The Caravelles

A London-based female duo made up of Lois Wilkinson and Andrea Simpson reached the height of their recording activity between 1963 and 1968. Office colleagues by day, the pair first performed together at company gatherings and amateur talent contests. Prompted by fellow workers, they taped a demonstration version of “You Don’t Have to Be a Baby to Cry,” a song they had found on the flip side of Tennessee Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons.” Taking their name from the French airliner, they submitted the tape to BPR Records, which arranged a proper studio session. The resulting single scored a major success across the United Kingdom and was licensed to Smash Records for release in North America, where it climbed to a peak of number three on the Billboard chart dated December 21, 1963. Smash followed with additional singles, among them “Don’t Blow Your Cool” in 1964 and “Hey Mama, You’ve Been on My Mind” in 1967. Wilkinson eventually departed for a solo career under the name Lois Lane, married, and sang pop material on BBC broadcasts. Simpson kept the Caravelles name alive, appearing onstage with a succession of partners through the 1980s and 1990s.