The Angels(I)
- Soundtrack
The 1960s girl group The Angels began in New Jersey as The Starlets and
consisted of sisters Barbara and Phyllis Allbut, Bernadette Carroll and
Linda Malzone. After some minor regional hit records, they got gigs
doing back-up work on studio recordings. They went through some
personnel changes--Malzone left and was replaced by Linda Jansen--and
at one time their manager kept Carroll and fired the rest of the group,
bringing in new members to replace them. They auditioned for a small
label, Caprice Records, with the song "'Til". The label liked it and
released it as the group's first record under their new name, The
Angels, and it reached #14 on the US charts. A follow-up single, "Cry
Baby Cry", didn't chart at all, and neither did their first album for
Caprice, "...And The Angels Sing", in 1962. Jansen left the group that
year and was replaced by Peggy Santiglia. In 1963 the group signed with
Smash Records (a subsidiary of Mercury Records). The group recorded, as
a demo, a song that was meant for
The Shirelles called "My Boyfriend's
Back", but Smash decided that, since The Angels were already under
contract to them and The Shirelles were with another label (Scepter
Records), it would release the Angels' version instead. It became a
huge hit and quickly reached #1 on the US charts (its "B" side, "Thank
You and Goodnight", was also a hit). Their follow-up record, "I Adore
Him", didn't do as well as "My Boyfriend's Back". In 1963 they left
Smash Records and signed with Congress Records, a smaller label, and
changed their name to The Halos (due to legal wrangling over the
ownership of "The Angels" name). They released several songs on
Congress, but none of them made the charts. In 1967 they signed with
RCA Records, and former member Bernadette Carroll rejoined the group.
Although they made a few appearances on TV variety shows, they had no
more record hits and the group broke up for good in 1968.
In the 1970s Santiglia re-formed the group as The Angels with the Allbut sisters and released a single. They still tour and make personal appearances.
In the 1970s Santiglia re-formed the group as The Angels with the Allbut sisters and released a single. They still tour and make personal appearances.