Jinny Lockard (previously Osborn) Carol Buschmann Lynn Evans Janet Ertel (aka Bleyer) Margie Latzko Dorothy “Dottie” (Hummitzsch) Schwartz Nancy Overton Alice Mae Spielvogel (née Buschmann) Joyce Weston
The Chordettes (Amsterdam, 1959)
The Chordettes were an American female vocal quartet, specializing in traditional pop music. They are best known for their 1950s hit singles "Mr. Sandman" and "Lollipop", both of which sold over a million copies.
The group organized in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1946. The original members of the group were Janet Ertel Bleyer (née Buschmann; September 21, 1913 – November 22, 1988), Alice Mae Buschmann Spielvogel (July 31, 1925 – January 6, 1981), Dorothy "Dottie" (Hummitzsch) Schwartz (February 18, 1927 – April 4, 2016) and Jinny Osborn/Lockard (April 25, 1927 – May 19, 2003). Alice Spielvogel was replaced by Carol Buschmann (May 13, 1927 – September 30, 2023), her sister-in-law, in 1947. In 1952, Lynn Evans (née Hargate; May 2, 1924 – February 6, 2020)[1] replaced Schwartz, as Evans described in a 2015 interview.[2] And in 1953, Margie Needham replaced Osborn (who was having a baby), though Osborn later returned to the group. Nancy Overton (February 6, 1926 – April 5, 2009) joined the group for live performances in 1957 after Janet Ertel, who was more than a decade older than the other members of the group, decided to retire from touring, although she continued to perform on recorded material. Originally they sang folk music in the style of The Weavers, but eventually changed to a harmonizing style of the type known as barbershop harmony or close harmony. Part of this change seems to be influenced by Osborn's father.[citation needed]
Jinny Osborn was born in Seattle, Washington. She was born Virginia Cole, the daughter of O. H. "King" Cole, who was president (1948-1949)[3] of the Barbershop Harmony Society (then known as SPEBSQSA), and Katherine Flack.
After performing locally in Sheboygan, they won on Arthur Godfrey's radio program Talent Scouts in 1949. They held feature status on Godfrey's daily program, and in 1950 cut their first LP, a collection of standards titled Harmony Time for Columbia Records. Three more LPs followed.[4]
In 1953, Godfrey's music director and orchestra leader, Archie Bleyer (June 12, 1909 – March 20, 1989), founded Cadence Records.[citation needed] He signed a number of Godfrey regulars and former regulars, including the Chordettes, who had a number of hit records for Cadence.[citation needed]
Beginning in January 1954, the group sang on the Robert Q. Lewis Show, a weekday afternoon program on CBS-TV.[5]
The Chordettes had released a couple of singles with Arthur Godfrey on Columbia in 1950-51 but did not cut a solo single until their breakout hit, "Mr. Sandman", released in late 1954 and which went on to become a number one 1955 hit for 7 weeks. It sold in excess of a million copies and was awarded gold disc status.[6] Archie Bleyer himself was on that record along with the group; Bleyer stripped down the sound to highlight the girls' voices. They also reached number two with 1958's "Lollipop", another million-seller, and a number 2 on the charts,[7] also charted with a vocal version of the themes from Disney's Zorro (U.S. number 17) (1958) and the film Never on Sunday (U.S. number 13) (1961). Other hits for the group included "Eddie My Love" (U.S. number 14) (a cover of a song by doo-wop group The Teen Queens), "Born to Be With You" (U.S. number 5), "Lay Down Your Arms" in 1956, and "Just Between You and Me" (U.S. number 8) in 1957. Their cover of "The White Rose Of Athens" reached the Australian Top 15 in May, 1962. The US single "In The Deep Blue Sea" was a one-week Music Vendor entry four months later (number 128).
Janet Ertel married Bleyer in 1954. Her daughter Jackie married another Cadence recording star, Phil Everly of The Everly Brothers.
The Chordettes appeared on American Bandstand on August 5, 1957, the first episode of that show to be broadcast nationally on the ABC Television Network. The Chordettes also appeared on American Bandstand on February 22, 1958, and again on April 26, 1958.[citation needed]
In 1961, Jinny Osborn again left the group. Unable to find a satisfactory replacement, the group disbanded in 1963.[citation needed]
Lynn Evans Mand sang on all the Chordettes' Cadence Recordings. In 2004, Mand appeared on a PBS television special Magic Moments: The Best of 50s Pop, with other 1950s pop icons, singing "Lollipop".
In mid-2023, hundreds of videos featuring women dancing to the Chordettes recording of "Pink Shoe Laces" went viral on TikTok and YouTube.
Deaths
Alice Mae Buschmann Spielvogel died in 1981 at the age of 55.[9]
Janet Ertel Bleyer died on November 22, 1988, at the age of 75.[10]
Jinny Osborn (later known as Jinny Janis) died in 2003 at the age of 76.[11]
Dorothy Parker was an American poet and writer of fiction, plays and screenplays based in New York; she was known for her caustic wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles.
Patsy Cline was an American singer, songwriter, pianist and composer from the state of Virginia. She is considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to cross over into pop music. Cline had several major hits during her eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart.
Sheboygan is a city in and the county seat of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan metropolitan area, which has a population of 118,034. The city is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Sheboygan River, about 50 miles north of Milwaukee and 64 mi (103 km) south of Green Bay.
Arthur Morton Godfrey was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer. At the peak of his success, in the early to mid-1950s, Godfrey was heard on radio and seen on television up to six days a week, at times for as many as nine separate broadcasts for CBS. His programs included Arthur Godfrey Time, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, Arthur Godfrey and His Friends, The Arthur Godfrey Digest and King Arthur Godfrey and His Round Table.
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"Mr. Sandman" is a popular song written by Pat Ballard and published in 1954. It was first recorded in May of that year by Vaughn Monroe & his orchestra and later that year by The Chordettes and the Four Aces. The song's lyrics convey a request to "Mr. Sandman" to "bring me a dream" – the traditional association of the folkloric figure. The pronoun used to refer to the desired dream is often changed depending on the sex of the singer or group performing the song, as the original sheet music publication, which includes male and female versions of the lyrics, intended.
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Jinny Osborn was an American popular music singer. She founded the group the Chordettes with three friends in 1946, which became one of the longest-lasting American vocal groups of the mid-20th century. Her final departure in 1961 led to the group's dissolution.
The Mariners were an American pop and gospel vocal group of the mid 20th century, particularly noted for their work with Arthur Godfrey.
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Lynn Evans Mand was an American popular singer who was the lead singer of The Chordettes. She and the quartet achieved national acclaim for performing "Mr. Sandman" and "Lollipop", both of which became instant hit songs during the 1950s and 1960s.
References
1 2 3 "Lynn Evans Mand". The Chronicle. February 11, 2020. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
↑ "Chordettes". Oxford Music Online. July 4, 2006. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
↑ "Monday (11)"(PDF). Ross Reports on Television. January 11, 1954. p.1. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
↑ Talevski, Nick (2010). "Jinny Osborn". Rock Obituaries: Knocking On Heaven's Door. Omnibus Press. p.478. ISBN9780857121172. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
↑ Nugent, Stephen / Fowler, Anne / Fowler, Pete (1976): Chart Log of American/British Top 20 Hits, 1955-1974. In: Gillett, Charlie / Frith, Simon (ed.): Rock File 4. Frogmore, St. Albans: Panther Books, p. 113f
↑ Whitburn, Joel (1973): Top Pop Records 1940-1955. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, p. 13
↑ Whitburn, Joel (1994): Top Pop Singles 1955-1993. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., p. 112
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2005): The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. 7. überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage, New York City, New York: Billboard Books, p. 129
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