Bobbye Hall

Bobbye Jean Hall is an American percussionist who has recorded with a variety of rock, soul, blues and jazz artists, and has appeared on 20 songs that reached the top ten in the Billboard Hot 100. She has recorded as percussionist and drummer using the following instruments: bongos, congas, tambourine, claves, quica, wood block, tabla, full drum kit, tom-toms, cabasa, maracas, cowbell, bells, shaker, güiro, triangle, mark tree, hand claps, finger snaps and finger cymbals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bobbye Jean Hall was born in Detroit, Michigan, and began her career there playing percussion in nightclubs while still in her teens. While playing at the 20 Grand nightclub in 1961 she was approached by Motown arranger Paul Riser to play on a recording session. Using bongos, congas and other percussion, she played uncredited on many Motown recordings in the 1960s. She moved to Los Angeles in 1970 where she was one of the few female session musicians in a male-dominated profession, a sometime associate of the Funk Brothers and the so-called Wrecking Crew. Already a veteran player by May 1971, she was featured on congas in the studio video of the Temptations doing "Sorry Is A Sorry Word", and she added her bongo skills to Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)". Her first studio gig behind a full rock drum kit was with Chris Ethridge on his 1971 album L.A. Getaway. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hall recorded several albums with Bill Withers, including his No. 1 hit "Lean On Me", and his Live at Carnegie Hall album. She also toured with Carole King. In May 1974, she performed again at Carnegie Hall, this time backing James Taylor, a follow-up to appearing on two of his albums. Stevie Wonder used Hall's percussion skills for a few songs in 1974 and 1976, including "Bird of Beauty" on which her artful quica work established a mood of Brazil at Carnival.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1978, Bob Dylan took her on a world tour, from mid-February to mid-December. A two-disc album was produced using 22 songs recorded live in Japan: Bob Dylan at Budokan, and a stop in Santa Monica, California, allowed Dylan and most of the touring band to cut a studio album, Street-Legal, with Hall on percussion. In late August 1978, in between Dylan tour dates, Hall played congas for Tom Waits's Blue Valentine album, on the track "Romeo Is Bleeding", giving it a gritty Latin feel. In 1979, she recorded "Run Like Hell" (on The Wall) with Pink Floyd. She recorded with Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band in the early 1980s. Hall joined Stevie Nicks for her album Bella Donna and toured with her in 1981, 1983, and 1986.

 

 

 

Other musicians she has recorded for include Fanny, Kim Carnes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Janis Joplin, Tavares, Randy Newman, Rod Stewart, Dolly Parton, Mel Brown, Leo Sayer, Cecilio & Kapono, Russ Ballard, Donovan, Joni Mitchell, Jerry Garcia, Patti Scialfa, Freda Payne, Dwight Yoakam, Donald Byrd, Gene Harris, Bobby Hutcherson, Grant Green, Ferron, Poco, the Temptations, Mary Wells, Jefferson Starship, Kenny Rankin, the Manhattan Transfer, Stanley Turrentine, Boz Scaggs, Marc Bolan, Judy Mowatt, Hugo Montenegro, Aretha Franklin, the Doobie Brothers, Kris Kristofferson, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Al Kooper, the Jeff Healey Band, the Doors, Robin Zander, Lone Justice, the Mamas & the Papas, David Byrne, Marty Balin, Sarah Vaughan, Tommy Bolin, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Harry Chapin and Tracy Chapman.

The Orchids

The Orchids were a pop/rock band verging slightly on New Wave and featured Laurie McAllister, Sunbie Sinn, Che Zuro, Jan King and Laurie Bell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The band was formed from two Bomp Records Kim Fowley was producing at the time, Vampires From Outer Space and Hollywood Confidential. Drummer Laurie Bell had recorded the track ‘If You’re Gonna Change Your Heart’ for Vampires. The album also featured Laurie McAllister playing bass and singing lead in the group Baby Roulette And The Rave Ons on a tune entitled ‘Black Orchids’. Laurie McAllister was also featured as lead vocalist on a tune called ‘On Suburban Lawns’ on Hollywood Confidential, that was billed as The Runaways. Laurie Bell had actually worked with Fowley previously on his Sunset Blvd album, appearing on the improvised title track. Joining forces with Laurie Bell and Laurie McAllister were vocalist / guitarist Jan King (from Stingray and The Wads) and guitarists Sunbie Harrel and Che Zuro, who Fowley recruited from Backstage Pass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Orchids as they became known, released an EP on Kim Fowley’s Mystery Records and signed to MCA Records for self-titled album in 1980. One single was released entitled ‘When Does Love Turn Out Right?’. A promotional video of ‘Blame It All On The Night’ aired one time on the pre-MTV video program called ‘Hollywood Heartbeat’ in the summer of 1980. The final Orchids gig was in December of 1980 in the San Fernando Valley.

Shortly after The Orchids break-up Laurie Bell formed the short-lived all girl metal band Tantrum. Jan and Che recorded a demo under the name Valentine and soon after Che Zuro flew off to the UK to replace singer Wendy Wu in The Photos. When the label passed on the demos that were recorded, Che returned to Los Angeles. Laurie Bell and Che Zuro both appeared in the 1984 film ‘Get Crazy’ and shortly thereafter formed ‘Puss n Boots’ with singer Jan King. Both Jan and Che have continued music careers, Che in the Los Angeles area and Jan in Chicago.

Marie France

Marie-France Garcia (born 9 February 1946 in Oran) is a French singer and actress. She is a Parisian pop icon of the 1970s. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marie-France was hired in 1969 by the Alcazar in the Latin Quarter, where she became as famous a celebrity as Marilyn Monroe. She remained one of the celebrities of that music-hall until 1987. She became a member of FHAR (Homosexual Front of Revolutionary Action), alongside Guy Hocquenghem. As a member of FHAR, she was interviewed in the magazine Recherches (special issue "Trois milliards de pervers" (3 billion perverts), 1973). She was a member of a small group, the Gazolines, with Hélène Hazera. The two performed in "Les Intrigues de Sylvia Couski" by Adolfo Arrieta (1974).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She appeared as a singer in Barocco by Andre Techine in 1976, where she produced «On se voit se voir», a song written by Philippe Sarde. She pursued her acting career in theater, notably in Le Navire Night by Marguerite Duras in 1979. She recorded the album 39 de Fièvre (39 °C Fever) in 1980, performing several renditions of 1960s pop (Gillian Hils, Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Vartan, Rocky Volcano). She appeared in the film Les Innocents, directed by Téchiné in 1987. In 1993, she recorded a song by Édith Piaf with Marc Almond. Daniel Darc and Mirwais collaborated with her in 1997 on her eponymous album. Dave then invited her on his album Doux tam tam in 2003. Frédéric Botton wrote several songs for her in 2005. At the end of 2006, Léonard Lasry and Marie France sang a duet titled "Du désir au bout des doigts". This song is featured on the first Léonard Lasry album Des Illusions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marie France also published a duet with Hélèna Noguerra on her last album, released in October 2007. In 2008, Marie France recorded a rock'n'roll garage album entirely written by Jacques Duvall and composed by Miam Monster Miam. The album is titled Phantom feat. Marie France.

Wanda's

Wanda's was a punk band from Alkmaar than later on moved to Amsterdam. There has been a lot of speculation about the name Wanda's. Rumours were that was named after an SM heroine, or that it stood for the English word Wonder. The truth is that Wanda's is the drunken pronunciation of Rondo's, a Rotterdam punk band of the time.

 

 

 

 

 

In Alkmaar, a group of punks started organizing gigs in the recently squatted Parkhof, a former school building in the Victoria Park. Six girls were active in it and soon they decided to use one of the classrooms as a rehearsal space. After a year or two, most of the members moved to Amsterdam. They rehearsed in squats, first in Tetterode and later in a shed in the eastern harbor. They were  Geralda Geertsma (guitar), Lies van Duijl (vocals, flute),  Arie de Jong (drums),  Josée Ris (singing), Anne de Jong (bass) and  Marleen Kamminga (guitar and singing).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By 1981 Geralda Geertsma (guitar, antropofoon*) and Lies van Duijl (vocals, flute) had left. First album The Ideal was released in 1982. The music was very rambunctious punk. It was adolescent and was recorded on a four-track in the legendary Joke's Cowshed.
 

 

 

 

 

After some changes in line-up including the introduction of some men A State Of No Mercy was released in 1986. The music is still somewhat rooted in punk but clearly influenced by new wave and rock. The lyrics were as socially critical as ever and were completely in tune with the doom and gloom of the eighties.

 

 

Arie and Marleen later played together in a band called Godzilla.

The Miller Sisters

The Miller Sisters were an American singing duo of the 1950s. Elsie Jo Miller and Mildred Miller (Wages) were actually sisters-in-law; Elsie married Mildred's brother, guitarist Roy Miller, and the three of them worked as the Miller Trio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Miller Trio were on WTUP Radio in Tupelo, Mississippi, for about a year before auditioning for Sun Records in 1954. Producer Sam Phillips believed that the Millers' vocal harmonies, complemented by the steel guitar solos of Stan Kesler and the percussive electric guitar of Quinton Claunch, would translate into significant record sales. However, the group did not score a hit. Elvis' first record was released a week after Jo and Milly recorded their first session.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around that time the music genre was shifting more away from country and toward the rockabilly style. Phillips decided not to release their 1957 recording of the R&B song "Got You on My Mind", but the Miller Sisters still sang at various places and events before splitting up around 1960. 

The CD Sun's Singing Sweethearts, a collection of Miller Sister's songs, was released in 1996 by AVI Entertainment. The compilation rounds up at least one extant take of every song Milly and Jo recorded at Sun, their backup work behind Cast King and Glenn Honeycutt and as a special bonus, an early demo by the original Miller Trio.

Sophisticated Boom Boom

There were two bands with the same name, taken from a song by The Shangri-Las; one in Switzerland and the other one in Glasgow, Scotland. The Swiss band was formed by Monique, Marianne and Esther, who together with Netz and his younger brother Buzz and Pasquale, are also responsible for the musical backings.

Sophisticated Boom Boom transported the girl group sound from the Sixties into the New Wave year of 1982. They released one self-titled album on Off Course Records and then has been recently re-issued on Tapete Records. After the end of the band, the Power Pop band Chin Chin emerged from the ashes and released a compilation.

The Scottish girl group from Glasgow, also active in the early 1980's, was formed by Irene Brown, Jacqueline Bradley, Laura Mazzolini, Libby McArthur and Tricia Reid. The band was influenced mainly by Siouxsie and the Banshees and Dolly Mixture. They released 'The Only One' on a 1984 compilation album called The Girls Can't Help It - A Modern Girl Group. The group later changed their name to His Latest Flame and released several singles in the late 80's before calling it a day. 

The Bobbettes

The Bobbettes were an American R&B girl group who had a 1957 top 10 hit song called "Mr. Lee". The group initially existed from 1955 to 1974 and included Jannie Pought (1945–1980), Emma Pought (born 1942), Reather Dixon (1944–2014), Laura Webb (1941–2001), and Helen Gathers (1942–2011). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The group, which originally formed in East Harlem, New York, in 1955, was first known as "The Harlem Queens". They met while singing at the Glee Club at P.S. 109 in Spanish Harlem. They were soon discovered by James Dailey, a record producer, who also became their manager, while playing a concert at the Apollo Theater's amateur night, and were signed to a recording contract on the Atlantic label.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1957, the girls released their first hit single, "Mr. Lee", an uptempo song in which the narrator proclaims her devotion to her crush - her school teacher. The girls actually disliked the real-life Mr. Lee and the original lyrics to the song were something of a put-down, but Atlantic insisted the group revise the lyrics before recording the song. The single, backed by "Look at the Stars", became their biggest hit recording, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Pop singles chart and spending four weeks at #1 on the R&B chart. This made the Bobbettes the first girl group to release a #1 R&B hit that also made the pop top 10. The personnel on "Mr. Lee" included Jesse Powell on tenor sax, Allan Hanlon and Al Caiola on guitar, Ray Ellis on piano, Milt Hinton on bass, and Joe Marshall on drums. Billboard named the song #79 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a series of novelty songs for Atlantic that were unsuccessful, they recorded the original recording of "I Shot Mr. Lee". Atlantic refused the song and the group left the label and signed with Teddy Vann and a new version was issued on the small Triple-X label. It started to climb the charts rapidly, eventually reaching #52 on the Billboard Hot 100, whereupon Atlantic released their own version of the song. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the next few years they followed up that single with such other recordings as "Have Mercy Baby", "You Are My Sweetheart", "You Belong to Me", and "Dance with Me Georgie". They then signed with End Records and released the songs "Teach Me Tonight" and "I Don't Like It Like That" (answer to Chris Kenner's "I Like It Like That"). Although the recording of "I Don't Like It Like That" was the girls' last chart record, they continued to record for a series of record labels, including Diamond, RCA Victor and Mayhew, before disbanding in 1974. They also toured the oldies circuits for many years having reformed after their initial breakup. Other recordings by the Bobbettes include, "Oh My Pa-Pa", "Speedy", "Zoomy", and "Rock and Ree-ah-Zole (The Teenage Talk)". Their single of "I've Gotta Face The World" on RCA Victor is a Northern soul single. 

 

 

In 1980, Jannie Pought was stabbed to death at age 34 by a stranger in New Jersey. Reather Dixon (born on May 1, 1944 in Bamberg, South Carolina) died on January 8, 2014, at age 69. The Bobbettes were nominated for induction in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.