The Raindrops - Songs

ABOUT

The Raindrops were a short-lived New York City-based girl group-styled vocal ensemble formed in 1963 that consisted of the famed songwriting duo, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich (October 23, 1940 - August 26, 2009). As The Raindrops, they had several hits through 1964 that included "The Kind Of Boy You Can't Forget" (1963), which made the Billboard Hot 100 Top 20, and "What A Guy" (1963). The Raindrops were often depicted as a trio, with Greenwich's younger sister Laura making public appearances as the third member. The group also gave occasional live concerts, with other musicians sometimes filling in for either Barry or Greenwich.

Barry and Greenwich were childhood friends who met up again in 1959 while in college and started writing songs together. Barry began his music career in 1958 after signing with RCA and recording several singles. The following year, he became a member of the famous Brill Building group of songwriters. His earliest successes included "Tell Laura I Love Her," a teenage death song he co-wrote with Ben Raleigh which became a Top 10 hit for Ray Peterson in 1960. Greenwich began writing songs as a teen and recorded her first single in 1958 for RCA, "Silly Isn't It" b/w "Cha-Cha Charming" (credited to Ellie Gaye). Barry and Greenwich married in 1962, and Greenwich also got a job that year in the Brill Building both as a songwriter and as a session singer.

Barry and Greenwich's long list of songwriting credits includes such beloved oldies classics as The Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron" (1963), The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" (1963), The Dixie Cups' "Chapel Of Love" (1964), The Shangri-Las' "Leader Of The Pack" (1964), Manfred Mann's "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" (1964), Tommy James & The Shondells' "Hanky Panky" (1966), and Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep - Mountain High" (1966). The couple divorced in 1965 but continued their music partnership through the late 1960s.

Barry and Greenwich were inducted together into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1991 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

MERCHANDISE

Disclosure: The following links will take you to various online merchants outside of allbutforgottenoldies.net that sell recordings and other merchandise for the performing artist featured on this page. Please note that these are referral or affiliate links from which allbutforgottenoldies.net may receive, at no additional cost to you, a commission if you should make any purchases through them.

SONGS

To listen to a song clip, click any song title that has a speaker icon. This will take you to a list of links to CD and/or MP3 product pages from one or more online merchants that have sound samples.

The Raindrops

Jump to:
Previous Artist | Next Artist