Episode 23–Lady Marmalade

Clockwise from top: Sarah Dash, Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, Cindy Birdsong In the 1960s there was a doo-wop girl group called the Blue Belles (sometimes known as The Bluebelles, or Patti and the Bluebelles). After Cindy Birdsong left the group in 1967 to become a Supreme, the group reinvented themselves and became Labelle. In the early 1970s they were a funk-rock group, recording covers of The Rolling Stones, Carole King and all kinds of other stuff that no other similarly-composed group would even consider. But another couple of years went by and they reinvented themselves again, embracing the the Glam Rock look and sound, and it was during that era that they scored their biggest hit, a proto-disco-funk track called "Lady Marmalade", which went to Number One on the Billboard Chart in March of 1975. Over the years since then, Labelle's influence can still be heard in the sounds of groups like En Vogue, the Pussycat Dolls, and Destiny's Child. Their fearlessness has inspired at least a couple of generations of pop musicians, and even their non-hit tracks are regularly covered. "Lady Marmalade" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003, and I'll bet you didn't even know that "Grammy Hall of Fame" was even a thing. If your podcast catcher hasn't figured it out yet, you can always just click on the player below to listen right here (or download it, if that's your thing) while you admire those feathery outfits. And, of course, it would be a great birthday present to me if you took the time to give the show a positive rating in whatever software you use to listen to podcasts.