The Crystals were a New York City singing group and are considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era of the first half of the 1960s. Their 1961—1964 chart hits — including "Uptown", "He's A Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)" and "Then He Kissed Me" — featured three successive female lead singers and were all produced by Phil Spector.
In the early 1960s, Barbara Alston, Mary Thomas, Dolores "Dee Dee" Kenniebrew, Myrna G...
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The Crystals were a New York City singing group and are considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era of the first half of the 1960s. Their 1961—1964 chart hits — including "Uptown", "He's A Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)" and "Then He Kissed Me" — featured three successive female lead singers and were all produced by Phil Spector.
In the early 1960s, 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. By default, Spector chose Alston to be the group's lead singer, which made her uncomfortable since she had a fear of singing in front of audiences.
Their first hit was 1961's "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" (see 1961 in music). Originally the B-side to "Oh Yeah, Maybe Baby" (featuring Wright on lead), the wistful gospel-pop ballad (co-written by Spector and Leroy Bates,...
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