Girl Group Chronicles: The Sherrys

Singer Joe Cook had been a fairly large presence in New Orleans and Philidephia for several years when he began training his daughters in the family business. Delthine and Dinell Cook originally formed a group with Tammi Montgomery (later to achieve fame as Tammi Terrell on Motown) but that combination soon fizzled when the sisters and Montgomery couldn’t get along very well. She was replaced by cousin Charlotte Butler and friend Honey Wylie.

The girl group found immediate back-up success with Bobby Rydell, but they wouldn’t have a hit of their own until one year later in 1962. Chubby Checker’s dance tune "The Twist" had opened the flood-gates for dozens of new dance crazes pooping up everyday. The Loco-motion, the Bristol Stomp, the Pony, the Swim, the Mashed Potatoes, and others found themselves all over the charts in the early to mid sixties. One song that proved to have some durability when it came to dancing was a creation called the Popeye. The dance actually became bigger than the Twist in New Orleans, and by 1962 many groups were cashing in with their own renditions.

The Sherrys and Cook rushed out "Pop Pop Popeye" in mid-1962. The song found its way to number 35 on the pop charts and number 25 on the R&B charts before the year was out. The group quickly pounded out "Slop Time" as the follow-up, but that song only managed a quick jump on the top 100 at number 97.

Madara and White, two former members of Danny and the Juniors had produced these songs, and they decided to try and squeeze out a dance-influenced album by the Sherrys before their fifteen minutes of fame were over. At The Hop With The Sherrys featured remakes of several bid dance hits, including the title track, the song Danny and the Juniors had originally hit with in 1958. The LP picked enough play around the world to have the Sherrys tour Europe before they dropped out of sight.

By mid-1963 the Sherrys were falling apart. Delthine and Charlotte decided to leave to get married. This loss coincided with the failure of the group’s last single "That Boy Of Mine" which marked a clear departure from their earlier style. Joe Cook continued to cash in on the Sherrys fame by forming a new trio to use the name. Those girls, however, had another idea, and they soon dumped Cook and found a new manager. Litigation forced the trio to stop using the name which Cook owned, and their bookings dwindled. Cook continues to perform, but the Sherrys have rarely resurfaced.