The Clinger Sisters, frequently known as the Clingers, maintained an active presence in music across nearly forty years. Across that span the four siblings explored multiple styles, beginning with the close-harmony pop associated with the King Sisters and the McGuire Sisters, shifting into country, experimenting briefly with garage punk and mainstream rock, and ultimately concentrating on Christian material, all while pausing periodically to marry and raise children. Daughters of parents who possessed substantial musical experience themselves, Peggy, Patsy, Debra, and Leesa Clinger each began singing almost immediately after learning to walk. They formed a group while still in grade school and secured an early television spot alongside Andy Williams, an appearance that opened the door to three seasons as regulars on Danny Kaye’s network program and to one joint recording, Danny Kaye and the Clinger Sisters (presented by “Your Rambler Dealer”).
Throughout the mid-to-late 1960s the sisters maintained a crowded schedule of television work that included the Smothers Brothers Show, the Glen Campbell Good Time Hour, two Bob Hope specials, and many additional variety programs, achieving a level of visibility comparable to that enjoyed by the Osmonds in their initial years with Andy Williams. During the same period they contributed backing vocals to numerous sessions, among them tracks by Mason Williams and assorted other artists. In 1969 the group sought a sharper sonic identity and visual overhaul under the guidance of producers Kim Fowley and Michael Lloyd. Columbia Records issued the resulting single under the name “The Clingers,” a high-energy garage-punk rendition of the Vanda & Young Easybeats composition “Gonna Have a Good Time.” Although the track failed to register on the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100, it shared sonic territory with recordings such as the Pleasure Seekers’ “What a Way to Die” and prefigured the approach later taken by acts as stylistically distant as the Pandoras and the Bangles; garage-punk collectors have periodically rediscovered the three-minute performance ever since.
The Clinger Sisters appeared at major venues including the London Palladium, the Hollywood Bowl, and Caesar’s Palace while supporting Andy Williams, Anthony Newley, and Tom Jones, and they also shared bills with Bill Cosby during his run of performances at the Hilton. Eventually each sister turned toward separate professional paths. Peggy Clinger established herself as a songwriter whose material was recorded by artists that included Cher (“I Hate to Sleep Alone”). Debra Clinger pursued acting, co-starring with Priscilla Barnes in the 1978 series The American Girls and with Michael J. Fox in the feature Midnight Madness. Leesa Clinger built a solo career that centered on lucrative commercial vocal work.
In the 1990s Patsy, Debra, and Leesa Clinger regrouped as the Clinger Sisters after years devoted to marriage and family. Patsy Clinger now authors most of the trio’s original songs, which are written in a contemporary Christian style. Their latest project is the album The Fountain.
