The Teddy Bears (band)
Encyclopedia
- For the Swedish band, see TeddybearsTeddybearsTeddybears is a Swedish band formed in 1991, known for mixing pop, rock, hip-hop, electronica, reggae, punk and many other genres.-History:...
. For other uses, see Teddy bear (disambiguation)Teddy bear (disambiguation)-In music:*" Teddy Bear", 1957 number one hit for Elvis Presley*The Teddy Bears, Phil Spector's first band*Teddybears, a band from Stockholm, Sweden*The Teddybears, a Norwegian Rock'n'Roll band...
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The Teddy Bears was Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
's first vocal group, the only one of which he was a member.
History
Following graduation from Fairfax high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Phil Spector became obsessed with the song "To Know Him Is to Love Him
To Know Him Is to Love Him
"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone. It was first recorded by his first vocal group, the only one of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1958...
" he had written
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
for his group, The Teddy Bears. After a hasty audition at ERA Records who offered to finance a studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
session, The Teddy Bears - Phil Spector, Marshall Leib
Marshall Leib
Marshall Leib was one of the original members of The Teddy Bears. Leib and his high school friend, producer Phil Spector, formed the trio. Leib performed background harmony vocals and they made a black-and-white film of the song "To Know Him Is to Love Him", which became the number one song in...
, Harvey Goldstein (who left the group early on), lead singer Annette Kleinbard
Carol Connors (singer)
Carol Connors is a retired American singer-songwriter. She is perhaps best known as the lead vocalist on The Teddy Bears' single, "To Know Him Is To Love Him", which was written by her bandmate Phil Spector.-Biography:She was the lead singer of the pop vocal trio known as The Teddy Bears, which...
, and last minute recruit, drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Sandy Nelson
Sandy Nelson
Sandy Nelson is an American drummer. Nelson, one of the best-known rock drummers of the early 1960s, had several solo instrumental Top 40 hits and was a session drummer on many other well-known hits, and released over 30 albums.-Career:His first recording, with a band called The Renegades Sandy...
- recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
the song at Gold Star Studios at a cost of $75. Released on ERA's Dore label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
in August 1958, it took two months before "To Know Him Is to Love Him" began to get airplay
Airplay
* Airplay is the amount of time a song is played on the radio.It may also refer to:* AirPlay, an audio & video streaming technology from Apple Inc.* Airplay , Foster & Graydon music project from 1980* Citroën C1, Citroën C1 Airplay...
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The record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
stayed in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
for 23 weeks, in the Top Ten for 11 of those weeks, and commanded the #1 chart position for three weeks. At 19 years old, Spector had written, arranged
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, played, sung, and produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
the best-selling record in the country. Although subsequent releases by the Teddy Bears on the Imperial label were well-recorded soft pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, they did not sell, and within a year of the debut, Spector disbanded the group.
Spector was not the only Teddy Bear who went on to a career after the group broke up. Harvey Goldstein became a certified public accountant. Annette Kleinbard continued to write and record songs, and changed her name to Carol Connors
Carol Connors (singer)
Carol Connors is a retired American singer-songwriter. She is perhaps best known as the lead vocalist on The Teddy Bears' single, "To Know Him Is To Love Him", which was written by her bandmate Phil Spector.-Biography:She was the lead singer of the pop vocal trio known as The Teddy Bears, which...
. Among her credits are the Rip Chords hit "Hey Little Cobra" and the Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
nominated Rocky theme song "Gonna Fly Now
Gonna Fly Now
"Gonna Fly Now", also known as "Theme from Rocky", is the theme song from the movie Rocky, composed by Bill Conti with lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, and performed by DeEtta Little and Nelson Pigford...
," co-written with Ayn Robbins
Ayn Robbins
Ayn Robbins is a lyricist, poet, and painter. She is best known for co-writing with Carol Connors the lyrics for two Academy Award and Grammy nominated songs, "Gonna Fly Now" from Rocky and "Someone's Waiting for You" from The Rescuers .- References :...
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External links
- Teddy Bears biography & discography
- The Teddy Bears discography at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
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