| Born Dione LaRue on September 9, 1945, she played piano from an early age, and directed choirs at her grandfather's and other churches in Philadelphia. After her mother suffered debilitating injuries from a car accident when LaRue was only 13, she gained a job as a background singer and developed the skills to work on sessions by Lloyd Price, Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby Rydell, Jackie Wilson, and Chubby Checker. Lady luck helped when her vocals were added to Chubby Checker's "Slow Twistin'" (1962) making it a duet. Her first solo session was scheduled the next day — the "Mashed Potatoes Time" session — and at 17, Dione LaRue was became an overnight sensation. Producers Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe didn't like LaRue's name so they created Dee Dee Sharp, since everyone called her D and she sang in D sharp. A string of hits followed her throughout the 1960's, but by 1980 she was all but forgotten. Her third album for husband Kenny Gamble's Philadelphia Int. Records had a fiery little number that when remixed brought her to national attention. "Breaking and Entering," complete with shattering glass effects, raced up the club charts. Sadly Dee Dee divorced her husband and went back to college to become Dr. Dee Dee Sharp Gamble and no further hits, disco or otherwise, materialized. |
