American musical girl group of the 1960s
The Dixie Cups (formerly known as The Meltones) are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for a string of hits including their singles "Chapel of Love", "People Say", and "Iko Iko".
Career
The group hit the top of the charts in 1964 with "Chapel of Love," a song that Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich had originally written for The Ronettes.[1] The trio consisted of sisters Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee Hawkins, plus their cousin Joan Marie Johnson, from New Orleans.[2] They first sang together in grade school. Originally, they were to be called Little Miss and the Muffets, but were named the Dixie Cups just prior to their first release.[3]
In 1963, the trio decided to pursue a professional career in music and began singing locally as the Meltones.[4] Within a year Joe Jones, a successful singer in his own right with the Top Five 1960 single "You Talk Too Much", became their manager.[5] After working with them for five months, Jones took them to New York City, where record producers/songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller signed them to their new Red Bird Records label.[1]
The Dixie Cups debut single was the release, "Chapel of Love," which became their biggest hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in June 1964. "Chapel of Love" sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.[6] In 1987, the song "Chapel of Love" appeared on the Full Metal Jacket soundtrack and in the 1991 film Father of the Bride.[7] The hit single by The Dixie Cups was ranked No. 279 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[5] The group also had several other hits, including "People Say" (No. 12, 1964), "You Should Have Seen the Way He Looked at Me" (No. 39, 1964), "Little Bell" (No. 51, 1965), and "Iko Iko" (No. 20, 1965).[8]
"Iko Iko", a New Orleans traditional song, was recorded in 1964; however, it was released as a single early in 1965.[2] Barbara Hawkins had heard her grandmother sing the song, first recorded in 1953 as "Jock-a-Mo" by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford. Barbara Hawkins stated that "We were just clowning around with it during a session using drumsticks on ashtrays. We didn't realize that Jerry and Mike had the tapes running". Leiber and Stoller overdubbed a bassline and percussion, and released it. It was The Dixie Cups' fifth and final hit.[9]
In 1965, the Dixie Cups moved to the ABC-Paramount record label before a recording hiatus in 1966 temporarily halted their careers.[4] In 1974, the Hawkins sisters moved from New York to New Orleans, where they both began successful modelling careers.[4] Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee also worked as makeup artists. Joan Johnson retired from the group, unable to manage the stress of traveling. The Dixie Cups continued to tour as a trio with another New Orleans singer, Beverly Brown, replacing Joan Johnson who became a Jehovah's Witness and left her music career.[3] Brown, who had recorded two solo discs in the early 1960s, stayed as the third member until the early 1980s when she became ill and was replaced by Dale Mickle. The Dixie Cups continue to perform and make personal appearances. The current lineup consists of the Hawkins sisters (until Rosa Lee's death in 2022) along with Athelgra Neville, sister of the singing Neville Brothers.
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina swept through Louisiana, flooding much of New Orleans and displacing Barbara and Rosa Hawkins, who subsequently relocated to Florida. Joan Johnson relocated to Texas. Two years later, in April 2007, the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame honored The Dixie Cups as inductees for their contributions to Louisiana music.
Joan Marie Johnson died in New Orleans of congestive heart failure on October 3, 2016, at the age of 72.[10] Rosa Lee Hawkins died from surgical complications on January 11, 2022, at the age of 76.[11]
