Dick and Dee Dee
Dick and Dee Dee (or Dick and Deedee) is an American singer-songwriter pair popular in the early to mid-1960s. Founded by California classmates Richard Gosting and Mary Sperling.
They ultimately changed their names to Dick St. John and Dee Dee Sperling, respectively. They earned their first hit in 1961 when "The Mountain's High" reached Billboard 100 No. 2.
Touring with Beach Boys, they opened for the Rolling Stones during Stones' 1964 California tour. The pair had numerous successful songs until St. John and Sperling dissolved in 1969. St.
John's wife, Sandy, travelled in the 1980s. Dick St. John died at home on December 27, 2003. In 2008, Dee Dee Phelps began performing with actor/singer Michael Dunn as Dick and Dee Dee, performing in massive doo wops and rock and roll concerts across the US.
Founding Dick St. John and Dee Dee Sperling met at Paul Revere Junior High School, Los Angeles, California.
They attended various high schools, only to re-encounter after graduation. At the time, Sperling attended college and worked at See's Candy store, and St. John was looking for a job.
They realised they were singer-songwriters, and they began writing songs and singing vocal parts together. The duo wasn't romantically linked.
The High Mountain
The first release of Dick and Dee Dee 45 rpm ("I Want Someone" backed by "The Mountain's High") was on Lama Records, a small company started by their record producers, Wilder brothers and Don Ralke.
Four voice tracks created their recordings. Each sang two separate harmony lines. St. John sang the falsetto's highest and lowest parts, and Dee Dee sang the middle notes. Without telling the duo, the record producers changed Mary's name to Dee Dee, something the duo hadn't discovered until after release.
The song "The Mountain's High" became a smash hit in San Francisco.Leased to Liberty Records for national distributionand spent two weeks on Billboard Hot 100, No. 2.
The track reached No. 37 in the UK Singles Chart and sold over a million copies.Sperling left college with St. John on rock and roll tours in America, Europe, and Japan.
Touring Beach Boys, Rolling Stones
Early in their career in the U.S., Dick and Dee Dee performed at California high school assemblies alongside the future Beach Boys surf band.
With acts like Roy Orbison, the Righteous Brothers, Ike and Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, the Shirelles, The Dick Clark Caravan of Stars, Murray the K's Brooklyn Paramount Theater Review, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Kingsmen, Patti La Belle, the Crystals, the Drifters, Ben E. King, Jan and Dean, the Miracles, the Dovells, Johnny Tillotson, Jackie Wi.
Dick and Dee Dee were Rolling Stones' opening act when the band travelled to California for their first tour in 1964.
While visiting London in 1964, the duo recorded their vocals on three Rolling Stones tunes, including "Blue Turns to Grey" and "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind" by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
In an interview with BBC Radio broadcast in 2006, Dee Dee Phelps claimed that their singing was overdubbed on backing recordings made by Rolling Stones with vocals removed from Mick Jagger.
The tracks were formally sanctioned, largely at Rolling Stones's behest, Andrew Oldham, and published on Warner Bros. Records.
Singles later
The duo had eight more singles, with a total of five reaching the top 30. Their other singles included "Tell Me" (1962), "Young and in Love" (1963),
"Turn Around" in 1964 (written and sung by Harry Belafonte) and "Thou Shalt Not Steal" (their second-biggest hit, reaching No. 13 in 1965, which included a special picture sleeve issue promoting Triumph Motorcycles).
They also sang the song "Bupkiss" (also the episode's title) on The Dick Van Dyke Show. After their last hit, "Thou Shalt Not Steal,"they remained regulars on Jack Good's Shindig! TV show.
Dismantling, revivals
In 1965, Dee Dee married Bill Lee, duet manager (later executive television producer for Dick Clark Productions), and had one kid.
St. John and Sperling broke in 1969. He continued as a songwriter, co-writing "Yellow Balloon" for the same name group.
After her early seventies divorce, Dee Dee married Kane Phelps and moved to Big Sur for the remainder of that decade. They raised two further kids, moved back to Los Angeles in the 1980s, and are still married in 2011.
St. John recreated the Dick and Dee Dee act with his wife, Sandy. The two also authored a 1993 cookbook, The Rock and Roll Cookbook, featuring numerous rock and roll artists' recipes. St. John died on December 27, 2003 following a 63-year-old fall from his house roof.
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