The Chordettes
| Company type | Vocal group |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1946 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States |
| Founder | Janet Ertel Bleyer, Alice Mae Buschmann Spielvogel, Dorothy "Dottie" Schwartz, Jinny Osborn |
| Defunct | 1961 (disbanded by mid-1960s) |
| Headquarters | Sheboygan , United States |
Area served | United States |
| Products | Traditional pop music recordings |
Number of employees | 4 (members of the vocal quartet) |
The Chordettes were a female vocal quartet from the United States, known primarily for performing traditional pop music. Their most notable successes came in the 1950s with the million-selling singles "Mr. Sandman" and "Lollipop".
Career
Originating in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1946, the founding members were Janet Ertel Bleyer (born Buschmann), Alice Mae Buschmann Spielvogel, Dorothy "Dottie" Schwartz, and Jinny Osborn (born Lockard). Initially rooted in folk tunes, the group transitioned into barbershop and close harmony styles.
Following numerous local gigs, they gained wider recognition by winning on Arthur Godfrey's radio show Talent Scouts in 1949, which led to regular appearances on his daily broadcast. Their debut album, Harmony Time, was released through Columbia Records in 1950, followed by three additional LPs.
In 1953, Archie Bleyer—Godfrey’s music director—established Cadence Records and signed the Chordettes, resulting in a series of chart-topping hits. Beginning January 1954, they became frequent performers on CBS-TV's Robert Q. Lewis Show.
Their solo breakthrough came with "Mr. Sandman" in 1954, which dominated the charts for seven weeks in 1955 and achieved gold disc status after selling over a million copies. Bleyer’s production style highlighted their vocal harmonies by keeping arrangements minimalistic. The group also scored a number two hit with "Lollipop" in 1958, another single surpassing one million sales. Other notable chart entries included vocal renditions of themes from Disney’s Zorro (peaking at number 17 in the U.S.) and the film Never on Sunday (reaching number 13).
Additional successful singles were "Eddie My Love" (U.S. number 14), "Born to Be With You" (U.S. number 5), "Lay Down Your Arms" (1956), and "Just Between You and Me" (U.S. number 8) released in 1957. Their version of "The White Rose Of Athens" attained Top 15 status in Australia in 1962.
The Chordettes made several appearances on American Bandstand, including its inaugural nationwide broadcast on ABC Television Network in August 1957.
Jinny Osborn departed from the ensemble in 1961; the group disbanded by the mid-1960s after failing to find an adequate replacement.
Awards and recognition
In 2001, the ensemble was honored with induction into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
Deaths
Alice Mae Buschmann Spielvogel passed away in 1981 at age 55.
Janet Ertel Bleyer died on November 22, 1988, aged 75.
Jinny Osborn (later known as Jinny Janis) died at age 76 in 2003.
Nancy Overton succumbed to esophageal cancer on April 5, 2009, at age 83.
Dorothy "Dottie" (Hummitzsch) Schwartz died on April 4, 2016, aged 89.
Lynn Evans Mand passed away on February 6, 2020, at age 95.
Carol Buschmann died in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on September 30, 2023, aged 96.
Marjorie “Margie” Needham Latzko—the last surviving member—died at age 96 on August 22, 2025, in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Original
- Janet Ertel (1946–1963; Nancy Overton substituted for touring starting around 1959)
- Alice Mae Buschmann Spielvogel (1946–1947)
- Dorothy "Dottie" (Hummitzsch) Schwartz (1946–1952)
- Jinny Osborn/Lockard (1946–1953, returned from 1957–1961)
Additional
- Carol Buschmann (1947–1963)
- Lynn Evans (née Hargate) (1953–1963)
- Margie Needham (1953–1957)
- Nancy Overton (1957–1963; toured replacing Janet Ertel around 1959)
Albums
| Year | Album | US BB |
Record Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Harmony Time | 3 | Columbia |
| 1951 | Harmony Time Volume II | — | |
| 1952 | Harmony Encores | — | |
| 1953 | The Chordettes Sing Your Requests | — | |
| 1955 | The Chordettes | — | |
| Listen | — | ||
| Close Harmony | — | Cadence | |
| 1957 | The Chordettes | — | |
| 1959 | Drifting and Dreaming | — | Harmony |
| 1962 | Never on Sunday | — | Cadence |
Singles
| Year | Single (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated |
Chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B |
US A/C |
CAN CHUM |
UK | |||
| 1950 | "Down by the Old Mill Stream" (featuring Arthur Godfrey) | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| "If It Wasn't for Your Father" (with Arthur Godfrey) b/w "Gone Fishin'" (non-album track) |
— | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Time Out for Tears" (featuring Bill Lawrence) b/w "Can't Seem to Laugh Anymore" (non-album track) |
— | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Hawaii" (with Arthur Godfrey) b/w "Driftin' Down the Dreamy Ol' Ohio" (non-album track) |
— | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1951 | "Candy & Cake" (with Arthur Godfrey) |
— | — | — | — | — | |
| 1954 | "Mr. Sandman" b/w "I Don't Wanna See You Cryin'" (non-album track) |
1 | — | — | — | 11 | The Chordettes |
| 1955 | "Lonely Lips" b/w "The Dudelsack Song" (non-album track) |
— | — | — | — | — | All the Very Best of the Chordettes |
| "Humming Bird" b/w "I Told a Lie" (non-album track) |
— | — | — | — | — | The Chordettes | |
See also
- List of vocal groups
- List of artists who reached number one in the United States
- List of acts who appeared on American Bandstand
External links
- Photograph and names of The Chordettes
- Vocal Group Hall of Fame entry for 'The Chordettes'
- The Chordettes featured on the Primarily A Cappella website
- Comprehensive Official Covers Discography of The Chordettes
- Carol Buschmann interview in the NAMM Oral History Program (2010)
- Dorothy Schwartz interview at the NAMM Oral History Library (2010)
- Archival collection of The Chordettes' musical arrangements, 1938–1995 held by the Library of Congress
- Articles with short description
- Apex Records artists
- Cadence Records artists
- Vocal quartets
- Barbershop quartets
- Doo-wop groups
- Traditional pop music singers
- American pop music groups
- American girl groups
- Sheboygan, Wisconsin
- Musical groups from Wisconsin
- Musical groups established in 1946
- Musical groups disbanded in 1961
- Columbia Records artists
- 1946 establishments in Wisconsin
- 1961 disestablishments in Wisconsin
- Musical groups disestablished in 1961