THE most complete anthology you will find anywhere covering the Philadelphia group The Orlons has great sound reproduction and informative notes written by Jeff Tamarkin, and contains all 9 of their nationally-charting singles registered from 1962 to 1964 together with 8 B-sides and all sides of their 4 1965 failed singles. The only things missing of any consequence are their first two Cameo releases in 1961/62 – I’ll Be True/Heart Darling Angel (Cameo 198) and Happy Birthday Mr. 21/Please Let It Be Me (Cameo 211) – which can be found in Down Memory Lane from Park Records.
It all began in the late 1950s when sisters Audrey , Shirley and Jean Brickley, Rosetta Hightower and Marlena Davis formed up as Audrey & The Teenettes. However, since the Brickley’s mother did not feel comfortable with 13 year-old Audrey performing in clubs, she and Jean withdrew, and sometime in 1960 the remaining trio, all about 16 then, hooked up with 18 year-old schoolmate Stephen Caldwell, who had been performing with a group called The Romeos, and they became The Orlons. In late 1961 they auditioned for and were signed by Dave Appell of Cameo-Parkway Records who immediately named Hightower as lead and put them to work, although their initial singles mentioned above failed to make any national charts. So Appell assigned them to do back-up work, and in 1962 they were part of Dee Dee Sharp’s two smash hits Mashed Potato Time (# 1 R&B/# 2 Pop Hot 100 on Cameo 212 in April 1962), and Gravy For My Mashed Potatoes (# 9 Hot 100/# 11 R&B on Cameo 219 in July 1962). However, even as the latter was climbing the charts, they released their third single, and this time The Wah Watusi surged to # 2 Hot 100 and # 5 R&B b/w Holiday Hill (Cameo 218) in July-Aug 1962. They had arrived, and in Nov-Dec 1962, Don’t Hang Up became a # 3 R&B/# 4 Hot 100 b/w The Conservative (Cameo 231), followed in March-April 1963 by South Street which topped out at # 3 Hot 100/# 4 R&B b/w Them Terrible Boots (Cameo 243). The successes continued in July when their cover of a 1961 effort (# 116 Hot 100 Bubble Under) by Gary (U.S.) Bonds titled Not Me peaked at # 8 R&B/# 12 Hot 100 b/w My Best Friend (Cameo 257). In Nov-Dec 1963, Cross Fire! Made it to # 19 Hot 100/# 25 R&B b/w It’s No Big Thing (Cameo 273) and it was around this time that Marlena Davis departed, her replacement being Sandy Person. Then, by the time of their next release, Billboard had suspended the R&B charts, something that would last throughout 1964, so their cover of the 1958 Kingston Trio entry Bandua, which was released on Cameo 287 as Bon-Doo-Wah, settled in at # 55 Hot 100 in Dec 1964-Jan 1965 b/w Don’t Throw Your Love Away. 1964 also saw the arrival of the British Invasion which squeezed all but the very best North American acts out of the top echelons of the Hot 100 for the next two years, although ironically The Orlons would continue to do well in the U.K. Caldwell also left the group in 1964 with additions being Yvonne Young and original Teenette Audrey Brickley. Their last North American hits (with Caldwell) were: Shimmy Shimmy – # 66 Hot 100 in February 1964 b/w Everything Nice (Cameo 295); Rules Of Love – # 66 Hot 100 in May 1964 b/w Heartbreak Hotel (Cameo 319); and Knock Knock (Who’s There) – # 64 Hot 100 in September 1964 b/w Goin’ Places (Cameo 332). The first release by the revamped group in 1965 – I Ain’t Comin’ Back – made it to # 129 Hot 100 Bubble Under b/w Envy In My Eyes (Cameo 346), and that would be their final charting side as none among Come On Down Baby/I Ain’t Comin’ Back (re-release) on Cameo 352, Don’t You Want My Lovin’?/I Can’t Take It on Cameo 372, and No Love But Your Love/Envy (In My Eyes) (re-release) on Cameo 384 succeeded. Of the sides mentioned above, only Heartbreak Hotel is omitted from this set. In 1968 they disbanded with Hightower choosing to remain in the U.K. Shirley Brickley was shot to death in her own home in Philadelphia by an intruder on October 13, 1977, Marlena Davis passed away from lung cancer on February 27, 1993 at age 48, and on July 3, 2005, at age 58, Audrey Brickley succumbed to acute respiratory problems. Caldwell and Jean Brickley, together with Alberta Crump and Madeline Morris, would perform on the Oldies circuit as The Orlons. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; amzn_assoc_enable_interest_ads = "true"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "rocknroll_goulash-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "auto"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "3d51aa49da4aefefc83bb13e8775894f";
