The Butterflys                                                                                                   

Clockwise from the right: Paulette McNight, Mary Thomas, Myrna Giraud, Carmen Santiago
The Butterflys were from the Bedford–Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, NY. The group claims its pedigree from another premier Brooklyn female group, The Crystals.

Members:
    Paulette Howard - Lead
    Myrna Giraud
    Carmen Santiago
    Mary Thomas

Ellie Greenwich was one of the most successful song writers of the sixties, but she also had a fairly successful career as a singer in her own right. Beginning as a solo recording artist, she later became a member of recording groups like the Raindrops, the Popsicles, and the Butterflys. The latter group had a brief touch of hit status on the Red Bird label in late 1964.

Greenwich and husband Jeff Barry had been having great success as writers in the Brill Building, and after a highly successful stint writing with Phil Spector for his Philles label, they left to establish Leiber and Stoller’s Red Bird Records. The ninth release for the company was "Good Night Baby," released as by the Butterflys. It’s pretty clear that Ellie was singing back-up, but the other members of the group are unknown. Some believe a group called the Buttons who recorded for Ember Records, were actually the remaining Butterflys, but nobody who knows has come forward. Mary Thomas of the Crystals probably sang lead on the Butterflys hits.

Butterflys 1964
(L to R) Paulette Howard, Mary Thomas, Carmen Santiago, Myrna Girard

In late 1964 the group followed their labelmates the Dixie Cups, and Jelly Beans into the Top 100 at number 51. The single was backed with the group’s version of "The Swim." Red Bird seemed very happy with the group’s debut, and it received quite a bit of promotion.

Greenwich and Barry decided to follow-up the big hit with a power-charged version of "I Wonder," a song which they recorded with both the Crystals and Ronettes at Philles. The new version began which a hypnotic drum beat, which a vocal chorus harmonizing majestically, and all topped off with a huge echo. It should have been a monster song in January 1965, but it languished at the bottom of the charts, only bubbling under at number 117. Backed up with a fantastic bubblegum classic, "Gee Baby Gee," it would be the group’s final waxing on Red Bird. The group didn’t really fit in with the label’s other girl groups, whose vocals were much more gritty and untextured.

After their time in the spotlight, members of The Butterflys went their separate ways. Mary Thomas joined Barbara Alston and Dee Dee Kenniebrew for one more Crystals single in 1967 and a tour during the late 60s and early 70s.  Paulette Holland McKnight joined an all-star line-up at The Cutting Room in New York City in November of 2005 to launch the release of Rhino’s  box set of Girl Group Sounds, Lost & Found CDs "One Kiss Can Lead To Another". Myrna moved to California in 1988, and as one of the members of the group "Memory Lane", enjoyed being a part of an annual Rock & Roll revival show and participating in Chapman University’s Rock & Roll Shows. Myrna returned to Brooklyn and is now the Program Administrator for Internal Medicine at SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

Although not as recognized as their counterparts at the time, The Butterflys presented a solid group of pop records that expediently displayed the brilliant musical sounds of the mid-60s New York music era.