In the rock ’n roll world of Girl Groups in the late 50’s/early 60’s, arguably the most popular group was The Crystals. 

But the bigger question is: 




Thanks to Phil Spector’s view that he was the Grand Puppet Master and his talent roster consisted of marionettes who performed in different configurations per his whims, there are a lot of female singers who can rightfully claim to have been a Crystal:





And then, of course, there's Darlene Love:



and The Blossoms:



More on this Machiavellian history in a moment.  But first:

Here’s what we are featuring on our website today:

Their follow-up recording was one of the weirdest songs in Girl Group history (written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King): “He Hit Me, But it Felt Like a Kiss.” 

Needless to say, even 60 years ago, the title meant it got very little airplay, and sales were bleak.  (Not to worry -- we won’t subject you to it.)

Eager to have another Crystals hit, and irritated by the group’s demand for record royalties, Spector recorded their next song without them. 

Seriously. 

(He told them singers didn't get royalties; he said they only make money from live performances.)

At the time, The Crystals were on the east coast and Spector was in Los Angeles.  He was afraid another label would grab the song and record it before he could, so he brought in a local L. A. group of back-up singers, The Blossoms, to perform “He’s a Rebel.”

He gave the lead vocal to The Blossoms' lead vocalist, Darlene Wright (to whom he later gave a new stage name:  Darlene Love.)  She was paid a flat $5,000. 


Spector released it as a Crystals song because The Crystals had already had a hit and were famous.

The song rocketed to #1. 

For their myriad live performances, the humiliated Crystals had to learn to sing the song the way The Blossoms had. 

And, worse, they had to lip synch to the record for TV appearances like this one:

Spector did the same thing with the next so-called Crystals song, “He’s Sure the Boy I Love,” once again using Darlene Love and the Blossoms.  It peaked at #11. 

Mary left the group to get married.  (She later joined a different group, The Butterflys, that also included Myrna Giraud.) 

So now The Crystals were a quartet. 


La La Brooks finally got to sing lead with a “burning-down-the-house” ferocity on “Da Doo Ron Ron.”  It got to #3:

In 1964, Patsy Wright left to go to college and was replaced by Frances Collins.  Then Barbara Alston quit, and The Crystals became a trio.

From this point on, it’s impossible to know which, if any, of the original Crystals can be heard on their records.  Spector became enamored of mostly nameless back-up singers, overdubbing and laying down multiple tracks in his 2-minute masterpieces. 

The Crystals did have one more hit song before fading away: “And Then He Kissed Me,” with La La’s soaring lead vocal.  It hit its zenith at #6:

Darlene Love, however, rose from the ashes of flat fees and anonymous singing. 


Her career continues to this day.  She's starred on Broadway, in movies, and in a documentary - “20 Feet From Stardom,” which won her a Grammy. 

A high point for Darlene was being David Letterman’s favorite Christmas singer. 

From 1986 to 2014, Letterman had her on his show each year to sing his holiday favorite -- a song that Love had intro’ed in 1963: “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”. 


Here’s a montage of Darlene Love singing that plaintive Christmas song thru the years: