The “Golden Hits Of The 50s”
Main MenuConcept Refinement The Author..Wayne JancikGolden Age Of The 50sGolden Age Of The 60s1970s and There After
THE SECRETS
“THE BOY NEXT DOOR”
(Johnny Madara, David White)
Philips 40146
No. 18 December 23, 1963
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Jackie Allen Schwegler (b.June 6, 1943/”high dum dee dummer”), Karen Cray Cipriana (b. June 16, 1943/
lead), Carole Raymond McGoldrick (b. August 1, 1943/alto or bass), and Patty Miller (b. July 1,1943/
soprano) met at Cleveland’s Shaw High in the early ’60s. “I can’t remember what we called ourselves in
high school,” said Karen to DISCoveries‘ “Doc Rock” Kelly. “You wanna know,” adds Carole, “we always
say it’s a secret but really none of us remembers how we got the Secrets name.” For a moment, they were
the Sonnets. There they were on stage, 1963 and no name. “The pianist at the show,” said Carole, “looked
down at the piano and said, ‘How about the Sonnets,’ the brand of the piano.” “We sang songs like ‘Side
By Side” sand “September In The Rain,” said Karen, “for the girls athletic club, the GAA, the friendship
club…”
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The girls went to school with Tom King, leader of the Starfires…later to become the Outsiders of “Time
Won’t Let Me” fame. Tom asked the four to do five Twist shows with his band accompaning. “Things
happened surprisingly quickly after that,” Karen said. “It was a fairy tale. We never expected anything
like that to happen.”
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An talent promotor named Redda Robbins heard them at one of the gigs, and offered to take the girls under
her wing. Robbins, who already represented Phillips recording act Bocky & the Visions coached them,
dressed them, and lined up a meeting with Johnny Madara and David White, soon to-be members of THE
SPOKESMEN; the latter recorded with Danny & the Juniors. They were affiliated with Mercury Records
and the label was hot with Lesley Gore and THE PIXIES THREE and it’s subsidiary, Smash, was having a
protracted good time selling records by the Angels.
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“They liked us,” said Karen. “and immediately signed us to a recording contract. We went to Philadelphia
to learn the songs and then we drove with them from Philadelphia to New York in two cars to cut the songs.
It was all so fast.”
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Paul Anka was in the next studio, when they recorded “The Boy NerLt Door.” That they found a destrac-
tion. Drummer BOBBY GREGG, saxman Buddy Lucus, and guitar renown Al Caiola (known for his
recordings of “Bonanza” and “The Magnificent Seven”) accompaned the girls through the mere 30 minutes
alloted them to get the tune and it’s flipside recorded just right.
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“Our lives got real exciting,” said Carole. “The record company would set us up with a limo and a PR guy
and we would go from hop to hop. We didn’t have a band in those days, it was an all lip sync show…”
They met Lou Christie, Vic Dana, Lesley Gore and the rest. “We played the Palace Theatre in downtown
Cleveland with Connie Francis…she was special, a very nice girl.” “We were headlining over the
Supremes at a series of hops in Detroit,” added Jackie. “Two weeks later, it would have been reversed,
but who needs to dwell.”
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.Said Pat, “We always had chaperones. We were very square and never got to do anything.”
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.Three more Philips singles- -all breathy and bouncy, and all produced by the team of Johnny Mardra and
David White–appeared and quite quickly and unduly disappeared.
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There were whispers that a few more singles were issued by the group; none not even the obscure Diana
Ross rouser called “I Feel The Thrill Coming On” was made by this grouping of Secrets .
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“We don’t like to talk about the aspects of it all,” said Pat, “but we got cheated. We never made any
money. Our manager made out fine on us.” Carole added, “Our group wasn’t really ready for show
business when we first became successful. We were green…Back at home, we still had to do the dishes.”
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Jackie and Karen fell in love and despite the Secrets being offered a continuation in their label contract
and an offer to appear for 12 weeks at the New York World’s Fair, the group split up in 1965. Carole and
Pat, not wishing to shelf their music career, continued as the Memories, a duo, for about a year.
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