Sue and Sunny’s German recordings
Our pick of the pops
Sisters Sue and Sunny were two of Britain’s most in-demand backing singers of the 1960s. They also issued a few singles of their own, both in the UK and Germany.
They were born Yvonne (Sue) and Heather (Sunny) Wheatman in what was then Madras (now Chennai) in India. After moving back to Britain, they launched themselves on a career in pop.
They released their first UK single, Just let me cry, under the name the Myrtells on the Oriole label. Further singles followed on a variety of labels (CBS, Columbia, Deram, Island, Reflection and Toast), under a variety of names (Sue and Sunshine, the Stockingtops and Sue and Sunny and the Nirvana Orchestra).
In 1967, they jumped at the opportunity to record for the lucrative German market. Their first German release was the Schlager-y tale of Hans und Franz in Germany, issued on the Electrola label. Far better was the B-side, the beatier Shame on you, which despite its title was also recorded in German.
For the follow up they issued Spielt mir noch einmal die Bye Bye Melody, though again, the flip, the Nancy Sinatra-esque Wir dummen Mädchen sind ja selber schuld, was the better side.
Though they failed to find success with any of their singles either at home or in Germany, they had nevertheless found themselves a niche role providing backing vocals to many of the top performers of the day. They can be heard on Joe Cocker’s With a little help from my friends, for instance, and can seen backing Lulu at the 1969 Eurovision song contest in Madrid.
Later in 1969 they joined session group Brotherhood of Man and were part of the line up that scored a top ten UK hit with United we stand the following year. (The line up was completely different for the later Save-your-kisses-for-me-era group.)
Sunny returned to the UK top ten in 1974 with Doctor’s orders.
Sue – by now known as Sue Glover – backed Germany’s Joy Fleming on the excellent Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein at the 1975 Eurovision song contest, and went on to release a solo album, imaginatively entitled Solo. In 1981 she fronted the group Unity in Britain’s national final to choose a song for the Eurovision song contest. Sadly, the group’s song, For only a day, finished eighth. Out of eight.
Shame on you
1967
Wir dummen Mädchen sind ja selber schuld 1968
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Various artists
1000 Nadelstiche, vol 10: UK girls sing German
