CSOTD 12/18/19: A confounding girl-group Christmas

When I chose my Christmas Song of the Day for December 18, a 1964 single that sounds as if it could have been recorded by Motown in the pre-assembly line days, I had no idea how hard it would be to find any information on the group that blessed us with “Christmas Is the Time to Be with Your Baby,” which was released on the Columbia label.

Their name is The Orchids, and even as I write this, I’m still confused.

Here’s what I do know: They were a New York-based black quintet, thus not to be confused with a white British female trio also known as The Orchids. A photo from one of their first, if not their first, sessions exists; they are pictured with Terry Melcher, Doris Day’s son and soon to become a prominent producer, and Bobby Darin, who by 1963 was on the Capitol label. I’ve never seen an authoritative list of the five women who comprised The Orchids.

They had three singles for Columbia in 1963 and 1964, including “Christmas Is the Time to Be with Your Baby,” and one for Roulette in 1965 before vanishing into even greater obscurity.

But there may be more to the story. According to girl-group historian John Clemente, the Orchids actually recorded a couple tracks in 1964 that were released with the names of other girl groups!

This wasn’t completely unheard of in this era; the 1962 hit song “I Sold My Heart to the Junkman,” credited to The Blue-Bells (Patti LaBelle’s early girl group), was actually by a group called The Starlets, and another hit the same year, “He’s a Rebel” by the Crystals, was actually recorded by Darlene Love with the Blossoms. There are dozens more less prominent examples, and even today, some of this chicanery remains undiscovered.

Clemente’s research claims that “Please Be My Boyfriend,” a 1964 “Crystals” recording produced by Phil Spector in New York, was actually The Orchids. So was “Some of Your Lovin’,” a 1964 single on Fontana that was credited to The Honey Bees, which on a previous 45 was a pseudonym for The Cookies of “Chains” fame. Confused yet? And who knows, The Orchids may have pretended to be other girl groups in the same era.

To add to the fun, “Christmas Is the Time to Be with Your Baby” was written by Joey Brooks, then an aspiring singer, songwriter, and jingle writer. Years later, under the name Joe Brooks, he wrote “You Light Up My Life,” the biggest #1 hit of the 1970s. His misdeeds, both at the time and later, are beyond the scope of this entry.

I first heard this on a budget Sony Music Special Products various-artists CD called Reindeer Rock, which may be its only U.S. CD appearance. Once you get past the intrigue and mystery, this is a fine record.