nancy Overton was a member of the Chordettes at a later date. The girls had a sweet sound and got away from folk and into harmonizing. They performed locally at first and went on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scout show, which they won, and then became regulars on Godfrey's show. The show's musical director, Archie Bleyer, formed the Cadence label in 1953 and signed the Chordettes to a recording contract.
Their first in a long series of hits on Cadence was "Mr. Sandman", a song which topped the charts for several weeks in 1954. The male voice that is heard in the song is that of Archie Bleyer. The Chordettes became one of three groups [along with the Fontane Sisters and the Teen Queens] to have a top twenty hit with "Eddie My Love" in 1956. They followed it with "Born To Be With" You, which went top ten. Other hits followed: "Lay Down Your Arms", and "Just Between You And Me". In 1958 they hit big with one that just missed the top spot when they recorded "Lollipop".
They recorded other hit songs such as "Zorro", all of them on the Cadence label, before their final big one in 1961, "Never On Sunday".
Janet Ertel married Cadence owner Archie Bleyer in 1954, and her daughter Jackie was married to another performer who recorded very successfully on Cadence in the 50's, Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers. Janet died of cancer in 1988.
The excellent harmony of the Chordettes left us with many memorable songs.
The hits in the Billboard Hot 100 :
record-----------------------position---weeks---year
Mr. Sandman......................1...20 weeks...1954
The wedding.....................91....2 weeks...1956
Eddie my love...................14...12 weeks...1956
Born to be with you..............5...20 weeks...1956
Lay down your arms..............16...18 weeks...1956
Teenage goodnight...............45...11 weeks...1956
Just between you and me..........8...15 weeks...1957
Soft sands......................73....6 weeks...1957
Lollipop.........................2...15 weeks...1958
Zorro...........................17...11 weeks...1958
No other arms, no other lips....27...11 weeks...1959
A girl's work is never done.....89....3 weeks...1959
Never on sunday.................13...12 weeks...1961
Faraway star....................90....1 weeks...1961
]
Breaking Clay Makes My Day!
The Chordettes was a barbershop-style quartet of female singers from Wisconsin. From 1954 to 1961, they placed thirteen songs in the top one hundred and were a very popular singing group.
The group was formed in the late 40's in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and originally was folk-oriented along the lines of another popular group at the time, the Weavers. The original members were Janet Ertel, her sister-in-law Carol Bushman, Dorothy Schwartz and Jinny Osborn. In 1952 Schwartz was replaced by Lynn Evans, and the following year Osborn was replaced by Margie Needham. Nancy Overton was a member of the Chordettes at a later date. The girls had a sweet sound and got away from folk and into harmonizing. They performed locally at first and went on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scout show, which they won, and then became regulars on Godfrey's show. The show's musical director, Archie Bleyer, formed the Cadence label in 1953 and signed the Chordettes to a recording contract.
Their first in a long series of hits on Cadence was "Mr. Sandman", a song which topped the charts for several weeks in 1954. The male voice that is heard in the song is that of Archie Bleyer. The Chordettes became one of three groups [along with the Fontane Sisters and the Teen Queens] to have a top twenty hit with "Eddie My Love" in 1956. They followed it with "Born To Be With" You, which went top ten. Other hits followed: "Lay Down Your Arms", and "Just Between You And Me". In 1958 they hit big with one that just missed the top spot when they recorded "Lollipop".
They recorded other hit songs such as "Zorro", all of them on the Cadence label, before their final big one in 1961, "Never On Sunday".
Janet Ertel married Cadence owner Archie Bleyer in 1954, and her daughter Jackie was married to another performer who recorded very successfully on Cadence in the 50's, Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers. Janet died of cancer in 1988.
The excellent harmony of the Chordettes left us with many memorable songs.
The hits in the Billboard Hot 100 :
record-----------------------position---weeks---year
Mr. Sandman......................1...20 weeks...1954
The wedding.....................91....2 weeks...1956
Eddie my love...................14...12 weeks...1956
Born to be with you..............5...20 weeks...1956
Lay down your arms..............16...18 weeks...1956
Teenage goodnight...............45...11 weeks...1956
Just between you and me..........8...15 weeks...1957
Soft sands......................73....6 weeks...1957
Lollipop.........................2...15 weeks...1958
Zorro...........................17...11 weeks...1958
No other arms, no other lips....27...11 weeks...1959
A girl's work is never done.....89....3 weeks...1959
Never on sunday.................13...12 weeks...1961
Faraway star....................90....1 weeks...1961
] Breaking Clay Makes My Day!
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