The Dells - The (Bossa Nova) Bird (BSN Stereo Mix)

The Dells grew up in the south Chicago suburb of Harvey, where they attended Thornton Township High School. Starting as the El-Rays on Chicago-based Checker (Chess) in 1952, they shifted to Vee-Jay Records (also in Chicago) in 1955 when they changed their name to the Dells. They had an R&B hit in 1956 with “Oh What a Night,” and backed several artists on Vee-Jay recordings, but by 1962 they decided to go back to Chess due to lack of hits with Vee-Jay. Oddly, Chess placed them on their Argo subsidiary, which was mostly for blues and jazz. Their only successful single for Argo was November, 1962's “The (Bossa Nova) Bird,” which still stands as the strangest stylistic record for the group, as it sounds almost nothing like anything else they ever recorded. It's a straight ahead rocker, unlike their usual soul recordings, but buried in the sound is a drum track doing a fast bossa nova beat! Nevertheless, it was a top-20 hit in Chicago, although missing the top-40 or ignored everywhere else. Based solely on its popularity in Chicago, it reached #97 on Billboard, #123 on Cashbox, and #99 on Music Vendor charts. It made #19 on the WLS Silver Dollar Survey and #30 on the WJJD Top-40 list. Members at that time were Marvin Junior, Mickey McGill, Vernon Allison, and Opal Courtney. The Dells went back to Vee-Jay in 1963, only to return to Chess when Vee-Jay folded in 1966.