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The Breakaways Biography

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Britain's premiere session vocalists throughout the 1960s, the Breakaways also recorded a handful of little-known but superb girl group singles. The trio of Vicki Haseman, Margot Quantrell and Betty Prescott originally teamed in the vocal group the Vernons Girls; another onetime Vernon Girl, Jean Ryder, replaced Prescott in the Breakways within a year of the trio's 1962 formation. They went on to sing on literally hundreds of sessions in support of acts including Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black and Lulu, additionally touring England behind American stars like Little Richard and Sam Cooke and regularly appearing on the hit television series Ready, Steady, Go. In 1964, the Breakaways made their headlining debut for Pye Records with the Tony Hatch-penned "That Boy of Mine"; although the single was a minor hit, follow-ups including "He Doesn't Love Me" and the magnificent "That's How It Goes" failed to garner much attention. In 1965 the trio assumed vocal duties on the Burt Bacharach smash "Trains and Boats and Planes," although the label was credited to simply Bacharach and Chorus, with no mention of the Breakaways in sight; 1968's psychedelic-flavored "Sacred Love" was their final official single, although their session work continued for several more years. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

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