Lana Sisters
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The Lana Sisters were a British vocal group formed by Iris Long in 1958, with Lynne Abrams. They put an advert in ''
The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...
'' for a third member and got a reply from Mary O'Brien, who would go on to solo success a few years later as
Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...
. They were managed by Evelyn Taylor, and toured around
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. Initial publicity for the group claimed they were three actual sisters with the surname Lana: Iris (or Riss), Lynne, and Shann (or Shan). (Iris Long and Lynne Abrams were Riss and Lynne Lana, Mary O'Brien was Shann Lana.) They appeared on the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's ''
Six-Five Special ''Six-Five Special'' is a British television programme launched in February 1957 when both television and rock and roll were in their infancy in Britain. Description ''Six-Five Special'' was the BBC's first attempt at a rock-and-roll programme. ...
'' and ''
Drumbeat A drum beat or drum pattern is a rhythmic pattern, or repeated rhythm establishing the meter and groove through the pulse and subdivision, played on drum kits and other percussion instruments. As such a "beat" consists of multiple drum strokes o ...
'' with
Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. As a British rock and roll teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK singles chart with " What ...
and John Barry, and later took part in a Christmas special "
Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele recor ...
’s Spectacular" with the song "
Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Backseat "Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Back Seat" is a song written by Bob Hilliard and Lee Pockriss. It was recorded by Paul Evans (musician), Paul Evans (US No. 9) in 1959 in music, 1959, and covered the same year by The Avons (UK No. 3). Ingrid R ...
". They appeared twice at the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
and toured with
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...
,
Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. As a British rock and roll teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK singles chart with " What ...
, and
Morecambe & Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew; 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman; 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working i ...
. Their cover of the Marv Johnson song "
You Got What It Takes "You Got What It Takes" is a 1959 single by Marv Johnson. In the US it reached number 2 on the Black Singles chart, and number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 early in 1960. In the UK Singles Chart it reached a high of number 7. The origina ...
" became a Top 10 hit in Ireland in 1960. Mary O'Brien left the Lana Sisters in 1960, taking the stage name Dusty Springfield and joining her brother
Tom Springfield Tom Springfield (born Dionysius Patrick O'Brien, 2 July 1934 – 27 July 2022) was an English musician, songwriter, and record producer who was prominent in the 1960s folk and pop music scene. He was the older brother of singer Dusty Springfiel ...
and another friend ( Tim Feild) to make
The Springfields The Springfields were a British folk-pop vocal trio who had success in the early 1960s in the UK, Australia, US and Ireland. They included singer Dusty Springfield and her brother, songwriter Tom Springfield, along with Tim Feild, who was ...
. She went solo in 1963. The Lana Sisters continued until 1963, when Lynne Abrams left to get married. Riss Long then formed the Chantelles with two friends, Sandra Orr and Jay Adams. They appeared in the 1965 music film ''
Dateline Diamonds ''Dateline Diamonds'' is a 1966 black and white British music film directed by Jeremy Summers and starring William Lucas, Kenneth Cope and the Small Faces. It is an example of the "pop and cop" genre of film, which was popular in the UK during ...
''.


Discography


Singles

* 1958: "Chimes of Arcady" / "Ring-a My Phone" (
Fontana Fontana may refer to: Places Italy *Fontana Liri, comune in the Province of Frosinone *Fontanafredda, comune in the Province of Pordenone * Fontanarosa, comune in the Province of Avellino *Francavilla Fontana, comune in the Province of Brindisi ...
H 148) * 1959: "Buzzin'" / "Cry, Cry, Baby" (Fontana H 176) * 1959: "Mister Dee Jay" / "Tell Him No" (Fontana H 190) * 1959: "(Seven Little Girls) Sitting in the Back Seat" (with Al Saxon) / "Sitting on the Sidewalk" (Fontana H 221) * 1960: "My Mother's Eyes" / "
You Got What It Takes "You Got What It Takes" is a 1959 single by Marv Johnson. In the US it reached number 2 on the Black Singles chart, and number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 early in 1960. In the UK Singles Chart it reached a high of number 7. The origina ...
" (Fontana H 235) * 1960: " Tintarella Di Luna (Magic Colour Of The Moonlight)" / "Someone Loves You, Joe" (Fontana H 252) * 1960: "Two-Some" / "Down South" (Fontana H 283)


Compilations

* 2011: ''Chantelly Lace: The Complete Singles Plus Bonus Tracks'' (RPM Records RETRO 896) * 2013: ''The Springfields, The Lana Sisters – Introducing The Springfields'' (One Day Music, DAYCD205) * 2014: ''Dusty Springfield featuring The Lana Sisters and The Springfields – The Early Years'' (Jasmine Records JASCD 759)


References


External links


The Lana Sisters
Chantelle Music Ltd
Archive feature from 2012: Lynne Essex – The Lana Sisters
The Widow Stanton English girl groups English vocal groups Musical groups established in 1958 Musical groups disestablished in 1961 {{UK-pop-band-stub