The Sherrys aka The De-Los

The Sherrys (Philadelphia)
aka The De-Los

Personnel :

Delphine 'Sugar' Cook

Dinelle Cook

Charlotte Walker

Delores 'Honey' Wylie

Discography :

The De-Los
1958 - Lullabye Serenade / Pork And Gravy (Cedar 302)

The Sherrys 

Singles :
1962 - Pop Pop Pop-Eye / Your Hand In Mine (Guyden 2068)
1963 - Slop Time / Let's Stomp Again (Guyden 2077)
1963 - Saturday Night / I've Got No One (Guyden 2084)
1963 - Monk, Monk, Monkey / That Boy Of Mine (Guyden 2094)
1964 - No No Baby / That Guy Of Mine (Mercury 72256)
1965 - Slow Jerk / Confusion (Roberts 701)
1965 - This Little Boy of Mine / Lullaby Serenade (Sonet 7642)
1966 - Put Your Arms Around Me / I'm A Happy Girl (JJ 1002/Hot 1002)

Lps:
1962 - At the Hop with the Sherrys (GLP-503)
 At The Hop/Dance / Slop Time / Dancin' The Strand/Ooh-La-La- Limbo / Let's Stomp Again / Pop Pop Pop-Pie / Bristol Twistin' Danny / The Fly / Double Order Mashed Potatoes / The New Cha-Cha-Cha / The Last Dance

European Singles :

Biography :

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. A veteran of gospel and R&B, Cook had led a group called the Thrillers from the mid-'50s. In 1958, Little Joe began putting a group together around his two daughters, Delphine and Dinell Cook, Delores "Honey" Wylie, Joyce ? and Clarence Smith, Bass of the Students.

    
Little Joe Cook                                                                              

Billed as the De-Los the group recorded "Lullabye Serenade" b/w "Pork And Gravy" both sides lead by Delores Wylie on the Cedar label. In 1961, they changed their name as the Sherrys and did some backup work for Maureen Gray,  Billy & the Essentials and Bobby Rydell . 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 "Piano" Smith & the Clowns and Chubby Checker starting to push it.  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 number 35 nationally on the pop charts and to number 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.

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 U.S.A. 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. They might've regained their career momentum in America, but for a series of personnel and business difficulties that ensued over the next several months.

Delphine, the younger Cook daughter, married, and then Butler left the act soon 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.  

Thanks to Mike Sweeney

Songs :
 (Update By Hans-Joachim)

The De-Los

  
Lullabye Serenade                            Pork And Gravy

The Sherrys   

 
    
Pop Pop Pop-Eye                   Your Hand In Mine                 The Last Dance       

   
Slop Time                     Let's Stomp Again                         The Fly

   
Saturday Night                       I've Got No One             Oh-La-La Limbo       

   
Monk, Monk, Monkey             That Boy Of Mine             New Cha Cha Cha

    
Dancin' The Strand         Double Order Mashed Potatoes             Dance

     
Bristol Twistin' Danny                At The Hop                       I'm A Happy Girl

Put Your Arms Around Me

 Videos :


This Little Boy of Mine

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