The Chiffons

The Chiffons, one of the premiere '60s "girl groups", began at James Monroe High School in Bronx, NY, in 1960. The original lineup consisted of Judy Craig, Patricia Bennett and Barbara Lee. They met a small-time writer/manager named Ronnie Mack, who had had a local hit in Philadelphia called "Puppy Love" with "Little Jimmy and the Tops". Originally intending to have the new group record one of his own songs, he got hold of a song written by Luther Dixon and Shirley Alston, who was the lead singer of The Shirelles, called "Tonight's the Night". Mack figured to get the girls some publicity by having them record the song first. He called them The Chiffons--a name they picked out of a hat--and signed them to Big Deal Records, for which they recorded "Tonight's the Night". Both groups' versions hit the charts at the same time in 1960, with The Shirelles' record hitting #39 and The Chiffons' only reaching #76. The group didn't record again for 2-1/2 years, during which time they took on another member, Sylvia Peterson. In 1962 Mack heard of a "hot" new production company in the industry and took some of his songs to them. The company was called Bright Tunes Publishing and its members were Phil Margo, Mitch Margo, Hank Medress and Jay Siegel, who gained fame as The Tokens. The team picked one of Mack's songs, "He's So Fine" and asked him if he knew of a group that could sing it. Not wanting to tell them he didn't, he replied that he had one in mind and was told to bring them in the next day. He gathered up the girls--who had performed the song at various school dances--and brought them to the company office. A few months later they were called in by "The Tokens" to record the song (the team didn't just produce the record but played all the instruments on it). The song was released on Laurie Records in December of 1962 and within three months it was #1 on not only the pop charts but also the R&B charts. Their follow-up single, "Lucky Me", tanked big-time, but their third song, "One Fine Day"--composed by the legendary team of Carole King and Gerry Goffin--shot up to #5 on the pop and #6 on the R&B charts. Seeing what hits two out of the girls' three songs were, the producers decided to record them under the title of "The Four Pennies" to see how they would do. The Pennies' first song--released on Laurie subsidiary Rust Records--didn't do so well, unfortunately, only getting to #67 on the pop charts, and their next release, "When the Boy's Happy", crawled to #95 before it disappeared. Recording again as The Chiffons, they released "A Love So Fine" which--unlike their alter-ego group's releases--at least cracked the Top 40. The Chiffons were now bona-fide stars and made the rounds of the various teen TV music shows, put in an appearance at legendary disc jockey Murray the 'K''s famous Brooklyn Fox live shows and even recorded a commercial for "Great Shakes" drinks. The group didn't tour much, mainly because they were all so young, but did put in an appearance in 1963 at a rock show in Pittsburgh hosted by Dion DiMucci that featured The Shirelles, Freddie Cannon, Peggy March, The Impressions and Dionne Warwick. A few months later they played the world-famous Apollo Theater in Harlem with James Brown. In the fall of that year they released what many consider to be their best record, "I Have a Boyfriend", an upbeat mixture of R&B and 1950s doo-wop written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and The Tokens. It only got as high as #36 on the Billboard charts, though, and was gone a few weeks later. Their sales continued to decline, and soon they were reduced to an opening act for other groups (although they did open for The Beatles at their first US concert in Washington, DC, and for The Rolling Stones on their first US tour). They continued to record, but the "British Invasion" was now in full swing and rock audiences weren't particularly interested in songs by American girl groups. In 1965 they recorded "Nobody Knows What's Goin' On In My Mind But Me", a Brute Force-penned mixture of psychedelics and Phil Spector-ish "wall of sound" production, which got to #49, and they had a Top-10 hit in 1966 with "Sweet Talkin' Guy". They left Laurie Records for B.T. Puppy Records, but didn't have any luck there, either. In 1969 Judy Craig left the group. In 1971 their name hit the news when Beatle George Harrison was sued by Ronnie Mack's estate for plagiarizing the group's hit "He's So Fine" in Harrison's "My Sweet Lord". Harrison eventually lost the suit and had to pay Mack's estate almost $600,000. In 1972 Britain's London Records re-issued the group's original recording of "Sweet Talkin' Guy" and it shot to the #4 spot on the British charts. Barbara Lee died in 1992, and Judy Craig returned to the group. Sylvia Peterson left shortly afterwards, and was replaced by Connie Harvey. The group still tours to this day, playing mostly "oldies" shows and mostly on the East Coast, where they all live.