The Vernons Girls were an English musical ensemble of female vocalists. They were formed at the
Vernons
Ladbrokes Coral is a British gambling company founded in 1886. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK and International. UK operations are c ...
football pools company
[Larkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 461] in the 1950s in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, settling down to a sixteen strong
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
and
recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, r ...
an album of
standard Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object th ...
s.
Career
As a 16-piece vocal group, the Vernons Girls appeared on the
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
show ''
Oh Boy!''
with the
house band between 1958 and 1959, and made a series of relatively successful
singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
for the
label
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...
Parlophone
Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...
between 1958 and 1961.
Their 1958 LP released on Parlophone was arranged and conducted by
Peter Knight, with sleeve notes by
Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...
. This record is significantly different from their later pop hits, featuring such fifties standards as "
We'll Gather Lilacs", "Lonely Ballerina", and the "Cuckoo in the Clock".
Led by Maureen Kennedy, from 1961 the group reduced their membership to five and then three members,
[Larkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 127] and by 1962 had signed to
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...
where they recorded
covers of American
hits. Their cover of
Clyde McPhatter's "
Lover Please" and "You Know What I Mean" were both hits; the latter was also originally the B-side of "Lover Please". In the US, the group charted with the first
Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
tribute album there, ''We Love The Beatles''.
The Carefrees
The Carefrees were a British group formed in 1964, most known for their song "We Love You Beatles". Although often referred to as a girl group, the Carefrees consisted of three women and three men: female vocalists Lynn Cornell, Barbara Kay and ...
had previously charted with a Beatles tribute called "We Love You Beatles" in the UK in 1964.
As
session singers
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a t ...
for Decca, the Vernons Girls were the female backing voices on many
hit single
A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...
s during the 1960s – one of the first being
Billy Fury
Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known as Billy Fury, was an English singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 we ...
's "Maybe Tomorrow". The
trio of Jean Owen (aka
Samantha Jones), Frances Lea, and Maureen Kennedy also appeared on film in the 1964 TV special ''
Around The Beatles
''Around the Beatles'' was a 1964 television special featuring the Beatles, produced by Jack Good for ITV/ Rediffusion London. It was taped in Wembley Park Studios (now Fountain Studios) in London on 28 April 1964, and broadcast internationa ...
'' with
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
plus
Long John Baldry
John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including ...
,
P. J. Proby
P. J. Proby (born James Marcus Smith; November 6, 1938) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.
Proby recorded the singles " Hold Me", " Somewhere", and "Maria". In 2008, EMI released the greatest hits album '' Best of the EMI Years 1961 ...
and
Millie Small
Millicent Dolly May Small CD (6 October 1947 – 5 May 2020) was a Jamaican singer and songwriter who is best known for her 1964 hit " My Boy Lollipop". The song reached number two in both the UK and US charts and sold over seven million ...
, in the Billy Fury film ''Play It Cool'', and in ''Just For Fun''; ex-member
Vicky Haseman also appeared in this, with her group,
the Breakaways
The Breakaways were an English female vocal trio, formed in 1962. Britain's premier session vocalists throughout the 1960s, The Breakaways also recorded a handful of little-known girl group singles.
Career
The original members were Vicki Has ...
.
When Jean Owen left the group, she was replaced by Jane Sutton on lead vocals. The group's new lineup continued to make new recordings and television appearances.
However, by 1964, their chart successes had halted and they disbanded.
Later careers
Some of the girls continued in show business ventures:
Lyn Cornell
Lyn Cornell, sometimes billed as Lynn Cornell (born 1940) is an English pop and jazz singer. She is best known for her membership of The Vernons Girls, The Carefrees and The Pearls, having had at least one chart hit with each group, and as a ...
married
session drummer
Andy White (notable for replacing
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
on an early take of "
Love Me Do
"Love Me Do" is the official debut single by the English rock band the Beatles, backed by " P.S. I Love You". When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at number 17. It was released in the United ...
"), and became a successful solo performer; having a
chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
hit with the title song to the film "Never on Sunday" in 1960 – and later becoming one of
the Pearls
The Pearls were an English 1970s girl vocal duo from Liverpool, England, featuring Lyn Cornell and Ann Simmons (née O'Brien). They released a total of 12 singles, the most successful being "Guilty", which reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Char ...
.
Vicky Haseman formed the Breakaways, and married Joe Brown. Their daughter
Sam Brown is a well-known singer in her own right.
Joyce Baker married
Marty Wilde
Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, scoring several 1950s hit singles including " Endless Sl ...
; they formed a
trio with
Justin Hayward
David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946) is an English musician best known as the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band the Moody Blues. Hayward became the group's principal lead guitarist and vocalist over the 1967–1974 ...
called the Wilde Three, and were the parents of singers
Ricky Wilde Ricky may refer to:
Places
* Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic
* Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic
*Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky ...
, Roxanne Wilde and
Kim Wilde
Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer, DJ and television presenter. She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at No. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award f ...
.
Jean Owen had solo success under the name
Samantha Jones.
Other members of the group banded together in various combinations as duets and singing trios; these include the Redmond Twins, the Pearls, the Two Tones and the DeLaine Sisters. The DeLaine Sisters had a minor hit in the United Kingdom with the
Goffin &
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
song "
It Might As Well Rain Until September".
The group also appeared on the second episode of ''
The Lily Savage Show'', alongside Savage (
Paul O'Grady
Paul James O'Grady MBE DL (born 14 June 1955) is an English comedian, broadcaster, actor, writer and former drag queen. He achieved notability in the London gay scene during the 1980s with his drag queen persona Lily Savage, very popular in ...
in
drag), singing one of their hits.
The longest surviving and best known of the groups,
the Ladybirds
The Ladybirds were a British female vocal harmony trio, most famous for their appearances on '' The Benny Hill Show''. They participated in over 60 episodes between 1968 and 1991. In addition, they were long-standing backing singers to many e ...
, was formed by Maggie Stredder with Marian Davies and Gloria George. The Ladybirds are best known for their long association with ''
The Benny Hill Show
''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody ...
'', and for performing the backing vocals on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. They performed the backing vocals on the
".
More recently, Stredder and Sheila Bruce, together with ex-Ladybird Penny Lister, performed on
with their friends as part of the 'Solid Gold Rock 'n' Roll Show'. In the later 1990s, they appeared in
.
(b. 1940, Liverpool) – later in
*Maureen Kennedy (born 1940, Liverpool, died c. 1970) – married comedian Mike Hope – she died in a car accident
*
) – performed under her real name with the group before going solo and changing her name into
. She married her long term adviser, showbiz accountant Jose Goumal
*Frances Lea (born 1940, St Helens, died 18 May 2014, Reading)
*Eileen Marina Byrne – (born in 1934, in Bootle, Liverpool, died in 1981 from breast cancer). She married William Percival Homewood (A submariner in The Royal Navy).
*Ann O'Brien (Simmons) – later in
*Sybil Richardson – still singing and performing in 2011
*Elizabeth Isaac (born Elizabeth Liddy, 1936) - married John Robert Isaac (a dockyard engineer).
*Jean Ryder - a member of the group from 1958 to 1962, Ryder later married the songwriter
. She was also a member of The De Laine Sisters and
She died in 2020 after a long illness.