Dee Dee Sperling
Encyclopedia
Dee Dee Phelps is a singer-songwriter
and author
from Santa Monica, California
, best known as half the popular 1960s musical duo Dick and Dee Dee. She became a professional writer in 2007, publishing her award-winning memoir Vinyl Highway. In 2008, Dee Dee joined with singer/actor Michael Dunn to revive the Dick and Dee Dee act live. The duo performs all over the country, singing classic Dick and Dee Dee hits.
. When her father was transferred to California, she arrived in Los Angeles
by train at the age of eight. After attending University High School
in West Los Angeles, she transferred to Santa Monica High. While there she wrote a regular column for the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, and began singing and writing songs in her senior year.
, Sperling re-encountered Dick St. John, an old junior high classmate. Both realized they were singer songwriters, and together they began writing songs and harmonizing.
The first Dick and Dee Dee 45 RPM release was on Lama Records, a small company started by their record producers, The Wilder Brothers. Without telling her, the record producers changed her name to Dee Dee, something she didn't discover until the record was released. "The Mountain's High
" became a smash hit in the Bay Area, eventually becoming number two on the Billboard Top 100 in the United States
. Sperling took time off from college so they could tour Texas. The Mountain's High was re-issued on Liberty Records
for national distribution.
Sperling and St. John soon garnered other hits in the early 1960s, including "Tell Me", (also on Liberty Records) and "Young and In Love", "Turn Around" (co-written with Harry Belafonte
) and "Thou Shalt Not Steal" (on Warner Bros. Records). They toured with the Beach Boys, and were the opening act for the Rolling Stones when the band came to California for the first time in 1964. They later recorded various versions of officially sanctioned Stones songs, largely at the behest of Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Oldham. Their last hit, "Thou Shalt Not Steal," was in 1965. They remained regulars on Jack Good
's television show Shindig!
.
Dee Dee married the duo's manager (later executive television producer for Dick Clark Productions
), Bill Lee, and had one son. Sperling and St. John parted ways in 1969. After her divorce in the early seventies, Dee Dee married Kane Phelps. They raised two other children and are still married today. Dick performed with his wife, Sandy, in the 1980s as Dick and Dee Dee. He passed away in 2003.
acts in the Sixties.
In October 2007, she was awarded the "Best Pop Campaign Award" for her book promotion (The Irwin Award). The award was presented at the 13th annual Book Publicists of Southern California Awards Dinner. Vinyl Highway also won honorable mention in the Writer's Digest
"15th International Book Awards." In late 2008, the book was a finalist in the "National USA Book News Best Book Awards" Autobiography category, as well as a "Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist" in the memoir category.
/singer
Michael Dunn, and the two are performing as Dick and Dee Dee.
Motion Picture
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
from Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, best known as half the popular 1960s musical duo Dick and Dee Dee. She became a professional writer in 2007, publishing her award-winning memoir Vinyl Highway. In 2008, Dee Dee joined with singer/actor Michael Dunn to revive the Dick and Dee Dee act live. The duo performs all over the country, singing classic Dick and Dee Dee hits.
Early life
Phelps was born as Mary Sperling in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
. When her father was transferred to California, she arrived in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
by train at the age of eight. After attending University High School
University High School
-Canada:* University Hill Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia-Arizona:* University High School , Arizona* University High School , Arizona-California:* University High School , California...
in West Los Angeles, she transferred to Santa Monica High. While there she wrote a regular column for the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, and began singing and writing songs in her senior year.
Dick and Dee Dee
While attending college and working at a See's Candy store in Westwood, CaliforniaWestwood, California
Westwood is a census-designated place in Lassen County, California, United States. Westwood is located west-southwest of Susanville, at an elevation of 5128 feet...
, Sperling re-encountered Dick St. John, an old junior high classmate. Both realized they were singer songwriters, and together they began writing songs and harmonizing.
The first Dick and Dee Dee 45 RPM release was on Lama Records, a small company started by their record producers, The Wilder Brothers. Without telling her, the record producers changed her name to Dee Dee, something she didn't discover until the record was released. "The Mountain's High
The Mountain's High
"The Mountain's High" is a 1961 hit R&B song written and performed by the California duo Dick and Dee Dee. It featured Richard St. John Gosting's overdubbed falsetto and Dee Dee Phelps's harmony. Produced by the Wilder Brothers and Don Ralke, it was released as the B-side of "I Want Someone"...
" became a smash hit in the Bay Area, eventually becoming number two on the Billboard Top 100 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Sperling took time off from college so they could tour Texas. The Mountain's High was re-issued on Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
for national distribution.
Sperling and St. John soon garnered other hits in the early 1960s, including "Tell Me", (also on Liberty Records) and "Young and In Love", "Turn Around" (co-written with Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
) and "Thou Shalt Not Steal" (on Warner Bros. Records). They toured with the Beach Boys, and were the opening act for the Rolling Stones when the band came to California for the first time in 1964. They later recorded various versions of officially sanctioned Stones songs, largely at the behest of Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Oldham. Their last hit, "Thou Shalt Not Steal," was in 1965. They remained regulars on Jack Good
Jack Good
John or Jack Good may refer to:* I. J. Good, Irving John Good , British statistician* John G. Good, Pennsylvania politician* Jack Good , icon painter and television & music producer...
's television show Shindig!
Shindig!
Shindig! was an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeley and production executive Art Stolnitz....
.
Dee Dee married the duo's manager (later executive television producer for Dick Clark Productions
Dick Clark Productions
Dick Clark Productions is an entertainment production company founded by entertainer Dick Clark...
), Bill Lee, and had one son. Sperling and St. John parted ways in 1969. After her divorce in the early seventies, Dee Dee married Kane Phelps. They raised two other children and are still married today. Dick performed with his wife, Sandy, in the 1980s as Dick and Dee Dee. He passed away in 2003.
Writing career
In 2006, Dee Dee started writing her award winning memoir, Vinyl Highway, called "an insightful and humorous chronicle" of her life touring the world with famous rock and rollRock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
acts in the Sixties.
In October 2007, she was awarded the "Best Pop Campaign Award" for her book promotion (The Irwin Award). The award was presented at the 13th annual Book Publicists of Southern California Awards Dinner. Vinyl Highway also won honorable mention in the Writer's Digest
Writer's Digest
Writer's Digest is an American magazine devoted to both beginning and established writers, offering interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles....
"15th International Book Awards." In late 2008, the book was a finalist in the "National USA Book News Best Book Awards" Autobiography category, as well as a "Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist" in the memoir category.
Later musical career
In 2008, Sperling teamed with actorActor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
/singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Michael Dunn, and the two are performing as Dick and Dee Dee.
Personal life
Phelps currently lives with her husband in Pacific Palisades, California. She has three adult children.Singles
| Highest Billboard Positions for Dick and Dee Dee | |||
| Release | Title | Chart | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | "The Mountain's High The Mountain's High "The Mountain's High" is a 1961 hit R&B song written and performed by the California duo Dick and Dee Dee. It featured Richard St. John Gosting's overdubbed falsetto and Dee Dee Phelps's harmony. Produced by the Wilder Brothers and Don Ralke, it was released as the B-side of "I Want Someone"... " |
Pop Singles | 2 |
| 1962 | "Tell Me" | Pop Singles | 22 |
| 1963 | "Young and In Love" | Adult Contemporary | 6 |
| Pop Singles | 17 | ||
| 1963 | "Where Did All The Good Times Go" | Pop Singles | 93 |
| 1964 | "All My Trials" | Pop Singles | 89 |
| 1964 | "Turn Around" | Pop Singles | 27 |
| 1965 | "Be My Baby" | Pop Singles | 87 |
| 1965 | "Thou Shalt Not Steal" | Pop Singles | 13 |
TV, Film performances
Television- American BandstandAmerican BandstandAmerican Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
- Where the Action IsWhere the Action IsWhere the Action Is or ' was a music-based television variety show in the United States from 1965–67. It was carried by the ABC network and aired each weekday afternoon...
- Shindig!Shindig!Shindig! was an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeley and production executive Art Stolnitz....
- Ready, Steady, Go (UK)
Motion Picture
- Wild Wild WinterWild Wild WinterWild Wild Winter is a 1966 Universal Pictures comedy film in the beach party genre, starring Gary Clarke and Chris Noel. It is directed by standup comedian Lennie Weinrib and produced by Bart Patton and is notable for featuring Jay and the Americans and the duo of Dick and Dee Dee in their only...
(1966) - Dick and Dee Dee sang "Heartbeats", their only appearance in a film
Further reading
- Gary James' Interview With Dee Dee Sperling of "Dick and Dee Dee"
- Memoir Interview with 1960s Celebrity Dee Dee Phelps
- New 'Mountain': Dick and Dee Dee Return!
External links
- Dee Dee Phelps on LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a business-related social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. , LinkedIn reports more than 120 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. The site is available in English, French,...