The Starlets facts for kids

The Starlets were a cool American girl group from Chicago, Illinois. They started making music in 1961.

They met a songwriter named Bernice Williams who wrote a song for them called "Better Tell Him No." This song came out on Pam Records and became a hit! It reached number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart. The Starlets even got to tour with famous singers like Jackie Wilson, Mary Wells, and Gladys Knight & the Pips. Their next song, "My Last Cry," wasn't as popular.

A Hit Song and a Big Problem

In December 1961, The Starlets were performing in Philadelphia. There, the owner of Newtown Records, Harold Robinson, asked them to record a song called "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman."

The BlueBelles Controversy

Newtown Records released "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" but used a different name for the group: "The BlueBelles." This was done to avoid problems with Pam Records, their first record company. When "Junkman" became a huge hit, even bigger than "Better Tell Him No," something tricky happened. Harold Robinson put together a different group of local singers from Philadelphia. This new group pretended to be "The BlueBelles" and sang the hit song on TV. One of the singers in this second group was Patti LaBelle.

Taking Action: The Lawsuit

The Starlets were not happy about this! They sued Harold Robinson because another group was pretending to be them and performing their hit song. In the end, The Starlets won their case. Each member of the original Starlets group received $5,000 as a settlement.

The End of The Starlets

After the lawsuit, The Starlets moved to a new record company called Okeh Records. They released one more song in 1962, called "You Belong to Me." For this song, they used the name "Dynetta and the Starlets." Not long after, the group broke up.

Meet The Starlets Members

• Jane Hall
• Maxine Edwards
• Mickey McKinney
• Jeannette Miles
• Liz Walker (also known as Dynetta Boone)