Originated from Hull circa 1965 as Hull's first all-female beat group. Lead singer Mandy Smith had been singing in a band called Mandy and the Moonrakers with her brother, Dennis. However, one evening she met drummer Hilary Morgan and bass guitarist Lesley Saxil-Neilson in local club, Sombreros, and they decided to form an all-girl group. Further members Karen Baker (guitar), Lynda Harrison (vocals) and Margaret Wedgner (guitar) were recruited over the following months.
All the members of Mandy and the Girlfriends, as they became, were aged 16 or 17. The girls began spending as much of their free time together as possible, rehearsing in the shed in Mandy’s back garden. Within a year, the group was performing at local clubs. They recordeda set of demos at Keith Herd's fairview studios in Hull in 1965 before auditioning for Opportunity Knocks in 1966.
They toured the USA air force bases in Germany and recorded an LP of cover material for US airmen in 1967. The line-up for the LP recording was: Mandy Smith, Merle Pryor, Margaret Wedgner, Betty Beaumont, Hilary Morgan. Like their live set, the LP was a collection of cover versions, including their takes on Motown (Barrett Strong’s Money and Martha and the Vandellas’ Dancing in the Street), The Drifters’ Under the Boardwalk, The Animals’ House of the Rising Sun and the wartime classic White cliffs of Dover.
After the group disbanded in 1967, Margaret Wedgner, Betty Beaumont and Merle Pryor joined Linda Thompson to form The Honeys. After The Honeys, Wedgner moved to join Sugar and Spice after their EMI recording contract to play the cabaret circuit.
