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Biography
About|the American vocal group|the entertainment district|The Crystals (Las Vegas)|other uses|Crystals (disambiguation)Infobox musical artist|name = The Crystals|background = group_or_band|image = The crystals sm.JPG|caption = The Crystals in 1961-62|origin = New York City|New York , New York , United States |genre = Pop music|Pop , R& B |years_active = 1960–1967 1971-present|label = Philles Records |associated_acts = Darlene Love |current_members = Dolores "Dee Dee" Kenniebrew Patricia Pritchett-Lewis Melissa Antoinette "MelSoulTree" Grant|past_members = Barbara Alston Mary Thomas Myrna Girard Patricia "Patsy" Wright Dolores "LaLa" Brooks Frances Collins Darlene Love The Crystals are an United States|American vocal group based in New York City|New York , considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era of the first half of the 1960s. Their 1961–1964 record chart|chart hit record|hits , including "Uptown", " He's a Rebel ", " Da Doo Ron Ron|Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home) " and " Then He Kissed Me ", featured three successive female lead singers, and were all record producer|produced by Phil Spector . The latter three songs are ranked #267,cite web|url= http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/the-crystals-hes-a-rebel-19691231|title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|publisher=RollingStone.com|accessdate=2011-09-14 #114, and #493, respectively, on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time .cite web|url= http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6595959/da_doo_ron_ron_when_he_walked_me_home/1|title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|publisher=RollingStone.com|accessdate=2008-09-21
History
Formation and signing to Philles
In 1961, Barbara Alston, Mary Thomas, Dolores "Dee Dee" Kenniebrew , Myrna Girard and Patricia "Patsy" Wright formed The Crystals through the help of Benny Wells, Barbara's uncle. Soon, the quintet signed with Phil Spector 's label Philles Records .cite book | first= Martin C. | last= Strong | year= 2000 | title= The Great Rock Discography | edition= 5th | publisher= Mojo Books | location= Edinburgh | page = 233 | isbn= 1-84195-017-3
Their first hit was November 1961's " There's No Other (Like My Baby) ". Originally the A-side and B-side|B-side to "Oh Yeah, Maybe Baby" (featuring Wright on lead), the pop music|pop ballad (co-written by Spector and Leroy Bates, with BarbaraAlston on vocals) reached number 20 in the Billboard (magazine)|Billboard record chart|chart , registering as an auspicious debut for Spector's Phillies label.
Brill Building songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil 's "Uptown" gave the girls their second radio hit. Ethnically flavoured with flamenco guitar and castanets, the more uptempo "Uptown" featured Alston once again emoting convincingly over a boy, though this time with class issues woven into the story. After the success of "Uptown", a pregnant Girard was replaced by Dolores "LaLa" Brooks .
The subject matter of the next single, 1962's " He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss) " (written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin and sung by Alston), resulted in limited airplay with the track only "bubbling under" the Billboard Hot 100 , peaking at #123.
"Replacement" Crystals
Soon after "He Hit Me" flopped, Phil Spector began recording singer Darlene Love and her backing group The Blossoms under the name "The Crystals". Legend has it that the real Crystals were not able to travel from New York to Los Angeles fast enough to suit the LA-based Spector, who wanted to quickly record writer Gene Pitney 's "He's a Rebel" before anyone else could release a version. The Crystals were unavailable, but Love and the Blossoms were also based in L.A., so Spector recorded and released their version under The Crystals' banner. (Other sourcesWho|date=March 2011 claim that Spector's haste in recording the track was simply because he was enthusiastic about the song, and that he was unaware of any competing versions—despite the fact that Vikki Carr was recording "He's a Rebel" nearly simultaneously with Spector.)
The song ("He's a Rebel") had originally been offered to The Shirelles , who turned it down because of the anti-establishment lyrics. It marked a shift in girl group thematic material, where the singer loves a "bad boy", a theme that would be amplified by later groups (especially The Shangri-Las ' " Leader of the Pack ").Peter Buckley and Jonathan Buckley, The Rough Guide to Rock , (London: Rough Guides, 2003), 427.
"He's a Rebel" is perhaps the Crystals' best-remembered song, and one of the most enduring of the girl group genre.Citation needed|date=February 2007 It was also their only US #1 hit. Their follow-up single, "He's Sure the Boy I Love", in actuality also featured Love and The Blossoms. It reached #11 on the Billboard chart, and features a spoken intro by Darlene Love.
The "Let's Dance The Screw" saga
The next single credited to The Crystals is one of the rarest—and also possibly the strangest—in rock music history. Reports vary as to the actual motivation behind the recording, but most agree that Phil Spector was looking for a way to annoy former business partner Lester Sill . What he came up with was a nearly six-minute song called "Let's Dance The Screw - Part I", which would have been unplayable on 1963 radio. The record featured simple instrumentation (very much unlike Spector's famous Wall of Sound production style), repetitive lyrics, and Spector himself intoning the lyric "Dance The Screw" numerous times in a deadpan monotone. (The B-side, Part II, was more of the same but played much more slowly.) The Crystals sang the song's repetitive verses, though it is unclear if these singers were the 'real' Crystals or The Blossoms. Incidentally, some accounts mention that Spector's lawyer is actually the man intoning "Dance The Screw."
The recording was never released commercially as a single, and only a few copies are known to exist (all marked 'DJ copy - not for sale'). The record was apparently only created to be a bizarre sort of joke at Sill's expense, who was soon to leave the Philles label, as a single copy was specially delivered to him in early 1963. Both parts of the song have since been released on CD. Further information about this strange recording can be found at http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/spector.asp snopes.com
Listen|filename = Da doo ron ron.ogg |title = "Da Doo Ron Ron" |description = The 1963 hits "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me" were both penned by Phil Spector with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich .Though it is unclear as to the level of their participation in "Let's Dance The Screw", the 'real' Crystals definitely began recording again under their own name in 1963. However, Thomas had departed to get married, only to join another mildly successful group, The Butterflys, along with another original Crystal, Myrna Girard. This reduced the group to a quartet with BarbaraAlston on lead. Alston, known for her shyness and stage fright, was never comfortable with being out front, stepped down from the lead spot giving it to Dolores "LaLa" Brooks . According to Brooks, she had been doing Alston's leads in their live shows for a while.
After "Let's Dance The Screw", the group's next release was the classic " Da Doo Ron Ron ". Cher also featured on backing vocals with The Blossoms (Fanita James and Jean King) and lead vocals recorded originally by Darlene Love, but Spector stripped out this lead and replaced it with one by LaLa Brooks after some contractual disputes with Darlene, so this record on its release featured the actual Crystals' lead singer, unlike "He's A Rebel", which featured Darlene as lead vocalist with the Blossoms on backup, yet pressings of the single still credited 'The Crystals'. Citation needed|reason=Oct 2009|date=October 2009 The song was a top 10 hit in both the US and the United Kingdom|UK , as was the follow-up single "Then He Kissed Me", with lead vocals also sung by Brooks. The line-up of the Crystals was ever-changing during their career, unlike stablemates the Ronettes, who kept two sisters and a cousin throughout their short career.
Mounting tension and break-up
Despite the steady flow of hit singles, tensions between Spector and the Crystals mounted. Already unhappy with having been replaced by Love and the Blossoms on two singles, The Crystals were even more upset when in 1964, Spector began focusing much of his time on his other girl group The Ronettes . As well, there were disputes about royalties, with The Crystals feeling that Spector was withholding royalty money that was owed to them.
Two failed Crystals singles followed before the band left Spector's Philles Records for United Artists Records later in 1964. "Little Boy", which reached #92, was a Wall Of Sound production that was layered multiple times, which meant that the vocals were hard to distinguish from the music. "All Grown Up,", their final Philles single, (of which two versions exist) only reached #98.
1964 also saw the departure of Wright, who was replaced by Frances Collins, a dancer whom they had met while touring; toward the end of that year Alston departed leaving the group a trio. As a trio, they recorded two singles for United Artists , "My Place" and "You Can't Tie a Good Girl Down". One more single was released by Barbara, Dee Dee and Mary on the tiny Michelle Records in 1967 ("Ring-a-Ting-a-Ling") and they disbanded in 1967 (see 1967 in music ). They reunited in 1971 (see 1971 in music ) and still perform today. Kenniebrew is the only original Crystal who remained active throughout their touring from the seventies to the present. Dee Dee carries on The Crystals legacy by performing with Patricia Pritchett-Lewis, a member since 2005, and Melissa Antoinette Grant (a.k.a. http://www.MelSoulTree.com MelSoulTree), a member since 2002.
Contemporary usage
"Then He Kissed Me" was the opening song to which Elisabeth Shue danced around her bedroom in Adventures in Babysitting (1987); it was the song in which Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco enter the Copacabana on their first real date in the movie Goodfellas (1990); and it was used during the "Kiss Cam" during 'Homer and Marge Turn a Double Play' on The Simpsons (2006). It was also covered by Asobi Seksu and used on their Live at the Echo 10/6/06|live album . "Da Doo Ron Ron" was used by Russel/Harold Ramis to train ESL students in the 1981 comedy Stripes .
Crystal was the name of one of the girl group-inspired street urchin characters in the musical Little Shop of Horrors (musical)|Little Shop of Horrors , along with The Chiffons|Chiffon and The Ronettes|Ronnette . Amy Winehouse cited " He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss) " as an influence when writing her album Back to Black .Citation needed|date=June 2010
1963: " Da Doo Ron Ron " (US #3, UK #5 and UK #15 on re-issue in 1974)
1963: " Then He Kissed Me " (US #6, UK #2)
1964: "I Wonder" (UK #36)
1964: "Little Boy" (US #92)
1964: "All Grown Up" (US #98)cite book
| first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 129
References
Reflist
External links
Wikipedia-Books|The Crystals
http://www.thecrystals.net Official website of the latest incarnation of The Crystals
http://www.history-of-rock.com/crystals.htm Crystals Biography I
http://www.tsimon.com/crystals.htm Crystals Biography II
http://doo-wop.blogg.org/themes-crystals__7_-186044.html Crystals Discography I
http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/crystals.htm Crystals Discography II
The Crystals DEFAULTSORT:Crystals, The Category:American pop music groups Category:American girl groups Category:Musical groups from New York City
