Biography
In the landscape of doo wop, Jackie & the Starlites stood out as one more ensemble limited to a solitary chart entry when they recorded "Valerie" for Bobby Robinson's Fury label in 1960, a release that arrived at the close of the style's commercial peak and may rank among the first such numbers to register later as a period piece. The single registered only a faint national presence yet quickly earned status as a standard within circles of doo wop performers.
Jackie La Rue launched his singing career in the early '50s alongside the Five Wings, issuing two singles on King Records in 1955 before that unit disbanded the same year. A pair of its members later formed the Dubs, while La Rue stayed out of music until the Starlites took shape in 1960, a lineup that included Jackie Rue, as he was then billed, along with Alton Thomas, John Felix, and Billy Montgomery. As the focal point, Rue distinguished himself through an accomplished dramatic approach whose simulated weeping registered as entirely genuine to listeners and viewers alike. The sides that followed the breakthrough mixed soul touches with brisk ballads yet never matched the resonance of "Valerie." Fury Records reached insolvency by 1963, though the group had already shifted to Mascot Records in 1962 before dissolving sometime in the mid-'60s. Jackie Rue died from a drug overdose sometime in the late '60s or early '70s.
Jackie La Rue launched his singing career in the early '50s alongside the Five Wings, issuing two singles on King Records in 1955 before that unit disbanded the same year. A pair of its members later formed the Dubs, while La Rue stayed out of music until the Starlites took shape in 1960, a lineup that included Jackie Rue, as he was then billed, along with Alton Thomas, John Felix, and Billy Montgomery. As the focal point, Rue distinguished himself through an accomplished dramatic approach whose simulated weeping registered as entirely genuine to listeners and viewers alike. The sides that followed the breakthrough mixed soul touches with brisk ballads yet never matched the resonance of "Valerie." Fury Records reached insolvency by 1963, though the group had already shifted to Mascot Records in 1962 before dissolving sometime in the mid-'60s. Jackie Rue died from a drug overdose sometime in the late '60s or early '70s.