From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Mon Sep 9, 2002  1:18 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Dee Dee Sharp

DEE DEE SHARP

Born Dione LaRue, 9 September 1945, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dee Dee Sharp will forever be identified with "Mashed Potato Time,"
her very first solo record, a solid # 2 on the pop charts and a # 1 R&B
smash in 1962. Living in Philadelphia, the home of Dick Clark's American
Bandstand, certainly helped her career. She appeared on the syndicated
teen dance show a zillion times from 1962 to 1981. The first black female
teen idol also became a fixture on Clark's Caravan of Stars tours, and a
familiar face in the popular 16 Magazine.
At an early age she played piano and directed choirs at her grandfather's
and other churches in Philadelphia. Her mother suffered debilitating injuries
from a car accident when Dione was only 13. She wasn't expected to live,
and with no dad around, LaRue looked for a job to support the family.
She responded to a classified ad for background singers, got the job and
developed the skills to work on Lloyd Price, Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby
Rydell, Jackie Wilson, and Chubby Checker sessions. Lady luck helped when
her vocals were added to Chubby Checker's "Slow Twistin'" (1962) making it a
duet. She was in the studio ad-libbing to a track that Checker already cut
when the producers liked her scratch vocals enough to add to the song. Luck
comes in bunches and her first solo session was scheduled the next day - the
"Mashed Potato Time" session - and at 17, Dione LaRue was about to become
an overnight sensation. Producers Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe didn't like
LaRue's name so they created Dee Dee Sharp and signed her to their Cameo
Parkway label. Smaller hits followed: "Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes),"
"Ride," "Do the Bird," "Wild," "Willyam, Willyam," "Never Pick a Pretty Boy,"
and "I Really Love You" in 1965 - Sharp's first R&B record. None sold like her
first, but the young singer was doing all right. She appeared on American
Bandstand to promote every release and worked gigs where getting paid was
never an issue, like Vegas and Tahoe.
Cameo promoted her as pop so she didn't see much of the chitlin' circuit;
the label also sent her to modeling and charm school. Languishing record
sales prompted her exit from Cameo to Atco/Atlantic Records. The Atco
deal materialized partly because the label was trying to snag her soon-to-be
husband Kenny Gamble to produce records, using Sharp as bait. Three
singles appeared (from 1966-1968) including a duet with Ben E. King
("Whatcha Gonna Do About It"). The tracks, done mostly in Memphis, were
harder than the Cameo sides, but the promotion wasn't there. Displeased at
Atco's efforts, Sharp, Gamble, and Leon Huff started Gamble Records in 1967.
Gamble issued three Dee Dee Sharp singles; she then signed with Philadelphia
International (PIR) - as Dee Dee Sharp-Gamble. Meanwhile, Sharp pursued her
schooling and earned a PhD in Psychology. She collaborated on (uncredited)
many of the songs on Gamble Records. After a 13-year marriage, Sharp and
Gamble were divorced in 1980.
Sharp enjoyed a fruitful career, despite minimal chart action after 1966.
Her television spots include appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mike
Douglas Show, Muhammad Ali - The Whole Story, Shindig, Sugar Babies,
Where the Action Is, The Tonight Show, and Entertainment Tonight. Big screen
credits include Desperately Seeking Susan, Don't Knock the Twist, Hairspray,
Sister Act, and Troop Beverly Hills.

(Adapted from All Music Guide)
There is no legal CD reissue of her Cameo-Parkway recordings.