Biography
Born Geraldine Anne Pasquale in Chicago on February 17, 1946, Dodie Stevens rose to prominence as a teenage performer thanks to the girl-group-era novelty hit “Pink Shoe Laces.” She spent most of her childhood in California’s San Gabriel Valley, where she studied both singing and dance. At eight she made her first record, “Merry-Go-Round and Round,” issued on Gold Star and credited to Geri Pace. Frequent appearances on local television programs followed, and one such performance on Strictly Informal brought her to the notice of Crystalette Records president Carl Burns, who gave the twelve-year-old her professional name. “Pink Shoe Laces,” her initial Crystalette single, reached number three on the Billboard charts in March 1959; its whimsical spoken verses helped distinguish the track and turned Stevens into a star. The same year Dot released her self-titled debut LP, and she shared the screen in Don Siegel’s Hound-Dog Man. Two further albums, Over the Rainbow (1960) and Pink Shoe Laces (1961), appeared along with a role in the 1961 film Convicts Four, yet she could not sustain her early success. At sixteen she retired from performing, married, and settled on a farm in Missouri. She resumed her career in 1966, later recording with Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’77 and touring as a backing vocalist for Mac Davis.
Albums
