The Crystals

The Crystals
Background information
Origin	New York City, United States
Genres	Pop, R&B
Years active	1961–1967; 1971-present
Labels	Philles Records
Members	Dolores "Dee Dee" Kenniebrew Patricia Pritchett-Lewis Melissa Antoinette "MelSoulTree" Grant
Past member(s)	Barbara Alston Mary Thomas Myrna Girard Patricia "Patsy" Wright Dolores "LaLa" Brooks Frances Collins Darlene Love

The Crystals are a New York City based musical group. They were one of the defining acts during the girl group era of the 1960s.

They formed in 1961 with five girls: Barbara Alston, Mary Thomas, Dolores "Dee Dee" Kenniebrew, Myrna Giraud and Patricia "Patsy" Wright. The group were later joined by Darlene Love for a short time. Dee Dee Kenniebrew still performs in the group, now a trio.

Their 1961–1964 chart hits, included "There's No Other (Like My Baby)", "Uptown", "He's Sure the Boy I Love", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)" and "Then He Kissed Me". Phil Spector was their producer from 1962.

One of their numbers in 1962, by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, was "He Hit Me (and It Felt Like a Kiss)". It was based on their babysitter's account. It was withdrawn after complaints to radio stations over the lyrics.^[1]

The recordings had three successive female lead singers, and were all produced by Phil Spector. The latter three songs were originally ranked #267,^[2] #114, and #493 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[3] However, two songs were dropped from the magazine's 2010 update.^[4]

1. ↑ AllMusic: The Crystals
2. ↑ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 2011-09-14.
3. ↑ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. Archived from the original on 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
4. ↑ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2012-12-13.