THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
945) The Chantelles — “I Want that Boy”
British girl group goes to town on an obscure number out of America. ‘65 effervescent fun that hit Radio Caroline’s Top 40! (https://nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-a-to-k/artists-c/chantelles-the/). It is “a strong example of a British production that holds its own against American ones. . . . The strong lead and backing voices on the up-tempo song power onwards with full orchestration from start to finish”. (Kingsley Abbott, 500 Lost Gems of the Sixties)
As to the Chantelles, Kingsley Abbott says that “[p]reviously, they had been known as the Lana Sisters, a three-piece London trio that once included a young Dusty Springfield, and the Fifties-styled sister act morphed into a mini-skirted, white-booted, mascara-daubed sassy group.” (500 Lost Gems of the Sixties)
Nostalgia Central tells us more:
Led by Riss Chantelle (formerly known as Iris Lana), British girl group The Chantelles cut some high-quality material in the mid-1960s [and] made numerous TV appearances . . . . The trio formed in 1965 and consisted of Iris ‘Riss’ Chantelle (née Long), Sandra Orr and Jay Adams. Riss led the group, which had evolved from The Lana Sisters, in which Dusty Springfield launched her career in the late 1950s. After establishing a name for themselves as a live act, The Chantelles landed a contract with Parlophone, and in April 1965 issued I Want That Boy as their first single. . . . The follow-up, The Secret Of My Success, proved disappointing but the girls bounced back in October 1965 with pop gem Gonna Get Burned. . . . The group was invited to appear in the 1965 crime caper Dateline Diamonds, alongside Kiki Dee and The Small Faces. In it, The Chantelles performed the ballad I Think Of You and the more danceable Please Don’t Kiss Me. Both songs were issued on a single in April 1966, timed to coincide with the film’s release. Switching to Polydor they cut the single There’s Something About You in 1966. A[] dance floor filler on the northern soul scene, the track has since become their most in-demand single. Switching labels again (to CBS) in 1967, The Chantelles released an updated version of the Gershwin standard The Man I Love. Their final single for the label, Out Of My Mind . . . was issued only in Germany and the US, in 1968 . . . . Nola York joined the group in its later stages after Jay quit the group. When the group disbanded in 1968 Riss became Nola’s manager. Nola has since enjoyed success on the stage in London’s West End, while Riss formed her own music publishing company . . . .
https://nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-a-to-k/artists-c/chantelles-the/
“I Want that Boy” was first released earlier in ‘65 by Sadina, who was actually country singer Priscilla Mitchell (married to Jerry Reed). Anthony Reichardt expands:
The two met in 1957 while Reed was recording for NRC records and Mitchell was background vocalist. They married in 1959 and had their first daughter, Saidina, in 1960. . . . Priscilla found time to record a few tracks for ABC Paramount in 1963 as a member of the folk group, The Appalachians. By the time 1965 rolled around, their daughter’s name was no doubt the inspiration for crediting Priscilla’s debut Smash single as by (the simpler spelling) SADINA. Produced by Jerry Kennedy, the Ray Stevens arrangement treads into Shangri-las territory with the spoken intro between the lead singer and the background vocalists against an infections drum beat. A cleverly constructed pop record that deserved a better fate, it unfortunately came and went unnoticed. . . . [W]hen Miss Mitchell teamed up with Country & Western singer Roy Drusky later that same year, the two recorded a series of stereotypical country ‘cheating songs’ that ultimately produced some hits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlQFJzJ3tOA
The Lime Popsicle notes that “[s]he recorded duets with Roy Drusky (as well as solo recordings) and scored a #1 Billboard Country hit with ‘Yes, Mr. Peters’ during the same year”. (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OmkLYnskLEA&pp=ygUWU2FkaW5hIGkgd2FudCB0aGF0IGJveQ%3D%3D)
Here is Sadina:
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