The Rag Dolls  (New York)
aka The Beach Girls (2)

Personnel :

Jean Thomas (Lead)

Mikie Harris

Susan Lewis


Discography :

The Rag Dolls
1964 - Society Girl /  Ragen (Society Girl Bossa Nova) (Parkway 921)
1964 - Dusty / Hey, Hoagy (Mala 493)
1964 - Baby's Gone / We Almost Made It (Mala 499)
1965 - Put A Ring On My Finger / Little Girl Tears (Mala 506)

The Beach Girls (2)
1965 - Goin' Places / Skiing In The Snow (Dynovoice 202)



Biography :

Originally from Sarasota, Florida (Though born in Weymouth, Massachusetts) Jean Thomas had moved to New York in the early 60s and recorded as a solo artist for Cadence and M-G-M. Pitch perfect, she began picking up extra work as a demo singer and from there graduated to full session work, sometimes accompanied by an old friend from Sarasota, Mikie Harris who sang with the Ardons. The recording community liked Thomas for her ability to emote with all the  chutzpah of an eager novice getting his first break in a recording studio, even though she was a pro in her mid-twenties.

    
Jean Thomas                                                                                                                             

  Crewe had used Thomas on "Society Girl" by the Rag Dolls (a fabricated 'answer' record to the 4 seasons' "Rag Doll") which had dented the Hot 100 in late 1964.  Consolidating with a second release, "Dusty", Crewe had Thomas and Harris lay down their vocals over a storming track by 4 Seasons arranger Charlie Calello. The winning four seasons groove bagged a lot of airplay, pushing "Dusty" to # 55 in February 1965, and led to a demend for a group that did not exist outside the confines of a recording studio.

Thomas preferred the quiet backwaters of studio work to the limelight and toured only briefly as a member of the Rag Dolls.  The sessions for ‘Dusty’ were on 24th and 27th October and again on 12th November 1964 to perfect the mix, with ‘Skiing In The Snow’  and ‘Hey Hoagy’ also being recorded. The latter would become the cute ‘B’ side to ‘Dusty’ whilst Bob would release ‘Skiing In The Snow’ as the Beach Girls on Dynavoice 202 to provide another classic harmony laced girl group sound


Songs :

The Rag Dolls

  
Society Girl                                 Put A Ring On My Finger

   
Dusty                                         Little Girl Tears

   
Hey Hoagy                                    Baby's Gone

The Beach Girls (2)

Skiing In The Snow

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