Girl Groups: The Early Years Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Shirelles

The group formed in 1958 in New Jersey and had a myriad of hits including "Baby Its You",and "Foolish Little Girl", but saw their biggest success with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", which was a number one hit in 1961 followed by "Dedicated To The One I Love", which was a Billboard Hot 100 number three hit in 1961, and "Soldier Boy" which was a number one hit in 1962.

The group continued to chart hits until 1967.

Answer: The Blossoms

The Blossoms were out of Los Angeles, and were originally called The Dreamers when they started recording as a group of six high school girls in 1954. They had little chart success. The group added a new singer named Darlene Love in 1958, but still had no success with charting hits.

Then came 1962. Phil Spector needed a group to record a song called "He's A Rebel" which he had acquired from singer/songwriter Gene Pitney. He was going to let the group called "The Crystals" record it, but problems between him and the group prompted him to record the song using The Blossoms, with Darlene Love out front and using the name "The Crystals". Needless to say, the song was a number one smash hit. Thus, there were two groups with the same name, both controlled by Spector.

They also did backup for Shelley Fabares in the aforementioned "Johnny Angel", and helped The Bob B. Sox and the Blue Jeans with their hit "Zip A Dee Doo Dah" The group later appeared on the television show "Shindig" and did backup vocals for various artists all the way into the 1970s. Darlene stepped out of the business for a while but returned in the 1980s to be part of a show on Broadway called "Leader Of The Pack" and also was a co-star in the movies, playing the wife of Danny Glover's character in the "Lethal Weapon" series.

Answer: The Cookies

The Cookies actually formed in 1954 in Brooklyn New York, and became backup singers for Ray Charles in the late 1950s. They had their biggest success with the above mentioned recording which were both on the charts in 1963. "Don't Say Nothin'" came in at number seven on Billboard's Pop Singles charts, and "Chains" was a number 17 hit which was later covered by The Beatles. Both songs were recorded under the direction of Gerry Goffin and Carole King, two of the pre-eminent writer/producer teams of the era.

Answer: The Exciters

The Exciters were originally an all girl group, and recorded there biggest hit "Tell Him" as such. A male voice was added later in their careers. The song itself was a number four Billboard Hot 100 hit in late 1962. It was produced by the legendary duo of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

Interestingly, they were the original artists to record a song in 1963 which was not a hit, but resurfaced a year later as a cover, and was a smash success. The song? "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" by Manfred Mann.

Answer: The Chantels

The Chantels, out of The Bronx, New York,were one of the first black female groups to have nationwide success in the U.S. Led by Arlene Smith, they had their biggest selling hit in 1958 with "Maybe" which charted as high as number 15 on The Billboard Hot 100 charts.

After some personnel changes including the departure of Smith, they scored again with "Look In My Eyes" in 1960, reaching number 14 that year.

Answer: The Angels

"My Boyfriend's Back and you're gonna be in trouble, hey la lay la..." made it to Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1963 for The Angels. This song was actually recorded as a demo which was meant for The Shirelles but the producers liked it so much, they released it just the way it was.

This song was their 3rd entry into the Top 40. "Till" was their first hit in 1961. It went to number 14 on the charts, and was followed by a minor hit in 1962 called "Cry Baby Cry" which only reached number 38. Later in the decade, and after some personnel changes, the group sang back-up on Lou Christie's smash hit "Lightning Strikes".

Answer: The Dixie Cups

"Chapel Of Love" was a Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, and Jeff Barry composition which was originally supposed to go to The Ronettes. Instead, the trio of Barbara and Rosa Hawkins (sisters), and cousin Joan Johnson took the song to the Billboard Top 10 in 1964. They followed with "People Say" in late 1964, and in 1965 had a modest hit with "Iko Iko".

Answer: The Chiffons

The Chiffons formed in 1960 in The Bronx, New York, and had minimal success in the early 1960s. In 1963 they finally hit pay dirt with a Billboard Hot 100 number one song, "He's So Fine". They followed with the number five hit "One Fine Day", and then a moderate hit called "I Have A Boyfriend", which reached number 36 on the charts.

In subsequent years they had a number of songs released that either didn't chart or barely squeaked into the Top 100. Then after a three year hiatus from the Top 40, they reappeared with "Sweet Talkin' Guy" which was a Top 10 hit for them in 1966.

A note about "He's So Fine". This is the song that eventually brought the group into court after they sued George Harrison, claiming that his recording of "My Sweet Lord" was a copyright infringement.

The courts eventually sided with the group, ruling that Harrison unintentionally plagiarized their music.

Answer: The Crystals

The Crystals were formed in the early 1960s in New York City. The first lead singer was Barbara Alston, and she can be heard on the group's first there singles "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" which made it to number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1961, as well as "Uptown", a number 13 hit in 1962 and, "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)".

After this song fared poorly on the charts, Phil Spector replaced the original Crystals with Darlene Love and The Blossoms (see question 2) and using the same name, they recorded what became The Crystals' biggest hit, "He's A Rebel", which was a number one song in 1963. Love's Crystals followed with "He's Sure The Boy I Love" which peaked at number 11. Love was then replaced on lead vocals by Dolores Brooks (confusing isn't it?) and her vocals, along with the original Crystals, took "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me" into Billboard Hot 100's Top 10 that year as well. Got all that?

Answer: The Marvelettes

The group scored immediately with "Please Mr. Postman" taking it all the way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1961. Although this was their biggest hit, they also scored with "Beechwood 4-5789" which was a number 17 pop hit in 1962, scored again with "Too Many Fish In The Sea", a number 25 hit in 1964, and in 1966 told you "Don't Mess With Bill" reaching number seven with that song.

Answer: The Shangri-Las

Formed in Queens, New York in 1963, the group consisted of two sets of sisters. They were signed to a recording contract by their parents in 1964, as all the girls were still minors. They recorded and released "Remember, Walking In The Sand", and had immediate success as that song went to number five in the U.S. on The Billboard Hot 100 charts, as well as number 14 in the U.K.

They followed with their biggest hit, "Leader Of The Pack" which reached number one in the U.S. and number 11 in the U.K.

They toured with The Beatles that year. The girls established an image of 'tough girls' and stories about their escapades surfaced. While never documented, they were never discounted either, adding to their image. They continued to have success through the mid 1960s with songs like "Give Him A Great Big Kiss" and "I Can Never Go Home Anymore"

Answer: Martha and The Vandellas

One of the most successful Motown groups of the 1960s, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas had a string of hits during that time. In the period from 1963 through 1967, the girls had 12 straight cuts make the Billboard Hot 100's Top 40 hits, with seven of them reaching Top 10 status.

The biggest hit was "Dancing In The Street" in 1964 which reached Billboard's number two position. The group was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1995.

Answer: The Ronettes

Of course it was Veronica Bennett, Estelle Bennett, and Nedra Talley who formed The Ronettes in New York in 1959. They were called The Darling Sisters at the time, and won a talent show at the world famous Apollo Theater that year. They also performed in various other locales during the early 1960s.

In 1963 they came to the attention of Phil Spector, who was looking for a new group to replace The Crystals. He signed them to his record label, Phillies Records, and portrayed them as 'bad girls', with bee-hive hairdos, black eyeliner,and tight skirts.

They had immediate success, with the aid of Spector's "Wall Of Sound" technique. "Be My Baby" was their first recording, and that shot to number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts, and well as number four in the U.K.

This song is considered by some to be one of the greatest pure rock and roll songs of all time. They followed with "Baby I Love You", which was slightly less successful, only reaching number 24 in the U.S. The interesting thing about this song was that the backup vocals were done by another Spector protégé, one Darlene Love, as well as a young Cher.

They had such other Top 40 hits as "The Best Part Of Breaking Up", "Do I Love You?", and "Walking In The Rain" which won a Grammy for Best Sound Effects. All the girls subsequently married, and Ronnie married Phil Spector in 1968, They divorced in 1973 amid accusations of spousal abuse. Ronnie went back to performing at that time, and has performed well into the 21st century. The group was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007.

Answer: The Supremes

Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard were one of the most successful groups ever, and epitomized the girl groups of the 1960s with their distinctive sound and feminine ways. The group's personnel changed a number of times over the course of time, with Cindy Birdsong replacing Ballard in 1967, and Ross leaving the group for a solo career in 1970, but one thing cannot be denied.

They had a sound that was loved in the music world. The group had a total of 12 number one hits during the period of 1964 through 1970 along with another 6 Top 10 hits.

It seemed that they had a Midas touch with their music. After Ross left the group in 1970, and was replaced by Jean Terrell, the group was still able to score 6 more Top 10 Billboard hits in the following 2 1/2 years.

The group was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1988.

Answer: Reparata and The Delrons

Finally! Mary Aiese formed the group in the early 1960s in Brooklyn New York, and performed under the name of her Catholic high school teacher, Sister Reparata. She enlisted a group of high school pals, and recorded this Ernie Maresca penned tune in 1964,which was a Top 20 hit in the Northeast but didn't fare nearly as well on the national Billboard charts, missing the Top 40 by a few places. They released a follow up hit called "Tommy" with the same results. They toured with Dick Clark's "Caravan Of Stars' and continued to record. It paid off in 1968 with a song called "Captain Of Your Ship" which missed the U.S. charts but was a Top 20 hit in the U.K., prompting a tour that year.

Thanks for playing the quiz. I hope you all enjoyed it.