Paper Dolls (band)

The Paper Dolls were a late 1960s British female vocal trio, from Northampton, comprising lead vocalist Susie 'Tiger' Mathis, Pauline 'Spyder' Bennett and Sue 'Copper' Marshall.

They appeared some years before similar recording acts such as Bananarama and Atomic Kitten became commonplace. Pre - dating the Spice Girls, each member of the group had a nickname.

Career

"Something Here in My Heart"

Signed to Pye Records, Paper Dolls had one solitary success. The song, "Something Here in My Heart (Keeps A Tellin’ Me No)", which was their debut single, and was written by Tony Macaulay and John Macleod, reached Number 11 in the UK Singles Chart in 1968.<ref name="British" Hit Singles & Albums">Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 416. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. </ref> The enduring image of the Paper Dolls, as seen, for example, on BBC Television's Top of the Pops, was inescapably that of three young women in miniskirts, the popularity and brevity of which were at their height at the time. Moreover, the name of the group was itself suggestive of "dolly birds", a rather impersonal term which, in the 1970s, journalist Christopher Booker associated with "girls [being] transformed into throwaway plastic objects".^[1]

Follow-up releases

Several follow-ups, notably "My Life (Is In Your Hands)" and "Someday", failed to chart. Their greatest disappointment came when their producers arranged for them to record another Macaulay co-composition "Build Me Up Buttercup" later that year. Due to a misunderstanding they never turned up for the session, and instead the song was given to The Foundations, whose version became a transatlantic hit. The flip side of "Someday", entitled "Any Old Time (You're Lonely and Sad)" was also recorded by The Foundations, for whom it charted in the UK.

The Paper Dolls released a single album, Paper Dolls House in 1968, which was re-issued with bonus tracks on CD in 2001. The first release included a cover of The Beach Boys' song "Darlin'"; the later version substituted a cover of the Paul McCartney song "Step Inside Love".

In 1970 they signed to RCA. But two further singles, a cover of The Angels' "My Boyfriend's Back" and the original song "Remember December" (featuring backing vocals by Brian Connolly – later of Sweet) did not chart, and the trio split up. Thus they remain as one-hit wonders.

After the split

• In 1978, billed as 'Tiger Sue', Mathis released a solo single of the Jackie DeShannon penned song, "When You Walk in the Room".^[2]
• Mathis had another moment of glory in 1980 as vocal coach for the St Winifred's School Choir, whose single "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma" was a Christmas number one in 1980.
• Mathis became a local radio presenter, appearing on Piccadilly Radio and BBC Radio Manchester.
• Also, Mathis went on to become a fundraising co-ordinator for the "Kirsty Appeal" on behalf of the Francis House Children's Hospice, in Didsbury, Manchester, and was involved with various other cancer charities. Ironically, she was diagnosed with breast cancer herself, early in 2004.^[3]

Personnel

• Tiger — born Susanne Mathis, 4 April 1947, South London.
• Copper — born Susan Marshall, 21 April 1948, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire.
• Spyder — born Pauline Bennett, 28 July 1948, Bletchley, Buckinghamshire.

References

External links

• Paper Dolls biography at Allmusic website
• Paper Dolls single discography at the 45-rpm website