The Dixie Cups ~ Appreciation Thread

Flower

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The Dixie Cups

Official Website

"Chapel of Love" / "Ain't That Nice" (1964)
"People Say" / "Girls Can Tell" (1964)
"You Should Have Seen The Way He Looked At Me" / "No True Love" (1964)
"Little Bell" / "Another Boy Like Mine" (1964)
"Iko Iko" / "I'm Gonna Get You Yet" (1965)
"Iko Iko" / "Gee, Baby, Gee" (1965)
"Gee, The Moon Is Shining Bright" / "I'm Gonna Get You Yet" (1965)


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Background information
Origin New Orleans, Louisiana
Genres Rhythm and blues, Pop
Years active 1964 - present
Labels Red Bird Records

Members
Barbara Ann Hawkins
Rosa Lee Hawkins
Athelgra Neville Gabriel
Former members
Joan Marie Johnson
Dale Mickle


The Dixie Cups are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for their 1964 million selling disc, "Chapel of Love".

Career

The group hit the top of the charts in 1964 with "Chapel of Love," a song that Phil Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich had originally written for The Ronettes. The trio consisted of sisters Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee Hawkins; plus their cousin Joan Marie Johnson, from the Calliope housing project in New Orleans. They first sang together in grade school. Originally they were to be called Little Miss and the Muffets, but were named The Dixie Cups just prior to their first release.

By 1963 the trio had decided to pursue a career in music and began singing locally as the Meltones. Within a year Joe Jones, a successful singer in his own right with the Top Five 1960 single "You Talk Too Much," became their manager. After working with them for five months, Jones took them to New York, where record producers / songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller signed them to their new Red Bird Records.

Their first release, "Chapel of Love," proved to be their biggest hit, although they had other hits with "People Say" (#12, 1964), "You Should Have Seen the Way He Looked at Me" (#39, 1964), "Iko Iko" (#20, 1965), and "Little Bell" (#51, 1965)."Chapel of Love" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

"Iko Iko", a New Orleans R&B standard, was recorded early in 1965. Barbara Hawkins had heard her grandmother sing the song, first recorded in 1954 as "Jock-a-Mo" by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford. Barbara Hawkins: "We were just clowning around with it during a session using drumsticks on ashtrays. We didn't realize that Jerry and Mike had the tapes running". Leiber and Stoller overdubbed a bassline and percussion, and released it. It was The Dixie Cups' fifth and last hit.

"Two-Way-Poc-A-Way", also a New Orleans standard, was written by Harold Fedison and recorded on ABC/Paramount Records in 1965. Harold Fedison, also widely known throughout New Orleans for his elaborate indian costume designs, also styled and designed the original looks for the Dixie Cups. In 1966, the Dixie Cups were moved to the ABC-Paramount record label and later temporarily retired from the record industry.

In 1969 the Hawkins sisters moved from New York to New Orleans, where Rosa Hawkins began a successful modelling career.[4] Both Rosa and Barbara also worked as make-up artists. They continued to tour and make personal appearances, with Dale Mickle replacing Joan Johnson[1] who became a Jehovah's Witness and abandoned her music career.

In 1987, the song "Chapel of Love" appearred in the Full Metal Jacket soundtrack.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina swept through Louisiana, flooding and flattening most of New Orleans and displacing Barbara and Rosa Hawkins, who subsequently relocated to Florida. Joan Johnson relocated to Texas.

In April 2007, The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame honored The Dixie Cups for their contributions to Louisiana music by inducting them into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.

The Dixie Cups continue to perform and make personal appearances. The current line-up consists of the same Hawkins sisters along with Athelgra Neville, sister of the singing Neville Brothers.



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Flower

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The Dixie Cups are still active .. the following is a review of them at the 2010 New Orleans Jazz Fest ~

dixie-cups-2010jpg-a428557bc071c7d9_medium.jpg


Dixie Cups lead a crowd-pleasing sing-along at the New Orleans Jazz Fest

By Susan Langenhennig, The Times-Picayune
April 30, 2010, 4:58PM

Susan Poag / The Times-Picayune ~ The Dixie Cups' Rosa Hawkins, Athelgra Neville and Barbara Hawkins sing on the Acura Stage at the 2010 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Friday. They're no longer the teenager girls they were when they first rocketed to the top of the charts. But the Dixie Cups - Barbara Hawkins, her younger sister Rosa and their "sister in spirit" Athelgra Neville -- still know how to shake a tail feather.

Their 2:05 p.m. set at the New Orleans Jazz Fest's Acura Stage on Friday was as much a crowd-pleasing sing-along as a concert.

Dressed in spry lime-green pantsuits, the beloved New Orleans trio, led by Barbara Hawkins, harmonized through an American Bandstand-worthy lineup filled with golden oldies, including "Sea Cruise," "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," and "Going to the Chapel," their hit that shot to No. 1 in 1964, pushing the Beatles "Love Me Do" off the top.

It's impossible not to dance to this music. Feet just move as if on auto-pilot.
All around me, the crowd swayed. A group of 40-somethings in matching rain boots started chorus-line kicking. Three teen-agers clasped hands and twirled in a circle. A woman in a big straw hat blew soap bubbles into the humid afternoon breeze.

The Dixie Cups pass out party favors at New Orleans Jazz FestOn stage, the Dixie Cups, backed up by an eight-piece band, were twisting, shaking and swaying right along with the crowd, even as Neville leaned on a cane. After four decades of performing, their act is practiced and polished, but it's never stale.

What other Jazz Fest band, for example, passes out party favors? Before launching into their New Orleans classic "Iko Iko," the trio distributed paper napkins printed with the song's and the band's name. As they wrapped up the set, the sisters tossed plastic Mardi Gras cups into the crowd.

Bringing the tempo down a bit, Barbara Hawkins then hushed the crowd. With a daughter in the Navy, she dedicated the band's last number "God Bless America," to the armed forces.

Of course, everyone sang along.

Barbara Hawkins of The Dixie Cups signs Roly Harris' "Chapel of Love" album after her set at New Orleans Jazz Fest.After the set, a small group of fans gathered at the artists' entrance to the Acura Stage, and managed to catch Barbara Hawkins' attention.

Roly Harris from Barrie, Ontario, pulled out his "Chapel of Love" album for her to sign. "The yellow dot means it's one of my favorites," he said, point to a sticker on the front.

This is the 38th year that the Dixie Cups have performed at Jazz Fest, but Hawkins said it never gets old.

"The audience is always so good, and they know our music," she said. "We always feel that if we can make everyone smile, we've done our job."
 

ladyislingering

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These girls are living legends. I love the whole 60's girl group genre, but some just had it going on more than others. The Dixie Cups were one of those groups. And look how cute they were. Jeeeez. :3
 

ladyislingering

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Red Bird took on a lot of young talents back in the day.

I have always wondered how they managed to make their hair look like that (I must confess my eyeliner was inspired by 60's girls!) and it's so cute that groups like that would all dress in the same outfits and just seem to fit together like soul sisters of melody. The whole innocence of it all is almost enough to make you cry.

(there really needs to be a little heart icon or something.)
 

Flower

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Here they are in 2009 at the New Orleans Jazz Fest .. they are still cute and according to the article in post 3 of this thread, they still put on a great show ~

dixie1.jpg
 

Hepcat

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Wow! That's a fabulous video. You just can't beat dancing girls skipping rope with lollipops!

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:****:
 

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