The Pussywillows were a group that featured Elinor Blake, Lisa Dembling and Lisa Jenio. Their recordings have appeared on the ''

Kill the Moonlight ''Kill the Moonlight'' is the fourth album by American rock band Spoon released on August 20, 2002 through Merge Records. The album features a stripped-down, minimal sound that incorporates various different instruments such as tambourines and pi ...

'' soundtrack, and the '' Rutles Highway Revisited'' album.

Background

The Pussywillows were originally from New York City. It consisted of three friends— Elinor Blake, Lisa Dembling and Lisa Jenio—who liked singing together girl-group style. With a singing style like that of 1960s groups such as

The Shangri-Las The Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 several hit songs of theirs documented teen tragedies and melodramas. They continue to be known for their hits "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", " Give Him a ...

and

The Ronettes The Ronettes were an American girl group from Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. The ...

, they would sing on stage wearing thrift-store dresses. The group originally had some help in its formation by Mike Chandler of the group Raunch Hands. Through Todd Abramson of the

Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the fi ...

label they got some gigs, which led to them recording ''Spring Fever!'', released on Telstar. The tracks on the album were, "

The Boat That I Row The Boat That I Row is a song written by Neil Diamond. It was first released as the flip-side of his top 20 US hit "I Got the Feelin' (Oh No No)" in 1966 and was later included on his album '' Just For You''. In 1967, it was recorded as a single ...

", "Come On Now", "Don't Say He's Gone", " Turn Her Down", "Everyone Will Know", "My Baby Looks But He Don't Touch" and "Baby Baby (I Still Love You)". With "The Boat That I Row", the song was written by

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

and became a hit for

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

. Another song they covered was "Turn Her Down". It was recorded by girl group The Cupons in the 1960s and released on the

Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impac ...

label. The group also did some recordings with Raunch Hands. A big fan of the group was

Ronnie Spector Veronica Yvette Greenfield (; August 10, 1943 – January 12, 2022) was an American singer who co-founded and fronted the girl group The Ronettes. She is sometimes referred to as the original "bad girl of rock and roll". Ronnie formed the ...

who would one day have them backing her on a set of recordings.

Appearances

In December 1990, they played at the Funhouse in Bethlehem covering songs like Neil Diamond's "

" and "My Baby Looks But He Don't Touch". In January 1991 with their backing band, which included guitarist Ward Dotson on guitar, Will Rigby on drums and Spike Priggen on bass, they played at the

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

club in Bleecker Street, Manhattan.

Later years

Blake moved to LA and by 1991 was using the name April March. Lisa Jenio became a member of and bass player for Candypants and The Liquor Giants. The Pussywillows contributed background vocals to Ronnie Spector's 2003 album ''Something's Gonna Happen''. They sang on "Communication", "For His Love", "Something's Gonna Happen" and "Whenever You're On My Mind" which were all

Marshall Crenshaw Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway," a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl," and " Whenever You're on My Mind." He ...

compositions.''Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, or My Life as a Fabulous Ronnette'', By Ronnie Spector, Vince Waldron
''1989''
/ref>

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pussywillows, The American girl groups American pop girl groups American rock music groups Musical trios American musical trios Rock music groups from New York (state) Garage rock groups from New York (state) Telstar Records (U.S. label) artists