The Orlons

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The Orlons were an R&B group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that formed in 1960.

The quartet consisted of lead singer Rosetta Hightower, Shirley Brickley, Marlena Davis, and Stephen Caldwell.

Before they became the Orlons, they were an all-girl quintet called Audrey and the Teenettes. They formed in the late 1950s in junior high school and consisted of Hightower, Davis, and three Brickley sisters: Shirley, Jean, and Audrey. However, after the Brickleys' mother did not permit 13-year-old Audrey to sing in certain clubs with the group, she and Jean quit, making the group a trio.

In high school, the group's three remaining members discovered fellow student Stephen Caldwell, who was lead singer of a local group called the Romeos. Impressed by him, they invited him to join the group in 1960 and named themselves the Orlons as a tongue-in-cheek nod to the friendly rivalry they had with a popular group at their high school, the Cashmeres.^[1] (Orlon was a synthetic fiber widely used around that time.)

A high school friend, Dovells lead singer Len Barry, encouraged them to audition for Cameo Records at the turn of the decade. The group took his advice in the fall of 1961, but were rejected at first, although the label eventually signed the group after two more auditions. Cameo executive Dave Appell appointed Hightower as the lead singer and began writing songs for them.

Before rising to fame with their first national hit, "The Wah-Watusi," the group provided backup vocals for Dee Dee Sharp's hits "Mashed Potato Time" and "Gravy (for My Mashed Potatoes)." They recorded their own versions of those songs for their debut album The Wah-Watusi.

Davis and Caldwell quit the group in 1964 and were replaced by Audrey Brickley, Shirley's sister. By then, the group's popularity had waned due to the British Invasion. They continued to perform into the late 1960s with very little success. They disbanded in 1968 after Hightower married an English musician and moved to England with him.

In later years, Davis married and found work as an executive secretary, while Caldwell became president of the bus drivers' union in Philadelphia and served on the Philadelphia Board of Education for 25 years. In 1988, Caldwell and Davis re-formed the group with two new members and performed live on the oldies circuits until Davis's death in 1993.

On October 13, 1977, Shirley was shot to death by an intruder in her home in Philadelphia. Davis lost a battle with lung cancer on February 27, 1993 (age 48). Audrey died of acute respiratory distress syndrome on July 3, 2005 (age 58).