Judy Craig of the original Chiffons performs at the Suncoast in Las Vegas on Oct. 10, 2015.
Time doesn’t always treat people well.
But when Judy Craig, one of the original members of the Chiffons, stepped onto the stage at the Suncoast on Oct. 10, you could tell time had been kind to her. Craig, now performing with her daughter and a niece, sang the classic “He’s So Fine” with the familiar Do-lang, do-lang, do-lang — Do-lang, do-lang to an appreciative Las Vegas crowd. It was the original group’s No. 1 hit from 1963, and a graying Craig delivered it with style. The group, backed by a capable combo, also performed “Sweet Talking Guy.”
Craig’s modern-day Chiffons were followed by Shirley Alston Reeves, the original lead singer of the Shirelles.
“I’m 74,” Reeves told the Suncoast crowd, which had its share of septuagenarians. Reeves, along with a singer who has been with her 28 years and another singer who was a member of the original Orlons, actually opened with “I Saw Her Standing There,” a somewhat odd choice considering the British group that put that song on the Billboard Hot 100.
And they quickly followed up with “Chapel of Love,” a huge hit for the Dixie Cups. Reeves asked the audience if they remembered the song, and the consensus was they did, but they probably didn’t remember it was a big hit for the Dixie Cups.
Often, time doesn’t treat peoples’ memories very well either.
But Reeves promised “Soldier Boy,” a hit from the Shirelles in 1962, and she delivered on that, salutes and all, evoking a few tears from audience members.
All in all, a good evening and the crowd answered with a standing O.
The Ladies of Pop and Doowop, is at the Suncoast for one more night, Oct. 11, so there’s one more opportunity on the current tour to get your do-lang, do-lang, do-lang on.
