Biography
Shirley Gunter ranked among rock & roll’s earliest female trailblazers and opened doors for later women who fronted their own ensembles. Alongside Wanda Jackson, Etta James, LaVerne Baker, Esther Phillips, and Brenda Lee, she earned recognition as a genuine pioneer.
In spring 1954 the singer assembled her vocal ensemble, the Queens, in Los Angeles. Joe Bihari first noticed the group during an evening at the city’s Savoy Ballroom, where they shared the bill with B.B. King, Johnny Otis, the Platters, the Lamplighters, and Marvin & Johnny; the bill was hosted by local DJ Hunter Hancock, who aired his KRKD broadcasts directly from the window of Dolphin's of Hollywood on Central Avenue at Vernon.
Already renowned for running several leading West Coast R&B imprints—Modern, RPM, Flair, and Meteor—Bihari escorted Shirley and her singers into the studio and oversaw the recording of “Oop Shoop.” The single registered strongly throughout the region and was promptly covered by the Crewcuts, who had recently scored with their own version of the Chords’ “Sh-Boom.”
New York disc jockey Alan Freed soon began airing the 45 and presenting it as an exciting specimen of the emerging rock & roll sound. From late 1954 through 1955 the Queens crisscrossed the country, yet follow-up releases never matched the impact of their debut. Eventually Shirley stepped out alone, joining Young Jessie and the Flairs on tour and making solo appearances on Hunter Hancock’s television program. Before 1955 closed, the Queens disbanded.
Shirley continued as a solo artist and placed her career under the management of Buck Ram’s Personality Productions. At Ram’s suggestion she entered the Flairs, Modern’s vocal group, in May 1956, teaming with her brother Cornell Gunter, who would steer the act to its greatest success with “In Self Defense.” The reconstituted lineup maintained a relentless schedule of recording and live dates; in September 1956 the ensemble appeared on the label’s various-artists album Hollywood Rock & Roll Hop.
By the following year the four-year veteran sensed that the initial novelty of a woman leading a rock & roll act had begun to fade. She and the Flairs therefore went their separate ways, though not before she had helped clear a path for other women to front their own groups in the genre.
In spring 1954 the singer assembled her vocal ensemble, the Queens, in Los Angeles. Joe Bihari first noticed the group during an evening at the city’s Savoy Ballroom, where they shared the bill with B.B. King, Johnny Otis, the Platters, the Lamplighters, and Marvin & Johnny; the bill was hosted by local DJ Hunter Hancock, who aired his KRKD broadcasts directly from the window of Dolphin's of Hollywood on Central Avenue at Vernon.
Already renowned for running several leading West Coast R&B imprints—Modern, RPM, Flair, and Meteor—Bihari escorted Shirley and her singers into the studio and oversaw the recording of “Oop Shoop.” The single registered strongly throughout the region and was promptly covered by the Crewcuts, who had recently scored with their own version of the Chords’ “Sh-Boom.”
New York disc jockey Alan Freed soon began airing the 45 and presenting it as an exciting specimen of the emerging rock & roll sound. From late 1954 through 1955 the Queens crisscrossed the country, yet follow-up releases never matched the impact of their debut. Eventually Shirley stepped out alone, joining Young Jessie and the Flairs on tour and making solo appearances on Hunter Hancock’s television program. Before 1955 closed, the Queens disbanded.
Shirley continued as a solo artist and placed her career under the management of Buck Ram’s Personality Productions. At Ram’s suggestion she entered the Flairs, Modern’s vocal group, in May 1956, teaming with her brother Cornell Gunter, who would steer the act to its greatest success with “In Self Defense.” The reconstituted lineup maintained a relentless schedule of recording and live dates; in September 1956 the ensemble appeared on the label’s various-artists album Hollywood Rock & Roll Hop.
By the following year the four-year veteran sensed that the initial novelty of a woman leading a rock & roll act had begun to fade. She and the Flairs therefore went their separate ways, though not before she had helped clear a path for other women to front their own groups in the genre.
Albums
