East Village Radio had been back on the air for three months now – and that includes my weekly show, 60 Degrees with Brian Ferrari. On Sunday, September 29th, 2024 The New York Times posted an article about the station on the front page of their Metropolitan section.
60 Degrees is devoted to girl groups and female singers of the 1960’s, featuring hidden gems, cult favorites and unreleased obscurities. The show airs every Sunday morning from 8-10am EST, alternating new shows with old episodes from the original run (2008-2013). Episodes are available to stream any time, on demand for free here.
Here’s a recap of recent episodes – click on the date for streaming:
7/21/2024 – A tribute to Mary Weiss of The Shangri-Las, songs from film & television, Young Rascals covers, spotlight on Chess Records & selections from The Girls Scene CD Compilation. 7/28/2024 – From 2/2013, show #54: Sisters In The City (mostly NY), and songs recorded live on The Ed Sullivan Show. 8/4/2024 – Spotlight on Red Bird records, Mama Cass Elliot, Beatles covers, Ronnie Spector, Brit girls and soul sisters. 8/18/2024 – Selections from the Kiss N’ Tell CD Compilation, girl groups in the bubble gum zone, a folky 15 minutes and Stax soul sisters. 8/25/2024 – From 9/2008, show #13: Summer / surf songs, party drama, Beatles covers, and Motown rarities. 9/1/2024 – From 4/2011, show #40: Where The Girls Are LP compilation, Marvelettes tribute, and C’est Chic! French girls compilation. 9/8/2024 – From 9/2008, show #14: An assortment of The Cookies, soul sisters, Beatles covers, and songs about shoes. 9/15/2024 –Spotlight on Sue records, the British Bird Invasion, a folky 15 minutes, Beatles covers, and Motown. 9/22/2024 – From 11/2008, show #16: Wedding drama, Beatles covers, a folky 15 minutes, Girls In The Garage. 9/29/2024 –Dream Babies LP compilation, spotlight on Cameo/Parkway records, Brit girls, 50’s chicks in the 60’s, and Girls in the Garage. 10/6/2024 –Songs from John Waters’ Hairspray, peripheral Motown songs, Spector soundalikes, Beatles covers, Brit girls and Girls In The Garage. 10/13/2024 – A rebroadcast from 3/26/12: The Houston/Warwick Clan, Girls With Guitars, International Gals, Monkees Covers & Motown. 10/20/2024 – A rebroadcast from 4/21/08 featuring car songs, Dusty Springfield covers, NYC: A Mini-Musical, soul, Motown and more! 10/27/2024 – The 60 Degrees Halloween Show
Ladies and Gentleman, it is time once again to revisit that late great dynamic lady of song, Madame Spivy LeVoe (1906-1971), also known simply as Spivy. A lesbian entertainer, nightclub owner and character actress, Spivy has been described as “The Female Noel Coward” – to which I add “…. if he had been born in Brooklyn as Bertha Levine.”
“Why Don’t You?” is the fifth side profiled here from her 1939 album Seven Gay Sophisticated Songs. Spivy is credited with composing the music, with lyrics by Everett Marcy, who also penned “I Brought Culture to Buffalo In The 90’s”.
Marcy had a few Broadway writing credits including New Faces of 1936. It was Marcy who wrote the oft-repeated line introduced in the show by Imogene Coca: “I must get out of these wet clothes and into a dry martini.”
The song “Why Don’t You?” refers to Diana Vreeland’s column of the same name in Harper’s Bazaar magazine. It was full of random “imaginative” suggestions such as “Why don’t you wash your blond child’s hair in dead champagne, as they do in France?”
Some of the notables of the day that are referenced in the song:
Vera Zorina – a ballerina, actress, and the second wife of George Balanchine.
Cecil Beaton – photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer, and an Oscar-winning costume designer.
Elsa Maxwell – a gossip columnist, radio personality, and professional hostess renowned for her high society parties.
“The Zerbes and Bebees” refers to the original paparazzi photographer Jerome Zerbe (1904-88) and syndicated society columnist Lucius Beebe (1902-1966). The two were a couple through the 1930’s.
Peggy Hopkins Joyce – an actress and socialite, notorious for her flamboyant lifestyle with numerous affairs, engagements and six marriages.
Clifton Webb – a character actor best known for his thinly veiled “sissy” supporting roles.
Why Don’t You?
Today when all the headlines full of red lines and bread lines confuse you And the world seems bleak, don’t be blue. In Harper’s they have a column, very smart and very solemn that will amuse you. It asks you little questions to give you smart suggestions how you, too can reek with chic like the most ultra-clique, and they call it “Why Don’t You?” It asks you…
Why don’t you have your ermine muff wired for sound and use it weekends as a concertina? Why don’t you give a charity ball for the Princeton Club and raffle off Vera Zorina?
Why don’t you throw your mother an occasional bone? Why don’t you try sleeping alone? Why don’t you take the pretty blue check you won at bridge and kite it? Why don’t you dip your head in brandy and light it?
Why don’t you try wearing gold sandals backwards just for the sheer agony of it? Why don’t you send last year’s negligée to Cecil Beaton? He’d love it. So they want you to try decorating your flat with bundles of hay… Well they know what they can do with Harper’s, why don’t they?
Why don’t you try going to Elsa Maxwell’s parties as yourself for a change? Why don’t you try wearing a hat that won’t make your husband look strange? Why don’t you develop a bright smile by putting an electric bulb behind each tooth? Why don’t you give a testimonial dinner for Hitler in a telephone booth?
Why don’t you get out of town before you come down with a compound case of heebie jeebies? Why don’t you listen to the birds and bees instead of the Zerbes and Bebees? So they want you to roll up your rugs and cover your floors with broccoli on the first warm day. Well they know what they can do with Vogue too…. Why don’t they?
Why don’t you have a stag line composed of the ex-husbands of Peggy Hopkins Joyce? Why don’t you cross breed carrier pigeons with parrots so they can deliver messages by voice? Why don’t you try throwing Clifton Webb over your left shoulder and making a wish? Why don’t you fill your guest’s finger bowls with invisible tropical fish?
Why don’t you try opening your eyes in the middle of a kiss? Why don’t you cancel your subscriptions to magazines like this? Why don’t you tear everything off your hat and stamp on it? Why don’t you take out a homestead in Montana and go “camp” on it?
So they want you to promise to slap your own face two hundred times a day? Well tell them you’ll have none of it. Tell them you’re through with their “Things To Do” and they can all take their Harper’s and… love it.
I’m bursting with excitement to be able to share the news about something I have been working on for the past couple of months…
After a 10 year hiatus, East Village Radio is now officially back on the air. My show, 60 Degrees with Brian Ferrariran on the station for 5 years – from 2008-2013. The 2-hour program, featuring female 60’s singers and girl groups, is now back with new episodes bi-weekly, with repeated classic episodes on the opposite week. Besides the Sunday morning, 8-10am broadcast, archives of the show will be available for streaming on demand, any time, for free.
Here’s a little backstory: I had a late night public access television program called Bri-Guy’s Media Surf that aired in New York City from 1997-2007. Based on the music clips I played on that show, I was approached to do a spot on the early low-frequency broadcast version of East Village Radio. The signal was so weak that I couldn’t receive it in my apartment three blocks north of the station. Given the workload of producing the TV show, I didn’t have the bandwidth to take on a two-hour radio program, so I politely declined. After Media Surf wrapped in late 2007, I was offered a radio spot again. By this time, the station had transitioned into internet streaming and now had a worldwide audience. This time I said “Yes.”
In front of the EVR booth (2008)
From its inception, the concept of 60 Degrees was that it existed in an alternate reality where women ruled the pop charts throughout the 1960’s, a decade that I consider to be the most transitional and eclectic in the history of popular music. The all-female playlist is in direct contrast to radio programmers that only allow a certain number of female artists per hour. In the land of 60 Degrees, it’s all women, all the time. The men remain in the shadows, only stepping forward for the occasional duet.
This is not to say that the male groups that ruled the charts are completely ignored here. Female artists doing Beatles or Rolling Stones covers and tribute or answer songs are often featured. Besides, you can’t have a 60’s girl group playlist without the specter of Phil Spector looming large.
Another rule for 60 Degrees is that it is not a re-hash of the WCBS-FM “We play your favorite oldies” format. If a 60’s hit is in rotation on an oldies station, you won’t hear it here unless it’s live version, an alternate take, or sung in a foreign language.
Other ingredients that add to 60 Degrees’ unique flavor are the vintage commercials and sound clips from various movies and TV shows peppered throughout each 2 hour episode. These add a camp element to the proceedings and act as an acknowledgement of pop culture’s shift over the past 60 years.
60 Degrees usually concludes each episode with a modern cover or a remix of a 60’s tune to transition the listener back to the current day, in preparation for the next show on the East Village Radio schedule.
Exciters lead singer Brenda Reid was a guest on the show in 2012.
I did my first (and only) live show in the First Avenue storefront booth on January 17, 2008. Broadcasting live at street level by myself was a slightly terrifying prospect. The first show went without interruption but at some point I was bound to get a random loon trying to get into the booth while I’m spinning some Shirelles. And it wasn’t like I was going to get a sidewalk crowd like the higher profile prime time DJs. Besides, the variety of the content meant that I was dealing with wildly different sound levels and other audio issues over approximately 75 different clips per episode. Pre-taping allowed for a more seamless, fast-paced show, which was then broadcast in the morning hours before the DJ booth was open.
After 5 years on the air, I felt that the show had run it’s course and I hung up my headphones. I continued on my own personal quest of discovering new/old music, focusing on early soul singers and the sister groups of the 1940’s… then the 1930’s… until one day I found myself listening to 78 records on my 1916 RCA crank victrola. Having gone about as far as I could go, I thew it into reverse once again.
And so we’re back. From outer space. And so is 60 Degrees. I hope you will come along for the ride. It’s kinda cool
Bringing 60 Degrees back to East Village Radio, with the help of Jean & The Statesides.
Seven years after Blondie went on hiatus, “Debbie” become “Deborah” as she released her third solo album, Def Dumb and Blonde – an eclectic 15-track collection that most fans consider to be her best effort outside of the band. Although the album did not crack the US Billboard top 100, it reached the top 10 in the UK and other countries.
I got tickets to the November 11 show. This was the second of three sold out shows at the Lower East Side club. The guy I was seeing when the tickets went on sale was no longer in the picture by the time the show came around, so I ended up taking my older sister, Kari. She had been a Blondie fan a decade before – it was her cassette of Parallel Lines that we wore out.
We came up out of the F train at Houston Street and First Avenue and started heading east into Alphabet City, walking briskly past the homeless huddled around burning trashcans and assorted drug-induced shenanigans. Kari was holding onto my arm, talking a mile a minute – engrossed in a story that I hoped would keep her distracted for as long as possible. We were somewhere between Avenues A & B when she finally looked around, slowed a bit, gripped my arm tighter and said “Oh my god. Where are you taking me???”
“Almost there!” I said, although I wasn’t sure if we were.
I knew nothing about The World – a 16-and-over nightclub that payed little attention to underage drinking, a quaint complaint given the other activities that allegedly went on there. Housed in a crumbling former catering hall, it had that air of faded decadence prevalent in many East Village hangouts. It was as if the party continued on in the ruins of past generations…. clubs and galleries in the dilapidated haunts of German, Polish, and Ukranian immigrants, followed by another generation of hippies and poets, then punks and artists who had now come and gone. We were in the last months of the 1980’s and all that the decade had wrought was slipping into the past. But would Debbie, um, Deborah Harry?
There was an air of anticipation as to how this show would go: her first solo tour at age 44 – the same age as Tina Turner at the time of her Private Dancer success 5 years earlier. Given that Harry was back on her home turf – just a few blocks from CBGB’s – would she lean into her rock/punk roots? Surely this would not be a parade of greatest hits.
Still, it was a surprise when she quietly took to the stage along with her ever-present creative partner Chris Stein and opened her set with the jazzy Motown ballad “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game.” This Marvelettes cover was the final song on Blondie’s 1982 LP The Hunter. It was an intriguing choice for an opening number, as if she & Stein were picking up right where Blondie left off.
And then the show shifted into gear: playing through a set heavy on Def Dumb & Blonde‘s edgier cuts while seamlessly mixing in Blondie album tracks like “Cautious Lip” & “Detroit 442”. The set wound down with “Brite Side,” her latest single which segued into a cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Waiting For The Man”.
For the encore, she took off her jacket and returned the stage in just a black bra. When presented with a bouquet of roses, she bit the head off of one and spit it back at the audience. She tore through a couple of conciliatory hits: “Call Me” & “One Way Or Another”, plus her minor solo hit “French Kissin’ In The USA”.
Here’s where memory gets tricky: I recall that she did a Ramones cover as her final song. In the years following this show, I saw The Go-Go’s and Kirsty MacColl both cover “I Wanna Be Sedated” as final encores at their concerts. Some mental wires got crossed and 30+ years later, I thought Harry sang it too. But thanks to the internet and her fanatic fans, I am reminded that the Ramones song she covered on this tour was “Pet Sematary,” the theme to the Stephen King movie that her old friends had released earlier that year.
Here’s a recording from The Roxy in LA on October 23, 1989 – two weeks prior to The World shows in NYC:
My sister had gone off during the encore to find a bathroom. Towards the end of this song, she reappeared, white as a ghost, saying “Ohmygod ohmygod you have to help me! I have to pee SO bad and there’s only ONE bathroom for everyone! NO STALLS. I asked someone if it was the ladies room and she said ‘Men, women… what’s the difference?’ ohmygod you have to help me!”
Downstairs in the bathroom, I stood with my back to her, holding my full-length wool coat open like some sort of reverse-flasher trying to block her from the view of everyone except the woman sitting on the toilet right next to her having a conversation with her friend. I was trying not to laugh too hard as my sister kept muttering behind me “ohmygod ohmygod unbelievable… men, women, what’s the difference… unbelievable….”
On our way out, I poked my head into the lounge, where futuristic electronic music played. I could only make out strange silhouettes in the dim colored lights of the smoky room. It seemed like a cross between the Creature Cantina and something out of The Jetsons.
Still got that t-shirt…
After a quick t-shirt purchase at the merch booth, we were back on the street. Kari was holding on to my arm as we headed down East Second Street. A panhandler approached and said “Now there’s an attractive couple!” My sister let out a sustained “Eeew” which I punctuated with “She’s my SISTER.”
“My apologies.” He responded quickly and moved on to the second half of his spiel as he walked alongside us. “I’m having a rough time right now. If you could reach down into your pockets and help me out with anything, anything at all, I would really appreciate it.”
Kari, absentmindedly reached down into her pocket and presented him with a matchbook. He was not amused.
We turned on to Avenue A as he stood there screaming after us “Fuck you bitch! Fuck you! I will fucking BURN you bitch!”
She didn’t seem to hear him. Shaking her head, she said, “Oh my god. That bathroom.”
It would be another year and a half before I relocated to the neighborhood. But The World ended just two weeks before I got there: On June 27, 1991 co-owner Steven Venizelos – described by the New York Times as “a corpulent man with a penchant for jewelry” – was found murdered on the balcony of the club. He was shot three times at close range. There were no signs of robbery and the case went unsolved. In keeping with the East Village trend, the building was demolished to make way for “luxury” apartments.
The Record, 6/29/91
And Debbie? She’s still going strong. As she sang in “I Want That Man,” Here comes the 21st Century… it’s gonna be much better for a girl like me… the reunited Blondie brought in the new millennium with “Maria,” a #1 hit in the UK. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
Her latest collaboration is with The Dandy Warhols – “I Will Never Stop Loving You.”
Celebrating singer Angela McCluskey, who died at age 64 on 3/15/24. In the 90’s she fronted the band Wild Colonials, and her timeless voice graced many soundtracks and commercials.
You know the voice. Even if you think you have never heard it before, you recognize it. When you hear it out in public, in a movie, on television, it’s a voice that makes you reach for your phone to Shazam and find out who it is. It has been described as fractured, gin-soaked. It has the strength to front a rock band. It has a break that recalls Billie Holiday. It transcends genres.
Through the 1990’s Angela McCluskey fronted The Wild Colonials with a force akin to her friend and fellow Scotsman Shirley Manson of Garbage. Formed in Los Angeles, the band had heavy ties with the movie industry. Their music ultimately appeared in over 30 films, and three of the band members have scored full-length features.
Their third album, Reel Life, Vol. 1 was a compilation of songs used in various films including Mr. Wrong, Unhook The Stars and Flirting With Disaster. Their songs were used on television as well, most notably on Grey’s Anatomy.
McCluskey also lent her voice to numerous advertising campaigns, singing in commercials for American Express, Schick razors and this memorable 2000 Kohls jingle:
In 2004, McCluskey released her first solo LP, The Things We Do, featuring the song “It’s Been Done”:
Over the next 18 years, she would release 4 LPs and numerous singles and EPs, including one with the reunited Wild Colonials in 2010.
McCluskey has been described as “a singer’s singer.” Her list of collaborators is long and wide-ranging – from Dr. John to Cyndi Lauper to Shudder To Think to Paul Oakenfold. She contributed vocals for two albums with French electronic group Télépopmusik. Their 2004 collaboration “Breathe” garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording.
Another highlight from her work with Télépopmusik was “Love’s Almighty” from 2005:
She appeared on Robbie Robertson’s LP How To Become Clairvoyant. “In The Air,” her 2011 collaboration with Morgan Page reached #1 on the Billboard Dance Airplay chart.
Angela McCluskey sings “Wild is the Wind” and “I Think It’s Going To Rain Today” for WFUV (2012):
McCluskey recounted her early days with The Wild Colonials in one of her final Instagram posts:
“Never did anyone live life more fully, love more generously, sing more… well, just… more. Angela sang just as she breathed. Her life was a song, and she was music. She will be missed more than any of us can say…”
I know I am not alone when I say that I take comfort in the annual repetition of the holidays: revisiting holiday-themed music, films, television shows… and now internet posts. Dave Holmes’ account of Patti LaBelle’s disastrous performance at the 1996 National Christmas Tree lighting is worth an annual revisit. Trust me.
Not to get meta or anything, but the post you are currently reading has been reworked and updated each year since 2020.
While we’re mining the past and dusting off our chestnuts, here’s the intro to the 1999 holiday episode ofBri-Guy’s Media Surf, an NYC Public Access show that featured yours truly lip-synching a little Esquivel:
Whenever the song pops up on my holiday playlist, I still do this.
I find it interesting that we immerse ourselves in certain pop culture favorites for exactly 6 weeks of the year and then pack them up in mothballs with the ornaments until next year. I mean, Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” is currently at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Burl Ives, Bobby Helms and Andy Williams are also in the top 10. Are any of them on your 4th of July playlist? They aren’t on mine.
Gabe Pressman (left) with Marilyn Monroe (1956)
I used to look forward to the annual Christmas Eve tradition on NBC New York’s evening news when reporter Gabe Pressman would read “Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus.” I taped it in 2011, knowing that the tradition wouldn’t last forever. The self-described “little Jewish kid from the Bronx” was 87 years old at the time and continued to work at NBC until his death at age 93.
NBC New York reporter Gabe Pressman’s annual segment on Virginia O’Hanlon’s 1897 letter to the New York Sun Newspaper.
In keeping with this revisit, my other blog posts of Christmas past are back to haunt you like A Christmas Carol, Mr. Scrooge:
Copyright issues kept my 60 Degrees Girl Group Christmas playlist out of commission but now it’s back! I plan to post other episodes of my old radio show in the new year.
My Canine Christmas Tail is a true story about my dog Sunshine, a basset hound with an appetite for tinsel.
Have you watched Christmas In Connecticut yet this year? How about that delivery woman? This year I was able to update my 2019 post, identifying Daisy Bufford as the actress who played the unbilled role.
The original version of “¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?” is featured in “Llamacita,” this year’s Amazon Prime holiday commercial. Here’s a little backstory on the song & Augie Rios, who sang the original version.
Also – would you like to hear my Spotify holiday playlist?
Way back in 2002, when Limewire was a thing and people listened to music on silvery discs, I started creating Christmas CD mixes that I would mail out or give to people. These were received with a heartwarming combination of feigned delight, veiled indifference and deafening silence. None of these CDs had a pressing of more than 20 copies. I’d like to call them “much sought after” – but no, that’s not really the case, although every once in a while, someone really got into them and would ask for copies of other volumes.
And so, I’m offering this simple playlist…. for kids from 1 to 92. Unfortunately some of the tracks on these dozen CDs are not on Spotify, but I keep adding songs that would be on the current CD volume… if there was one. And now the playlist is over 17 hours of holiday tunes. I recommend listening on shuffle – there’s something to irritate everyone. Enjoy!
Here’s one more nugget to stuff in your stocking: This vid went viral in 2011. Choreographed and performed by Alex Karigan & Zac Hammer of the Amy Marshall Dance Company, it was filmed in one continuous take at the New 42nd St. Dance Studios. There’s something infectious about it: the joy, the corniness, the celebratory queerness of it all. It makes me want to dust off my jazz shoes. Once a year.
Back in the dinosaur days of VHS tapes, there were various companies that offered music video subscription services to commercial businesses. Every month a new videocassette with the latest music videos would arrive in the mail, just for viewing in their establishment. These tapes were not for sale to the general public.
One of the most popular companies in the U.S. and Canada was Telegenics, a New York-based operation that produced monthly tapes over an 11 year span, from 1983-1994. They offered a variety of music styles to choose from: Top 40, Progressive, Urban, and Pop Rock with some occasional specialty releases of 12″ Remix, Dance Classics, and Christmas, to name a few.
In the late 1990’s I used to buy these tapes in second hand stores and then later on eBay. In the days before YouTube, this was often the only way to see music videos that didn’t get airplay on MTV or VH1. I had my NYC public access show Bri-Guy’s Media Surf at that time and would air obscure music videos from artist like Kirsty MacColl, Alison Moyet and others that the music video channels paid little attention to.
Billboard (Jan 1988)
But the Madonna MegaMix was something else: A 7-song, 11 minute remix of hits up to the summer of 1988 when it was released. The medley features “La Isla Bonita,” “Who’s That Girl,” “Open Your Heart,” “Into The Groove,” “Papa Don’t Preach,” “Where’s The Party,” and “Dress You Up.”
“Where’s The Party” is of particular interest, as there was never a music video for this album track, but one is created here using clips from many of Madonna’s other music videos.
I aired the video on Media Surf a couple of times during the show’s 10-year run. In 2012, I digitized the clip and uploaded it to YouTube to share. It was immediately flagged for copyright infringement and blocked from viewing worldwide. Although it was not visible to the public, I left it uploaded to my channel and promptly did nothing with it for 11 years.
And now, as Madge has come around and is embracing her legacy with a 40th anniversary tour, YouTube (or Warner Music, or the lady herself) have decided to allow for such things to be viewed by the general public. Enjoy it while you can! It may be gone tomorrow.
I have always loved Christmas music. I tend to listen to older music all year round, but when it comes to sharing music with the general public, this is the only time of year when Brenda Lee is considered cool. To combat the 60’s holiday tracks that are over-covered and overplayed, I am always searching for more obscure holiday recordings by girl groups and female vocalists that are not on radio or Spotify playlists.
When I began hosting my internet radio show 60 Degrees with Brian Ferrari back in 2008, I started an annual tradition of putting together a holiday program full of female 60’s singers and girl groups interspersed with vintage commercials and sound clips from classic holiday movies and television shows. You can listen to the Halloween show here.
East Village Radio was a pirate radio station that went legit and switched to the internet, broadcasting from a storefront in New York’s Lower East Side. This first 60 Degrees holiday show debuted on December 22, 2008 and was repeated annually throughout the shows 5 year run. By 2012, the holiday programs had gained such a following that 60 Degrees was given an uninterrupted 16-hour marathon on Christmas Day.
At the beginning of Part 2 of this episode, I read a Christmas poem that I wrote about an incident from my childhood involving our tinsel-eating dog Sunshine, which has previously been posted here and also on The Good Men Project website. You can’t say I don’t recycle!
Other than my speedy vocal delivery (someone tell that guy to slow down) and some minor sound level issues, the show holds up pretty well. There are a few mis-statements that I wish I could fix:
I said that Maya Rudolph’s mother, the late great Minnie Riperton was not singing lead on The Gems tracks. But it turned out that she was.
I mis-pronounce the Meditation Singers as “The Mediation Singers” and would add that soul singer Laura Lee was a member of the group, having replaced Della Reese in the 1950’s.
Janice Orenstein is the singer on “There’s Always Tomorrow” from the Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer soundtrack.
Recently, the Gr8terDays blog featured cast photos from TV shows throughout the golden age of television. Surviving cast members are pictured in color while those who have shuffled off this mortal coil are depicted in black and white. I found this method of categorizing to be a bit jarring and sad, but also informative.
The post begins; “I’ve always been the morbid type. Even as a kid, I would watch old movies and TV shows and zero in on, ‘Which of these people is still alive?'”
Well, I was that kid too, although I didn’t get that way without help. I remember watching The Wizard of Oz on television when I was 5 or 6 years old while my parents made casual conversation of tallying the deceased cast members. “Yeah, she overdosed. And he’s dead. That one’s probably dead too… I’m not sure about Jack Haley.”
This might explain why my last post was Zombie Divas, a piece of Halloween fiction that featured a reanimated Judy Garland and other dearly departed entertainers hanging around the narrator’s apartment.
With that said, here’s my list of surviving members of 30+ girl groups (primarily) of the 1960’s. They may be gone, but their music lives on.
Lead singer Peggy Santiglia and Phyllis “Jiggs” Allbut are the last original Angels. Besides Barbara “Bibbs” Allbut, first lead singer Linda Jansen and Bernadette Carroll have also passed on.
Darlene Love’s group The Blossoms started as The Dreamers in 1954. The evolving lineup went through many group names and members, with Fanita James as the one constant throughout. The 1964 lineup with Love, James and Jean King were regulars on the TV show Shindig! and continued until Darlene’s departure in 1975. Jean passed away in 1983, while Fanita died on Thanksgiving Day, 2023.
When Reather Dixon Turner died in 2014, co-lead singer Emma Pought Patron became the sole surviving member of The Bobbettes, which formed in East Harlem in 1955.
Seminal girl group The Chantels formed in the Bronx in 1957. Although they lost Jackie Landry to cancer in 1997, members of the group are still performing today.
Baby, That’s Me: The last member of The Cake is Barbara Morillo.
The Chordettes were of an earlier generation than the other girl groups, having formed as a folk group in the late 1940’s. They later shifted over to pop music with hits like “Mr. Sandman” and “Lollipop”. Carol Buschman, the last member from the group’s heydey, passed away on September 30, 2023 at age 96.
Chiffon Sylvia Peterson passed away in July, 2023. Barbara Lee had previously died in 1992. Lead singer Judy Craig still occasionally performs with her daughter and niece.
Original Crystals lead singer Barbara Alston passed away in 2018.
The Butterflys were a quartet with two former Crystals: Myrna Giraud and Mary Thomas along with lead singer Paulette Holland. All three are still in New York City… but where in the world is Carmen Santiago?
The original Cookies formed in 1954 and later morphed into the first incarnation of the Raelettes. They have all passed on, but the second lineup included Earl-Jean McCrea and Margaret Ross Williams, who are still with us. In recent years, Margaret headed a Cookies lineup that honored the earlier group in live shows with their song “In Paradise.” She passed away in January 2026, leaving Earl-Jean as the last surviving Cookie.
Sole surviving Dixie Cup Barbara Hawkins keeps the group alive with current member Athelgra Neville, sister of The Neville Brothers.
The exciting Brenda Reid, lead singer of The Exciters, is the last surviving member of her group.
No pearly gates for these Flirtations: The group, formed in New York as The Gypsies in 1962, moved to the UK in the late 60’s. All three are still performing together, including Viola Billups, aka Pearly Gates.
Guitarist Carol McDonald (aka Shaw) passed away in 2007. In October 2023, the group was inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame with the surviving members in attendance.
Honey Cone lead singer Edna Wright (sister of Darlene Love) passed away in September, 2020.
Trying to keep track of the many Ikettes is akin to herding cats, but this classic lineup – which became The Mirettes – featured Robbie Montgomery, Venetta Fields, and Jessie Smith, who died in February, 2021.
Bluebelle Sarah Dash passed away in September, 2021. The New York Times recently reported the ongoing health battles of Cindy Birdsong, who left the Bluebelles to join the Supremes in 1967.
Late 60’s Vandella Sandra Tilley succumbed to an aneurysm in 1982, but Martha Reeves and her other Vandellas are alive and well.
Katherine Anderson Schaffner, group spokesperson and the one constant member of The Marvelettes, passed away on September 20, 2023. The surviving members are now Juanita Cowart Motley, the first to leave the group in 1963, and Ann Bogan, who replaced original lead singer Gladys Horton in 1967.
When Murmaids lead singer Terry Fischer passed away in 2017 from Parkinson’s disease, her sister and fellow Murmaid Carol Fischer Morell called her “the heart and soul of the group.”
Sole surviving Orlon Stephen Caldwell was still active on the oldies circuit with replacement members until 2022. He passed away on October 1, 2025.
Middle Paris sister Sherrell has been the sole surviving sibling since the death of Allbeth in 2014. Youngest sister Priscilla passed away in 2004.
All three Pixies Three (as well as replacement member Bonnie Long-Walker) are still at the party.
Ruth Pointer is the oldest and last surviving member of The Pointer Sisters.
Reparata (Mary Aiese) had two sets of Delrons in the 1960’s. Carol Drobnicki succumbed to cancer at age 33 in 1980. Reparata passed away on 11/30/2024.
Cousin Nedra Talley Ross is the last Ronette.
The elegant Royalettes from Baltimore, Maryland lost their first member when Anita Ross Brooks passed away a few years ago.
The Shangri-Las: The Ganser twins have been gone for decades, but Mary Weiss passed away on January 19, 2024, leaving her sister Betty as the last surviving group member.
The Shirelles formed in 1957 and hailed from Passaic, New Jersey. Shirley Owens Alston Reeves has retired from performing, but Beverly Lee tours with her own Shirelles.
Besides Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard, early 4th Supreme Barbara Martin has also passed on. However, all of the 1970’s post-Diana Ross Supremes are still with us.
Cissy (mother of Whitney) Houston passed away at age 91 on 10/7/2024, leaving Estelle Brown as the sole surviving member of this legendary backing group.
Fayette Pinkney was one of the founding members of The Three Degrees, which was formed by producer Richard Barrett in 1963. She went solo in 1976 and passed away in 2009. Originally from Philadelphia but now based in the UK, members of the group are still touring.
The Toys were assembled in Jamaica, Queens in 1961. Lead singer Barbara Harris is the only one still performing, although the retired members often show up to support her at shows. All three still live in the Tri-state area.
At different times, Motown’s Velvelettes also featured Vandellas Betty Kelly and the late Sandra Tilley. Founding member Bertha Barbee McNeal passed away in December, 2022.
The Ad Libs were not a true girl group, but “The Boy From New York City” and their follow-up Blue Cat singles sure fit in the genre. Sadly, Mary Ann Thomas and the boys from Bayonne, New Jersey have all passed on.
The cast of the Phil Spector Christmas LP, released 60 years ago this holiday season.
Other books I highly recommend: John Clemente’s Girl Groups: Fabulous Females Who Rocked The World, which is cited as a reference source on anything related to the genre. Prior to that, Alan Betrock’s 1982 Girl Groups: Story Of A Sound and the 1983 documentary based on that book were the first attempts to tell their story.
I recently found myself perusing (as one does) the March, 1981 issue of In Touch For Men Magazine when I happened upon an article about Ronnie Spector. “How timely,” I thought, as August 10th marked her 80th birthday. Unfortunately, the Ronettes lead singer passed away at age 78 in January, 2022 – click here for a tribute with some choice song recommendations.
Ronnie with Patti Smith (1977)
Ronnie didn’t have a whole lot going on when Genya Ravan called her up out of the blue and asked her to sign with her new record label, Polish. Ravan was a fellow rock and roll veteran – a Holocaust survivor from Poland who, as Goldie Zelkowitz, fronted the legendary female rock band Goldie & The Gingerbreads. After a name change, a stint fronting the band Ten Wheel Drive, and several solo LPs, Ravan was ready to use her production skills on her own record label. In her memoir Lollipop Lounge: Memoirs Of A Rock And Roll Refugee, Ravan clarifies the label’s name: “‘Polish’ as in shine, not the nationality.”
Ronnie in Creem Magazine (1980)
While the music industry might have been through with Ronnie, Ravan was extremely excited with the prospect of producing her first solo LP. “I was a great fan of hers. I’d loved the sound of her voice ever since I first heard it,” she wrote. “Also, my own career as a singer seemed to be looking bleak… so working with Ronnie seemed to offer an alternative way of permanently stamping my mark on the music industry.”
Ravan’s idea was to expose Ronnie to some of the acts from CBGB’s that she was producing – to bring her iconic voice to a contemporary rock setting.
The album was recorded at Media Sound, RPM and Electric Lady studios with contributions from members of Johnny Thunders’ Heartbreakers, the Dead Boys, Mink DeVille and many others. In addition to producing, Ravan also provided backing vocals.
Recording Siren at RPM Studios
In her own autobiography, Ronnie admitted that she did not feel a connection with the New York punk scene that she felt Genya was pushing her to embrace, although she would concede that the harder edge of Siren inspired her to cut loose on the vocals in a way that she had never done before.
While the lady doth protest, it must be noted that her cover of The Ramones’ “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” was a natural choice for her to cover: Phil had just produced The End Of The Century for the group, including a cover of The Ronettes “Baby I Love You.” Joey Ramone would later produce Ronnie’s 1999 EP She Talks To Rainbows. If Ronnie didn’t like “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” initially, she must have had a change of heart, as she re-recorded it for her 2006 CD The Last Of The Rock Stars.
She also collaborated with classic punk band The Misfits on a couple of tracks in 2003. Safe to say, Genya Ravan was on to something after all.
Ronnie & Goldie: Spector with Genya Ravan (1980)
Another standout track that is often overlooked is “Any Way That You Want Me,” a Chip Taylor composition originally recorded in the 1960’s by The Troggs and then Evie Sands. As producer, Ravan’s idea for the album was to “make sure the music had an edge, but at the same time I didn’t want to lose Ronnie’s 1960’s sound entirely.” This track walks that tightrope very well.
Unfortunately, the album doesn’t quite stick the landing with its final track: “Happy Birthday Rock ‘N’ Roll” is a 6 minute passive aggressive valentine-slash-middle finger of a song dedicated to Phil Spector. Harkening back to her ex-husband only negates the distance that the rest of the album puts between Ronnie and her musical past.
By 1980, the story of Ronnie’s barefoot escape from her marriage was no secret. Giving this song the subtitle “For Phil” is just bizarre. Imagine if Tina Turner had dedicated the title track of her Private Dancer LP to Ike.
The lyrics present Phil as the embodiment of “Rock ‘N’ Roll” itself, alternately praising him for his accomplishments, but noting that “You’re pushing 40 / but you’re still not old,” and “Some people say you’ve lost your grip / They say you’re past your prime and you’re no longer hip.”
One can imagine that Phil was not thrilled when he listened to this.
The songwriting on this track is credited to Elkie Brooks and Peter Gage, even though there are several musical breaks that segue into the choruses of “Be My Baby,” “Baby I Love You,” and “You Baby” – Ronettes songs that originally listed Phil as a co-writer. None of the original songwriters are credited here. As a comparison, Eddie Money’s 1986 hit “Take Me Home Tonight” – with Ronnie’s “Be My Baby” refrain – lists that song’s writers – Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich/Phil Spector alongside the other songwriters. Perhaps if Siren had been a commercial success, the famously litigious Phil would have come after them.
Reviews for the LP were all over the place – from high praise to the lowest dismissal:
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix (3/14/81)
Boston Globe (10/16/80)
Above: NME – Great photo / Terrible review (8/30/1980)
A pan from The Austin American-Statesman, whose reviewer also mis-genders Ms. Ravan. (9/27/80)
The Newsday review above was followed by one for Blondie’s AutoAmerican. (12/26/80)
In a more recent assessment, Joe Viglione writes on the AllMusic website; “If Phil Spector overproduced to good effect, Genya Ravan purposely underproduced, choosing instead to let flavors of different musicians paint the fabric behind Ronnie Spector.”
Genya Ravan stands by the album, writing; “I’m very proud of Siren… and of what I did for her on it. I think it’s the best thing she recorded after her glory days with Phil Spector.”
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