Girl Groups from the 1960s Trivia Quiz

Answer: "Chapel of Love"

"Chapel of Love" was initially composed in 1963 by distinguished songwriters Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. Producer Phil Spector received co-writing credit when he produced a version performed by Darlene Love. However, this recording did not chart on Billboard, and Spector, thoroughly disenchanted with it, chose not to release it to the public until 1991, 28 years after its initial recording.

The Dixie Cups' association with "Chapel of Love" was the result of both effective management and a fortunate turn of events. The group was formed by sisters Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee Hawkins, along with their cousin Joan Marie Johnson, all of whom hailed from New Orleans. For years, the trio had been singing together simply for their own amusement. However, after graduating from high school in 1963, they made the decision to pursue a professional career in music and dubbed themselves The Meltones. They hired fellow New Orleans resident, Joe Jones, as their manager. He had developed extensive connections within the industry following his Number Three 1960 hit "You Talk Too Much".

He brought the Meltones to New York City to introduce them to prominent producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who had just started a new label called Red Bird and were seeking fresh talent for their roster. By chance, they ran into songwriters Greenwich and Barry at the Red Bird office; these composers were still hoping to get a better version of "Chapel of Love" recorded. The Meltones impressed during their audition, and their recording was made in April 1964. However, since the name Meltones was already registered by Mel Tormé's backup singers, the group chose a new name inspired by their favorite treat: Dixie Cup ice cream.

The success of "Chapel of Love" was nothing short of astonishing. The very first recording on the Red Bird label soared to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart on June 6, 1964, just three weeks after its initial debut on that chart.

The Dixie Cups struggled to maintain their initial success, with their last charting single, "Iko Iko," reaching Number 20 in May 1965. In the 1970s, Johnson retired from the group and later died in 2016; the Hawkins sisters continued performing with different singers filling Johnson's void to maintain the trio. They also worked as models and make-up artists. After Rosa Lee's death in 2022, Barbara keeps the group semi-active, performing occasionally with different line-ups.

Answer: "Da Doo Ron Ron"

"I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still
Da doo ron-ron-ron, Da doo ron-ron
Somebody told me that his name was Bill
Da doo ron-ron-ron, Da doo ron-ron"

This was another Greenwich/Barry/Spector collaboration. Initially, the "da doo ron rons" were intended as place holders to be replaced with more meaningful lyrics later in the song-crafting process. Those plans were abandoned when Spector decided he liked the sound of the nonsense words better than any alternative.

The history of The Crystals and their discography is rather complicated. Originally, they were a group of five Brooklyn girls in their mid-teens. The eldest was 17-year-old lead singer Barbara Alston and it was her uncle, a veteran of the big band era, who served as their manager. He eventually introduced them to Phil Spector who took over the managerial reins in 1961. Their future looked extremely promising when their first two releases were Top 20 Billboard hits in early 1962. Two members of the group departed at this time and were replaced by LaLa Brooks. Alston was painfully shy and felt uncomfortable as lead singer and welcomed the supporting role to Brooks' lead.

Then things spun out of control!

Spector was keen on recording a new song, "He's a Rebel" but the Crystals were unavailable to record it within Spector's desired time frame. Instead, he went ahead and recorded it with Darlene Love and her group, The Blossoms, but released the record under the Crystals' banner. It would be The Crystals only Number One hit and they weren't the singers! Adding insult to injury, the follow-up Number 11 hit "He's Sure the Boy I Love" was also a Blossoms recording masquerading as a Crystals product.

Spector made amends in 1963 with the Crystals next two releases, the Number Three "Da Doo Doo Ron" and the Number Six "Then He Kissed Me". The latter was yet another Greenwich/ Barry/Spector composition. Those hits were the paragon of Spector's wall of sound technique.

After these successes, The Crystals faced significant setbacks. Disputes with Spector over royalties created tension and weakened their morale, particularly as they were required to perform songs on tour that had been recorded by others. The situation worsened when Spector shifted his focus to another group, The Ronettes, giving that group priority over new material. This marked the beginning of the end for The Crystals, whose relationship with Spector had deteriorated beyond repair. Their final two recordings produced by Spector in 1964 were miserable failures and the group called it a day in 1968.

In 1971, Dee Dee Kinniebrook, a Crystals original, revived the group with two new members and they were active touring the nostalgia circuit until 2018.

Answer: "One Fine Day"

The Chiffons, like most of the girl groups of the day, started singing together in their early teens. When their first recording charted in 1960, their principal singers, Judy Craig and Sylvia Peterson, were both 14 years of age. That first recording only reached Number 76 on the Hot 100 but in 1963, a more mature group hit the jackpot.

A neighborhood friend, Ronnie Mack, had written a song and with the Chiffons in tow, auditioned it to a new production team that at one time performed as The Tokens, famous for their rendition of the 1961 Number One hit "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". They agreed to produce the song and even served as the backing musicians for the recording. That song was "He's So Fine" and with the catchy "Doo lang, Doo lang" ear worm chorus, it topped the Hot 100 on March 30, 1963.

Six months later their follow-up recording of the Gerry Goffin/Carole King composition "One Fine Day" peaked at Number Five . Now much in demand, they appeared on the popular TV dance programs in vogue at the time like "American Bandstand" and "Shindig". Unfortunately, they were unable to maintain that momentum and the British Invasion provided an additional barrier to further success. Although they would have a few more charting singles through 1966, they would only have one more top ten hit, "Sweet Talking Guy", that peaked at Number ten that year.

In the early 1970s, Craig left the group and Peterson carried on as a trio with various other vocalists filling in. Craig returned in 1992 when Peterson retired and Craig, her daughter and niece still make the odd Chiffon appearance in the New York area.

Finally, I'd be remiss in not mentioning the legal ramifications pertaining to George Harrison's "subconscious plagiarism" of "He's So Fine" when he composed "My Sweet Lord". Ronnie Mack never lived long enough to reap the rewards of his handiwork, succumbing to Hodgkin's Lymphoma in November 1963. His estate and the Tokens' production team launched the suit against Harrison in 1971. The judge ruled in their favor and much of the $587,000 award went to Mack's family.

Answer: "Chains"

The Cookies were a Brooklyn-based trio that initiated their career in 1961 by backing up other recording acts. Their vocalizing can be heard on Little Eva's two big hits "The Locomotion" and "Let's Turkey Trot" and Neil Sedaka's "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do".

They seized the opportunity to make their own debut on the Hot 100 with "Chains" in late 1962. It peaked at a commendable Number 17 (Number Four in Canada) and their follow-up "Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)" did even better at Number Seven in the spring of 1963. Both songs were Carol King/Gerry Goffin compositions. Subsequent recordings didn't fare as well and the group broke up in 1967. One member, Earl Jean McCrae, released a single in 1964 that you might have heard of, "I'm Into Something Good", that stalled at Number 38 on the Hot 100. Herman's Hermits released a cover version later that year that reached Number 13 and that debut release was a springboard to an extremely successful career for that group. It was also a Goffin/King creation.

It should be noted that a previous incarnation of The Cookies existed from 1954 to 1958. They also primarily served as a backing group and performed that role for Ray Charles so frequently that they became part of his touring entourage in 1958 and became The Raelets. One member of that group, Darlene McCrae, Earl Jean's older sister, was one of the founding members of the "new" Cookies.

Answer: "My Boyfriend's Back"

"My Boyfriend's Back" was composed by a production group (FGG) made up of songwriters Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer and was based on an actual incident witnessed by Feldman. He observed a girl in an animated discussion with a "greaser" type of guy who apparently spread rumors that she was being unfaithful to her absent boyfriend after she rebuffed his efforts to date him. The line that attracted Feldman's attention was "my boyfriend's back and you're gonna be sorry that you were even born after he takes care of you". He rushed back to the office and together with his colleagues, had the song written within a couple of hours.

In 1958, a group named the Starlets was formed in Orange, New Jersey. The primary singers were the Allbut sisters, Phyllis and Barbara and Bernadette Carroll but as many as six singers were in the group at various times. They recorded a few songs that were minor regional hits but, for the most part, they served as backup singers and recorded demos for the FGG production team. Ultimately, their record label lost patience with them and released all the singers except for Carroll. The Allbut sisters, convinced that their musical careers were over, returned to school.

The FGG group still had faith in them and convinced them to reform as The Angels. In early 1962, they scored a Number 14 Hot 100 hit with "Til" with Linda Jansen singing lead. She left the group immediately after this hit to go solo, replaced as lead singer by Peggy Santiglia. In 1963, FGG had the group record a demo of "My Boyfriend's Back" with the intention of presenting it to the producers of The Shirelles for them to record. However, they liked The Angels' demo so much that they decided to release it themselves.

It ultimately topped the Hot 100 chart for three weeks commencing on August 31, 1963. Carroll rejoined the group thereafter but subsequent recordings didn't achieve the same level of success. Eventually they returned to their former role as backup singers most notably on Lou Christie's 1966 Number One hit, "Lighting Strikes". They formally disbanded in 1968. Of all the groups comprising this quiz, The Angels were just one of two that were entirely Caucasian, The Shangri-Las being the other.

One further note about the FGG group. In 1965 they decided to get into recording their own compositions and formed the group The Strangeloves. That group would have four charting hits, including the Number 11 "I Want Candy".

Answer: "Heat Wave"

"Juxtaposition of the incongruous" - words that could easily be applied to the group Martha and the Vandellas. In a span of 14 years, they had 23 recordings crack Billboard's Hot 100. Of those, 12 were Top 40 hits and six achieved Top Ten status. Those statistics easily put them among the top 95% of all recording acts during the Rock Era. But the members of the group all agree that they were aggrieved by their record label's mis-management and they should have had even greater success.

They began in 1957 in Detroit as the Del-Phis, an association of school friends who would perform at school dances and other local events. They had as many as six members but by 1960 when Martha Reeves joined the group, that number was whittled down to four and they became known as the Vels. At the time, Reeves was employed by the Motown conglomerate as a secretary in charge of arranging auditions. On one occasion when a group that was to perform as a back-up vocalists failed to show up, she contacted her mates to get to the studio to fill in. Berry Gordy, the head of Motown, was so impressed with their performance he immediately signed them up to be part of the label's stable of performers. At that point, the group's lead singer wasn't interested in being a professional entertainer and Reeves assumed that role. Gordy named them Martha and the Vandellas.

It took a while for the group to hook up with the noted Motown writing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland but when they finally did in 1963, the flood of hits commenced. "Heat Wave" started the cavalcade as a Number Four hit, followed by "Quicksand" at Number Eight. Their biggest hit, "Dancing in the Street," peaked at Number Two in 1964 and 1965 yielded the Number Eight "Nowhere to Run". "I'm Ready for Love" peaked at Number Nine in late 1966 and their final big hit charted at Number Ten in the spring of 1967, "Jimmie Mack". Then the group hit the wall!

Holland, Dozier and Holland and their producer Mickey Stevenson left Motown in 1967 in a dispute over royalties. Without their collective magic, the group's last eight releases from 1968 to 1971 could chart no higher than Number 42. They disbanded in 1972. Ironically, they would later claim that although all their successes could in part be attributed to their affiliation with their songwriters and production team, those same people were also major contributors to the success of their stablemates and rivals, The Supremes. They believed that if Berry Gordy was as attentive to their careers as he was to the Supremes, and more specifically, Diana Ross, their footprint on the industry would have been much more significant.

Martha Reeves suffered a breakdown in the early 1970s that required institutional care. She blamed the episode on a cocktail she consumed that was laced with LSD. Upon recovery she resumed her career as a solo act while also doing some acting and serving as a Detroit city councilor for several years. Meanwhile, the other members of the Vandellas carried the name forward, performing on nostalgia tours into the 2010s.

Answer: "Please Mr. Postman"

In 1960, an enterprising 15 year old from Inkster, Michigan, a Detroit suburb, thought it would be fun to be in a singing group. Gladys Horton recruited three classmates to join her then asked an older 18 year old, Georgia Dobbins, to join the group as their lead singer. They dubbed themselves The Casinyets.

In 1961, one of their teachers suggested they enter a singing contest, the prize for the best groups being the opportunity to audition for the local record company, Motown. Although they just missed out winning one of those opportunities, they impressed enough to be given another chance but only if they could present an original composition at the audition. None of the girls had any song writing experience but Dobbins knew a local musician named William Garrett who dabbled in song writing. He had been working on a song entitled "Please Mr. Postman" and offered it to the group stipulating that he would get writing credit if it ever became a hit. Dobbins took the manuscript and worked on it to reflect the vocal strengths within the group. They had one audition that received a favorable reaction, then another with the head honcho, Berry Gordy.

In the interim, Dobbins' father insisted that she give up any thoughts of becoming a professional singer so another classmate, Wanda Young, was recruited as lead singer to replace her. Gordy was impressed enough to offer them a contract and renamed them The Marvelettes. Within three months, the song was recorded and forged its way to the top of the Hot 100, the first ever for Motown and their subsidiary label Tamla. It was a million selling gold record.

Over the next seven years, the Marvelettes would undergo several changes in personnel due to marriages, children, and declining health of some of the members. Throughout these travails, they proved to be a steady Motown asset with 23 charting Hot 100 entries, the most notable being "Playboy" in 1962 at Number Seven, "Don't Mess With Bill", also a Number Seven hit in 1966, and the Number 13 "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" in 1967. Their final hit was "My Baby Must Be a Magician" at Number 17 in 1968. It should be noted that these later hits were authored by the likes of Smokey Robinson, Norman Whitfield or Marvin Gaye. Notably absent were any compositions by the highly touted tandem of Holland, Dozier and Holland.

In 1968, Gladys Horton retired from the group to attend to her family, especially her eldest son who suffered from cerebral palsy. Wanda Young tried to keep the group going but with little support from the Motown label, they disbanded in 1969.

Answer: "Be My Baby"

The Ronettes stand out as a group whose fame seems out of proportion to their accomplishments.

The group was comprised of lead singer Veronica Bennett, her older sister Estelle and a cousin, Nedra Talley. They performed informally at neighborhood affairs in the late 1950s but became a little more serious about their music in 1960 and recorded a few unsuccessful records under the cumbersome name of Ronnie and the Relatives. In 1961, they lied about their ages and became the go-go dancers and backing singers behind Joey Dee and the Starlighters at the Peppermint Lounge. In early 1963, frustrated with their lack of progress, Estelle contacted Phil Spector requesting an audition. He liked what he heard but it was Veronica (now called Ronnie) who really attracted his attention, and he wanted to sign just her to a contract. Ronnie demurred. It was to be all three of them or no one.

Their first release with Spector at the helm was another Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Phil Spector collaboration featuring Spector's "wall of sound" recording technique. "Be My Baby", the group's link in this quiz, proved to be an iconic hit peaking at Number Two on Billboard's Hot 100 for three weeks in 1963. There was some heavyweight talent involved in the recording of this classic. The musicians were the formidable "Wrecking Crew" with Sonny and Cher among the backing vocalists. The only Ronette involved was Ronnie which was a typical Spector maneuver! (See the notes related to the Crystals).

Of their subsequent recordings with Spector, most were definitive flops. The two exceptions were "Baby I Love You" written by the same trio. It made it to Number 24 but a cover by Andy Kim five years later peaked at Number Nine. The group's final significant hit was a 1964 Number 23 hit, "Walking in the Rain", written by another highly touted trio, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Spector. By 1966, Spector had seemingly lost interest in the group, except for Ronnie. In 1967, the group disbanded and in 1968, Ronnie and Spector were joined in an ill-fated marriage which ended in divorce in 1974.

Ronnie died in 2022, aged 78, Estelle was 67 when she passed away in 2009 and sadly, Nedra passed away as this quiz was being written on April 26, 2026. She was 80 years old.

Answer: "Leader of the Pack"

Of all the groups in this quiz, certainly The Shangri-Las would win the "Most Exotic Name" award. Like many of their contemporaries, they hailed from the greater New York City area, a blue collar section of Queens to be exact. The group consisted of a pair of sisters, Mary and Betty Weiss and the Ganser twins, Mary Ann and Marge. They got together in high school in 1963 and when they signed their contract with the Red Bird label in 1964, Mary was 15, Betty was 17 and the Ganser twins were 16. Mary was the lead singer on all their biggest hits. Their name was derived from a popular Queens restaurant.

It wasn't very long after joining Red Bird that they recorded "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" for their debut release. It was written by a record producer, George "Shadow" Morton, a friend of songwriter Ellie Greenwich. This was his first composition, and legend has it that he sat on a beach in Long Island for inspiration notably for the surf and seagull sound effects throughout the record. The piano introduction was played by an aspiring unknown at the time, Billy Joel.

The song proved to be an immediate success climbing to Number Five on the Hot 100. However, it was their follow up release which really made an impact on the chart, the Number One smash "Leader of the Pack" written by Morton, Greenwich and her husband, Jeff Barry. It also had flashy sound effects incorporated within the music, a motorcycle revving up and the sound of breaking glass! This hit forged an image for The Shangri-Las as bad girls hanging out with bad boys, an image they fostered with their "tough" appearance burnished with their hairdos, makeup and apparel. It was all for show. Listening to the song today, they sound as young as they were. On another note, who could ever forget the parody hit "Leader of the Laundromat" recorded by the Detergents!

Other than a Number Six hit in 1965, "I Can Never Go Home Anymore", The Shangri-las faded into anonymity and when the Red Bird label folded in 1967, they moved to the Mercury label for one fruitless year before disbanding in 1968, angry in the knowledge that they received a pittance in royalties for all their recordings. All the girls retired from the entertainment industry except for a couple of brief reunions for special events in the 1970s.

Answer: "Soldier Boy"

If one was to rank the girl groups of the 1960s based on Billboard chart performance and their overall impact on the music industry, surely The Supremes would be at the apex of the pyramid. Considering the eleven other groups featured in this quiz, which one could be considered as the runner-up? For a couple of reasons, The Shirelles would seem to be the likely candidate.

First, the most notable of the girl groups of the 1950s, the Maguire Sisters and The Chordettes, were in the sunset of their careers and The Shirelles were the first group to achieve success in the new decade. All the other groups in this quiz essentially replicated The Shirelles' template of success to succeed themselves. Second, from 1960 to 1963, they had a steady stream of charting hits and were the only girl group, other than The Supremes, to record more than one Number One hit.

Shirley Owens, Micki Harris, Doris Coley and Beverly Lee started singing together as sixteen-year-olds in 1957. That year, with the moniker "The Poquellos", they entered a contest at their high school in Passaic, New Jersey singing their self-written composition "I Met Him on a Sunday". Their performance was such a success that another friend convinced them to meet her mother, Florence Greenberg, the owner of a small record label, Tiara. The song was recorded and proved so popular (Number 50 on Billboard's Hot 100) that Greenberg sold their contract to Decca records. Unfortunately, subsequent recordings on that label were fruitless and Decca released them from their stable of artists. Meanwhile, Greenberg started a new label, Scepter, and still having belief that the girls had the stuff to succeed, re-signed them on the condition they would have to change their name. They condensed their lead singer's name, Shirley, added the "elles" and became the Shirelles.

Greenberg hired Luther Dixon to produce The Shirelles' recordings on Scepter. He and Greenberg also wrote many of their songs starting with their first significant hit on the label, the Number 39 "Tonight's the Night". That was followed by their first Number One hit, the Carole King/Gerry Goffin composition "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" in early 1961. That was the first Number One hit for any African American girl group! Other Shirelles hits that year included the Number Three "Dedicated to the One I Love", the Number Four "Mama Said" and the Number Eight "Baby It's You". They kicked off 1962 with their second Number One, and biggest hit ever, "Soldier Boy", another Dixon and Greenberg composition. However, they would only have one more significant hit, the Number Four "Foolish Little Girl" in 1963.

Their later decline was precipitated by four factors: the British Invasion; competition from all the other girl groups noted in this quiz; changing musical trends that those groups initiated; and the departure of Dixon, their creative guru, from Scepter in 1963. The doo-wop-influenced, harmonious melodies favored by the Shirelles were being replaced by grittier R&B and up-tempo songs.

Although the group persisted together for a few more years, marriages, children and health issues splintered the group to the extent that a young Dionne Warwick often replaced one or another of the members on tours or other personal appearances. The group formally disbanded in 1982 when Harris suddenly succumbed to a heart attack. Shadow groups led by Coley or Lee performed on the nostalgia circuit into the new millennium.

The original group was inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame in 1996.

Answer: "A Lover's Concerto"

This particular match may present the greatest challenge in this quiz. One contributing factor is that The Toys achieved only two notable chart successes during their seven-year tenure (1961-1968). Their first hit, "A Lover's Concerto," released in 1965, sold over two million copies and was awarded a gold record. Their second significant single, "Attack," reached Number 18 later that year. The group had two additional entries on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966; however, neither approached the Top 40. Another complicating aspect of this question pertains to the song's lyrics, as the title does not appear within the lyrics themselves, a characteristic that typically enhances a song's memorability. If none of this rings a bell, give it a view on You Tube. I'm sure you'll find it immediately memorable.

Those familiar with classical music may recognize the melody, which originates from Christian Petzold's "Minuet in G Major." Although Petzold was regarded as an eminent composer of organ music in the early eighteenth century, only a limited selection of his works survived into the twentieth century. This minuet, along with another, was discovered in a notebook belonging to Anna Magdalena Bach, wife of Johann Sebastian Bach. Consequently, these pieces were long attributed to Bach until research in the 1970s revealed Petzold as the true composer. The songwriting team of Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell adapted Petzold's score and provided the simple lyric.

The Toys consisted of lead singer Barbara Harris with June Montiero and Barbara Parritt providing backing vocals. They were high school classmates in Jericho, New York. Following a couple of lean years without charting success, the group disbanded in 1968. Harris continued to keep The Toys banner flying as the lead singer of a new trio while also doing some TV work and recording as a solo act.

Answer: "Back In My Arms Again"

The Supremes were, without question, the premier 1960s girl group. Their achievements speak for themselves: 33 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, with 18 achieving Top Ten status and 12 reaching Number One, second only to The Beatles among groups during that decade. Here are some of the important events in the group's history.

In 1958, a group managed by Milton Jenkins called The Primes was becoming popular in Detroit and Jenkins decided that they needed an auxiliary female group. He would call them The Primettes. Jenkins set about auditioning candidates to populate the group and 15 year old Florence Ballard was the first to be accepted as a member. She invited her best friend, Mary Wilson, to join her and Diana Ross was recruited by Paul Williams, one of the singers with The Primes. Betty McGlown, another friend of Williams, rounded out the quartet. Jenkins arranged an audition with Barry Gordy of Motown and although he was intrigued with their potential, he felt they were too young to be in the entertainment business and recommended that they return to see him after they graduated from high school.

Not to be deterred, the girls hung around the Motown's recording studio and eventually, by 1960, they were utilized as back up singers and hand-clappers for the likes of Mary Wells and Marvin Gaye. Finally, in 1961, Gordy relented and signed the group to a contract. By then the Primes had morphed into The Temptations and the name Primettes became redundant. Given a list of alternative names, Ballard dismissed them all and decided on The Supremes for a name, much to the chagrin of Wilson and Ross. Shortly thereafter, McGlown left the group to get married and her replacement, Barbara Martin, did the same in early 1962. The Supremes remained a trio thereafter.

The group's early recordings in 1961 and 1962 had little success. Their breakthrough came in 1964, when they teamed with Motown's leading songwriting trio, Holland-Dozier-Holland, and released six Number One hits by the end of 1965, securing international stardom. Initially, each member of the group took turns as lead singer but now Ross clearly assumed that role.

By 1967, the happy Motown family was starting to splinter. Ballard, who essentially founded the group, was becoming despondent as her influence within the group was waning. She turned to alcohol and drugs and became unreliable in her performances. Gordy turfed her from the group in early 1968, replacing her with Cindy Birdsong. Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in a dispute over royalties. Rumors that Ross would leave the group to pursue a solo career came to fruition in late 1969.

Mary Wilson, with a varied cast of other members, attempted to keep the group relevant during the 1970s but of the 13 recordings released during the decade, only two were top ten hits. Finally, in 1977, Wilson waved the white flag and resigned from the group. With no original Supremes remaining, Motown decided to let the group expire.