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Sue and Sunny

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Sue and Sunny were a vocal duo and session singers in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Born Yvonne ('Sue') and Heather ('Sunny') Wheatman in Madras, India they made their recording debut together in 1963 under the name The Myrtelles with their version of Lesley Gore’s 'Just Let Me Cry' on the small and little known Oriole record label. The single was not successful and the girls decided on a change of name, to The Stockingtops.

In 1966, when Sunny (The youngest) was still only 15, the two turned professional doing the cabaret circuit, but after three years they decided that their audiences were too old for them and went to Germany to play the airbase circuit, where, despite releasing two German singles, they still felt out of place and returned to London.

Whilst in London they were asked to do a session as backing singers for Lesley Duncan. The session went well and suddenly the duo found themselves in great demand, recording with, amongst many others, Dusty Springfield, Elton John, Love Affair, Lulu, Mott the Hoople, T Rex, Tom Jones, and Joe Cocker. It was the Cocker sessions, and in particular With A Little Help From My Friends that finally propelled the girls into the limelight. When 'With a little help' reached number one they found themselves accompanying Cocker on several big TV shows including Top of the Pops and the time seemed right for another attempt at a hit single, but success in that field continued to elude them. On the other hand, they now found themselves working with artists as diverse as James Last, Frank Zappa, Giorgio Moroder, and The Brotherhood of Man, with whom they charted in 1970 with the single United we stand.

Sue and Sunny themselves are a little unsure of how many records they have actually released. In an interview with [Disc] on sale 20 April 1974 Sunny was quoted as saying "Sue and I found ourselves recording on our own and we had a couple of singles put out. But nothing really happened for us." In fact they appear to have recorded around a dozen singles, but to confuse things further they also recorded under the names Sue & Sunshine, The Stockingtops, and as part of The Nirvana Orchestra. They also recorded an LP for CBS which was, confusingly, also released - with a different cover - on the CBS subsidiary, Reflection.

Sunny finally had a hit record with 'Doctor's orders' in 1974, and in 1976 Sue, now known as 'Sue Glover' recorded a solo album for DJM, titled 'Solo'. In 1981 Sue resurfaced with an entry in the UK Song for Europe competition fronting the group 'Unity' with the song 'For Only A Day', but failed to find favour with the voting public.

Sources:

http://www.alwynwturner.com/glitter/sunny.html

http://www.united-mutations.com/g/susan_glover_biography.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brotherhood_of_Man

http://www.readysteadygirls.eu/sueandsunny/4525129045