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Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The McGuire Sisters, The #87 Female Artist of the Rock Era

The McGuire Sisters (Dorothy, Christine and Phyllis) were born in Middletown, Ohio. The girls sang at the church where their mother Lillie was a minister--Miamisburg First Church of God in Anderson, Indiana. By 1949, they were singing at military bases and veterans' hospitals.

The Sisters signed a recording contract with Coral Records in 1952 and appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts for the next seven years. The sisters made frequent television appearances on Ed Sullivan, Dean Martin, Danny Kaye, Andy Williams, Perry Como, Red Skelton and Milton Berle

The McGuire Sisters had eight hits before the Rock Era officially began in July of 1955, including "Sincerely", which was a #1 song for 10 weeks.  Those songs do not count in this special; only songs recorded during the Rock Era (July of 1955 through 2015) are eligible.  But the trio was already rolling by 1955, and they landed another Top 10--"Something's Gotta' Give" from the movie Daddy Long Legs starring Fred Astaire.





They followed up that smash with the #10 song "He" later that year.








Twelve singles were released before the group stepped into the Top 10 again, but the one that broke the bad streak was #1 for four weeks and sold over one million copies.  It became their biggest hit next to "Sincerely".


After that, the Sisters never scored another Top 10.  They had 26 hits during the Rock Era, but only three reached the Top 10.  The group performed for five U.S. Presidents (Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush) and for Queen Elizabeth II.

The McGuire Sisters retired after their last public appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.  They did reunite in 1986 for several nightclub shows in Las Vegas, Nevada and Atlantic City, New Jersey.  The group was inducted into the National Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 1994 and in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.     


The Sisters of course had several hits prior to the Rock Era, and would rank much higher if one considers music prior to 1955.  They had 11 Top 40 hits after the Rock Era began, with three Top 10's and the one huge #1 song.

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