The Orlons Biography, Photos and Posters

The Orlons

Biography

Started: 1960
City and Country of Origin: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Music Training:
Awards:
Top Recordings: "The Wah-Watusi," "Don't Hang Up," "South Street," "Not Me," "Cross Fire!"
The Orlons Biography: The Orlons were an r&b group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that formed in 1960. The quartet consisted of lead singer Rosetta Hightower, Shirley Brickley, Marlena Davis, and Stephen Caldwell. The group rode the wave of two new trends in the music industry in th eearly 60s; 1. the advent of the girl groups (the group was originally an all girl group) and 2. the dance song craze started by Chubby Checker and "The Twist."

Before they became the Orlons, they were an all-girl quintet called Audrey and the Teenettes. They formed in the late 1950s 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 13-year-old Audrey to sing in certain clubs with the group, she and Jean quit, making the group a trio.

In high school, the group's remaining three girl members discovered fellow student Stephen Caldwell, who was lead singer of a local group called the Romeos. They were impressed and invited him to join the group in 1960, renaming themselves the Orlons, a tongue-in-cheek nod to the friendly rivalry they had with a popular group at their high school, the Cashmeres. (Orlon was a synthetic fibre widely used around that time.) Dovells lead singer Len Barry, a high school friend, encouraged them to audition for Cameo Records in 1960. The group took his advice in the fall of 1961, but were rejected at first, although the record label eventually signed the group after two more auditions. Cameo executive 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 back-up vocals for Dee Dee Sharp's hits "Mashed Potato Time" and "Gravy (for My Mashed Potatoes)." They recorded their own cover versions of those songs for their debut album, The Wah-Watusi.

Davis left the group in August 1963 and Caldwell quit the group in 1964, Sandy Person replaced Davis. A short-lived stint by Yvonne Young was followed by original Teenette, Audrey Brickley, Shirley's sister. By then, the group's popularity had waned in the United States due to misdirection of their record company, Cameo Records. They continued to perform into the late 1960s with success in the UK. They disbanded in 1968 after Hightower decided to stay in England after a tour. Hightower had (and still has) a successful career as a soloist and as an in-demand session singer, backing Joe Cocker, John Holt and other popular artists. She married record producer Ian Green. In later years, Davis married and found work as an executive secretary, while Caldwell became a Union Shop Steward of the bus drivers' trade union, then became The Administrator of the Unions Legal fund in Philadelphia and served on the Philadelphia Board of Education for 29 years. In 1988, Caldwell and Davis re-formed the group with two new members and performed live on the oldies circuit until Davis's death in 1993.

On October 13, 1977, Shirley Brickley was shot to death by an intruder in her home in Philadelphia. Davis lost a battle with lung cancer on February 27, 1993 (age 48). Audrey Brickley died of acute respiratory distress syndrome on July 3, 2005 (aged 58). Stephen and Jean Brickley still perform as The Orlons with two of Stephen's cousins Albreta Crump and Madeline Morris.

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