Arlene Smith obituary
Singer who formed one of the first ‘girl groups’, the Chantels, whose 1950s hit Maybe sold more than a million copiesAlmost before the five Bronx schoolgirls who called themselves the...
By Richard Williams · The Guardian Culture
Singer who formed one of the first ‘girl groups’, the Chantels, whose 1950s hit Maybe sold more than a million copies Almost before the five Bronx schoolgirls who called themselves the Chantels had finished their unaccompanied delivery of a song called The Plea in his office on Broadway one day in 1957, the record label owner George Goldner was fishing in his desk for a contract they could take home and show their parents. Within months the group were high in the charts with a ballad called Maybe , featuring the powerful lead voice of the 16-year-old Arlene Smith. The Chantels set the pattern for the success of such “girl groups”, as they became known, as the Shirelles , the Crystals , the Chiffons, the Ronettes , and many more. Continue reading...