Paper Dolls (group)

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Paper Dolls
Paper Dolls band 1968b.jpg
Paper Dolls in 1968
Background information
Origin Northampton, England
GenresPop music
Years active1966–1970
Labels Pye Records, RCA Records
Past members Susie Mathis (Tiger)
Sue Marshall (Copper)
Pauline Bennett (Spyder)

The Paper Dolls were a late 1960s British female vocal trio from Northampton, comprising lead vocalist Susie 'Tiger' Mathis, Pauline 'Spyder' Bennett and Sue 'Copper' Marshall. They were one of the few British girl groups of the late sixties.

Contents

Each member of the group had a nickname, similar to the Spice Girls three decades later.

Career

"Something Here in My Heart"

Signed to Pye Records, Paper Dolls had one solitary success. The song "Something Here in My Heart (Keeps A Tellin' Me No)", which was their debut single, and was written by Tony Macaulay and John Macleod, reached Number 11 in the UK Singles Chart in 1968. [1] The Dolls also recorded another Macaulay/Macleod hit composition "Baby Take Me in Your Arms." The enduring image of the Paper Dolls, as seen on Top of the Pops , was inescapably that of three young women in miniskirts, the popularity and brevity of which were at their height at the time. The name of the group was suggestive of "dolly birds", a rather impersonal term which, in the 1970s journalist Christopher Booker associated with "girls [being] transformed into throwaway plastic objects". [2]

Follow-up releases

Several follow-ups, notably "My Life (Is in Your Hands)" and "Someday", failed to chart. Their greatest disappointment came when their producers arranged for them to record another Macaulay co-composition "Build Me Up Buttercup" later that year. Due to a misunderstanding, they never turned up for the session, and instead the song was given to The Foundations, whose version became a hit single. The flip side of "Someday", titled "Any Old Time (You're Lonely and Sad)" was recorded by The Foundations, for whom it charted in the UK.

The Paper Dolls released one album, titled Paper Dolls House in 1968, which was re-issued with bonus tracks on CD in 2001. The first release included a cover of The Beach Boys' song "Darlin'"; the later version substituted a cover of the Paul McCartney song "Step Inside Love".

In 1970, they signed to RCA. Two further singles, a cover of The Angels' "My Boyfriend's Back" and the original song "Remember December" (featuring backing vocals by Brian Connolly – later of Sweet) did not chart, and the trio split up. They remain as one-hit wonders.

After the split

Personnel

Discography (UK)

Singles
TitleRelease infoYearNotes
"Something Here in My Heart (Keeps A Tellin' Me No)" / "All The Time in the World" Pye 7N 174561968UK #11
"My Life (Is in Your Hands)" / "There's Nobody I'd Sooner Love"Pye 7N 175471968
"Someday" / "Any Old Time (You're Lonely and Sad)"Pye 7N 176551968
"My Boyfriend's Back" / "Mister Good Time Friday" RCA Victor RCA 19191970
"Remember December" / "Same Old Story"RCA Victor RCA 20071970
"Sad Sweet Dreamer" / "Something Here in My Heart (Keeps a Telling Me No)"Flash Backs Pye / PRT FBS 201983Track A is by Sweet Sensation

Track B is by The Paper Dolls

"That Same Old Feeling" / "Something Here in My Heart (Keeps a-Tellin' Me No)"Old Gold OG 94701985Track A is by Pickettywitch
Track B is by The Paper Dolls [5]

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References

  1. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 416. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  2. Booker, Christopher (1980) The Seventies, Penguin Books, ISBN   0140057838.
  3. "Tiger Sue – When You Walked in the Room (Vinyl) at Discogs". discogs. March 1978. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  4. "South Manchester Reporter – Susie has cancer". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  5. 45Cat - The Paper Dolls - Discography, UK