Dee Dee Phelps (born Mary Sperling) is a singer-songwriter and author from Santa Monica, California, best known as half the popular 1960s musical duo Dick and Dee Dee. She became a professional writer in 2007, publishing her award-winning memoir ''Vinyl Highway''. In 2008, Dee Dee joined with singer/actor Michael Dunn to revive the Dick and Dee Dee act live. More recently, in 2013, Dee Dee is now teamed with Deke Detanna, lead singer of Deke and the Blazers. The duo performs all over the country, singing classic Dick and Dee Dee hits.

Early life

Phelps was born as Mary Sperling in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When her father was transferred to California, she arrived in Los Angeles by train at the age of eight. After attending University High School in West Los Angeles, she transferred to Santa Monica High. While there she wrote a regular column for the ''Santa Monica Evening Outlook'', and began singing and writing songs in her senior year.

Career

Dick and Dee Dee

While attending college and working at a

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store in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, Sperling re-encountered Dick St. John, an old junior high classmate. Both realized they were singer songwriters, and together they began writing songs and harmonizing. The first Dick and Dee Dee 45 RPM release was on Lama Records, a small company started by their record producers, The Wilder Brothers. Without telling her, the record producers changed her name to Dee Dee, something she didn't discover until the record was released. " The Mountain's High" became a smash hit in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

, eventually becoming number two on the Billboard Top 100 in the United States. Sperling took time off from college so they could tour Texas. ''The Mountain's High'' was re-issued on

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

for national distribution. Sperling and St. John soon garnered other hits in the early 1960s, including "Tell Me", (also on Liberty Records) and "Young and In Love", "Turn Around" (written by Malvina Reynolds and recorded by Harry Belafonte) and "

Thou Shalt Not Steal "Thou shalt not steal" is one of the Ten Commandments of the Jewish Torah (known to Christians as the first five books of the Old Testament), which are widely understood as moral imperatives by legal scholars, Jewish scholars, Catholic scholars ...

" (on Warner Bros. Records). They toured with the Beach Boys, and were the opening act for the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

when the band came to California for the first time in 1964. They later recorded various versions of officially sanctioned Stones songs, largely at the behest of Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Their last hit, "

" was in 1965. They remained regulars on Jack Good's television show '' Shindig!''. Dee Dee married the duo's manager (later executive television producer for

Dick Clark Productions Dick Clark Productions (DCP, stylized in lowercase as dick clark productions or dcp) is an American multinational television production company founded by radio and TV host Dick Clark. The studio primarily produces award shows and other music en ...

), Bill Lee, and had one son. Sperling and St. John parted ways in 1969. After her divorce in the early seventies, Dee Dee married Kane Phelps. They raised two other children and are still married today. Dick performed with his wife, Sandy, in the 1980s as Dick and Dee Dee. He died in 2003.

Writing career

In 2007, Phelps self-published her memoir, ''Vinyl Highway'', about touring the world with rock and roll acts in the Sixties. In October 2007, she received the "Best Pop Campaign Award" from the Book Publicists of Southern California for her book promotion. ''Vinyl Highway'' also received honorable mention in the ''

Writer's Digest ''Writer's Digest'' is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles. History ''Writer's Digest'' was first published in December 1920 under ...

'' "15th International Book Awards", as well as a "Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist" in the memoir category.

Later musical career

In 2008, Sperling teamed with actor/singer Michael Dunn, and the two are performing as Dick and Dee Dee. In 2013, Sperling teamed with Deke Detanna of the doo-wop group, Deke and The Blazers.

Personal life

Phelps currently lives with her husband in Pacific Palisades, California. She has three adult children.

Discography

Singles

TV, Film performances

;Television *''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

'' *'' Where the Action Is'' *'' Shindig!'' *'' Ready, Steady, Go'' (UK) ;Motion Picture *'' Wild Wild Winter'' (1966) – Dick and Dee Dee sang "Heartbeats", their only appearance in a film

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phelps, Dee Dee Living people American women pop singers American women singer-songwriters American memoirists Year of birth missing (living people) American women memoirists 21st-century American women