The Starlets were an American
girl group
A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...
from
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
.
The group came together in 1961, and auditioned for a Chicago songwriter,
Bernice Williams. Williams wrote them the tune "Better Tell Him No", which was released on
Pam Records that year. The record peaked at #38 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Joel Whitburn
Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings.
Early life
Joel Carver Whitburn was born in Wau ...
, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000 The group then toured with
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer of the 1950s and 60s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a mas ...
,
Mary Wells
Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s.
Along with The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...
, and
Gladys Knight & the Pips
Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s.
Starting out as simpl ...
.
Biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
Allmusic.com The group's follow-up single, "My Last Cry", was less successful.
In December of that year, the group performed in Philadelphia, and while there,
Newtown Records owner Harold Robinson had them record the song "
I Sold My Heart to the Junkman
'"I Sold My Heart to the Junkman"' is a 1946 recording by The Basin Street Boys featuring Ormonde Wilson, written by Leon René, under the songwriting pseudonym of Jimmie Thomas. It was released on the Exclusive Records label in 1946. It was cov ...
". Newtown released the single under the name "
The BlueBelles" in order to avoid contractual issues with Pam Records; as the song became a hit, Robinson assembled a local Philadelphia ensemble to
lip-synch
Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals.
Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...
the song on television.
[ Among this second group's members was ]Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman.
LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul".
She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...
. As "Junkman" itself became an even bigger hit than "Better Tell Him No", The Starlets sued Robinson, settling for $5,000 per member.[
The Starlets then moved to ]Okeh Records
Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...
, releasing one single, 1962's "You Belong to Me" (under the name "Dynetta and the Starlets"), and broke up shortly thereafter.
Members
*Jane Hall
*Maxine Edwards
*Mickey McKinney
*Jeannette Miles
*Liz Walker (aka Dynetta Boone)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starlets, The
American girl groups
Musical groups from Chicago
History of women in Illinois