Formed in 1974, disco music / soul group Shirley & Company are best known for their 1975 international hit “Shame, Shame, Shame.” However, their roots reach back to 1956 when lead vocalist Shirley Goodman enjoyed brief success as one-half of duo Shirley & Lee, who wrote and recorded the classic “Let the Good Times Roll.” The New Orleans, Louisiana-based duo tried to match the success of the single but never could and they eventually split. Shirley Goodman relocated to Los Angeles, California and worked as a session singer for artists as diverse as Sonny & Cher and The Rolling Stones (she appears on their Exile on Main Street album) before briefly retiring from the music business. In 1974, her old friend Sylvia Robinson (formerly one-half of duo Mickey & Sylvia) contacted her and asked if she could provide vocals for “Shame, Shame, Shame,” a song that Sylvia wanted to release on her All Platinum label. Sylvia paired Shirley Goodman with a group of musicians and singers including Jason Alvarez, Walter Morris, Bernadette Randle, Seldon Powell, Jonathan Williams, Kenny Jeremiah, and Clarence Oliver. The single “Shame, Shame, Shame” was released in 1974 and credited to Shirley & Company. By early 1975, the single had topped the Billboard Dance chart and was a Top 10 hit in the UK, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. One of the earliest proper disco hits, “Shame, Shame, Shame” was a hard act to follow. The album of the same name did well on the charts but follow-up singles – including “Disco Shirley” and “I Like to Dance (Dance, Dance, Dance)” – but only “Cry, Cry, Cry” managed to crack the Top 100. The group’s success was fleeting, and they split up in 1978. Shirley Goodman died on July 5, 2005.
