The Secrets were an American girl group

Girl group

A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...

 from Cleveland, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

.

The group first performed under the name The Sonnets, named after the Sonnet piano. They were offered a local gig supporting local ensemble The Starfires (later The Outsiders

The Outsiders (American band)

The Outsiders was an American rock and roll band from Cleveland, Ohio, that was founded and led by guitarist Tom King. The band is best known for its Top 5 hit "Time Won't Let Me" in early 1966, which peaked at #5 in the US, but the band had three other hit singles in 1966 and released a total of...

), and at one of these performances, talent scout Redda Robbins offered them a contract. The group then met with songwriters Johnny Madara and David White

David White (musician)

David White toured the country with his parents prior to attending school in their acrobatic/hand-balancing act called Barry and Brenda and Company....

, members of The Spokesmen

The Spokesmen

The Spokesmen were an American pop music trio. They scored a hit single in the U.S. in 1965 with the tune "Dawn of Correction", which was a patriotic answer record to Barry McGuire's protest song, "Eve of Destruction". The song was written by the group's members, John Medora, David White and Roy...

. Through their influence, the group was able to release a single on Mercury Records

Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

 called "The Boy Next Door"; the song hit #18 on the US Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in December 1963. Three more singles followed on Mercury, but none of them charted, and the group parted ways in 1965. The group has two interesting bits of music trivia. They were booked to appear on American Bandstand the weekend of November 22nd, 1963, which was cancelled due to John F. Kennedy's assassination, and they were the last group to appear on American Bandstand in the spring of 1964, before Bandstand shifted from Philadelphia to Los Angeles.

Members Patty Miller and Carole McGoldrick continued performing as The Memories for a year following the breakup. The group reunited in the early 1990s to play at their high school reunion

High School Reunion

High School Reunion may refer to:*"High School Reunion" *Romy and Michele's High School Reunion*High School Reunion *Class reunion...

. They later reunited for a "Pride of Cleveland Past" Concert at the Parmatown Rib Burnoff in the early 2000's. Carole McGoldrick died on June 16, 2010.

Members

• Jackie Allen Schwegler
• Karen Gray Cipriani
• Carole Raymont McGoldrick (deceased)
• Patty Miller