At the age of thirteen, Dee Dee Sharp’s mother suffered a car accident, which spurred her to find a singing job to help support her family while her mother recovered from her injuries. This was only possible because of her grandmother’s blessing, given only after Sharp promised to keep up with her schooling. Sharp responded to an ad in the daily news for backup singers. Her first job was with Willa Ward Moultrie and was soon singing backup vocals for the likes of Lloyd Price, Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon and Jackie Wilson.
In 1962, she was signed by Cameo/Parkway and was christened Dee Dee Sharp by producers Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe. At the time, her brother called her “Dee” and since she sang in D sharp she was given this new identity. She produced a string of successful Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits: “Slow Twistin'” (with Chubby Checker) for which she was uncredited on the label, “Mashed Potato Time”, “Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes)”, “Ride!” and “Do the Bird”. Both “Mashed Potato Time” and “Ride!” each sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs. “Do the Bird” provided her only entry in the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at #46 in April 1963.
From 1962 to 1981 she appeared several times on American Bandstand, the ABC Television Network music-performance and dance series hosted by Dick Clark. She was also a regular feature on Clark’s Caravan of Stars tours. In 1965 Sharp performed Steady Steady on the Ed Sullivan show. In 1967, she married record producer and Philadelphia International co-founder Kenny Gamble and recorded under the name Dee Dee Sharp-Gamble until their divorce in 1980. Unhappy with record sales, she switched to Atco/Atlantic Records and later founded Gamble Records with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Over time she would also work with TSOP and Philadelphia International.
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