The group organized in
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1946. The original members of the group were Janet Ertel Bleyer (
née Buschmann), Alice Mae Buschmann Spielvogel, Dorothy "Dottie" (Hummitzsch) Schwartz and
Jinny Osborn (
née Virginia Cole). Originally they sang
folk music in the style of
The Weavers, but eventually changed to a harmonizing style of the type known as
barbershop harmony or
close harmony. After performing locally in Sheboygan, they won on
Arthur Godfrey's radio program
Talent Scouts in 1949. They held feature status on Godfrey's daily program, and in 1950 recorded their first LP, a collection of standards titled
Harmony Time for Columbia Records. Three more LPs followed. In 1953, Godfrey's music director and orchestra leader,
Archie Bleyer, founded
Cadence Records. He signed a number of Godfrey regulars and former regulars, including the Chordettes, who had a number of hit records for Cadence. The Chordettes had released a couple of singles with Arthur Godfrey on Columbia in 1950–51 but did not cut a solo single until their breakout hit, "Mr. Sandman", released in late 1954 and which went on to become a number one 1955 hit for seven weeks. Archie Bleyer himself was on that record along with the group; Bleyer stripped down the sound to highlight the women's voices. They also reached number two with 1958's "
Lollipop", another million album seller, and a number 2 on the charts, also charted with a
vocal version of the themes from Disney's
Zorro (U.S. number 17) (1958) and the film
Never on Sunday (U.S. number 13) (1961). Other hits for the group included "Eddie My Love" (U.S. number 14) (a cover of a song by doo-wop group The Teen Queens), "Born to Be With You" (U.S. number 5), "Lay Down Your Arms" in 1956, and "
Just Between You and Me" (U.S. number 8) in 1957. Their cover of "The White Rose Of Athens" reached the Australian Top 15 in May, 1962. The US single "In The Deep Blue Sea" was a one-week Music Vendor entry four months later (number 128). The Chordettes appeared on
American Bandstand on August 5, 1957, the first episode of that show to be broadcast nationally on the
ABC Television Network. The Chordettes also appeared on
American Bandstand on February 22, 1958, and again on April 26, 1958. In 1961, Jinny Osborn again left the group. Unable to find a satisfactory replacement, the group disbanded in the mid-1960s. ==Awards and recognition==