The Crystals

The Crystals were one of the most successful girl groups of the 1960s. Barbara Alston, Mary Thomas, Delores "Dee Dee" Kennibrew, Merna Girard and Patricia "Patsy" Wright formed the band in high school under the leadersh

The Crystals were one of the most successful girl groups of the 1960s. Barbara Alston, Mary Thomas, Delores "Dee Dee" Kennibrew, Merna Girard and Patricia "Patsy" Wright formed the band in high school under the leadership of Alston's uncle, Benny Wells. Soon, the group signed with Phil Spector's label Philles Records. Spector then chose Alston to be the group's lead singer, which made her very uncomfortable since she had a fear of singing in front of audiences.

Their first hit was 1961's "There's No Other Like My Baby" (see 1961 in music). The following singles, such as "Uptown" and "Oh, Yeah, Maybe, Baby" (this song features Wright on lead) were topical and socially-aware about growing up in the ghetto. After the success of "Uptown", a pregnant Girard was replaced by Dolores "LaLa" Brooks. The next single was 1962's "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)", a dark and strange affair for the period, still widely remembered though only rarely played on the radio due to the touchy subject matter of spousal abuse. Sales were sluggish.