The Chordettes were an American female vocal quartet, specializing in

traditional pop music Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

. They are best known for their 1950s hit singles " Mr. Sandman" and "

Lollipop A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker and sticky-pop. Lollipops are avail ...

", both of which sold over a million copies.

Career

The group organized in

Sheboygan, Wisconsin Sheboygan () is a city in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, which has a pop ...

, in 1946. The original members of the group were Janet Ertel Bleyer (''née'' Buschmann), Alice Mae Buschmann Spielvogel, Dorothy "Dottie" (Hummitzsch) Schwartz and

Jinny Osborn Jinny Osborn (born Virginia Cole; April 25, 1927 – May 19, 2003) was an American popular music singer. She founded the group the Chordettes with three friends in 1946, which became one of the longest-lasting American vocal groups of the m ...

(''née'' Lockard). Originally they sang

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

in the style of

The Weavers The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs from ...

, but eventually changed to a harmonizing style of the type known as barbershop harmony or

close harmony A chord is in close harmony (also called close position or close structure) if its notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. In contrast, a chord is in open harmony (also ca ...

. After performing locally in Sheboygan, they won on

Arthur Godfrey Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer. At the peak of his success, in the early to mid-1950s, Godfrey was heard on radio and seen on television up to six days ...

's radio program ''

Talent Scouts Artists and repertoire (or A&R for short) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for scouting, financing, and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists and songwriters. It also acts as a l ...

'' in 1949. They held feature status on Godfrey's daily program, and in 1950 recorded their first LP, a collection of standards titled ''Harmony Time'' for Columbia Records. Three more LPs followed. In 1953, Godfrey's music director and orchestra leader,

Archie Bleyer Archibald Martin Bleyer (June 12, 1909 – March 20, 1989) was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive. Early life Bleyer was born in the Corona section of the New York City borough of Queens. His father was a well-k ...

, founded

Cadence Records Cadence Records was an American record company based in New York City whose labels had a picture of a metronome. It was founded by Archie Bleyer, who had been the musical director and orchestra leader for Arthur Godfrey in 1952. Cadence also ...

. He signed a number of Godfrey regulars and former regulars, including the Chordettes, who had a number of hit records for Cadence. Beginning in January 1954, the group sang on the '' Robert Q. Lewis Show'', a weekday afternoon program on CBS-TV. The Chordettes had released a couple of singles with Arthur Godfrey on Columbia in 1950–51 but did not cut a solo single until their breakout hit, "Mr. Sandman", released in late 1954 and which went on to become a number one 1955 hit for 7 weeks. It sold in excess of a million copies and was awarded

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 ...

status. Archie Bleyer himself was on that record along with the group; Bleyer stripped down the sound to highlight the girls' voices. They also reached number two with 1958's "

", another million album seller, and a number 2 on the charts, also charted with a vocal version of the themes from Disney's ''

Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...

'' (U.S. number 17) (1958) and the film ''

Never on Sunday ''Never on Sunday'' (, ) is a 1960 Greek romantic comedy film starring, written by and directed by Jules Dassin. The film tells the story of Ilya, a contented Greek prostitute ( Melina Mercouri), and Homer (Dassin), an earnest American classic ...

'' (U.S. number 13) (1961). Other hits for the group included "Eddie My Love" (U.S. number 14) (a cover of a song by doo-wop group The Teen Queens), "Born to Be With You" (U.S. number 5), "Lay Down Your Arms" in 1956, and " Just Between You and Me" (U.S. number 8) in 1957. Their cover of "The White Rose Of Athens" reached the Australian Top 15 in May, 1962. The US single "In The Deep Blue Sea" was a one-week Music Vendor entry four months later (number 128). The Chordettes appeared on ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

'' on August 5, 1957, the first episode of that show to be broadcast nationally on the

ABC Television Network The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. ABC is headquartered on Riverside ...

. The Chordettes also appeared on ''American Bandstand'' on February 22, 1958, and again on April 26, 1958. In 1961, Jinny Osborn again left the group. Unable to find a satisfactory replacement, the group disbanded in 1963.

Awards and recognition

The group was inducted into the

Vocal Group Hall of Fame The Vocal Group Hall of Fame & Museum Company Inc. was an American-based hall of fame that honored vocal groups throughout the United States. James E. Winner Jr. was the financial and managing partner of the For-profit corporation. Winner and ...

in 2001.

Deaths

Alice Mae Buschmann Spielvogel died in 1981 at the age of 55. Janet Ertel Bleyer died on November 22, 1988, at the age of 75.

(later known as Jinny Janis) died in 2003 at the age of 76.

Nancy Overton Nancy Swain Overton (born Anne Swain; February 6, 1926 – April 5, 2009) was an American pop singer and songwriter. Biography Overton first formed a singing group with her sister Jean Swain and two college friends, Bix Brent and Pauli Skin ...

died on April 5, 2009, at the age of 83 after a long battle with

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer (American English) or oesophageal cancer (British English) is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include dysphagia, difficulty in swallowing and weigh ...

. Dorothy "Dottie" (Hummitzsch) Schwartz died on April 4, 2016, at the age of 89. Lynn Evans Mand died on February 6, 2020, at the age of 95. Carol Buschmann died in

, on September 30, 2023, at the age of 96.

Members

Original members

* Janet Ertel (1946-1963; did not tour from May 1958 to 1963) * Alice Mae ''Buschmann'' Spielvogel (1946–1947) * Dorothy "Dottie" (Hummitzsch) Schwartz (1946–1952) *

/Lockard (1946–1953, 1957–1961)

Additional members

* Carol Buschmann (1947–1963) *

Lynn Evans K. Lynn Evans (born May 19, 1964) is an American educator and politician. Education and teaching career Evans graduated from Aurelia High School in Aurelia, Iowa, in 1982. He then completed his bachelor's degree in physical education and biolo ...

(''née'' Hargate) (1953–1963) * Margie Needham (1953–1957) *

(1957–1963; touring only?)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Picture and names of The Chordettes
* * The Chordettes' page on th

site

The Chordettes : Official Covers Discography

Carol Buschmann Interview
at NAMM Oral History Library (2010)
Dorothy Schwartz Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2010)
Chordettes collection of musical arrangements, 1938-1995
at th
Library of Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chordettes, The Apex Records artists Cadence Records artists Vocal quartets Barbershop quartets Doo-wop musicians Traditional pop music singers American pop music groups American girl groups Sheboygan, Wisconsin Musical groups from Wisconsin Musical groups established in 1946 Musical groups disestablished in 1961 Columbia Records artists 1946 establishments in Wisconsin 1961 disestablishments in Wisconsin