The Angels (band)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Angels were an American girl group, best-known for their 1963 hit "My Boyfriend's Back".

1 History
2 Members
3 Singles
4 External links

[edit] History

Barbara Allbut and Phyllis "Jiggs" Allbut and Linda Jansen (soon replaced with Peggy Santiglia) had their first hit in 1961, with "Till", followed by a lesser success called "Cry Baby Cry". Both songs were released on the Caprice label.

In 1963, the trio signed to Mercury Records' Smash subsidiary label and began working with the Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer songwriting team, who wrote "My Boyfriend's Back". The Angels' performance was meant as a demo for The Shirelles to consider recording, but the music publishers chose instead to release it as it stood. The song was a major hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, but no follow-up of comparable success was released.

A few minor hits followed and the trio began working as session vocalists, also touring as back-up with The Four Seasons.

Santiglia, along with former Angel Bernadette Carroll (who had her own hit "Party Girl") and Denise Ferri (formerly of the East-Coast-based group the Delicates), sang background on Lou Christie's #1 hit "Lightning Strikes" as well as the follow-up "Rhapsody In The Rain."

In 1967, Santiglia left the group and was replaced by Debra Swisher (previously of The Pixies Three), who had recently recorded and released her own version of "Thank You And Goodnight" on the ABC-Paramount subsidiary Boom Records. This lineup released a handful of singles on RCA and made an appearance on "The Dean Martin Show" before disbanding in 1968.