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CLAUDINE CLARK

“PARTY LIGHTS”

(CLAUDINE CLARK)

Chancellor 1113

No.5    September 1, 1962

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Born to a non-musical family in Macon, Georgia, on April 26, 1941, little Claudine, from early on, took

a liking to producing musical sounds.  Her parents encouraged her, giving her guitar and organ lessons.

After completing high school, she won a musical scholarship to Coombs College in Philadelphia, where

she eventually received a B.S. degree in Music Composition.

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While out on the dusty trail attempting to sell her wares, Claudine sang on a television program in

Wilmington,  Delaware.   The TV spot was seen by Herald Records executive Al Silver, who  then offered

Claudine the opportunity to record a couple of  her tunes.   “Angel Of Happiness”  bombed, as did her

second effort for the Gotham label.   Bob Marcucci’s Philadelphia-based Chancellor label gave the lass

her third crack at bat with “Disappointed” b/w “Party Lights.”

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“Disappointed,” the  intended “A” side, was a Marcucci-R uss Faith composition with a plush Jerry

Ragavoy arrangement; it sounded almost like Carla Thomas doing Brenda Lee’s “I’m Sorry.”  But  “Disap-

pointed” didn’t have a hit feel to it, so some unidentified DJ flipped the record to find this spontaneous,

teen-alienation radiator, “Party Lights.”   Never again would Claudine implore and grovel  like she did in

this raunchy  rocker.   “I wanna, I wanna, I wanna,”  Clark  moans, but “Momma just won’t let me make the

scene.”   Meanwhile, through her window, Claudine can see her friends next door partying it up, twistn’,

mashin’, doin’ the bop,  and lawd knows what else.

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The follow-up to “Party Lights” was a distasteful ditty called “Walkin’ Through The Cemetery,” complete

with Claudine making creature sounds during the instrumental break.   Months later, the powers that

be decided to return Clark to her successful party theme.  This time, in “Walk Me Home From The Party,”

Mama does let the poor girl go to that party and, of course, Claudine does find the right  guy.   Sales were

poor on both of these disks, so Clark next appeared on Swan Records under the billing “Joy Dawn”; her

lone single under that monicker quickly sank from sight.  Two records each were issued on the TCF and

Jamie labels, but not many ears ever got to hear these, and Clark disappeared from public view.  According

to some reports, Claudine was off in the wilds writing a rock’n’roll operetta, or poetry,

or plays.

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When last heard  from, Claudine Clark was in disguise as Sherry Pye.   Her only release for Match Records:

“Gimme A Break.”