Sherrys

The Sherrys were a short-lived girl group with a rich soulful sound, built around dance numbers that they performed with extraordinary exuberance, organized by Philadelphia singing star Little Joe Cook.

Members:
     Delphine Cook
     Dinell Cook
     Tammi Montgomery replaced by Charlotte Butler
     Honey Wylie

The group spent a lot of its early days backing other Philadelphia-based acts, including Bobby Rydell, on their recordings. Their big moment as a recording act in their own right came when a dance-craze arose in New Orleans, called the Popeye-initially, the dance was done to Chris Kenner's "Something You Got," but Eddie Bo soon came along with "Check Mr. Popeye," which became a major seller in New Orleans. By early 1962, the dance was being touted as a rival to the Twist, with acts as different as Huey Smith & the Clowns and Chubby Checker starting to push it.

Little Joe Cook

Little Joe Cook, who'd seen his own recording of "Let's Do The Slop" become a serious regional hit in 1956, knew a good prospect when he saw it and had the Sherrys record "Pop Pop Pop-Pie," written by producers Johnny Madera and Dave White, and aimed at the dance crowd. American Bandstand then featured the group and the record heavily, and the single (issued on Guyden) charted in October of 1962, for an eight week run that carried it up to No. 35 nationally on the pop
charts and to No. 25 on the r&b lists. The group's success was short-lived, however, as they never came up with a suitable follow-up-their "Slop Time" didn't chart nearly as well.

The Sherrys and Cook rushed out "Pop Pop Popeye" in mid-1962. The song found its way to number 35 on the pop charts and number 25 on the R&B charts before the year was out. The group quickly pounded out "Slop Time" as the follow-up, but that song only managed a quick jump on the top 100 at number 97.

A superb album, At The Hop With The Sherrys, made up almost entirely of Madera-White songs, appeared on Guyden in early 1963, but it undeservedly disappeared without leaving much of a trace. Ironically, while the Sherrys' moment in the sun in the USA proved to be both brief and over, their records were extremely popular and enduring in Europe, where audiences devoured their authentic soul-dance sound. The quartet ended up touring overseas twice, with great success.

Madara and White, two former members of Danny and the Juniors had produced these songs, and they decided to try and squeeze out a dance-influenced album by the Sherrys before their fifteen minutes of fame were over. At The Hop With The Sherrys featured remakes of several big dance hits, including the title track, the song Danny and the Juniors had originally hit with in 1958. The LP picked enough play around the world to have the Sherrys tour Europe before they dropped out of sight.

By mid-1963 the Sherrys were falling apart. Delphine left to get married and Charlotte Butler left sooon after. Cook held a version of the Sherrys together to fulfill bookings, but during a successful engagement in Boston, the group-now a trio-decided to get a new manager. Their history came to an end with this decision, because Cook owned the name The Sherrys. The trio, deprived of the name under which they were known, was never heard from again, and the Sherrys became part of pop music and dance history. This loss coincided with the failure of the group’s last single "That Boy Of Mine" which marked a clear departure from their earlier style.

Joe Cook continued to cash in on the Sherrys fame by forming a new trio to use the name. Those girls, however, had another idea, and they soon dumped Cook and found a new manager. Litigation forced the trio to stop using the name which Cook owned, and their bookings dwindled.