Ginny Arnell

Ginny Arnell isn't exactly a household name among girl group acts in the manner of, say, <a href="spotify:artist:64ZUngtVBOg6z3kKagoZhU">Joanie Sommers</a> or <a href="spotify:artist:09vvlnqwFaimZwGAvpXgqy">Little Peggy March</a>, but she left her mark on the field with one song, "I Wish I Knew What Dress to Wear," which remains a classic of the genre for poignancy. <a href="spotify:artist:6Ja5LdbTj8w1T9VU3fBQZT">Arnell</a>'s credits were actually fairly substantial -- a one-time partner of <a href="spotify:artist:3ap1NzHNV9QA1x1V6z3gSe">Gene Pitney</a> in a duo called Jamie & Jane, who recorded for American Decca around 1959 -- she re-surfaced as a solo act on MGM Records in late 1963 with a pathetically self-deprecating single called "Dumb Head," co-written by David Hess and Camille Monte, which reached number 50 nationally. In early 1964, however, she re-emerged with "I Wish I Knew What Dress to Wear," written by <a href="spotify:artist:6KvG0YCFQl9NCKmzqdeZ3E">Gloria Shayne</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1fy2BQDFknvPr65GbzMt9K">Noel Regney</a> under the aegis of producers Jim Vienneau and Danny Davis. It only reached number 130 on the charts in April of that year, but left a major impression on fans of the genre. <a href="spotify:artist:6Ja5LdbTj8w1T9VU3fBQZT">Arnell</a>'s singing projected extraordinary depth of feeling, similar to <a href="spotify:artist:08b2PA6eFyugsWAk41eQKZ">Lesley Gore</a>, and turned the seemingly superficial song into a moving mini-drama. Despite the lackluster chart placement of her two singles, the label had enough confidence in <a href="spotify:artist:6Ja5LdbTj8w1T9VU3fBQZT">Arnell</a> to release a complete LP on her, Meet Ginny Arnell, which led off with "I Wish I Knew What Dress to Wear" and included the earlier single. That was <a href="spotify:artist:6Ja5LdbTj8w1T9VU3fBQZT">Arnell</a>'s last known major contribution as a recording artist. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi