"Can't Sing Yets"

Can you imagine starting out as the Casinyets, aka "Can't Sing Yets" and becoming a music movement's early champs? It happened to an all-girls group who actually lived it. They reigned from Inkster, Michigan coming in fourth in a local talent contest where only the top three were to move on to potential recording contracts but someone recognized their singing abilities and did not let it end there. 

[Be sure to check out the hits on this day through the decades, performances on American Bandstand and today's music trivia...keep scrolling!]

Today in Music History: December 11, 1961

Welcome into the spotlight...

The Marvelettes: all-girl "doo-wop" singing group who recorded Motown's first number one single, "Please, Mr. Postman", 1961

While the Marvelettes didn't cut as many monster smashes as most of their Motown peers after the early '60s, they did periodically surface with classic hits like "Too Many Fish in the Sea," "Don't Mess With Bill," and "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game." There were also plenty of fine minor hits and misses, like 1965's "I'll Keep Holding On," which is just as memorable as the well-known Motown chart-toppers of the era. The group quietly disbanded in the early '70s after several years without a major hit. 

"Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes (1961)

1961 The Marvelettes went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Please Mr Postman'. The session musicians on the track included 22 year old Marvin Gaye on drums. The song gave The Carpenters a US No.1 and UK No.2 single in 1975.

More No.1s on this day, December 11th...

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  1961 Elvis Presley started a 20-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Blue Hawaii', his seventh US No.1 album.

• 1961 The Marvelettes went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Please Mr Postman'. The session musicians on the track included 22 year old Marvin Gaye on drums. The song gave the Carpenters a US No.1 and UK No.2 single in 1975.

• 1968 Liverpool folk group The Scaffold were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Lily The Pink', this year's Christmas No.1. 'Lily the Pink' was a new version of an older folk song entitled 'The Ballad of Lydia Pinkham', and a similar version was the unofficial regimental song of the Royal Tank Corps, at the end of World War II.

• 1971 UK comedian Benny Hill was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the innuendo-laden novelty song, 'Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)', giving Hill his only No.1 and the Christmas No.1 hit of 1971. The song was originally written in 1955 as the introduction to an unfilmed screenplay about Hill's milkman experiences.

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  1982 Singer, TV actress and dancer Toni Basil went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Mickey', making her a US one hit wonder. Also a No.2 hit in the UK, the song was written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn as 'Kitty', and was first recorded by UK group Racey during 1979. 

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  1983 The Flying Pickets were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of the Yazoo song 'Only You'. Also this years Christmas No.1 and the first a cappella chart-topper in the UK.

  1993 Janet Jackson started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Again', her 7th US No.1, a No.6 hit in the UK. This was the closing song From the film Poetic Justice, which also starred Jackson. It received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song but was beaten by Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia."

 

Albums...

1989 The Recording Industry Association of America certified four Led Zeppelin albums as multi-platinum: ‘Presence’ (2 million), ‘Led Zeppelin’ (4 million), ‘Physical Graffiti’ (4 million) and ‘In Through The Out Door’ (5 million).

December 11 performances in
Dick Clark's American Bandstand History

1959 Johnny Tillotson performed "Why Do I Love You So".

1961 Jimmy Elledge performed "Funny How the Time Slips Away".

 1976 Jermaine Jackson performed "Let's Be Young Tonight".

1982 Kim Carnes performed "Does It Make You Remember?" 

1982 The Little River Band performed "The Other Guy".

1993 Prince placed several ads in U.S. publications. The ad featured his shadowed face with the plea "Eligible bachelor seeks the most beautiful girl in the world to spend holidays with."

And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...