(The Best Part of) Breakin' Up
However, according to Ronnie Spector, the group's lead singer, producer Phil Spector had already begun to somewhat lose enthusiasm for the Ronettes in early 1964. The group had recorded the Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich song "Chapel of Love" in early 1964, but Spector refused to release it. "It doesn't sound like a hit," he told the group, so The Dixie Cups recorded their version of the song, which peaked at number one on the Billboard top 100, a position never held by the Ronettes.
The Chordettes
The group organized in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1946. The original members of the group were Janet Ertel, Alice Mae Buschmann Spielvogel (replaced by Carol Buschmann, her sister-in-law, in 1947), Dorothy "Dottie" (Hummitzsch) Schwartz, and Jinny Osborn/Lockard (April 25, 1927 – May 19, 2003). In 1952 Lynn Evans replaced Schwartz and in 1953, Margie Needham replaced Osborn (who was having a baby), though Osborn later returned to the group. Nancy Overton also was a member of the group at a later time. Originally they sang folk music in the style of The Weavers, but eventually changed to a harmonizing style of the type known as barbershop harmony or close harmony. Part of this change seems to be influenced by Osborn's father.