The Orlons

The quartet (three women and one man) consisted of Rosetta Hightower (the lead singer), Shirley Brickley, Marlena Davis, and Stephen Caldwell.

Before they became the Orlons, they were originally an all-female quintet called Audrey and the Teenettes. They formed in the early fifties in junior high school and consisted of Hightower, Davis, and three Brickley sisters (Shirley, Jean, and Audrey). However, after the Brickleys' mother did not permit Audrey (the youngest member at age 13) to sing in certain clubs with the group, she and Jean quit; the group remained a trio. While in high school, the three remaining women discovered fellow student Stephen Caldwell who was lead singer of a local group called the Romeos. Impressed by him, they invited him to join the group in 1960 and named themselves the Orlons.

A friend of theirs from high school, Dovells' lead singer Len Barry, encouraged them to audition for Cameo Records at the turn of the decade. The group took his advice in the fall of 1961, but were rejected at first. After two more auditions, they signed with Cameo. A&R director Dave Appell, appointed Hightower as the lead singer and began writing songs for them.

Before rising to fame with their first national hit "The Wah-Watusi", the group provided backup vocals for Dee Dee Sharp's hits "Mashed Potato Time" and "Gravy (for My Mashed Potatoes)". They recorded their own versions of those songs for their debut album The Wah-Watusi.

Davis and Caldwell quit the group in 1964 and were replaced by Audrey Brickley (Shirley's sister). By then, the group's popularity waned highly on account of the British Invasion in American pop music. They continued to perform into the late 1960s with very little success. In 1968, they disbanded after Hightower married an English musician and moved to England.

Discography

Standard albums