The Teddy Bears were an American

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

group. They were record producer

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

's first vocal group.

History

Following graduation from Fairfax High School in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Phil Spector became obsessed with "

To Know Him Is to Love Him "To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone, "To Know Him Was to Love Him." It was first recorded by the only vocal group of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording ...

", a song he had

written Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

for his group, the Teddy Bears. After a hasty audition at

Era Records Era Records was an independent American record label in Hollywood, California. It was founded by Herb Newman and Lou Bedell in 1955 as a pop, country and western, and jazz label. In 1959 Bedell sold his interest in the label to Newman. Era had ...

, which offered to finance a

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

session, the Teddy Bears – Phil Spector, Marshall Leib, Harvey Goldstein (who left the group early on), lead singer Annette Kleinbard, and last minute recruit,

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's ...

Sandy Nelson Sander Lloyd Nelson (December 1, 1938 – February 14, 2022) was an American drummer. Nelson, one of the best-known rock and modern jazz drummers of the late 1950s and early 1960s, had several solo instrumental Top 40 hits and released over 30 ...

– recorded the song at Gold Star Studios at a cost of $75. Released on Era's Doré

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

in August 1958, it took two months before "To Know Him Is to Love Him" began to get

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

. It went on to become a global hit. The record stayed in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 23 weeks, in the Top Ten for 11 of those weeks, and commanded the number 1 chart position for three weeks. It also reached number 2 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It sold over two and a half million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

. At 19 years old, Spector had written,

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

, played, sung, and produced the best-selling record in the country. Although subsequent releases by the Teddy Bears on the Imperial label were well-recorded soft

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

, they did not sell, and within a year of the debut, Spector disbanded the group. Their demise was hastened by Kleinbard being seriously injured in 1960 in a car accident. Spector was not the only Teddy Bear who went on to a career after the group broke up. Harvey Goldstein became a certified public accountant. Annette Kleinbard continued to write and record songs, and changed her name to Carol Connors. Among her credits are the Rip Chords hit "

Hey Little Cobra "Hey Little Cobra" is a song released in 1963 by The Rip Chords about the Shelby Cobra. The song was produced by Terry Melcher and Bruce Johnston, who also sang vocals. The song spent 14 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. ...

", and the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominated ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burges ...

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

, " Gonna Fly Now", co-written with

Ayn Robbins Ayn Robbins is a lyricist and poet. She is best known for co-writing with Carol Connors the lyrics for two Academy Award and Grammy nominated songs, " Gonna Fly Now" from ''Rocky'' (1976; music by Bill Conti William Conti (born April 13, 19 ...

. Leib joined

the Hollywood Argyles The Hollywood Argyles were an American musical ensemble, assembled for studio recordings by the producer and songwriter Kim Fowley and his friend and fellow musician Gary S. Paxton. They had a US number one hit record, " Alley Oop" (Lute Records ...

, played guitar on some of

Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including " Rebel ...

's records and produced material recorded by

the Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...

amongst others.

Discography

;Studio album *''The Teddy Bears Sing!'' (Imperial Lp-9067; 1959) Track listing: *1. Oh Why (Phil Spector) – 2:27 *2.

Unchained Melody "Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film '' Unchained'' (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack.Robert Rodr ...

(Alex North; Hy Zaret) – 2:17 *3. My Foolish Heart (Ned Washington; Victor Young) – 2:19 *4. You Said Goodbye (Spector) – 1:56 *5. True Love (Cole Porter) – 2:00 *6. Little Things Mean a Lot (Carl Stutz; Edith Linderman) – 2:27 *7. I Don't Need You Anymore (Spector) – 2:40 *8. Tammy (from the Universal Studios release ''Tammy and the Bachelor''; Jay Livingston; Ray Evans) – 2:06 *9. Long Ago and Far Away (Ira Gershwin; Jerome Kern) – 2:03 *10. Don't Go Away (Spector) – 2:23 *11. If I Give My Heart to You (Al Jacobs; Jimmie Crane; Jimmy Brewster) – 1:57 *12. Seven Lonely Days (Alden Shuman; Earl Shuman; Marshall Brown) – 1:56 ;Singles

References

External links

Teddy Bears biography & discography
* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Teddy Bears, The American pop music groups Doré Records artists Era Records artists Imperial Records artists Musical groups established in 1957 Musical groups disestablished in 1960 Musical groups from Los Angeles Phil Spector 1957 establishments in California 1960 disestablishments in California