The Delicates, were an American three-girl singing group, made up of members Denise Ferri, Arleen Lanzotti, and Peggy Santiglia. The group was formed in 1958 while all three members were attending Elementary School No. Eight, in

Belleville, New Jersey Belleville (French: "Belle ville" meaning "Beautiful city / town") is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population wa ...

, United States.

History

The group started out at the

Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as t ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, under the management of Ted Eddy (born Ted Eddy Simonetti; 1902–1985), who also served as manager of

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he forme ...

. They recorded for Tender, Unart,

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...

, and Roulette. In 1959, the group released a song they had written, "Black and White Thunderbird", on the

Unart label. The record was produced by

Don Costa Dominick P. "Don" Costa (June 10, 1925 – January 19, 1983) was an American conductor and record producer. He discovered singer Paul Anka and worked on several hit albums by Frank Sinatra, including ''Sinatra and Strings'' and '' My Way''. ...

, and arranged by Billy Mure. It became a significant hit on the East Coast, which afforded them a guest spot on '' American Bandstand'' in Philadelphia. They were introduced to New York legendary DJ Murray the K. They wrote and recorded his legendary "Submarine Race Watcher's Theme". The Delicates were the "Original Dancing Girls" (1958). The Delicates appeared on many TV shows, including; ''American Bandstand'',

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...

''Big Beat'', ''Connecticut Bandstand'', ''

The Buddy Deane Show ''The Buddy Deane Show'' was a teen dance television show, created by Zvi Shoubin, hosted by Winston "Buddy" Deane (1924–2003), and aired on WJZ-TV (Channel 13), the ABC affiliate station in Baltimore from 1957 until 1964. It was similar to Phi ...

'', ''

The Clay Cole Show ''The Clay Cole Show'' (1959–1967) was a rock music television show based in New York City, hosted by Clay Cole. History First broadcast on WNTA-TV (now WNET) in September 1959 as ''Rate the Records'', within two months the format was changed, ...

'' The Brooklyn Fox 10-day shows as well as the Brooklyn Paramount 10-day shows. They also opened for Connie Francis many times. In 1961/62 they toured with Clay Cole's "Twistorama" replacing the Ronettes. Also on that tour were The Capris and Lou Dana and the Furies. The Delicates sang on many commercials and their first backup singing experience was for

Al Martino Al Martino (born Jasper Cini; October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009) was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop croone ...

singing "Journey to Love" written by

Teddy Randazzo Alessandro Carmelo "Teddy" Randazzo (May 13, 1935 – November 21, 2003) was an American pop songwriter, singer, arranger and producer, who composed hit songs such as " Goin' Out of My Head", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle", " Pretty Blue Eyes", ...

and produced by

. The girls went on to do lucrative backup session work, later teaming up with Bernadette Carroll, backing artists such as

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

Patty Duke Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awa ...

, Frankie Valli,

Jose Feliciano Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean ...

Kitty Kallen Kitty Kallen (born Katie Kallen; May 25, 1921 – January 7, 2016) was an American popular singer whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, to include the Swing era of the Big Band years, the post-World War II pop scene and the early ...

Frankie Lymon Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group Th ...

, and most notably

Lou Christie Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (born February 19, 1943), known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American pop and soft rock singer-songwriter known for several hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 US chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 ...

; Lou Christie's MGM hits including " Rhapsody in the Rain", "Painter", "Trapeze", and his No. 1 hit "

Lightnin' Strikes "Lightnin' Strikes" is a song written by Lou Christie and Twyla Herbert, and recorded by Christie on the MGM label. It was a hit in 1966, making it first to No. 1 in Canada in January 1966 on the '' RPM'' Top Singles chart, then to No. 1 in th ...

". On October 8,9 and 10, 2013, the Delicates were honored in their hometown of Belleville and inducted into "The Belleville Wall Of Recognition." There is now a plaque on the wall of Belleville High next to that of Connie Francis. The auditorium in Number 8 grammar school was renamed "The Delicates Auditorium" and part of Union Avenue was named "The Delicates Drive." Denise lived on Union Ave., and her family owned "Lou's Deli" which is where the girls got their name. Arleen Lanzotti (born January 20, 1944 in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.The Delicates Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delicates American girl groups People from Belleville, New Jersey Musical groups from New Jersey Belleville High School (New Jersey) alumni Roulette Records artists