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The Detergents were an American music group consisting of Ronnie (Ron) Dante, Danny Jordan, and Tommy Wynn. [1] The group's specialty was parody songs, as with their first and best-known single, "Leader of the Laundromat". A spoof of the then-current hit song "Leader of the Pack", "Leader of the Laundromat" became a hit in its own right, reaching the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1965.
In 1965, the group released "Leader of the Laundromat," a parody of the Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack." [1] It was written and produced by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss. The song became a top 20 hit in the US, peaking at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1965. [1]
The lead vocal on "Leader of the Laundromat" was by Danny Jordan, who was Paul Vance's nephew. Jordan had had a 1960 single release on Kapp Records' Leader label: "Just Couldn't Resist Her With Her Pocket Transistor" (writers: Jack Keller/ Larry Kolber), a disc highly reminiscent of the then-recent "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" by Leader artist Brian Hyland and like that number 1 hit produced by Vance. Vance also produced a 1962 collaboration between Jordan and Artie Wayne: "Find a Little Happiness", a Diamond Records release credited to Jordan and Wayne. [2]
By 1964, Dante, Jordan and Wynn were all staff writers and session singers for Aldon Music, the music publishing company that had been founded by Don Kirshner and Al Nevins: that year the three eighteen-year-olds had collaborated in writing the Ronnie Dante single "Little Lollypop" and as the Cabin Kids the trio were recording surf music style songs for planned release on the Screen Gems label, when Vance approached them to record "Leader of the Laundromat" as the Detergents. [3]
The success of "Leader of the Laudromat" predicated the abandonment of the Cabin Kids in favor of the Detergents and as such Dante, Jordan and Wynn appeared on several music-oriented television shows of the day, such as Shindig! and Hullabaloo also touring with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. The group was active from 1964 until 1966.
After "Leader of the Laundromat" was released, the composers of "Leader of the Pack", Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and George "Shadow" Morton, filed a lawsuit against the group. The suit was ultimately settled out of court. Coincidentally just three years later, in 1968, Dante began working alongside songwriter-producer Jeff Barry as the lead vocalist for the briefly, hugely successful cartoon group, The Archies. [1] Thus in 1969, Dante was the lead (though publicly unacknowledged) vocalist of two Billboard Top 10 singles in the same week, as lead vocalist for two different but equally non-existent studio groups: the aforementioned Archies with the number 1 hit "Sugar, Sugar" and The Cuff Links, with the number 9 hit "Tracy," which was written and produced by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss, who also penned and produced "Leader of the Laundromat" by The Detergents. [1]
The Detergents made a second and final appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Double-O-Seven"; a lament by a teenager whose girlfriend is neglecting him to see James Bond movies; the track reached number 89 in the spring of 1965. [1]
The Detergents again spoofed the Shangri-Las by recording "I Can Never Eat Home Any More," a parody of the Shangri-La's hit "I Can Never Go Home Any More."
Dante went on to produce many of Barry Manilow's hit recordings in the 1970s. [1]
The Archies are an American fictional rock band featured in media produced by, and related to, Archie Comics. They are best remembered for their appearance in the animated TV series The Archie Show. In the context of the series, the band was founded by guitarist/vocalist Archie Andrews, drummer Jughead Jones, bassist Reggie Mantle, percussionist/vocalist Betty Cooper and keyboardist/vocalist Veronica Lodge.
The Shangri-Las were an American girl group of the 1960s, consisting of Mary Weiss, her sister Elizabeth "Betty" Weiss and twin sisters Marguerite "Marge" Ganser and Mary Ann Ganser. Between 1964 and 1966 several hit pop songs of theirs documented teen tragedies and melodramas. They continue to be known for their hits "Remember ", "Give Him a Great Big Kiss", and in particular, "Leader of the Pack" which went to number 1 in the United States in late 1964. Following the death of Mary Weiss in 2024, her sister Betty is the only living member of the group.
Mary Louise Weiss was an American singer and interior designer, best known as the lead singer of the Shangri-Las in the 1960s. Their single "Leader of the Pack" went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. She had little involvement in the music scene for decades, returning in 2007 to record her first and only solo album with Norton Records.
Toni Wine is an American pop music songwriter, who wrote songs for such artists as The Mindbenders, Tony Orlando and Dawn ("Candida"), and Checkmates, Ltd. in the late 1960s and 1970s. Wine also sang the female vocals for the cartoon music group The Archies, most notably on their #1 hit song "Sugar, Sugar". She shared the lead vocals in the Archies' subsequent single, "Jingle Jangle" with Ron Dante using his falsetto voice. In addition, Wine was a backing vocalist on "It Hurts to Be in Love" and on Willie Nelson's "Always on My Mind."
George Francis "Shadow" Morton was an American record producer and songwriter best known for his influential work in the 1960s. In particular, he was noted for writing and producing "Remember ", "Leader of the Pack", and other hits for girl group the Shangri-Las.
Jeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are "Tell Laura I Love Her", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Then He Kissed Me", "Be My Baby", "Chapel of Love", and "River Deep - Mountain High" ; "Leader of the Pack" ; "Sugar, Sugar" ; "Without Us", and "I Honestly Love You".
"Sugar, Sugar" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, produced by Barry and recorded by The Archies, a fictional bubblegum pop band from Archie Comics. It was released as the group's third single on the Calendar Records label on May 24, 1969, rereleased on the Kirshner Records label in July 1969, and included on their second album, Everything's Archie. In the autumn of 1969, it topped both Billboard's Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, ranking number one for the year in both America and the UK. It is the most successful bubblegum pop single of all time, and is widely regarded as the apotheosis of the late-1960s/early-1970s bubblegum music genre.
Terry Knight and the Pack was an American garage rock band formed in Flint, Michigan in 1965. The band was signed to the Lucky Eleven label through most of its brief recording career. They produced one national hit with their cover version of the song, "I ". Despite their inability to replicate their success, the band was a frequent attraction in the Michigan rock scene. The Pack was fronted by singer Terry Knight. In 1969 the group disbanded but two members, drummer/vocalist Don Brewer and guitarist Mark Farner, would go on to form another band, Grand Funk Railroad.
Ron Dante is an American singer, songwriter, session vocalist, and record producer. Dante is best known as the real life lead singer of the fictional cartoon band the Archies; he was also the voice of the Cuff Links and co-produced Barry Manilow's first nine albums.
Eleanor Louise Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "Maybe I Know", "Then He Kissed Me", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Christmas ", "Hanky Panky", "Chapel of Love", "Leader of the Pack", and "River Deep – Mountain High", among others.
Jay & the Techniques was an American pop group formed in Allentown, Pennsylvania during the mid-1960s. Their song "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie", released in 1967 on the Smash label, reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"Leader of the Pack" is a song written by George "Shadow" Morton, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich. It was a number one pop hit in 1964 for the American girl group the Shangri-Las. The single is one of the group's best known songs as well as a popular cultural example of a "teenage tragedy song". The song was covered in 1985 by the heavy metal band Twisted Sister, who had a more modest hit with their version.
"Remember (Walking in the Sand)", also known as "Remember", is a song written by George "Shadow" Morton. It originally was recorded by the girl group the Shangri-Las, who had a top five hit with it in 1964. A remake by Aerosmith in 1979 was a minor hit. There have been many other versions of the song as well.
Joseph Paul Florio, known professionally as Paul Vance, was an American songwriter and record producer, primarily from the 1950s until the 1970s.
A teenage tragedy song is a style of sentimental ballad in popular music that peaked in popularity in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Lamenting teenage death scenarios in melodramatic fashion, these songs were variously sung from the viewpoint of the dead person's romantic interest, another witness to the tragedy, or the dead or dying person. Examples of the style are also known as "tear jerkers", "death discs" or "splatter platters", among other names coined by DJs that passed into the vernacular.
The Cuff Links were an American rock/pop studio group from Staten Island, New York, United States. The ostensible band had a US No. 9 hit in 1969 with "Tracy", with rich harmonized vocals provided entirely by Ron Dante. The track was produced as part of a series of recording sessions – sometimes as many as six in a day – by Dante, with the songs released under a variety of band names. Dante left the act after their first album; on later singles vocals were provided by Joey Cord and/or Rupert Holmes.
Kelly-Lynn is a vocalist from the United States, who has recorded lead and backing vocals on 3 projects with Walt Disney Records, and also is the voice of Veronica Lodge on the Archies Christmas Album featuring Betty and Veronica released in 2008.
Leader of the Pack is the 1965 debut album by girl group the Shangri-Las. The album was produced to capitalize on the group's breakthrough hits "Remember " and "Leader of the Pack", the latter of which had been co-written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich in addition to George "Shadow" Morton. After the album's focal track went to number one, the Shangri-Las' style and image had evolved into something tougher and earthier.
"Give Him a Great Big Kiss" is a song written by Shadow Morton and performed by the Shangri-Las. It debuted at number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late December 1964, and peaked at #18 for two weeks in late January/early February 1965. It was featured on their 1965 album Leader of the Pack. The single was produced by Shadow Morton.
"When Julie Comes Around" is a song written by Lee Pockriss and Paul Vance. It was first released as "When Joey Comes Around" by Tasha Thomas in July 1969, and produced by Pockriss and Vance in a slightly soul-ish arrangement. This version failed to chart. The song is best known for the version by the Cuff Links, also produced by Pockriss and Vance in a different pop-oriented arrangement. Released in November 1969, the Cuff Links' recording of the song peaked at number 41 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.