The Fleetwoods
| The Fleetwoods | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Olympia, Washington, United States |
| Genres | Pop, doo-wop |
| Years active | 1958–1983 |
| Labels | Dolton Records, Liberty Records |
| Past members | Gary Troxel Gretchen Christopher Barbara Ellis |
The Fleetwoods were an American singing group from Olympia, Washington, whose members were Gary Troxel, Gretchen Christopher, and Barbara Ellis.
The Fleetwoods' first hit was "Come Softly To Me." "Come Softly To Me" was also covered by others. The UK's Frankie Vaughan and The Kaye Sisters had a Top 10 chart hit in the United Kingdom with the song, though The Fleetwoods exceeded them, simultaneously charting in the UK's Top 5.
Their second hit, "Graduation's Here" was co-written by Ellis and Christopher, with Troxel later adding a scat line in counterpoint. That one was followed by "Mr. Blue," which, like "Come Softly To Me", also topped the pop charts. This made the Fleetwoods the first group in the world to have multiple No. 1 Hits top The Billboard Hot 100 in a single year, and the first mixed-gender trio ever with more than one No. 1 hit. (Note that this first occurred in 1959, and that the Hot 100 began in mid-1958.) Also, on the Cash Box Top 50 for the full year of 1959, the Fleetwoods have two entries: "Come Softly To Me" and "Mr. Blue". There is no other group in that year's Top 50 with more than one record.
The Fleetwoods continued recording into the 1960s, with a number of other successes. They hit the Top 10 again with "Tragedy" in 1961. Though they went on to have a total of eleven hits on the Hot 100, the beginning of the end for the group came when Troxel had to fulfill his obligation to go onto active duty in the Navy. He joined the U.S. Navy Naval Reserve in 1956. Additionally, the British Invasion of the mid 1960s changed the public's taste. The trio's hits ended in 1963 with Barbara Ellis singing melody on "Goodnight My Love". Vic Dana, who was to go on to a successful solo career, replaced Troxel in the group when he was in the service, solely for live performances.
By the late 1970s, Troxel was working in a plywood plant in Washington; Ellis was managing a trailer park in California and Christopher was a housewife and modern jazz dance teacher in Washington at St. Martin's College and at The Evergreen State College. Ellis is now retired from performing. In 1983, Troxel gave his written resignation from The Fleetwoods leaving Christopher as manager with the sole authority to contract for both the original and replacement Fleetwoods. Troxel formed a new Fleetwoods group in the 1980s. His group has been performing regularly since the mid 80's doing several "oldies" concerts each year with two performances on the PBS Doo Wop series.
...
Wikipedia