Micki Harris biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Singer. Addie "Micki" Harris was born January 22, 1940, in Passaic, New Jersey. Harris attended Passaic High School, where she became friends with Shirley Alston Reeves, Beverly Lee and Doris Jackson. The four girls soon found they were not only inseparable as friends but also musically cohesive. Encouraged by friends to develop their talent, the girls formed a singing group patterned after The Chantels, calling themselves The Poquellos (Spanish for "little birds"). Soon the girls began writing and rehearsing their own songs with Reeves as the lead singer.

The Poquellos wrote and performed their first song, "I Met Him on a Sunday," a cappella at a high school talent show, winning huge applause from their peers. One friend in particular loved the group so much that she convinced the girls to audition for her mother, Florence Greenberg, the head of a small record label. Greenberg was so impressed with the girls' raw talent and potential that she quickly signed on as their manager, changing their stage name from The Poquellos to The Shirelles (inspired by the lead singer's first name and The Chantels).

The first single released by Harris and her three school friends was the very first song they ever wrote and performed, "I Met Him on a Sunday." Professionally recorded and licensed under Decca Records in 1958, the song soon hit the radio and cracked the National Top 50. After two subsequent singles flopped, Decca passed on releasing any more recordings from the group and the girls were signed to Greenberg's new label, Scepter Records. Greenberg brought in a more imaginative producer named Luther Dixon to revamp the Shirelles' style. Luther's string-heavy compositions helped create the group's signature sound, which combined elements of pop and doo-wop.

Career Breakthrough

Newly released tracks in 1960 — songs such as "Dedicated to the One I Love" and "Tonight's the Night" — failed to make much of an impact on the pop charts but found a bit of success in the R&B format. Later in 1960, however, Harris and her band mates struck gold with "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. The smash single hit No. 1 on the pop charts, making the Shirelles the first all-female group of the rock era ever to hit the top spot; the song also shot to No. 1 on the British pop charts in 1961.

The mammoth success of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" prompted a rerelease of "Dedicated to the One I Love," which broke into the Top 5 on both the American pop and R&B charts in 1961. A pair of additional singles, "Mama Said" and "Big John," did the same later in the same year.