The Orlons
| The Orlons | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Genres | R&B |
| Years active | 1960–present |
| Labels | Cameo-Parkway, Ariola, Wyncote, Various |
| Members | Jean Brickley Stephen Caldwell Albreta Crump Madeline Morris |
| Past members |
Rosetta Hightower (deceased) Shirley Brickley (deceased) Marlena Davis (deceased) Sandy Person Yvonne Young Audrey Brickley (deceased) |
The Orlons are an American R&B group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that formed in 1960. The group won gold discs for three of their singles which sold over a million copies.
The quartet consisted of lead singer Rosetta Hightower (June 23, 1944 – August 2, 2014), Shirley Brickley (December 9, 1944 – October 13, 1977), Marlena Davis (October 4, 1944 – February 27, 1993) and Stephen Caldwell (born November 22, 1942).
Before they became The Orlons, they were an all-girl quintet called Audrey and the Teenettes. They formed in the late 1950s in junior high school and consisted of Hightower, Davis, and three Brickley sisters: Shirley, Jean, and Audrey. However, after the Brickleys' mother did not permit 13-year-old Audrey to sing in certain clubs with the group, she and Jean quit, making the group a trio.
In high school, the group's three remaining members discovered fellow student Stephen Caldwell, who was lead singer of a local group called the Romeos. Impressed, they invited him to join the group in 1960 and named themselves The Orlons as a tongue-in-cheek nod to the friendly rivalry they had with a popular group at their high school, the Cashmeres. (Orlon was a brand name for the widely used synthetic fiber acrylic.)
A high school friend, Dovells lead singer Len Barry, encouraged them to audition for Cameo-Parkway Records at the turn of the decade. The group took his advice in the fall of 1961, but were rejected at first, although the record label signed the group after two more auditions. Cameo executive Dave Appell appointed Hightower as the lead singer, and began writing songs for them.
Before rising to fame with their first national hit, "The Wah-Watusi", which reached No. 2 in the US pop chart, in 1962, the group provided back-up vocals for Dee Dee Sharp's hits "Mashed Potato Time" and "Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes)". They recorded their own versions of those songs for their debut album, The Wah-Watusi, which received a rating of 4.5 out of 5 from Allmusic in 2006. They had a second hit in the same year with "Don't Hang Up", a No. 4 hit on the pop chart. The group had three hits in 1963: "South Street", the group's last Top Ten hit, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard chart; "Not Me" , which reached No. 12; and "Crossfire", the group's last hit, which reached No. 19.
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