Patience and Prudence

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Patience and Prudence (last name McIntyre, but not used professionally) were two sisters who were a young singing act in the 1950s.

Their father, Mark McIntyre, was an orchestra leader, pianist, and songwriter. In the summer of 1956, he brought his daughters, 11-year-old Patience and 14-year-old Prudence, into the Liberty Records studio in Los Angeles. They made a demonstration recording of the song "Tonight You Belong to Me," which had been a hit for Gene Austin in 1927. Not only did Liberty sign them, but it immediately released a recording of the girls singing the song as a commercial single, (with the B-side "A Smile and a Ribbon") and by September the song reached #4 on the Billboard charts and #28 in the United Kingdom, and the biggest selling record put out by Liberty for two years. Another recording by the girls, "Gonna Get Along without Ya Now," was released the same year and reached #11 on the Billboard chart and #22 in the UK; its B-side, "The Money Tree," reached #73 in the U.S.

The two girls continued to record, but did not have any subsequent hit records.

"A Smile and a Ribbon" was used in the film Ghost World as the child song of protagonist Enid, impersonated by Thora Birch.

"A Smile and a Ribbon" was used as the accompaniment to television advertisements in the UK in the spring of 2006 and was very popular.

"Tonight You Belong To Me" was used by eBay in Germany as the soundbed for its television ad campaign in 2006.

"Tonight You Belong To Me" was used in the film "Birth" starring Nicole Kidman and Lauren Bacall.

"Tonight You Belong To Me" was covered by long-running rock band NRBQ on their LP Grooves In Orbit, released in 1983 on Bearsville Records. The song was sung by an adult male vocalist instead of two teenaged girl singers, but was arranged in a similar manner to the original.

"Gonna Get Along without Ya Now" was covered by Spanish singer Soraya Arnelas on her new album, Ochenta's, and has been chosen as the second single off the record, set for release in February 2007.