The Caravelles, Lois Wilkinson (born 3 April 1944 in

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington, Lincolnshire, ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, England) and Andrea Simpson (born 9 September 1946 in

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on high ground, north of Charing Cross. Nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, Mill Hill and H ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

),Larkin C, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) p95 were a British female duo, best known for their 1963

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' ...

You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry" is a song written by Bob Merrill and Terry Shand, and first recorded in 1950 by Moon Mullican. Other 1950 recordings *Jimmy Dorsey (with vocals by Terry Shand) *Ernest Tubb - peaked at No. 10 on the Most Pl ...

Career

The Caravelles were named after the

Sud Aviation Caravelle The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation. It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s and made its maiden flight on 27 May 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for t ...

, a French aircraft.

AllMusic biography AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

/ref> Their best known song, "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry", was originally a regional hit for

Moon Mullican Aubrey Wilson Mullican (March 29, 1909 – January 1, 1967), known professionally as Moon Mullican and nicknamed "King of the Hillbilly Piano Players", was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and pianist. He was associated with t ...

, and then was used as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

Tennessee Ernie Ford Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991), known professionally as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for ...

's hit single "

Sixteen Tons "Sixteen Tons" is a song written by Merle Travis about a coal miner, based on life in the mines of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Travis first recorded the song at the Radio Recorders Studio B in Hollywood, California, on August 8, 1946. Cliff ...

". The Caravelles' version of "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry" reached No. 3 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 6 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Carrying over into the next year, the song became the first British record on the Hot 100's top 40 in 1964, beating

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

by two weeks and

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 ...

by three weeks, making the Caravelles the first British act to have a national top 40 hit in America that year. They could not maintain their success, and Lois Wilkinson began recording solo under the name Lois Lane.''Gramophone'' - Volume 47 - p. 225, 1969, "More surprises included pop singer Lois Lane, a bandsman from the Scots Guards and 'session musician' Johnny Gray" Andrea Simpson continued to use the band name "The Caravelles" through the 1980s in groups with other musicians, and still performed occasionally into the 1990s.

Partial discography

Singles

References

External links

45rpm.org.uk Biography and Discography
* Caravelles biographyat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caravelles, The English musical duos Female musical duos Wilkinson, Lois Smash Records artists English girl groups